Midwest MTB Report
A most busy Labor day weekend with events all over the Midwest. Copper Harbor held their annual cross country and gravity events, the Wisconsin series had a race, the Dakota 5-0 in Spearfish, South Dakota drew a nice contingent from Minnesota and Wisconsin along with riders all over the count. Andthe annual mountain bike race at Maplelag which I have been promoting since 1990, went down in between unsettled weather. This weeks report includes a reflective look at the Laddies Loppet weekend and a look ahead to the weekend which includes the final race in the Minnesota series, the first race in the Minnesota and second race in the Wisconsin cycling leagues.
Laddies Loppet
The Laddies Loppet mountain bike race is an event we have been hosting at Maplelag Resort for 25 years. I decided to put on a race after I discovered the sport myself in the spring of my second year of college. Totally got in to it and jumped in to the race scene that summer. After doing a few races that first summer in 1990, I thought it would be fun to host a race on the Maplelag ski trails in the fall of 1990.
The name Laddie comes from an early resort dog that would always be with us when we were building and maintaining trail and so when thinking of a name to call the race, it only seemed appropriate. The Norwegian word Loppet plays off the Norwegian theme at Maplelag, 'Loppet' meaning trail or long endurance race or athletic event which occurs across varied terrain.
The first race was held mostly on ski trails and just a short section of singletrack that we hand built the summer of 1990. Cutting new trails by hand in the deep forest we discovered took a bunch of time so we only had 3/4th of a mile the first year in between working on other projects. The first race we had around 40 participants.
I continued racing, met a great network of riders and was able to spread the word of Laddies Loppet at the races. Over the years I would meet new people, tell them about our event and being able to connect with the racers was key to get people to drive 3-4 hours, as the majority of the mountain bike population was located in the Twin Cities area. Obviously, there wasn’t any Internet or social media like today to spread word fast so it was either mailing or face to face. And that is what has been most memorable, meeting some incredible people and maintaining those friendships, over the years. Lot of these folks are still racing today and now have kids and seeing them get their kids into the old school riding is most rewarding.
We had a small team with Detroit Lakes and Fargo riders which I put together in 1992 and in the spring I had them help me build some more singletrack. We did a weekly time trial series at Maplelag. The races I did in the summer were influential on the trail we built at Maplelag. There was no machine built singletrack back then and most of it was gnarly rocky root trails that really tested the handling skills. I thought if I was going to get better at racing, than it would be good to build trail I was racing on. Over the years, the trails seemed to mellow out, at least for cross country riding and racing and as the advancements in bicycles advanced, more specific bikes started to be built. Gravity racing hit the scene and we are in a transition of trail riding/enduro riding. The technical part of rocky rooty riding has slowly disappeared in cross country racing and is now found in enduro or downhill racing. The cross country course at Maplelag still has most of the original technical sections and fills the niche for riders still wanting this type of experience. Over the years, the recent mountain bike trail built at Maplelag has been more in line with what is found at newer trail systems but we put our own twist on it, not following specific guidelines like most new trails builds today.
We have a great group of volunteers and staff that help make the race happen and wouldn’t happen without them, including my wife Jonell who does an amazing job planning and organizing the details on the side. Race expenses, at least to run at the level we do, have gone up, so sponsorship has increased over the years and without them, we couldn’t do it, especially with the cash payout. I’ve had a cycling friend, Matt Johnson, take on the majority of the sponsorship role and his help has been priceless. We have neighbors help out with the marshaling and we are grateful for all of the volunteers.
The bikers that are racing are from all backgrounds, career paths, ages and ability. Some are very competitive amongst each other, but as in other endurance sports, are very supportive of one another as well, if they have battled back and forth all race, they are proud of the others accomplishments. For example in this years race there was a rider who crashed and was a bit loopy and Denny Barry, a guy who helped tune the trails for three days before the race, stopped and helped him get out walking and loosing his position in his race. There are riders whom are doing just that, riding. Some are serious racers and others brought their bike along and get the racing bug and sign up. It is all for fun! Lots of smiles and feelings of accomplishments. We will often have racers that say, this is the only race they do all year. Racing is tough physically, mentally and mechanical problems can happen anywhere out on the trail. There is a great sense of fellowship during and around the race events the entire weekend long. A unique circumstance at Maplelag, is how we have the meals together, so there is lots of conversations and memories being made. We do sell lunch for those spectators and racers that do not stay over.
The 25th version this year was probably the most memorable. We took a break from being part of the Minnesota State Championship series to throwback to the format in earlier years, running just two races on Saturday for the intermediate to advanced riders then did a citizen race on Sunday, along with kids comp, and a free kids race for beginners, concluding with a short track race (circuit race on a 2 minute lap that is great for spectating and super tight racing) for all classes and ability levels Sunday afternoon. We had our core group of long time supporters spend the majority of the three nights along with some new folks. Our dear friend from St. Paul, always brings some new craft project to busy tone things down a bit for the kids and they love it. We added some new activities including yoga and stand up paddle board yoga led by local instructor Jess Steuwe and capped off the exciting short track racing on Sunday with live music from “Off Duty”. We are proud to provide “hardware” from local vendors, The Trophy House in Detroit Lakes created our medals and Mary Laabs, from Dunton Locks Pottery, created the overall trophies that were custom collector ceramic plates. We try to be different, memorable, useful, something that will bring bikers back, year after year. We did custom pillow cases for the Free kids race, that way, they sleep with it and hopefully remind mom and dad throughout the year to come back to Maplelag. It was also great to see more local riders, many participating in their first mountain bike race. And the area high school group had many participants and the energy of the youth is contagious.
With the format we had this year, it I had a bit more time to interact with the riders and observe and take in the activities going on outside racing. It was so awesome seeing kids playing in the rain after a downpour, climbing on rocks, jumping off the lake dock, testing skills in the dirt jump track and making obstacles with logs we cut up for the wood stoves -- just being kids in this age of technology and hand-held devices.
Friday night a rider went out to pre-ride the course and was having such a good time he continued on to do the whole loop. He got caught in the darkness and with no lighting or cell phone, was lost in the woods. He didn’t have any way to communicate but his girlfriend notified us he had been out for three hours. So I went out backwards on the course and after some yelling and hollering back and forth through the woods on a night thick like pea soup, I was able to find him after 30 minutes. Threw a extra head lamp on him and we made our way back. He was in good spirits and it was fun being out in the deep woods silence after a busy night of registration and after that happened, I knew it was going to be a special weekend.
The weather was super hot and humid and the technical aspect of the race only added to the challenge. Folks were absolutely cooked afterwards. We had short rain shower Friday night that helped settle the dust on the trail and “tack” up the track. Saturday night we had almost an inch of rain but the natural trails and years of fine tuning weathered the water just fine and we were able to hold the full course on Sunday after some early morning trail work with hand tools. After the morning races, we got slammed with a torrential downpour that left close to another inch of rain. It didn’t look good for the afternoon short track races but we modified the 2 minute loop and was able to pull off all the races. There were a lot of black freckled riders and no one complained about it, in fact everyone seemed to enjoy it. We tweaked the expert/pro short track course adding some technical features and it was once again the most exciting race of the weekend and a great way to cap off the racing that led the live music playing in the main lodge.
It’s crazy how fast time flies by and after doing 15 or 20 of these you don’t think of how many you’ve done then last year it was like, wow, next year is number 25 and really made me appreciate the fact we have been able to do it for so long and all the incredible people I’ve met over those years. Monday morning capped off the most memorable weekend, watching the Bacso clan lake jump including Kasey who, as far as I know, was the first one to stick a back flip. Awesome.
Thanks again to all the racers, volunteers, fans, sponsors and everyone else that helped make it a great weekend. Keep the wheels moving!
Saturday coverage on Skinnyski
Looking ahead
With weekly cross races firing up and the series wrapping up in Minnesota this coming weekend, it feels like the season is slowly drawing to an end. Not really. Some of the best riding conditions of the year and the area high school cycling seasons kicking off this weekend.
Cloud Town Shreddin’: Single-Track Escape
The Jail Trail is host to racing action on both Saturday and Sunday with the Minnesota series competing it’s series and the High School season kicking off with its first race. The course features fast flowing singletrack hand built by area Mid Min Cycling club members and always had some nice features, especially in the MNMBS race. The MNMBS race also features the state single speed championships and offers great swag including a Salsa frame to be raffled off.
Race director’s report: "The all-new Single-Track Escape was designed to challenge, not only the Expert riders, but the newcomers as well. Get ready for a challenging mix of fluid single-track with open areas to pass. The course wraps around the west side of the Prison, and will include a couple of medium switch back climbs, unique bridge crossings, and some sections of lightning fast single track where you weave in and out of the trees. Every racer is sure to be pleased when they take on the Single Track Escape."
Minnesota Singletrack Times newsletter: Race #1
Wisconsin High School Cycling League: Hayward Hustle
Race #2 in the Wisconsin Cycling League will take place in Hayward with the Hayward Hustle. The race venue was changed to the trailhead at OO due to construction but either way a great day of racing is on tap.
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. |