Minnesota Mountain Bike Series

presented by Johnson Motors of St. Croix Falls

This is the seventh year that the race will be held in St. Croix Falls on the Woolly Trail Network.  The Woolly Bike Club is excited to be partnering with the Minnesota Mountain Bike Series for this years race.

Racers will be thrilled with the variety that they experience in this 6ish mile loop.  There is a great mix of fast flowy and tight twisty singletrack that everyone will enjoy, but we also take advantage of some XC ski trails, limestone railroad bed, snowmobile trail and even a little paved bike path.  You get lots of variety each lap, so plenty of time make a pass or gap the rider behind you.  The Sport, Comp and Expert classes get to ride through a new technical rocky section, which includes several very challenging sections that the last glacier that formed the beautiful St. Croix River Valley left for us to enjoy.  Some may just need to practice their cyclocross skills and planning on running a bit with their bike.

The course covers almost 600 verticle feet, but you never realize it all at once.  You feel it most in the first section of singletrack, which includes some steep punchy climbes and fast decents, but only one long-ish climb.  

Our trail network is located on public and private land, but it is open to ride all year (when conditions allow).  We will have the network fully signed by race time, so pre-riding will be available whenever you want to check out the course.  If you want a guided tour, we have group rides every Tues at 6 PM from the St. Croix Falls High School parking lot, so you can enjoy it with the group.

Online Registration ends at 8:00 PM on Thursday, May 16th.

Notes:
1)* USAC Sanctioned - All Series events are USAC Mountain sanctioned. All Expert (Cat 1) riders need an annual USAC MTB License and all Pro Riders need an International License. To purchase a license visit www.usacycling.org
2) **Must Register

The kid’s race gives children an opportunity to compete like their parents in a positive and fun environment. The race is free to children ages 3 to 12. Parents can ride or run with the kids for motivation and support. The race starts at 12:45. Helmets are required. You must register onsite by 12:30.

The Sport & Comp races will start with a lap around the soccer field to stretch things out before entering the Hillside singletrack.  (Pro/Expert Men and Women will not ride the Hillside singletrack on their first lap to try to stretch the field a bit before entering singletrack on the north side of the school.)  This first section of singletrack is fast, but gruelling.  Things start with some fun off-camber turns and high speed decents down to the lowest point of our course, but "what goes down, must go up", so there are several short steep climbs and one long climb back up the school.  You will transitions to the upper singletrack sections through the schools yard, a short section of singletrack and a paved bike path to the lower meadow.  This meadow is a long false flat that will seperate the weak from the strong.  As you enter the Riegel Park trails, you are greeted by smooth and fast singletrack...until you get to sample the local basalt rocks, which are the remains of the last glacier to shape the St Croix River Valley.  Use caution through this section because pinch flats, rolled tires, sidewall tears, bleeding shins, etc... are common, if you aren't careful.  This section will test your low speed bike handling (roadies beware!).   Once you have cleared the basalt section, you will be greated by more fast, smooth twisty singletrack, which will lead you into the upper meadow.  In the upper meadow, you will zig-zag up and down some XC ski trails.  The ski trails dump you briefly onto the Gandy Dance, a limestone covered railroad bed.  You now enter the oldest singletrack of our network, Wissahickon North and South.  You now enjoy some more fast rolling singletrack, hopefully enjoying some new singletrack as we rush to complete a reroute before the race.  Upon completing this final singletrack, you will be dumped back onto the Gandy Dancer, where it is time to shift into your big ring and try to grab someone's wheel.  The final miles of the course will have you hammering the downhill run back to the start/finish line on the railroad bed and some snowmobile trail.  It is a very fast finish, but now it is time to start another lap...

Here is a "rough draft" of our trail map, but it will really help if you take advantage of our great trail network for a pre-ride.  Sport/Comp/Expert will ride the entire trail network, as shown on the map.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B97BXGqQ3sFSa1B0czgzY2daWkk

Kids and Citizens'  classes will not ride the Hillside singletrack and will enjoy a modified version of the upper loop.  

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/97742627/Skitch.png

Medals will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each age group for all classes. The top elite racers (expert and pro classes combined) will receive cash awards. For payout details, click Home > Series Racing Information. The awards times are 11:15 am for Kids Comp and Citizen, 1:30 pm for Sport, and 3:45 pm for Comp and Expert. We will also have a drawing for race prizes from sponsors.

 Driving Directions from the Twin Cities

 Take I-35 North to Forest Lake.  Exit #132/US-8/Taylors Falls onto US-8 E for 23 miles.  Left on Industrial Pkwy (opposite KFC) for 2 blocks.  Left onto Maple Drive for 2 blocks.  St Croix Falls High School will be on the right.  

Due to construction on HWY 8, you may want to consider an alternative route to St. Croix Falls, like I-35 to Hwy 97 (Exit 129) in Forest Lake.  East on Hwy 97 ( about 12 miles) to Hwy 95.  Left/North on Hwy 95 (about 10 miles) to Hwy 8.  Right/East on Hwy 8 for 4.5 miles.   Left on Industrial Pkwy (opposite KFC) for 2 blocks.  Left onto Maple Drive for 2 blocks.  St Croix Falls High School will be on the right. 

Driving Directions from the North (Minnesota)

South on I-35 to North Branch.  In North Branch go East on  Hwy 95 (exit 147) for about 20 miles into Taylors Falls.  At the stop light you will go right onto Hwy 8 into Wisconsin.  Proceed about 1 mile east on Hwy 8.  Left on Industrial Pkwy (opposite KFC) for 2 blocks.  Left onto Maple Drive for 2 blocks.  St Croix Falls High School will be on the right. 

 Driving Directions from the East 

 Take US-8 into St. Croix Falls.  Right on Industrial Pkwy (opposite KFC) for 2 blocks.  Left on Maple Drive for 2 blocks.  St Croix Falls High School will be on the right.

 If you are going to use a maping program, here is the physical address for the St Croix Falls High School:

740 Maple Drive St. Croix Falls, WI 54024

We DO NOT have camping available at the race.  The high school will not allow it.  We have several great options within minutes of the race.

Wisconsin Interstate Park  715-483-3747

plus.google.com/100775571179106989500/about

Minnesota Interstate Park  651-465-5711

plus.google.com/112966982727276570956/about

Wildwood Campground  651-465-6315

www.wildmountain.com/camping

Holiday Inn Express

www.hiexpress.com/hotels/us/en/st.-croix-falls/scfwi/hoteldetail