Midwest MTB Report
This past week was a awesome display of the coolness of mountain biking. The Duluth Enduro series opened up on Wednesday night, the Thursday night at Buck Hill rolls on providing intense mid week racing in a festive community atmosphere, Lutsen, MN was host to the 99er ultra endurance event, the City of Lakes Tri Loppet featured a mountain biking leg in their triathlon, Marquette was the latest town in the UP to host a cross country mountain bike race and cross country series action went down in Eau Claire with race #4 in the Wisconsin Off Road Series. I know I'm probably missing some other events that happened but kudos to all organizers, volunteers and participants that make it all happen. First hand reports from the Duluth Enduro, Lutsen 99er, The Firecracker in Eau Claire, the Strave Ride of the Week and the look ahead caps this weeks report busy report.
Duluth Enduro Race #1
Wednesday night I made way east to hit up Duluth Enduro race #1. The first race date was postponed due to wet conditions. The skies looked like they could threaten based on early forecasts but the rain held off until later evening for the first race to go down as scheduled. The registration area was just off Hawk's Ridge which is a connector trail for the Lester trail system and was conveniently located in between both stages. The race featured two stages, the first one being a rocky technical newly machine cut trail that had some very short uphill sections. The second stage was a half mile down the trail from the finish of the first one that featured all downhill with flowy switchback, not quite as technical but a few rock gardens to keep riders on their toes but definitely faster than the first stage.
Upon registering, I bumped into Rad Ross Fraboni who set up the courses for the evening and was doing a course check to "make sure you guys don't get lost". Hooked up with son Jake and family friend Ethan and we pre-rode both courses, taking note of key sections that might require special attention while racing. The most noticeable issue being a bridge that popped "out of nowhere" on the second course that wasn't in direct line with the flow of the trail if taken at high speed. At the end of the second course, we rode our way back up to the start. There were just under 90 registrants for a solid turnout for a local midweek race.
At the top we waited for about 15 minutes before our 30 second interval starts among all the riders strung out along Hawk's Ridge enjoying the beautiful view of Lake Superior. There were some familiar faces from cross country racing including a mix of seasoned grizzled vets and newbies. The majority of the bikes among the field were full suspension "trail" bikes including one of the first riders where a bystander shouted out as he pedaled away "there goes a $10,000 bike" I was bib #11, one rider in front of my son Jake who was last year's overall runner up who was followed by first place overall finisher from last year, Barry Buhr. With that said, my goal was to not get caught by Jake after my immediate goal of keeping the rubber side down.
After the first rider was off, the riders seemed to go off quickly and it wasn't long before my run. Off the start I clicked in cleanly and nailed the first line like I wanted. The speeds were faster than our inspection run making for a better flow and roll over the rocks and tech sections. However, the first couple of bigger rocks I bottomed out on my rim and I was afraid I was going to flat. Running a hardtail I took advantage of the pedaling sections to go as hard as I could and try and make time. The rest of the run ran smooth with no more bottom outs and felt good about the run. At the finish I watched the clock to count the seconds until Jake rolled across the line. Many comments were heard of how much pedaling there was but Ross wanted to have a run which did require a bit more pedaling to have a balance between both course and personally I thought it was perfect.
(Pete Stone photo)
With concerns I wasn't running enough tire pressure in the rear, I rode down to the car to add a bit more air to both tires. There wasn't much time until the second run so I rode right up to the staging area. After a couple quick conversations with riders about the first race, we were soon off and running for the second one. At the start of the second one I didn't click in as cleanly and fumbled a few pedal strokes before I got up to speed. There were a few more whoops in the second course that the body had to absorb with no rear suspension and I realized I probably put in a tad too much air as I was bouncing around more. I also rode a bit more tentative not remembering exactly when the bridge was coming up and dark glasses in the dark forest didn't help the cause. Near the end someone yelled out "pedal pedal" which was good motivation to do so.
Made it down rubber side down and caping off some fun short intense racing. Despite my tentativeness in the second run, I had a blast pushing the limits faster than a usual cross country race or trail ride. After the second run, hooked back up with Jake and Ethan for a ride in the Lester trail system making for a awesome evening on the bike. In the parking lot bumped into the winner on the evening, Scott Kylander-Johnson who said "he rode a bit more cautious". Although I have done Super D's in the past, this was the first Enduro in the Midwest and definitely will be back for more! Cross country courses are not as technical as they were 10-15 years ago and Enduro is a nice option for those looking for technical challenges without drops or jumps as often found in downhill races. Thanks for the COGGS group for organizing the fun event.
Lutsen 99er
The biggest news going in to the Lutsen 99er which also featured shorter distances on the day, was the weather. Early forecasts did not look good and organizers where on their toes ready to make any necessary adjustments to keep riders safe and sound. In the end, it turned out to be just fine and the event went down accordingly. Two race recaps from the 99er featuring overall female winner Eleanor Bacso and top 30 finisher Thad Schulz.
(Ben Olson photo)
Eleanor's recap:
On Friday evening I was debating on whether or not to do the Lutsen 99er. The weather forecast looked terrible with massively strong storms slated for Saturday. My husband, Mason Bacso was still planning on doing the race and convinced me enough to finally agree to go. We packed up and left later in the evening, avoiding all of the 35 traffic up the shore. As we headed to our camping spot at a friend's cabin we were getting excited/nervous for the start of the race.
The morning was a little bit cooler and grey. I was constantly checking the weather and radar to see if we were going to get hit with the big storm. As we got loaded up and into the car we got to Lutsen around 6am. This was a pretty early start for the both of us, and even better we were on time and not running late for once! As we got registered we kept running into our friends and other excited racers with the pre-race jitters. As we prepared ourselves and our bikes deciding what we should bring with or leave behind it was already 7:15! We headed to the start line thinking we would be early, unfortunately it looked like almost the whole field of 19ers, 39ers, 69ers and 99ers were already lined up. I wasn't sure what to do and a very nice gentleman let me hand my bike over the top of the fence and we lined up right before the start line of the 69ers.
After an amazing national anthem by a 12 year old star singer, we were ready to go. With a 30 second warning then the gun went off. The controlled pace by the moto was great going down the hill. What wasn't so great was that I started getting really chilled! As we headed out onto the road and up the hill it was interesting to see some folks gun it off the start and others ease into the hill. I kept my head down and continued the revolutions over and over again until we got into the double track where I could catch a breather.
The double track was drier than it had been in years past. It was really fun riding in a big group with others through the woods as the weather turned darker. My stomach was churning from about mile 1-25 because of a poor breakfast that I had eaten. I continued to try to drink water and ate a granola bar. At mile thirty I could hear very loud thunder and began to see some big lightening strikes. The rain opened up on us and it down poured for about 30 minutes straight. At certain points I was unable to really open my eyes because of the massive amount of dirt and gravel that was flying into them.
I did the two big loops during that time frame with the same group mostly. I would pull away a little bit on the double track but then the group would catch right back on. It was really difficult to tell where anyone was in this race because of the loops and the two way traffic. I really had no idea where I was in the pack but I was hoping to be in the top 15.
With about 40 miles to go the photographer I saw by this huge puddle (that is there every year) yelled. "Second woman coming through!" I was really confused and asked him if he was sure that I was second. He said, "Oh yeah, the other girl just came through here." And with that, I was off. At the mile 70 marker aid station I turned to my left and I saw the first place girl! She also saw me too and took a gulp of a Coke and took off.
I followed her lead and began drafting behind for about a minute or so. After that I pulled around her and told her to hold onto my wheel. I kept my pace and it looked like she had been dropped off. I continued to ride hard like this for the next 20 miles. I ran into a friend on the trail and another racer and I tried to pull them for a little bit. After a while they broke off. With the remaining 15 miles of the brutal constant gravel hill climbs I felt like I was slacking off just a little bit too much and it proved to be right.
To my left coming up fast I saw Christina once again, she was pulling off such an amazing race. I hopped onto the bandwagon that was going through and decided to make my move right away once again. With 10 miles to go and some doubletrack/single track left. I laid it all out on the line.
With the last extremely long and steep climb I was so excited and couldn't believe that this was actually happening. My friends were cheering and soon as I crossed the finish line I was met by Mason. He asked, "So did you really win?" I responded with, "I think so, yes."
I am so appreciative of all of the support of my family and friends have given me over the years in racing. I never would have thought I could have done anything like this before. I really owe a huge thanks to Mason for always dragging me out on those long rides when I didn't want to go and for always believing in me. Also, a big thank you to my mom and dad who told me to never give up on myself.
Thad's recap:
The Lutsen 99er starts with a controlled rollout starting down the resorts driveway down to highway 61. The grade of the driveway is a step enough decent that there is a strong smell of hot brake pads all the way down to the bottom. The pace moto keeps the race controlled until the base of the 1000ft caribou trail climb.
Just before the base of the climb I got together with fellow teammate Ben Olson and we started going up the climb at a good pace passing a lot of people and we could see the leaders in the distance. The course then took us to numerous double track roads and ski trails. After about 2 hours of racing we started to see some lightning flashing overhead and the the dreaded thunder telling us that the storm was very close. Then the rain started and it continued for what seemed for over a hour. It was so hard to keep our sunglasses from fogging that Ben and I decided put our glasses in our drop bags at mile 41. I was truly impressed with the speed the crew at the aid station. They found our drop bags less than 6 seconds.
With all of the wet trails and roads it was almost impossible to draft behind anyone. So I changed my race strategy from conserve as much energy as possible to ride on the front and bridge every gap anytime I saw a rider in front of me. I distinctly remember checking with Ben after a gravel section and Ben telling me "I would pull, but you need to slow down!" To which I replied "no I'm feeling great".
I kept on eating gels about every 30 mins to keep my energy high. By about mile 70 we were riding with a pretty good sized group of about 8 to 12 riders I kept on riding on the front because it seemed like I was the strongest in my group and I wanted get some extra warning for any obstacles that were on the course.
It seemed like between miles 75-85 we were passing someone every couple minutes. It was at this time I got so caught up in racing that I forgot to eat anything for about a hour and my energy levels started to drop. We also passed a aid station without stopping and I was out of water. At the last aid station I stopped for two water bottles and lost contact with our group. I gradually caught back up with Ben Olson who actually waited for me out of respect because of all of the time I spent riding on the front. We finished the last mile or so together riding up the last climb with countless spectators cheering us on. We finished the Lutsen 99er just over 6.5 hours nearly 30min faster than our goal of 7hrs.
Firecracker Race #4 in WORS
Long time racer and mountain bike advocate Matt Johnson was one of many mountain bikers from Minnesota to make the trek into Wisconsin for race #4 in their series. Matt provides a nice recap from the day:
Our family has raced in Eau Claire a number of times and we were excited to be going back after missing a couple of years. The CORBA (Chippewa Off Road Bike Association) volunteers run great events and I really appreciate their trail building philosophy. The Firecracker course in particular has many unique features including rocky drops, creek crossings, and root filled climbs. The WORS events are always well organized and narrated by Director Don Edberg with his familiar commands.
This year my son Cole and I made the 90 minute trip from the Twin Cities. Cole has been racing in the Citizen category this year, which has been a great distance for fast racing. Cole has found that all of the ages racing in Citizen this year have been fun to race with and they work together well to make everyone's race successful. This was our second WORS race this season and Cole was again able to make the podium, finishing third in his age group, with a Top 10 finish overall. His finishing time was nearly 50 minutes and with temperatures approaching 90 degrees he was plenty warm at the finish.
I lined up for the Sport race with a number of familiar faces from Minnesota. The race starts with a long flat rollout that gave us all a chance to settle into a good pace before hitting the singletrack. The singletrack trails have great rhythm with corners you can carve and short climbs where you can maintain momentum up and over. The singletrack is linked together with doubletrack sections that create passing opportunities before ducking back into the woods. I had a good start and pushed hard going into lap two but I was running out of gas. I decided to back it down on the doubletrack and save my energy for the fun singletrack. It was great to be able to clean the drops, rock gardens and creek crossings. My finish was not as strong as I had expected, but the awesome singletrack trails made for a great day.
(Matt Johnson photo)
The Elite field featured the top riders from Wisconsin including Nathan Guerra (Vision Cycling) who won the Men's race. Brendan Bellow (Penn Cycle) was the top Minnesotan at 14th overall, followed closely by Justin Michels (Diablo Cycling) in15th and Hudson's Ryan Fitzgerald (LaMere Cycles) in 20th. The Women's race was won by Leia Schneeberger (Broken Spoke Racing). Minnesota was represented well by Robin Williams (U1HVC Specialized) in 3rd and Corey Coogan Cisek (The Fix Studio) in 4th.
Strava Ride of the Week
Here in the Midwest we are fortunate to have so many awesome trails to ride and race on. However, there is nothing like riding out west and the endless miles of trail. The snow has receded in the high country and the high alpine riding is about as good as it gets. Quite a few folks from the Midwest out west right now and the month of July always a popular time for folks to make a trip for riding and maybe include a race. This week's Strava Ride of the week comes off of Julie Gujer's Strava feed who was out in Colorado for a NICA conference and logged some nice rides of course. Getting more kids on bikes and getting a bike ride in -- Nice.
Lumberjack 100 – Michigan
Mountain Bike Race news recently featured an article on the Lumberjack 100 Enduro race.
Looking Ahead
While racing is a bit light this coming weekend leading up to the July 4th holiday, there is a cool race to check out in Iowa, the Whiterock Conservancy Liberty Bell Cup. Race directors report on the website: The 5,5000 acre non-profit land trust that is host to the event, balances sustainable agriculture, natural resource protection, and public recreation on the landscape. Located near Coon Rapids, Iowa along seven miles of the Middle Raccoon River valley, they are open to the public every day for recreation and exploration.
With 16 miles of bike optimized singletrack trails and 12 miles of shared used trails, there is plenty of room to find new adventures. Trails are professionally designed and built to have varying degrees of difficulty to test and build your skills.
Race categories for all skill level including marathon and a fat bike division.
The LaCrosse area mountain bikers have a couple events coming up this summer including a short track series and a women's clinic. The women's clinic will be held on July 16th and feature yoga, good eats, mountain bike skills session and door prizes.
A short track series kicked off in late June and the next event is slated for July 6th. I can't say enough awesome things about short track, not only for training but the fun factor. The hurricane of pain! Kudos to the LaCrosse community for hosting a rare short track series, something I think we could see more of in the Midwest. Bodes well for both mountain bikers, road bikers and cross riders preparing for the season that seems to start earlier each year.
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/LaMere/Paramount/Jake's Bikes mountain bike team and enters his 26th year of racing and promoting mountain bike races. Have an event or mountain bike related information to share from the Midwest? Feel free to contact Jay at |