Midwest MTB Report
A big weekend of racing as the PRO XCT came to the upper Midwest, Minnesota checked off one more race in it's series hitting up the popular metro location White Tail Ridge, and Gooseberry Park in Moorhead was host to the Wild Goose Chase. High school teams have begun practicing for the upcoming season with many teams getting in some solid team rides. First hand reports from all three events, couple mountain bike related articles to note plus a look ahead marks this weeks report.
WORS CUP
WORS Cup which was also host to the final race in the PRO XCT tour, made a visit to Cascade mountain for a good old cross country race. The Pro fields were a bit lighter this year but the racing was still fast and furious as the top elite riders in the Midwest did battle against some of the Nation's top riders. Wisconsin and Minnesota riders fared well in the xc race with Cole House and Brian Matter pulling off top 10 finishes. We have recaps from 11th place finisher Issac Neff and 22nd place finisher Josh Bauer as well as top 7 Pro women Cooper Dendrel!
Issac Neff's recap:
The Wisconsin Off Road Series (WORS) Cup ProXCT weekend is an exciting weekend for many Midwest XC racers. It is an opportunity to demonstrate the depth of Midwest talent, the quality of our trails, and the enthusiasm of the Midwest Superfan.
This year's WORS Cup was no disappointment. The trail was one of the best ever, thanks to Don Edberg and the rest of the Wisconsin Off Road Series helpers. The pro course was very challenging with tons short hard climbs and a tight and twisting descent. The amateur course was an extended course compared to the short 3.1 mile XCO style pro course, and offered a range of terrain including plenty of up and down.
One thing was on everyone's mind the day of the ProXCT XC race: the heat. Saturday dawned hot and steamy. As the Yoopers say, it's not so much the heat as the gosh darn humidity. Since the forecast was no secret, I kept the fluids flowing pre-race, trying to stay hydrated enough to keep the effort up for the duration of the race on the demanding course. Some of the pros must have been saving panty hose up for months judging by the number of nylon ice packs being handed up in the pit!
The heat was no obstacle for the Australians. To the surprise of no one, Daniel McConnell was able to easily pull off the win over Stephen Ettinger and Hector Fernando Riveros Paez (Columbia) in the cross country race. He also won the short track. U23 Champ Cameron Ivory also finished toward the top. Missing from the field were some of the top Canadian riders we have seen in years past. This was probably due to the timing of this year's race – the week after the National Championships, and a couple weeks before the first North American World Cup. This meant a great opportunity for second tier pros to try and notch a result at a ProXCT.
My goal for the season has been to slowly gain fitness racing WORS in the hopes that I would start to hit top form in time for this weekend. It seemed to all come together and the legs had the power to ride to an 11th place finish. Racing wheel to wheel with some of the Midwest fastest guys, Brian Matter and Cole House, was a confidence booster for races to come. They both got the better of me on Saturday, managing to crack the top 10. I was just outside in 11th. Other notable Midwest racers inside the top 20 were Tristan Schouten (14th), Corey Stelljes (16th), Joe Maloney (17th), Justin Piontek (18th), and Eric Thompson (19th) (Photo: Gary Smits XTR Photo)
In the women's race, newly crowned US National Champ Chloe Woodruff took the win over Aussi Rebecca Henderson and Evelyn Dong. WORS talent Cooper Dendel rode to a 7th place finish.
Looking back at the race, I hope that next year the date of the WORS Cup can better mesh with the National Championships and the North American World Cups so that the Midwest can attract the best racers possible.
For me the race was a confident booster and tells me I can battle it out with the best of them.
One thing is clear, mountain bike racing is alive and well in the Midwest.
A big thanks to Gary Smits at XTRphoto.com for the great shots from the weekend.
Cooper Dendel's Recap
The WORS Cup Pro XCT race for me is the biggest and most exciting WORS race of the year. The nerves/excitement really set in when you pull into the parking lot of Cascade Mountain. It is Friday before the the big XC race and only hours before the KMC hill climb/ super d begin. There are vendor tents being set up, and people with bikes everywhere! My Friday consisted of doing a pre ride of the XC course for Saturday, and also participating in the KMC hill climb/ super d race in the evening. I know a lot of the pro riders did not compete in the KMC challenge in hopes of saving their energy for the next day. However, I find it a good way to get some of the race jitters out of the way before the big event! Plus who doesn't like going downhill?!
The XC race started out on a long and hot grassy climb switch-backing up the ski hill to a small section of singletrack before dropping down into the skills section. The whole way up the grassy climbs you are able to hear the spectators at the skills section cheering! My heart starts beating and their cheers make me want to go faster! The skills section of the course is by far my favorite section. If the rollers, rock gardens (thank goodness for my Trek Superfly FS), steps, and steep descents weren't challenging enough add in some dust to make visibility poor and now we have a challenge! I knew the skills section was probably my strongest section so I used it as a place to recover. After the long grassy climb I needed some time to catch my breath! At one point in the skills section you ride up a bridge and squeeze your bars between two trees, and back down a bridge on the other side. I couldn't help but hold my breath while going through the trees every lap!
I spent most of my day chasing on the grassy climbs and trying but failing to pass before/ in the singletrack. Because the climbs were not very technical it was difficult for me to make up any time on the other riders on the open sections. When gaps formed I tried not to panic knowing that the slow, tight, technical descents were coming up soon and would be my chance to catch my breath and catch the other riders. After spending a few minutes traversing across the ski hill between sections of single track the course takes you over the Loft and Shove fly over! What a blast! another short grassy section and one last single track section you make your way around the start and back up for another lap! Each lap short but sweet with a distance of 3.5 miles with 500 ft of climbing per lap. One lap down and 4 to go!
Sunday morning came fast and before I knew it, it was time to line up for the short track race. This was my first short track race so I didn't really know what to expect. You always hear stories about it being painful, but you never know for sure until you try it for yourself. Well, they were right. It was painful and challenging but call me what you want, I also thought it was FUN!
All in all it was a great weekend at WORS Cup. Huge thanks to the volunteers and Tear WORS for making a weekend like this possible!
Josh Bauer's Recap
Cascade Mountain in Portage, Wisconsin hosted their 2nd Wors Cup Pro XCT this past weekend and I had the opportunity to race my first ever pro event. Cascade Mountain is a ski resort about 45 minutes north of Madison that has a lot of elevation, at least it did for the Pro XC course. Eric Thompson and I headed down early Friday morning to pre ride the course before we raced on Saturday. The course was only 5K long and it started with going straight up the hill, then hit a bit of single track and then continued to keep climbing until you reached the "Pro Skills Park" Section. This consisted of a few big boulders at the entrance, 6 or 7 railroad beams that were setup very awkwardly, a little rock garden, a drop to another rock garden and a wooden ramp to go in between two trees. Nothing too technical that I couldn't ride, it was just about picking the right line on everything. After the "Skills Park" you started to climb again, climbing all the way to the top before you started to do the long descent to the bottom. The descent wasn't very flowy, as it was filled with mini rock gardens and sharp left and right hand turns so it wasn't very fast, a lot of feathering the brakes. After the pre ride laps Eric and I were feeling pretty good about the course and we both thought we had it dialed, it was time to head out on the road and get our engines prepped for the big day on Saturday and then head to our host family to have a big dinner.
Saturday brought on some extremely warm temps. We didn't race until 4PM Saturday which I thought would be better considering the temp starts to drop and the sun starts heading down west. That wasn't the case, it was the hottest it had been all day and it was all about keeping yourself hydrated. As I was warming up I was feeling pretty good about how I was feeling that day and I was ready to compete in my first ever pro cross country mountain bike race. I got a last row call up only because isn't sanctioned under USAC, which results in me having no points. It is why I have been travelling to some of the WORS races this season to try get a better call up for UCI events. There was only about 35 riders on the start line, pretty low numbers for a Pro XCT. The Whistle went off and I had some trouble getting into my pedal right away but was able to make up some ground on the climb and I think I was sitting in the top 15. I settled into a pretty good rhythm and was having a good race, except for the descent to the bottom. I was constantly getting dropped, I wasn't able to ride it as smoothly as others and I think it's only because I was riding a rigid fork. In the pre ride the day before I didn't think it was going to be too big of an issue but I was bouncing all over the place and the traverses were extremely bumpy, so bumpy that I would come to almost complete stop in some spots. I had brought a fork with me but I had too much pride to take it off as I have been racing rigid for over three years. I eventually was in no mans land which is where i'm the most comfortable so I started putting in some good times until the 4th lap I crashed on the descent in a washed out corner and proceeded to land on my face. It took me a bit to recover from the crash and I mentally checked out after the crash. The 5th lap I lost a lot of time and a few spots. I regained some composure and fought off the battle that was going on in my head on the last lap and kicked the pace back up and got around two or three riders and was catching one in front of me at the finish. I came across the line in 22nd and 14 minutes back from the winner Australian World Cup rider Daniel McConnell. I had big aspirations and goals to finish within the top 20 or not get pulled. I was only two spots off and about a minute away from the top 20.
Short track was Sunday and I was ready to have a little better performance than the cross country race. I really enjoy Short track racing because it is only a half hour of pain but its full gas the whole time. Like Saturday got a dead last call up but the start was good, it took me a few laps to reach the lead group but I made contact. Rode at the back of the group for a lap or two and then burped my front tire really bad, so bad that I was starting to burp it on every sharp turn so I decided to pull the plug a little bit over half way through the race. An ultimate icing on the cake for a weekend of bad luck but I was so happy I had the opportunity to compete in my first ever UCI mountain bike race weekend. I now know what I need to work on next time, learn from my poor judgement calls and mistakes.
I want to thank everyone for the encouragement and the tremendous amount of great support I had back home while I was there. The texts, phone calls and messages were absolutely incredible. Thank you so much.
Border Crossing
After enduring a devastating storm earlier in the summer which saw nearly 6" of rain and destruction to the trail, volunteers stepped up to the plate at White Tail Ridge to get the course back in tip top shape and pulled off another great event with race #7 in the Minnesota Mountain Bike Series. The Border Crossing had it's largest turnout ever with great battles in all of the classes. Recaps from the Elite class including Alicia Fisk and John Sandberg
Alicia's recap:
Border Battle, River Falls, WI is home of Minnesota Mountain Bike Series 7th race, 2015. This is a venue I always look forward to racing. White Tail offers the mountain biker a little taste of everything, fast flowing, tight technical, rocks, roots, mindless hammering, and heart rate soaring climbs.
As Mat and I walked to Registration, I noticed the infamous pinwheel was nowhere to be seen. Can't say I was disappointed. We also noticed the parking lot seemed quiet and calm, compared to years past. During warm up, I stopped to chat with a couple Herr Batians, inquiring of trail conditions. They assured me they were in pristine condition. We also stopped to check in with the Saubers. Rebecca was cooling down with a package of frozen green beans, because it was so hot and muggy!
The Elite women lined up; a good mix of familiar and new faces. Sad not see Maplelag racer, and friend, Eleanor Bacso. Mason said that she needed to be at work. "Work" gets in the way of everything fun! As the whistle sounded, I was so grateful to have a relatively short climb, compared to that of Cuyuna and Mission Creek. Rebecca Sauber led the ladies up the first climb. Following was Robin Williams, Rebecca Ireland, Josie Welsh, and I, all jockeying for position.
The trails were fantastic. A couple damp and sandy corners, but I hardly noticed. I was able to keep on Williams for half of the first lap. Williams and Ireland ended up riding away from me and I was able to ride away from Welsh. Everything about the course is about the same as last year, but I have to say that the new technical flow trail, at the end of the lap is a 1,000 times better than last year. They even threw a cherry on top. As riders exited the flow trail and before entrance onto the field, a flag stone ramp has been installed. Catch some air and feel awesome as you fly down into a couple swooshy corners and cross the finish line.
For they're not being very many women, in the Elite Class, I seem to find myself in a lot of sprint finishes this season. Border Battle was no exception. Rebecca Ireland must've had a mechanical in the last corner, directly before the finish line. She was off her bike fixing something. We were both vying for 3rd place. Unfortunately, this sprint ended in a pretty bad crash. Onlookers explained their version of what happened and reassured that racing is racing and stuff happens. Honestly I'd really like going the rest of my life and NOT having that happen again. Able to walk away/pretty sore and bruised, secured 3rd place, and am looking forward to Red Wing!
John's recap:
Race #7 of the 2015 Minnesota Mountain Bike Series took place just over the border in River Falls, Wis., at the always-excellent White Tail Ridge trails. This sweet network of singletrack was built and maintained by the Kinnickinnic Off-Road Cyclists (KORC), donate 100% of the race proceeds to either build and maintain new trails at Whitetail Ridge, along with promoting other mountain biking opportunities in the Twin Cities metro and St. Croix River Valley.
This was one of the two-day race events this season, with time trail and short track on Saturday and a cross-country on Sunday. My son Cal and I skipped the Saturday events and hit the XC on Sunday. From talking with Bob from KORC, it sounds like Saturday was very light on participation with just 40 riders total.
In contrast, Sunday brought out 463 entries, the biggest turnout in the past four years and perhaps ever. This despite temperatures in the upper 80s, high humidity and dire warnings from television news heads to stay inside and not partake of any physical activity. It's a good thing we ignored the warnings.
We were greeted with a beautiful course that's respected for its two leg-burning climbs and loved for its fast singletrack that features everything from bridges and a wooden berm to roots, rocks and challenging lines. We are so fortunate to have so many great race courses like White Tail Ridge in the Minnesota series. Last year KORC added to its trail menu a nicely challenging half-mile of trail called "Beans & Franks" that ended each lap of the Sport, Comp and Elite events. Rocky, a little wet and sprinkled with a few drops, it only added to an already great course.
I gave water bottle support for Cal in the 2-lap Sport class, where he jammed to his best finish of the season: fourth overall and first in his age class. The first words out of his mouth after finishing were, "The new section of trail is awesome."
Those of us in the Elite class would get four laps to experience the trails. After the leg and lung-busting climb that marks the start of each lap, the Elite field strung out into small groups of riders that would flow together and break apart for the next couple hours.
I enjoyed two laps of battling with my Penn Cycle teammate Reece Oleson, and two laps with Barry Tungseth. I've raced with these guys all season (and for years) and it's always just a few seconds that seem to separate us at the end. Judging from the lap splits (a great addition to the timing/scoring for this season!), there must have been similar battles going on for most racers.
Personally speaking, it's those battles that I particularly enjoy about racing, much more so than just time-trialing by yourself in no man's land, away from others. Barry was stronger on the climbs this weekend, while I was a touch faster in the singletrack. On the last climb of the last lap, Barry locked up with leg cramps and I was able to get a gap and hang on for 8th overall, which I was pumped about. My goal the past couple years has top-15, so I'm thrilled any time I break into the top-10.
The weekend was a success for the Sandbergs, and for any racer who pinned on a number. Thanks KORC and MnMTB Series!
On a side note...when Jay Richards asked me to write this recap, he also asked me how I'm able to race at this level at 48 years old, and what kind of training I do.
The answer: I go full-out at every Thursday Penn Cycle Buck Hill race series event; the same at weekend Series races; then I do either lunch rides or team practices with the Prior Lake High School MTB team.
That's 5-6 rides per week, two of which are high intensity and the others being either recovery or endurance pace. A total of 5-8 hours depending on all the factors that influence life as a father, husband and small business owner. Early in the Spring I hang on for dear life during the Wed. Night Worlds road rides out of the Eagan Penn Cycle store, and once in awhile I join friends on a 3-hour gravel road ride.
I've noticed that I don't have the quite the same top gear that I had in my early 40s, and for sure not what I had in my 20s and 30s. But 36 years of racing bikes has given me some old-man smarts/strategy, so I rely on those and the above-mentioned riding to keep me racing strong.
Really there's no secret to training. The big challenge maintaining motivation: through the season, and through the years and decades. But that's a topic for another day.
Wild Goose Chase
The FM Trailbuilders hosted the first every Wild Goose Chase at Gooseberry park in south Moorhead after spending the past two years fine tuning a 3 mile, fast flowing course. One of the race organizers Patrick Crary also participated in the race and files a report:
Our race was really awesome. We had about 25 total riders. 4 kids raced the modified course. 1 strider, 1 tiny bike, and 2 kids who flew through it and also raced the 1 lap.
(Photo: Pete Lambertz)
6 of us did the 1 lap and about 16 or so raced the 5 / 10 lap. The conditions were perfect. Very tacky and rolling fast. The trail is really burned in now. Here's the results :
1 Lap: Women's 1st-Michelle Crary Men's 1st-Sam Rauchwarter 2nd-Patrick Crary 3rd-Sean Hatten 5 Lap: Women's 1st-Kayla Johnson Men's 1st-Jeff Anderson 2nd-Chris Benson 3rd-Tracy Johnson 10 Lap: Men's 1st-Tom Heilman 2nd-John Strachynski 3rd-Kelly Bjerke
Pretty happy with the whole event. We had a bunch of good food, music, volunteers, fans and of course beast mode racers. I just coasted the 1 lap untill about halfway through when I decided to burn rubber from last place and almost caught the leader :). I was exhausted due to not preparing for much racing . Those racers doing the 5 and 10 dug deep to push themselves hard. Can't wait for next year and we'll do it on a Saturday I think.
Wild Goose Chase Facebook Page
Inspiring Puck
You might wonder how hockey would would be related to mountain biking but the story below is quite inspiring and amazing. Having played hockey as a youth and a couple years post high school including a year of Juniors in Norway, and having two kids that play I am a big hockey fan. Also, hockey is a great cross over sport for mountain biking with many cyclists using hockey as cross training and handful of hockey players using mountain biking for cross training.
Notable elite riders who use ice hockey as part as cross training fun include Nathan Guerra, Jeff Hall and Brendan Moore as to name a few. One of the best articles I saw in Minnesota hockey was advice to younger players to play multiple sports outside of the main season to develop other motor skills which included mountain biking! Anyways, read the full story that has has gone viral as people are inspired by 94 year old Mike Sertich who is still playing hockey today!
Lift Serviced Mountain Biking
(Photo: Mt Bachelor)
Last week we shared a few reports from riders hitting the trails out west. Both from backcountry experiences and lift serviced experiences. The development of flow trails out west with lift service action as exploded the last five years. The day after we published the report, Mountain Getaway shared an article of their top 6 places for lift accessed riding. Here are their top 6 spots!
Looking Ahead
With a break in series racing in Minnesota and Wisconsin, racing focuses on endurance racing with one of the toughest ultra marathon races in the country!
Based on conversation with riders who have competed in 100 mile races in the region, Lutsen 99er, Chequemegon 100 etc, the Maah Daah Hey is arguably one of the toughest around. The sweet prairie badland singletrack is made even more challenging with the typical hot weather. The 100 mile race sees over 10,000 feet of climbing. Course record holder Corey Magelky holds the fastest time in 8 hours, 56 minutes and 22 seconds.
The Upper Peninsula Health System Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic will be celebrating its 16th year on Saturday, August 8th! What started as a mere 480 racers has grown to well over 2,500! Race organizers are expecting well over that number this year.
New for 2015! While some think this is strictly a winter sport, there is no doubt that the explosion of fat bikes is more than a flash in the pan. So in keeping up with the times, the race committee has decided to add a Fat Tire class. Riders/bicycles with both tires 3.8Â"+ will be eligible.
Also new this year the Ore to Shore finish line will be to moving the front & side of Lakeview arena. This will give the racers a straight finish line, along with incorporating the youth events within the post-race celebration. Look for bigger and better finish line fun as we expand to this new location.
Just over two weeks away from the big Duluth Bike Festival which will feature all types of cycling events showcasing the incredible expanding trail system in the Duluth area. Many downhill and Enduro events will be offered with the Great Hawk Chase XC race which is part of the Minnesota series highlighting the weekend on the final day. Registration is open for all events.
Laddies Loppet Mountain Bike Stage Race 25th Anniversary Weekend
Just over a month away to the 25th Anniversary Laddies Loppet Mountain Bike Stage Race weekend. In addition to the Saturday racing on the old school cross country course which will feature 1 and 2 laps on a 11 mile course, citizen and beginner as well as kid races on Sunday. Other events added to the weekend include stand up paddle board Yoga sessions, post race recovery Yoga, vintage jersey contest, live music on Sunday night with a huge bonfire to cap off the weekend.
Keep the wheels moving!
 | About the author... Jay Richards maintains a very active lifestyle. He somehow finds time between managing a full-time resort (Maplelag) and bringing up a family of four boys with his wife Jonell, to compete in both mountain bike and a few cross-country ski races. Jay rides for Maplelag Resort, manages the Maplelag/Paramount/Podiumwear mountain bike team and enters his 25th year of racing and promoting mountain bike races. |