Midwest MTB Report
A break in series racing in Minnesota and Wisconsin allowed racers to hit up other events on the calendar including National Championships that were held throughout the world. This weeks report includes first hand recaps from Harmon Lake Otter Creek 55, the Elm Creek Menacing 40, USA Cycling National mountain bike championships, the BC bike race, the Icelandic National Mountain Bike Championships, the Strava Ride of the Week, select news and notes and the look ahead as we endure one of the hottest weeks of the summer so far.
USA Cycling National Championships
JR Rider Samuel Elson from Breezy Point, MN. made his way to Mammoth California to compete in Nationals. Samuel spent a few weeks beforehand to acclimate to the high altitude and provides a recap on both the cross country and short track events where he posted a solid top five finish to land a spot on the podium in the later event.
Just got back to Minnesota after being in Mammoth lakes for almost two weeks for the USA mountain bike national championships. I got out there about nine days before the first race to try and acclimate, which apparently wasn't enough. The cross country race was first, and I had a really rough day. Started out in the front group of about 7, but I just kept falling back throughout the whole race. The legs felt like they couldn't push at all, and I ended up about mid pack out of the 94 kids in my race. The next day, I raced the junior short track. The legs felt a lot better for this race, but I still feel like I could've done better. The lap was very short(even for a short track) and it was pretty dangerous as well. After the race, I talked to 3 of my friends who crashed and had to drop out because of how hectic the race was. Anyways, I had to work my way up the pack for the first few laps, because I was called up a couple rows back. After I settled in, the race became very tactical. The lead group slowly got whittled down, starting around 25 and we ended up being a lead group of 7 for the last few laps. As expected, the pace kept ramping up during the final minutes. On the last lap, Quinn Simmons took off. Nobody seemed to want to chase him, so I took off myself. I got within 20 feet of him, but the two I was towing got around me at the finish and I didn't have anything left. Quinn Simmons held on to the win. I ended up in 4th, 1.1 seconds away from winning a national championship. After what happened in the cross country race, I was relieved to know that I could still ride with the fastest kids in the country. Overall, it was a wonderful trip in an amazing place. Even though I didn't get the results I was looking for, the trip was still worth it.
Iceland National Mountain Bike Championships
Last week my wife Jonell. and sons Jake and Jens were fortunate to take a vacation to Iceland to observe the absolutely stunning landscape and visit our friend Steve Gromatka who currently resides in the west fjord community of Isofjordur working as a Nordic ski coach. We spent a few days in the city of Reykjavik before heading up to the west fjords taking in popular visitor spots and also enjoying some of the local trails with our mountain bikes. We relied on talking to locals and of course Strava to find areas to ride. The two favorite areas were located near the Hedmorka park and Bláfjell alpine ski area, both 20-40 minutes from Reykjavik. The highlight ride was a 20 mile gradual decent connecting the aforementioned areas that offered trail, scenery and surface like I have never experienced before.
The end of the week we made our way up to the village of Isofjordur, driving back roads on some incredible one vehicle lane routes that offered breathtaking scenery among a backdrop of a sun that never set. Isofjordur was celebrating it's 150th anniversary in conjunction with it's annual endurance events held each mid July that included a half marathon road running race, a marathon mountain bike race and a mountain half marathon running event. The National federation for cycling decided to use the mountain bike event for it's National Championship venue which was held in the village of Phingery on a course know as Vesturgatan.
When we planned the trip we were not aware of the mountain bike event until a month or so before Steve mentioned there was a mountain bike race if were were interested. Even though were were content on just riding trails in terrain among the majestic fjords, the idea of competing in a mountain bike race in Iceland was intriguing. A week or so before Steve said the race was also going to serve as the National Championships. I was't sure if we would still be able to compete but figured we we sort it out at registration and if we couldn't race, we would just ride. Steve was competing in the half marathon on Friday evening and we joined him in registering Friday afternoon and got all set for our race on Saturday. After registering which involved no forms to fill out or waivers to sign and simply telling the registration person our information as she punched it in to the computer we had plans go out for a short spin on the road/gravel/mountain roads but got distracted by sweet singletrack that went right next to a cascading waterfall and spent more time exploring around there.
Race time on Saturday was at 10am in the nearby village of Phingery, two fjords and a hour drive away. When we left Isofjordur there were low clouds covering the tops of the mountains and I was thinking that the climb involved in the course would offer some possible weather. That would not be the case as we drove through a tunnel early in our journey over and when we came out of the tunnel, the skies were mostly clear offering mouth dropping views and clear visibility. We didn't concern ourselves with getting much of a warm up ride in since we knew there would be a controlled start for around 3 miles.
The start was easy roll out of town dictating by the race organizer on a pace car. We made our way along the coast for a few clicks than took a left into a field to begin a 6.5 mile Category 2 climb up the mountain. The wind was at our back and the temperature quickly jumped 10 degrees making for a surprisingly hot climb. We rode together as we watched the field string out along the mountain. At about the halfway point, a local farmer was providing feeds that was sure to help us "fly up the mountain". We didn't fly up, in fact we stopped to take off an layer. We continued on enjoying incredible vistas and I had a hard time going full on race mode with the scenery and the urge to snap a thousand photos.
We made our way up to the top and I had to stop to take a quick photo and absorb the view of a fjord behind us and a fjord in front of us as we prepared for a pretty much straight-line descent from the pass to the edge of the coast. Not having ridden the course before, we were a bit hesitant on the downhill with the multiple rocks, stream crossings, ruts and dips. Plus the view was absolutely stunning and was hard to focus on full on racer moe. However, the downhill would be our fastest segment on the one big loop race course.
After a safe decent to the coast, we would continue on a rocky relentess road that followed outside the "fjord finger". It was around 14 miles of this type of terrain and the most punishing on the south side. There were a few spots we rode past some small waterfalls that offered a refreshing splash. We would be passed by a few riders didn't have any major concern of reeling them back in, due to the time taking photos along the way and also stopping at the feed station for a few minutes. As we made our way back to the start area, we battled a stiff head wind but nothing to severe compared to Iceland standards.
We finished in just over 3 hours and proceeded to the food station which turned out to be one of the sweetest food tents ever, there was a group of ladies making fresh waffles! I had three before we cleaned up and got on the road not before a short visit with the winner who was Iceland's National champion and the first mountain biker from Iceland to compete in the recent World Championships. The rest of the day was spent exploring along the fjords, beaches and checking out a possible road to climb the next day in a town just east of Isofjordur. It would turn out to be another dramatic climb once again offering amazing scenery and riding. We really lucked out on the weather with no rain, relatively soft winds and abundant sunshine.
The Vestagaran is held every year and definitely a race I would put on the bucket list. The race is unlike anything I have ever competed in before. The variety of terrain, riding surface and the take your breath away scenery. There is endless riding in Iceland, most of it not being marked making for added adventure.
Iceland Photos: Maplelag, Gudmag
Harmon Lake Otter Creek 55
Mother Nature had the final hand in the Otter Creek 55, a marathon event outside Mandan, ND. An intense storm during the event forced organizers to call the event. Steve Wenzel recaps what went down:
The second annual Otter Creek 55 MTB race at Harmon Lake recreation area out by Bismarck, ND was held Saturday, July 16. There were three race options – 16, 29 or 55 miles. The race is on a 13.5 mile loop around Harmon Lake with over 1000 ft of climbing per loop. There is a variety of riding terrain throughout the loop – flowing single track , punchy climbs and of course the wide open prairie that tucks you in and around Harmon Lake.
I personally sat on the fence way too long before I signed up. Then, towards the end of the week, the weather in the Bismarck area did not look very dry. Needless to say, I made the 3 hour trip west from Fargo and of course ran into rain just outside of Bismarck. Upon arriving at the event, I learned that the race start had been delayed by at least two hours pending additional rain. All good, I had the whole day to hang out and it is easy when you're chatting it up with like minded people and catching up with old friends.
Good news, the race was on and we were starting at 11:30! Any rain left in the area was looking like it was going NE....sure it was. We weren't more than 15 minutes into the start and a micro burst hit the single track on the east side of the loop turning some of the track into pure grease. The rain ended quickly - out on the prairie sections things had dried out nicely and everything was looking good. Round two - the skies to the North were threatening and near black. All of a sudden, the temperature dropped 20 degrees and BOOM the skies opened up with hail and dumping rain. In no time at all, the single track was a stream and I was glad I was wearing a helmet due to the hail. I was only a mile or so from the start/ finish and knew when I cross over the line my day was done.
I was lucky, it was still raining when I ended my loop, my bike still rolled. When the dump stopped, the riders still on the track ended up plugging up their bikes and playing hike a bike.
What can you do? The weather is always unpredictable. Nathan Kupfer and the guys at Epic Sports in Bismarck did an excellent job of hosting and rallying around the weather. Plenty of food, beer and a couple of bikes to give away.
No regrets here....I was able to catch up with people I hadn't seen for awhile mixed in with some sweet mountain biking. Great adventure – I highly recommend putting this on your calendar for July 2017.
Elm Creek Menacing 40
Kyia Anderson was one of the riders to compete in the Elm Creek Meancing 40 last weekend and provides a recap:
I learned of the Elm Creek Menacing 40 earlier last week and had it on my mind but was really planning on a road ride with a few local hammer heads. After a quick spin on the MTB on Friday night I called up Nate and told him to pick me up, it was time to MTB! Bright and early we rolled out of St. Cloud and headed to the fast track at Elm Creek. The Menacing 40 did not disappoint, it was difficult to find a place to take a drink, sweaty tree branches slapping the face, slammed into a tree going way too fast... It was a menace! But it was AWESOME! I had a blast going full throttle through the single track, the track had me guessing at every turn and twist. I hammered the open grassy sections and finally dialed one technical feature after messing the first three times of going into it too hot. So fun to see the MN MTB crew again and the race promoters did an amazing job with everything. The trail was in great shape thanks to MORC, the food and beer was flowing after the race, For Free! thanks to Maple Grove Cycling and the top prize blew me away! $500 gift card to The House Boardshop! Thank you Framed Bicycles and all the other sponsors that made this event what it was and a big thanks to Matt Johnson and his son Cole providing water handoffs.
BC Bike Race
A handful of Midwest riders made way to beautiful British Columbia last week to compete in the BC Bike race. The twitter feed was a good one, updating the race as it happened and posting clips of the sweet singletrack. The husband and wife duo of Justin and Jenna Rinehart of Mankato, MN, won the mixed division by a handily margin and Justin stated on Facebook:
We wrapped up the BC bike race today winning the final stage and winning the overall GC for the mixed team category. We were only 40 seconds off of beating all of the men's team categories as well for the GC. That's 40 seconds over 20 hours of racing. Just goes to show you gotta push it till you cross the line because you never know. This was the hardest physical thing I've ever done! I couldn't have asked for a better teammate in my wife Jenna. This was all her idea and we didn't kill each other. Onto the next adventure.
Strava Ride of the Week
This weeks Strava Ride of the Week goes to my son Jake who rode with me during the Iceland Natz race. Jake wasn't real keen on racing the Iceland race, being more content on just riding some sweet local trails. However, I talked him in to racing and it was great having him along the course. Selling off his cross country bikes last fall, he was rolling one of our older 26 hardtail bikes that was great for climbing but punishing on the rocky coast line. Nice work Jake!
Sweet Syrup
Having grown up on a maple syrup operation, I was fortunate to experience pure maple syrup almost daily throughout the year. Not only is delicacy that requires 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup awesome on the usual items like pancakes, waffles and french toast, it serves well on ice cream, hot cereal and straight up as pure energy. Recent silver medalist in the World Championships, Lea Davison, who hails from maple syrup in Vermont, was one of the athletes featured in Eating Well magazine that naturally tells of her fondness of pure maple syrup.
Technical Trails
Singletrack.com recently came up with a reader identified list of the most technical trails in the country. No Midwest trails were on the list
(photo: James S of Dakota Ridge Trail near Denver, CO)
Looking Ahead
The Minnesota series hops across the border again to hit up the White Trail Ridge trails, one of the more popular courses in the series for racing on Saturday. The course features a mix of fast-flowing single track, roots and rocks, fast downhill sections, wide open fields, leg scorching climbs and a signature elevated wooden berm.
Midwest Mountain Bike Championships
Race #6 in the Wisconsin Off Road Series will serve as the Midwest Mountain Bike Championships. Cascade Mountain near Portage, Wisconsin will be the selected venue. The event promises to display the high level of production from past WORS Cups, providing a UCI level experience for participants, spectators, and exhibitors alike. Sanctioned as USA Cycling's Midwest Regional Mountain Bike Championship for Cross-country (XC), Short Track (STXC) and Enduro, the MWMBC will offer both Championship and Non-Championship for all ages and levels of experience. This three day event, (one practice day, two days of competition), is slated to draw racers from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin
The Miner's Revenge is one of the more unique races in the Midwest as it involves racing through tunnels and lights being required!! Organizers say this about the course: "Steep climbs, rolling singletrack, fun descents, and riding with bats. The race takes place at the Adventure Mine in Greenland, MI. Part of the 6 mile lap is through the underground mine. Because of the total darkness a GOOD light is required for the XC race."
There are also downhill and enduro races which makes for a great weekend of mountain biking.
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 |