Midwest MTB Report
Fall in full effect, noticed especially by the suddenly shorter days that makes day time riding bit more challenging now. Despite the end of season, a busy weekend with a couple of races and good crowds reported in the destination areas including Duluth which is seeing traffic on the new trails popping up left and right including a Cat 3 mountain bike climb. This weeks report includes highlights from the final race in the Minnesota series and the two races in Moorhead put on by the FM Trailbuilders, a couple news and notes items and a look ahead to the final race we will be covering this season, Black's Grove Crossing.
Border Crossing
The track of WhiteTail ridge in River Falls, WI was host to the final race for the Minnesota series this past Saturday, a make up date for race #5 in the Minnesota series as a result of wet weather earlier in the summer that forced organizers to postpone. The course was blown free of leaves the day before making for a fast track under nice fall weather. Mountain bike riding and racing continued all weekend as the course was open for pre-riding after the MNMBS for the high school races on Sunday.
Overall Elite winner Jeff Hall posted:
Great last "makeup" race of the year. River Falls is such a fun course with some good climbs and technical single track. Took home another win aboard the LaMere semi fat rigid bike. It was the perfect choice for that race. Took a lap to get the legs going and after that I felt pretty good. Great job to all the racers who came out.
More Border Racing
The FM Trailbuilders were host to two races this past weekend, Saturday at MB Johnson Park and Sunday at Gooseberry Park. The builders have done a nice job the past few years expanding mountain bike opportunities in the Fargo Moorhead area and the weekend served as one of the major fundraisers for the season.
Local Pat Crary took in both days and files a report:
The Fargo Moorhead Trail builders planned on having our 2 races this summer on separate weekends but we ended up rescheduling them both for this previous weekend due to rained out conditions earlier this summer and availability of volunteers and it couldn't have been more of a success! The weather was perfect and our turnout was phenomenal !! We kicked off the weekend on Friday night with a casual night ride at MB Johnson park . Head count was 32 riders all wearing illuminated bright lights and big smiles . We rode 2 laps and got a taste of what was to come the next day for our race called the Flugly ( Flat and ugly ) .
The Flugly kicked off early Saturday morning with ideal conditions after some hard course preparations and new additions to the course. Big thanks to all that helped and volunteered especially James B., Luc W. , Jason A. , Chad G. , and Brandon A. ! MB Johnson is roughly a 4 mile loop that loops around the outskirts of the park along the Red River and finishes off with a 1/2 mile open field grassy run to the North entrance of the single track. Tight single track in most areas make it tough to pass while in the woods.
The novice race was a 2 lap ride and had 14 riders . Top 3 women were 1. Kristy Erdman 2. Brittney Dorn 3. Olivia Gefrah, and the men included 1.Phil Lundberg 2. Lawson Craft 3. Nels Wicklund. After they finished the Advanced riders took off running 2 laps and finished strong with a great turnout. Top 3 men finishers included 1. Joe Martin 2. Joh Wagner 3. Zacj Boeiter. They had 21 total riders for a exciting and packed race course.
Immediately following the awards the main race which is called "The Joker" began. This race is unique because the riders are uncertain on how many laps we were going to ride. It consisted of a variable amount of laps and made for some interesting tactics and preparation. The variable depended on 4 cards. One being a joker( which signals the last lap aka the white flag) and the others were a 4,3, and 2. All 4 cards were placed face down at the start /finish line table and after the first lap the leader quickly grabs a card which determined the next # of laps, and of course Greg Ames pulled the 4 ! I was in the lead trio after our first lap and the 4 changed our tempo big time. Dave Jenson took off on the open field section and entered the single track with me and Greg in chase mode but he boosted ahead of me by a minute or 2 for the next 2 laps , and unfortunately Greg had a crash sometime soon after our 2nd lap. The course opened up as we racked up laps and as my 5th lap was finishing up I was hoping to see the Joker card but instead saw the #3 card. Of course !! So I kept chasing and pushed on. I could see who was chasing me and noticed Kelly Bjerke followed by Rick Heitkamp starting to gain on me as my legs began to really feel the 7th lap. My left hamstring started to cramp so I tried to slow and hydrate more but had to stop and stretch. Kelly Bjerke sailed by me and looked very fast and ready for more laps. I was done !! I got going again and started to feel fine but sluggish to say the least. The Joker gods had mercy on us and Dave pulled the Joker as I slugged by the finish line and was relieved to see the Joker card being waved at me by the hecklers. The 9th lap was torture !!! As I crossed the open field I couldn't see who was behind me but knew Race H. was charging hard and I needed to step up and dig deep to hang on to 3rd . I knew Kelly was long gone so I tried to pace my self and considered a photo finish being a possibility with Race and knew I'd lose. When I finally spotted Rick was trailing me he was in full on chase mode and I knew I had to step on it. When I finally popped out of the single track and headed to the finish line I knew I was about 30 seconds ahead of him so I gave it all I had for the last sprint barely taking 3rd by 14 seconds!
9 laps = 36 miles and we ended up with 18 total riders. 1st place David Jensen 2nd Kelly Bjerke and 3rd Pat Crary. Many riders hoped for a shorter race ( me included) but quite a few others wanted to see a grind-athon endurance ride, and they got what they wished for !
(Photo: Pat Crary goose chasing)
Sunday kicked off the 2nd annual Wild Goose Chase at Gooseberry Park and the weather cooperated again with a few clouds and slight South wind. Gooseberry is similar to Mbj being very hard to pass and tight singletrack trail @ approximately 4 miles . We had a modified course setup for the kids and started the morning with 8 riders ready to eat up the trail. The lead group ripped through 1.5 miles of trail and finished taking on one of the jump lines ! Great job by such rad youth riders who are already pedaling machines !! 1st place girls was Amelia Hawley and 2nd place Holly Maki . 1st place boys Hayden Leiseth , 2nd James Lien and 3rd Tyler Coombs. They zipped around our trail so fast I made them ride it again. They had no complaints !
Our Novice class ( 2 laps ) began with 20 men and women. The start consisted of a small roll in before entering the single track just behind the main shelter / Ramada. Few passing areas on the Gooseberry route so the start was key for getting a hole shot and J.C. Larson didn't waste any time getting up front. He was chased by Sean Hatten and Mike Allmendinger on the first lap and extended his lead finishing up with a fast time around 31 minutes. Sean and Mike raced hard and finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Top 3 women finishers included 1st Brittney Dorn, 2nd Maria Amundsen, and 3rd Lisa Neshum.
The Elite class ( 6 laps ) and advanced class ( 4 laps ) started together in the same roll in fashion as the Novice. I planned on tailing one of the many fast riders and moving up to the front right away but wasn't aggressive enough. Chad Weisgram showed us all how do execute a hole shot. He immediately bolted in front of everyone as we entered the singletrack and ran away with the win. I was in 6th place upon entering the singletrack following David Jensen, John Struychinski, and a couple other riders ahead of John. Our pace wasn't up to speed getting bottle necked in a few spots and Chad continued to gain time on our chase group. John , David and I proceeded to pass riders and tried to chase Chad and were soon joined by Matt Engen as we rounded lap 1. John , Matt and I started to gain ground trading pulls until Matt jumped in front and dropped John and I like a bad habit. Chad kept on charging and I could see him gaining more time while I noticed Matt was closing in but still a min or 2 behind him. On lap #3 John took a minor spill and I passed him but shortly after I spun out on a right hand corner that had turned to sandy hard pack. John passed me and I jumped up and continued to give chase but 15 seconds afterwards I heard the familiar sound---- clink clink clink ---- and knew my saddle pack had opened up. Deja VU!! I stopped and found my multi tool , co2 and stuffed them back in my pouch as David Jensen passed me ...putting me in 5th at the time. With roughly 2 laps to go the crowd was pumping us up and I felt a 2nd wind coming on and started to gain ground. I noticed David had passed John who was a couple minutes ahead of me so I pressed on but never caught him. Final results Elite men 1st Chad Weisgram, 2nd Matt Engen, 3rd David Jensen. Advanced men 1st Steve Hausmann 2nd Ryan Schutte and 3rd Joe Martin.
Thanks everyone who participated , cheered, watched, raced, and sponsored our double header weekend.
Robin Williams Bike Collection
It's possible Robin Williams loved bicycles as much as anyone has ever loved bicycles. The late Oscar-winning actor is best remembered for his relentless comic energy and films like "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Good Will Hunting," but away from the public eye, Williams was an obsessive cyclist who found joy and camaraderie in the sport, and was often seen pedaling the roads near his Bay Area home atop one of his many colorful bicycles. The Wall Street Journal created a kaleidoscope of his bicycles, some of which will be auctioned off for charity. Rolling Stone featured some of his bicycles as well recently that will be available to bid online until October 25th.
Keeping the Jank Janky
The July 21st wind storm took a huge toll on Hartley Park in Duluth including the multi-use trails that the (Cyclists of Gitchee Gumme Shores) COGGS works to maintain. In Hartley alone, the paid COGGS Crew spent 5 weeks removing dangerous, fallen and hung-up trees under tension, over 650 in all. In tandem to that job, volunteers restored trail tread of those that were cleared. Even with that impressive effort there still remain several trails devastated by countless uprooted and fallen trees.
(Photo: Janky in Duluth)
COGGS will be resurrecting the lower Blue Pots trail and will have a trail work day this weekend on the 22nd. Lower Blue Pots was hit particularly hard and will require a significant reroute to make it whole. The club will be building new trail that emulates what was destroyed to be sure this old school style of trail is not lost. The club continues to state "It is COGGS intent to provide trail for all rider types and we have heard loud and clear that the character of Blue Pots needs to remain a rugged, narrow, natural and janky trail. If you are one that does not like contemporary style of trail, then this is your chance to preserve a classic trail in our oldest ride center." Kudos to COGGS on this course of action as support and advocacy for raw, natural, classic type trails continues to be found in such places throughout the Internet.
Thinking of Tilford
If you haven't heard about legend Steve Tilford, he was in a accident recently, colliding with a dog while in a spirited group ride and suffered a severe head injury. A friend is updating his blog which has become probably the most popular blog among the cycling circles in the states if not internationally. Thoughts and prayers towards Tilly as he begins the recovery process.
Looking Ahead
(Photo: Racing along the river at Blacks)
The vibrant Blacks's Grove mountain bikers which is host to possibly one of the largest mountain bike group rides each Wednesday night in rural Minnesota, is ready to showcase their classic hand built mountain bike singletrack trail with a full plate of age categories and classes. Local "blackie", Ben Olson reports: The course is in great shape and fingers crossed, looks like the weather will hold and we are excited about the largest turnout possible" Free lunch included with registration along with custom built awards!
(Photo: Custom Black's Grove Crossing awards)
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 |