Midwest MTB Report
The cool weather to start the week giving us a taste of one of the best times of the year to mountain bike is right around the corner, fall! Love it! Another busy weekend of mountain bike action with racing in both the Minnesota and Wisconsin series and a special report from Fargo, ND. resident Greg Ames who was one of a handful of Midwesterners that competed in the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike event. A look ahead to the weekend plus a few mountain bike related items to note caps this weeks report.
Leadville 100
Each year a contingent of Midwest riders travels out to Colorado, often time combing a week long trip to acclimate to the altitude, to compete in the Leadville trail 100. One such rider this year was Greg Ames of Fargo ND. who provided an extensive report of the entire race. Also from the Midwest, competing on a tandem!!, was Jeff Colbert along with Pam Nielsen and we included his post from Facebook
Greg's report:
It's the Tuesday following a Saturday race and I'm finally eating/drinking/sitting normally after the trip out to Colorado for the Leadville Trail 100 (brought-to-you-by-lifetime-fitness-sponsored-by-blueprint-for-athletes.....). I've entered the lottery for a few years trying to get into the Leadville 100, only to see the nearly 20 bucks required to enter the lottery leave my bank account without getting into the race. Well, this year I made it past the lottery and had the opportunity to pay the full entry fee and start planning for the trip out west. I drove out the Tuesday prior to the Saturday race with fellow Maplelag flag-wavers Steve Wentzel, and met up with another Maplelag-er, Matt Engen in Frisco CO. Wednesday and Thursday were spent trying to acclimate by doing as much fun Colorado-ey things as possible without ruining body or bicycle before the race on Saturday. Friday was spent getting the bike ready, resting up, and wondering why I live in Fargo ND.
A 0430 wake up on Saturday and a short drive from Frisco to Leadville had me pushing through the crowd trying to get to my starting gate on 6th St in the middle of Leadville at 10,200 ft above sea level. As a first timer I was in the cheap seats, the last gate behind around 1400 other riders, and had quite a bit of time for casual conversation with the riders around me waiting for the starting gun to go off. And after the official start, there was still a few minutes to talk before moving, and subsequently a few more minutes while shuffling along with one foot clipped in. Eventually the masses were moving at a reasonable clip along the 4mi downhill stretch out of Leadville. The pavement ends with a tight corner onto gravel, which shortly becomes double track and the pace dropped to "standing in line" up much of the first 6mi climb.
A fast paved descent at mile 10 finally allowed things to thin out, due partly to the surprising realization that many of the participants are terrible mountain bikers! Solid athletes by nearly any measure, but awful cyclists. I topped out at 46mph on the road descent, and that was being a conservative as I didn't know the course. But I passed easily a hundred people on that descent that were putting noticeable heat into their brakes trying to keep things below 20mph. Which completely blows my mind, every bit of heat put into riding the brakes down hill is energy that you just put into pedals on the prior climb! Why go up hill if not to haul ass down the other side? That fast road descent leads into the first "real" climb, known as the Sugarloaf climb. I was again dumbfounded when many of the brake dragging folks I passed in the descent came powering by me putting in a huge effort at mile 14 of a 104mi race, at the bottom of a 5mi climb. As a low altitude flat lander I was strictly riding to a heart rate up the climbs and nothing more, especially this early on in the race. I found that my slow sustainable pace caught most of the folks that powered by me at the bottom of the climb by the time we reached the top.
The reward for cresting the Sugarloaf climb is the Powerline descent. Riding down Powerline is technical in that there's really only one line and everything else is a rutted lose mess, a blessing in disguise as I'd probably have tried to go too fast had I not been held up by the train of cautious descenders. The Powerline descent drops you in the valley at about mile 23 and the next 20 miles are spent on a mix of gravel/pavement/singletrack. I found a group that kept a reasonably solid paceline through much of the road section and clicked off some easy miles towards the Twin Lakes aid station at the bottom of the big climb that starts at mile 43.
The climb up towards the Columbine Mine is 7miles long and gains 3500ft topping out at 12,600ft above sea level. Much of the climb is ride-able, with sections near the top that required pushing. My cautious pace got me to the top in 1hr 50min, without ruining myself in the process. For you Strava folks, the KOM times for the climb are just under 52min! The LT100 course is an out and back, with the 50mi turnaround at the top of Columbine, so as you're going up anyone faster than you is on their way down along the same trail. And of course after you make the turn and set your sights on a 7mi descent, there's everybody slower than you still on the trail struggling to the top. About a quarter mile through the descent I had to swerve off line in a very rocky section to avoid a guy pushing up hill standing in the middle of the trail. Murphy's Law bit and I slammed my rear wheel into a rock very hard, and shortly afterwards started to feel the rear tire go soft. I gave it a couple of CO2s hoping I had just burped my tubless tire, or it was a small hole and the sealant would recover with a bit more air. But after burning through my CO2s the tire was still losing air. The next step was to toss in my spare tube, which after a few minutes of trying to pump up I realized was also not holding air. Turns out the valve stem had a tear at the base, so the patch kit that was plan "C" wasn't going to help either. After a minute or two of taking in the scenery and bottling up some rage I started riding again, keeping as much weight as I dared on the front wheel. After descending on the rear rim for about a mile, I came across a gentleman who had bonked and was still struggling towards the top. I traded him some water/food/encouragement for a tube, and armed with a pneumatic tire again I proceeded to enjoy the remaining portion of the descent. Spending around 30min going between 0 and 3mph when I should have been going 40 was pretty demoralizing. What should have been a fast and enjoyable recovery ended up being an inefficient flail. The other problem was that I didn't eat while fighting the rear wheel, and then traded my water away so I didn't get nearly the recovery in during the descent that I needed after the arduous climb up. Once off Columbine there's a few miles of rolling to flat terrain into the next aid station, and I took it pretty slow not wanting to push too hard given my nutrition state after the big climb and descent. Through the insanely helpful Twin Lakes checkpoint/aid station I got fueled up and started eating again.
Miles 60-80 were spent plugging on through a few solid climbs and rolling terrain towards the big climb back up Powerline. Much of the Powerline climb was not rid-able, or wasn't worth the energy to ride it. I managed to slog up the three miles in a little under 57min, the Pro's covered the climb in under 25min! One more big descent down Sugarloaf, and a long pavement climb get you to mile 92. The remaining terrain is cumulatively down hill, but rolling terrain. With the last few miles a steady climb back into Leadville. I had paced myself pretty conservatively, and as a result had a few matches to burn in this last section. Which was fortunate, because you could make good time with some effort, but if you had blown up and were soft pedaling through the last 10miles the trail would be painfully slow. I crossed the line with an official time of 10:51, even struggling with the flat I came in safely under my goal of 12hrs. Under 12hrs earns a Hick-Mountain-Town belt buckle, the next goal is under 9hrs because that earns a bigger belt buckle!
Not coming close to any anaerobic efforts and eating well had me feeling pretty good crossing the finish line. But after the race I felt progressively worse for the next 12hrs or so, I didn't even cash in the free beer ticket OR have a well earned shower beer! And free beer/shower beer are my favorite things, but nearly 11hrs of energy food and altitude left my system pretty ruined for a day or so. Overall it was a well run event, and an awesome experience. But it was VERY Lifetime Fitness, expensive, and I enjoyed doing "CO-things" surrounding the race as much or more than the event itself. I think I'll put in again next year and work towards that 9hr mark, my finish time this year would move me up a few gates at the start of next year. Between a better start gate/training/mechanical luck I might get close to that 9hr mark. Looking forward to the "Flugly," the home field XC race this next weekend at MB Johnson park in Moorhead! Thanks again for the help Steve and Matt!
Jeff's report:
Leadville 100 MTB race. In the racer meeting they said you will have to dig deep. Be better than you think you are. Commit to not quit. I shrugged and thought I have heard all of this before. Well during the race I was using those quotes as motivation to get me through. Bouts of almost throwing up. Muscle soreness that I have never experienced. And 2 hr climbs with descent that were equally as hard had me rethinking this whole race. If it weren't for my tandem partner Pam Nielsen. I would not have finished. She was so smart in keeping me hydrated and fed. I owe my first Leadville finish to her. Racing a tandem is a different level of concern. You have to take care of your partner and the bike, as well as trying to go as fast as you can. I had no intentions on crashing or getting a flat. Just be smooth has been my mantra lately. And that's exactly what we both did. People are asking if I would do it again. I always say time heals all and makes you forget the pain that you went through. So my answer is. ask me in 6 months.
Wisconsin Off Road Series -Colectivo Coffee Bean Classic
Nathan Guerra took an emotional win this past Sunday in race #8 in the WORS action and provides a full report:
The Venue
This past Sunday was the Colectivo Coffee Bean Classic, race #8 in the Wisconsin Off Road Series. This is a race I have been doing for about 11 years now and had a good run of wins when it was at it's old venue, at what is now The Rock in Franklin, WI. So, coming into this race I always have good feelings from past performances and knowledge of the course. The venue recently changed, but the type of course did not change too much. The new venue is at Minooka Park in Waukesha, Wisconsin and these trails were built by a similar crew which maintained the Franklin trails! Tight, twisty, somewhat technical single track heavy course was on order. Many seem to think this course is fairly flat, but in reality there is a good amount of elevation change hidden behind all the time in the woods where you do not realize you are climbing.
The race
When thinking about a race recap, my initial thoughts tend toward a fairly simple plan executed. Go to the front and go at the highest pace manageable the entire race. Being a course that does not lend to any drafting tactics, there are only a few places the effort at the front of a group can be drafted upon. But choices in mountain bike racing come from preparation, they are not simply made. Preparation in training opens up the the number of choices an individual has in any race situation. As an example, an up and coming fellow elite racer recently commented/asked "I am really familiar with just going hard the entire race chasing the leaders, at the front are you guys just hanging out or what?" I took this to mean, are there tactics in your mountain bike races, or do you just go as hard as you can all race? The quick answer without a huge coaching lesson, is yes, tactics are employed if you have prepared enough tools in training, or else you are just hanging on! Being able to make those decisions about what tools to use when comes from having the tools prepped and ready to go!!! To go to the front and just push the pace till the elastic snapped would not have been possible without knowing all the right tools were in place for such an effort, or vice versa playing a waiting game race or some other tactic. I am mentioning all this because my preparation in training this year has been completely different than years past, but I will leave that for the end of the post, here is some play by play with pictures.
Race day was HOT and HUMID, 95+ degrees on the Garmin. I lined up series leader smack dab in the center with a bag of ice on my back! At the line it was announced there was $100 sprint prime at the top of the start climb, at GO I went straight to the front and set a very high but manageable "sprintish" pace.
With a great sprinter in the field, Cole House, I figured chances were ok at getting the sprint prime, but those were smashed by a very "cheeky" move Cole made over the top forcing me to come to almost a complete stop. After the initial climb there is a short loop on XC ski trails before the single track and Joseph Maloney AKA Joe Mo put in a little pull back up to Cole, I came around and fought "tooth & nail" for the holeshot into the single track. I really did not want to deal with any tactical hold ups in the single track that have been common lately.
From here I set a pace that was threading the needle between IMPLOSION and fastest 4 laps on course I could possibly run.
For the first lap Cole and Isaac Neff were following about 1-2 seconds back on each twisty single track corner. I noticed the pace in the single track was high enough that if we climbed at all and I drilled it, the gap would grow. This began to increase confidence that the right choice was in the decision to commit from the beginning of the race and fueled my trust in that tactic even more.
Coming into lap 2 Cole was still with me just a wheel or two lengths off. I had a ton of family and friends on the start climb feeding and handing me water both to drink and to pour over my head in the crazy heat! I stayed motivated and continued to drill a high pace thru the XC trails section with the 1-2 wheel gap intact. We entered the single track with me leading, yet together, but from here the gap instantly began to grow. By half way thru the 2nd lap I began to get outta sight. From here I just continued to thread the needle between blowing up and the best race time possible.
Family, Work, Pro Racing
So what's changed? Notable mention is the preparation I have been doing this year for all my racing. Being an athlete is one role I play in life among many. As a Husband, Father of 5 children, running 3 businesses from home, and playing a role in our church family, time is under extra constraints compared to the past. In addition, after having our 5th child, my wife Lindsay Guerra decided to jump back into the racing scene at the Elite level. This has led to needing to find even more creative ways to get the hours in on the bike. Many have heard of my crazy trainer hours in the winter due to cold, dark, and lack of time during the day to ride outside. But this year, up to this point in the season, I have ridden almost exclusively indoors on a trainer with a program called Zwift, while live streaming on my twitch.tv channel. Most days I get our 2 youngest kids down for a nap and hop on the trainer in my office with Zwift running and the stream live. The funny thing is, rather than hamper results, I have had my best year of racing ever! The other day I was asked how is this possible and believe it is two fold. First I have grown as a coach, both self coached and a growing coaching business. I have learned a lot from so many individuals in this sport over the years and have put in a huge amount of study time independently and as a sub focus in my degree studies. Secondly, I believe the "get on and get it done" nature and focus of the indoor riding with others on Zwift has kept everything consistent and trackable in the plan. For more info on all this you can join me live in training at Twitch or check out our website Vision Cycling information and coaching info.
Racing for a Reason
Here is a link to a Skinnyski post about winning this race 6 years ago. Very similar to the Instagram post I did for the win this year.
Duluth Bike Festival
For the second year in a row, Duluth and the area trails were host to the Duluth Bike Festival. Saturday featured gravity racing at Spirit Mountain with a four stage enduro race and also a downhill race on the massively enhanced trail "Calculated Risk". Sunday's featured racing was the 8th race in the Minnesota series at Lester Park with the Great Hawk Chase. I finally made it to a bike race this year and caught some of the action on Saturday and raced on Sunday!
(Photo: Cooper Dendel by Duluth Bike Festival)
Saturday my son Jake was racing in the Enduro race along with handful of other riders with cross country background including Scott Kylander-Johnson, Brendan Moore, Tyler Gauthier, Cooper Dendel and Dave Oachs among others and a growing base of gravity riding minded folks. When we got to Spirit Mountain, riders were coming down the first stage as we waited for Jake who had one of the later start times. We saw Brendan and Scott come flying by before Jake came ripping through the woods. Just a few short sections of viewing time as he sped his way over rocks, berms and bumps to the finish line. After Jake's run, I hooked up with him to ride bike up to the top and ride down the run he just completed as riders were heading up for the second stage on a different course. Riders would ride four different courses over a period of 4 hours with at least three trips required up the old Powder Monkey climb (cross country race, part of the Minnesota series, last held in 2005 I believe). Riding up the climb brought back good memories and some throwback talk with Jake as we relived some of the years cross country racing at Spirit Mountain including the first year I raced in 1990 on what I felt was the best course in the Midwest and one of the tops in the country.
At the top Jake ventured over to the next start line and he sent me off to the first stage start, warning me to be careful on the first big rock garden. I rolled down the hill enjoying the nice view toward Lake Superior before cutting in to the woods and navigating some sweet technical singletrack. Jake was right on the big rock garden advice as I came close to piling it up hard with a last minute bail throwing my bike to the side knowing things could get real ugly if I didn't and walking away with just a calf bruise. Back on the bike the rest of the descent was fast rolling and clean on sections of trail that again, the old Powder Monkey course would follow. Quite a change from what we would be racing on Sunday.
Later in the afternoon after ending a 24 hour family gathering with my sister's kids, I ventured over to Lester Park to check out the course for the Great Hawk Chase cross country race on Sunday. As I clicked in, I bumped in to Expert riders Paul Hanson, Dave and Dan Oachs. They were just heading out for a pre-ride so I joined them for a snappy lap before Dave and Dan peeled off for other commitments and Paul and I zipped around for another lap. The climbs on the two laps ended up being the fastest times up for the weekend. Not having any other riders to worry about and comfortable temps made for a great ride and was great to catch up with Paul who I hadn't seen in a year.
Sunday brought a third day of stifling heat to the Duluth area with dew points around 70 making it feel hotter than the air temp of near 90 as reported by riders during warm up on the asphalt climb along the Lester river. Before the race it was good to catch up with many of the riders I have met over the years and catch up on riding and life. What a awesome mountain bike community. The start time was quickly approaching as I opted out of a bit shorter warm up with the hot weather. I knew the biggest challenge for me would be the heat, being the warmest ride of they year for me at 2 hours of near max effort.
The course for this years versions featured a ski trail climb before cutting in to the COGGS singletrack and continued climbing on flowy singletrack before a halfway point which felt like more descending than climbing! Talking to riders afterwards, the upper part of the course felt like it took a steady effort to maintain a pace rolling along at high speed. The second half of the descent featured a newly built super flow segment that was super fast and fun despite the lack of technical features other than the skill set required to keep from crashing in to a tree or rock at all out mode.
Jake was racing Sunday but was feeling the efforts from Saturday after putting in some fast runs to place 7th overall among 75 riders. We both started near the rear but able to move up pretty good after the start. We rode together along with a group of 8 during the first lap. After the first descent which wasn't as fast as we wanted due to the large group in front of us, we accelerated on the climb after passing through the start/finish area to move up a few spots. The effort had me redlining and grabbing a bottle to cool down. Jake saw that I was struggling a bit and wisely moved around me and put the pedal the metal, continuing a pace that moved him up to the top 15.
The second and third lap I tried to ride steady at my own pace trying to keep from overheating and recovering as much on the downhill. Going in to the fourth and final lap, I made a effort to pass a couple people and was pleased to see my body responded well and I continued to pick up the pace. The last short climb before the long final descent, I passed a few more riders and almost got around Kevin Kvlasten but he made a smart move making a effort to hold his position and keep me at bay. I was content following his wheel as he rode a clean line on the flowy downhill and we were passing other riders along the way. The short section of ski trail that broke up the singletrack I tried to attack and go around but Kevin kept full throttle and I could only stay on his wheel. I knew it would come down to a sprint finish which would require a bit of luck and exact precision as we were approaching top end speeds near 35mph. As we approached the final drop to the finish, I went to the inside but Kevin had too much of gap for me to get around. It was an exciting last lap, the fastest one of the race for me and thanks to Kevin for making it a "race" at the end.
After post race formalities, I met up with Jake down at the big lake for a most refreshing swing before a recovery meal and heading back home. It was great to be back in the racing scene, seeing all the great mountain bike folks and big thanks to COGGS and all race officials and organizers for putting on the event.
Related: Gravity Perspective - Cooper Dendel Blog Post
Mountain Bike Fever
Aaron Brown, a writer who write about "Modern Life in Northern Minnesota" recently wrote a piece about mountain biking and economic sustainability. Brown writes:
It's striking to me that we have several top level mountain biking centers throughout the upper midwest — from Cuyuna, to Duluth, to Cable, Wisconsin, to Copper Harbor, Michigan.
Folks here on the Mesabi Iron Range are exploring mountain bike trails as well. On one hand, the marketplace is filling quickly. On the other, the vast infrastructure of potential trails along the mine lands of the Mesabi stagger the imagination.
The persistence of the people involved and the attitude of the communities determine so much. Just like athletics, what starts as a physical challenge always ends up a mental challenge in the end.
Looking Ahead
Flat and Ugly is now race organizers came up with the name "Flugly" an annual mountain bike event held at MB Johnson park in Moorhead. The FM Trailbuilders have done a great job utilizing the rivers edge of the north flowing Red River to provide a fun fast flowing course that can get real interesting quickly with drops of rain. A traveling frame is awarded to the expert winner each year with an obligation to re-paint it for the next year!
The long running Seeley Pre-Fat takes place near the trails of the mighty Chequemegon allowing riders to tune up before the big race in September and provide an opportunity for sweet riding in the CAMBA singletrack system. Not much changes to the event this year as riders can expect the usual grass roots feel.
WORS goes back to back with a marathon type event, hitting up the trails at the Reforestation Camp near Suamico, WI. Ramble is definitely a bit different than the rest with longer laps containing a nice mix of single track, double track.....and the energy zapping rolling hills that have become a must have feature of the Reforestation Ramble. There are different start times and race organizers are also pointing out that there are no dogs allowed due to a new zoo now nearby.
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. |