Midwest MTB Report
Mother Nature dished out some wet weather this past weekend which forced the cancellation of the Minnesota series race during the sport event but made epic conditions for the Wisconsin Off Road Series Race #6 which also served as the Midwest Mountain Bike Championships. This weeks report includes highlights from these events including a exclusive recap from race winner Isaac Neff, the Strava Ride of the Week, News and Notes and a look ahead to the last weekend of July!
Border Crossing
Racers in the Minnesota Mountain Bike Series hopped across the border to ride and race on the popular trails at White Tail Ridge just outside River Falls, WI. Organizers forewarned riders the day before the policy on cancelling the day of race but come race day the decision was made to have the race despite forecast radar not looking to promising for dry conditions. The Citizen and Kid's Comp classes went off without a hitch with some good racing. The predicted rain starting building from the west and a one hour race delay was put in place. Marathon and Sport classes started as sounds and sights of thunder and lightning were in the distance. After one lap, the race was called and the riders were pulled from the course. There were mixed feelings from the racers as riders came from 2-4 hours away expecting to race in possible muddy conditions but others were understanding of the decision by the Kinnickinnic Off Road Cyclists, (KORC) the local club responsible for maintaining the trails and concerns the course would get trashed.
Latest statement from the Minnesota series: "The cancellation of the event in the middle of the race day is something we have not had happen and we will work with KORC to see what options are available for us."
Midwest Mountain Bike Championships
Despite rain that wasn't entirely expected during the races, the Midwest Mountain Bike Championships went on at Cascade Mountain under old school mountain bike conditions in good ol fashion mud. Minnesota Junior Rider Samuel Elson stated on Insta after his race "it was basically who could run through the mud faster" Cross country winner in the Pro/Elite race, Issac Neff provides an exclusive report from the xc race which also saw downhill, short track, and enduro races:
The Wisconsin Off Road Series has long called itself "the largest state mountain bike series in the US" so it was fitting that WORS would host the inaugural USA Cycling Midwest Mountain Bike Championships. The host venue was the former ProXCT course at Nordic Mountain outside Portage Wi.
The trails at Nordic Mountain, not ridden for most of the season, are tight and twisty with plenty of up and down. The course offers a challenge for all racers.
Leading up to the MWMTBC weekend there was a small chance of rain for Saturday, but never enough to take notice of, the stifling heat dominating most peoples' minds. However, as time rolled into Saturday, it became apparent that it would rain at some point during the day. Still, no one expected the complete deluge and high winds that rolled in mid-day. The conditions that were, in the morning, dominated by high heat, became a true mud fest in the afternoon.
For some reason over the years, I have come to love racing in the mud. Maybe it's my cyclocross background or maybe it's because I do seem to do better when things get slick. Either way, as the rain fell, I was feeling better and better about my chances for the day and was looking forward to an opportunity to race a "true mudder".
Amazingly, after only a 10min delay the men's Cat 1 and Pro fields were off. The course was definitely slick and there were a number of wrecks right away. As a result, large gaps in the field formed almost immediately. About halfway through the first lap of three, shortened from the originally scheduled four, a lead group consisting of Tristan Schouten, Nathan Guerra, Brian Matter, and myself came together. Brian and I both made mistakes in the "skills park" section and Tristan and Nathan got a gap.
Going into the second lap Brian was having trouble holding onto his over-pressurized tires and took a ride on the slip and slide while exiting a corner. A short way in I was able to make contact with a running Nathan whose tires didn't seem to have the traction to ride a few of the steeper pitches. I was able to ride past and started off in pursuit of Tristan, who by this time had a sizable gap and was riding flawlessly through the mud.
As luck (for me) would have it, Tristan's tire found a sharp rock and his day was done. That put me solo in first place half way through the second lap. I knew there was no time to play tactics and worked as hard as I could to grow my advantage, a now lower pressurized (he stopped and let air out of his tires) Brian and an always-motivated Nathan in hot pursuit.
Going into the last lap I was told I had a roughly 2min gap. I knew this could be enough if I rode clean and didn't make any major mistakes. I was able to ride clean the last lap, and came out of the last down hill corner alone and in first place – my first win of the season.
(Photo credit: XTR)
Telluride 100
Although the Telluride 100 obviously isn't on the Midwest race calendar, one of my favorite mountain bikers I follow along, Frederic Schmidt, was at the start line. The local newspaper did a nice article on him and a reminder how inspiring Frederic is to so many mountain bikers. Frederic posted on Facebook of his race:
(Photo credit: Mountain Bike Action)
"Finished one lap (40 miles) of the Telluride 100. Not acclimated yet. 12,700 ft high and lots of steep long climbs. Sorry not to complete. Not enough daylight! But great training for LT100"
Strava Ride of the Week
This weeks ride of the week goes to Thad Schulz, arguably the faster cyclist in Menagha, who has been know to blast through boat trailers that have been camped out on the side of the road. But the ride that gets the nod is "Carbohydrate Blow Off Valve" named because he had excess carbs from being pulled in the marathon race in the Border Battle. Love the title -- Keep the wheels moving.
News and Notes
Roadies vs Mountain Bikers
The roadie versus mountain biker is an endless batter. I always say mountain biking makes you a better road biker and road biking can make you a better mountain biker!
The latest article on Singletracks.com generating some buzz is the effort required in mountain biking versus road biking. A detailed article, interesting read.
Trail Heros
Depending on exact location, it has been a very wet July with some nasty storms. Bemidji and Duluth a few communities without power recently along with a ton of trees down on trails and forest roads. It has been a busy few weeks for trail maintenance folks to say the least. After our most recent wind storm here at Maplelag, I went out on course to check the damage and was "blown" away to come across at least 50 full size trees with big tops on the singletrack alone. Probably another 50-75 on the ski trails. After posting a ride on Strava with some photos of the fallen trees, I had a handful of folks contact me about helping clear trees. A big thank you to Collin Gunderson, Pat Crary, Steve Wenzel and Ben Olson for 5 days of massive tree, branch, limb, stick and twig clearing during the hottest days of summer. The best part about it is being fortunate to ride it right after the track is all polished and buffed. I know trails throughout the Midwest have required a lot of TLC and a big shout out to all the folks keeping the tight and twisty shreddable.
Summer Heat
Its been a hot and steamy summer as of late and with that comes finding the right formula for training, diet, and possibly most importantly is hydration. Some athletes seem to cramp more than other athletes. The Wall Street Journal did an article on preventing muscle cramps.
Mountain Bike North Dakota
North Dakota might not be on the top of the list for most mountain bikers but if you haven't experienced the Mah Da Hey trail, it is definitely a trail to put on the bucket list. The Bismarck Tribune recently ran an article on the growing mountain bike scene in North Dakota.
(Photo credit: Greg Ames)
Related: Maah Daah Hey Trail Website
Upcoming Events
A relatively quiet last weekend in July before the events crank up big time in August. Few upcoming items to note:
The Three Rivers Parks has a full slate of mountain bike events for the month of August including midweek race series, camps and clinics. The sprint series starts today at Elm Creek!
The Blue Mound State Park will be host to the Mad City Dirt Fest Mountain Bike Festival featuring music courtesy of DJ Hougas, games/contests, group rides, bike demos and repair stands and 40 pounds of "shredded" pork.
The gravity dudes in the Duluth area have redlined the stoke meter in anticipation of the enduro and downhill events to be held at Spirit Mountain as part of the Duluth Mountain Bike Festival. Of course there will be the cross country race on Sunday which is part of the Minnesota Series. The cross country race will be also held at Spirit Mountain which has the seasoned grizzled vets of cross country super excited in anticipation of a course similar to the old Powder Monkey track. The Hawk Ridge location was not secured as a result of not being able to get a permit from the city of Duluth. A big registration push is going on now.
(Photo: Cross country racing at Spirit Mountain, MNSCS 2007)
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 |