Current Section
The Powder Monkey in the Words of Many
09/16/2009, 11:21am (CDT)
By Dana S
With the series coming to a close, competition was fierce this weekend at the PowderMonkey in Duluth MN. Racers were battling to lock in their series places for the season. The weather was beautiful, it was a true competition of speed and technical abilities, well except for the small shower during the expert race.
Here are some quotes to sum up the race day:
“Rocks, boulders, granite slabs, roots, gravel, scree, streams, mud, trees, and some serious elevation puts the mountain in mountain bike racing.” Chris VanErt (Peace Coffee)
“The course is like a transplant of Mt Snow (or other NE style trails) in Minnesota: by far the rockiest, rootiest trail I have done in the Midwest. It was a 2 lap epic, which is always welcome change after some of our 5-6 lap races we do. More than half-a-dozen elite riders flatted and at least that many more had big crashes. I felt more like a pin ball than a proficient singletrack rider on Sunday. In talking to Scott Kylander-Johnson after the race, he claims that there are good lines through it all....I just didn't find some of them=) Beyond that it was a tough race. Brendan Moore (VeloRochester – Race Winner)
D: “Ive never heard so many chatty cathys out during a race” C: “It's the only way to survive this course”
“The Expert course was awesome!” Rich Omdahl (LCR)
“Powder Monkey, awesome day...broke my chain on the last climb. good thing i'm a steller runner, especially with mtn bike shoes.” Cory Mortenson (Peace Coffee)
“Had a great time in Duluth today. Spirit is super fun and challenging, I'm going to bed early tonight.” Eric Guse (Penn Cycle)
“1st at the Powder monkey. Good, but insanely tough race...Hands down the toughest race in the series.’ Clayton Mclagan – 2nd Overall, 1st in age group (Peace Coffee)
“My son Shea was the rock star of the day. He got the hole shot at the beginning of the race and kept the lead for two of the three laps and in the end, he ended up 2nd overall out of 90 riders 40 seconds behind the leader! He did awesome and yes…. Dad is very proud! Great Race Son!!” Bill Franken (Bicycle Sports)
“Little banged and bruised from today's mountain bike race but very glad that I raced and finished what might be my hardest course to date, and thrilled that I pulled off a 4th place finish!!!” Sarah Beth Williams (Wannabee Racing)
Sara Kylander-Johnson of Duluth (Trek COOP) was first in the women’s elite race. She covered 12 miles in 1 hour, 28 minutes, 45.95 seconds and Diana McFadden of Duluth (Skihut) was second in 1:36:20. Jennifer Nowlan (Peace Coffee) Rounded of the top three
Brendan Moore (Velo Rochester) was first overall in the men’s elite race in 1:39:56.34 for 20 miles and Same Oftedahl (Silver Cycling) of Shoreview, Minn., was second in 1:41:07.88. Up and comer Michael McBurney (Peace Coffee) stole third just 2:51 back.
Tyler Kjorstad took the win in the Comp Class with a 41 sec lead over Clayton McLagan (Peace Coffee). Jason Gaines (BPB) rounds up the top three with just under a second behind Clayton.
In the sport Class Paul Cullen (Maplelag/Paramount) took the win, but not without a tough game of cat and mouse with second place finisher Shea Franken (Bicycle Sports) leading the race for the first two laps. Nicollet South Bikes Thomas Rinehart rounds up the top three with just under two minutes behind.
For the Sport Women, 14 year old Sophie Marchiandos’ skills shined through, she took the win finishing 1 min 34 second ahead of Second place finisher Kris Brazil. With Jodie Karjala (Kenwood Racing) finishing in third place.
In the Citizen Class Thomas Baldini took the win with only 16 seconds on Team Lifetime’s Logan Schlough, who had to battle for his finish with 3rd place finisher Lucas Hieb.
In the Citizen Women category Team Wannabee had a strong finish with Tara Steele in first 1 Min 46 secs ahead of 2nd place Katy Rudolph (Team Morbid), and a third place finish by Samantha Bushendorf. Way to go Girls!!
And to the best race of the day; The Kids Comp Category: Travis Caflisch Won with a commanding lead of 6 mins over 2nd place finisher Liam Franken, who was followed by Samuel Elson rounding up the top three.
And a Congratulations goes out to our only female finisher in the kids comp category, Melissa Jacobs of the Silver Cycling Team.
Great Job to all the Racers!! We look forward to seeing you at the final race, The Single Track Escape, Sept 26 at the Jail Trail in St. Cloud.
Tag(s): Series News & Events
