Current Section
Series News and Events
News
To all USAC Licensed Mountain Cross Country riders intending to compete at Cyclo Cross races this fall.
You have the option to compete at a level comparative to your USAC MTB Category based on the following rule;
1D5. Cyclocross Conversion
Cyclocross categories may also be upgraded by conversion from a rider’s earned road or cross country category. If during the season, a rider upgrades his or her road category or XC category, the cyclocross category can be upgraded to match the road or XC category shown below by request of the rider or by request of the administrator.
CX category based on road or XC category
Road Category MTB XC Category CX Category
Pro/1 Pro 1
2 1 2
3 2 3
4 or 5 3 4
It’s important to note that it isn’t mandatory that you race Cat 2 CX if you are a Cat 1 MTB. You may race at your ability level and upgrade as you improve. If you are a cat 1 MTB and wish to compete at Cat 2 level you must apply for the CX upgrade on your license. The rider must request the upgrade based on the riders MTB Category.
The request can be done in a couple of ways:
Log onto your MYUSACycling account and request the upgrade online.
Send an email requesting the upgrade to your local administrator or lmartin@usacycling.org. Supply your name and license number along with your current MTB category and the upgrade category that you are requesting.
Ask an official at your Cross race for permission to upgrade, and have them record the upgrade with USA Cycling. This is the option least desirable as the officials will often forget and you may find yourself denied entry at your next race.
Questions?
Contact: Larry Martin
719-434-4210
Great Hawk Chase: A muddy, but beautiful, first race in Duluth's Lester Park
COGGS treats racers to one of the best new trails in MNMTB series
DULUTH -- If anyone was a winner at the Great Hawk Chase at Lester Park Sunday, for the 10th race in the 2010 Minnesota Mountain Bike Series, it was the Cyclists of Gitchee Gumee Shores.
COGGS, as the group is better known, was the organization behind the Great Hawk Chase mountain bike race -- and COGGS deserves nothing less than a standing ovation for its work with the city of Duluth to create not just the newest race in the annual Minnesota Mountain Bike Series, but one of the best.
The Great Hawk Chase -- so named because of its proximity to a hawk migration pattern in northeast Minnesota — replaced the annual Powder Monkey this year. That August lungbuster, which annually has been held at Spirit Mountain, had to be moved this year due to the ski area's construction of a new Alpine Slide.
With Lester Park, COGGS couldn't have found a more technically challenging and thrilling course to replace it.
While Lester Park had been a longstanding trail system known just to locals, COGGS began working with the city of Duluth just last year to build a four-mile loop, explained Race Director Adam Sundberg.
The result: After logging hundreds of volunteer hours, all the way up to just last month, the bike club has created some of the most scenic and epic singletrack in all the upper Midwest.
What makes this trail system unique is the convergence of the Amity creek and Lester River through this city park. Sunday's race course essentially climbed a long ridge along the south side of the streams, crossed them near the peak, and then descended down the north ridge through more exhilirating singletrack and cross country ski trails.
As built, with its twists, turns, climbs, descents, rock gardens and beautiful vistas, Sunday's race could just as well have been up a Rocky Mountain canyon and racers would never have known the difference.
Duluth Pro racer Sara Kylander Johnson, who won the women's pro event, said the Lester Park trails offer something unique to most North Shore rides.
"This trail is really nice because you can go a lot faster in the singletrack," she said. "It's something different."
So how could Sunday's race been short of perfection?
One word: Mud.
Of course, mud has plagued the MNMTB series all summer long, with nearly every race being waterlogged.
"It was muddy — muddier than we would have wanted," Sundberg said. "We had a big rain on Friday. It was greasy, it was muddy, but still most of it was rideable. It wasn't what we expected, but it was as good as it could be with as wet as it was."
Even Duluth riders were surprised at the sloppy course conditions.
"The whole downhill side of the race was just …. I don't want to do that again," said Sport racer George Olson of Duluth. "It was a mess."
From Citizen to Expert, the mud proved to be the biggest challenge.
Bill Franken and his son Shea, both Sport racers, drove from Rochester for the race.
"I loved the course, but it'd be a different course if it wasn't as muddy," Bill Franken said. "Overall a good job done by COGGS."
"It was a nice interesting new course," said Jessica Wittwer of Saint Paul. "One super muddy section that was difficult, so you had to walk that, but otherwise it was a lot of fun."
Of course the mud didn't stop the winners. It just slowed them down.
"I just feel bad because it was so wet for the riders," Kylander Johnson said. "Hopefully they'll come back and ride it again and race it again, and I hope next time it won't be so muddy."
Troy Melhus is a Saint Paul writer and member of the Peace Coffee Bicycle Racing team. He can be reached at tmelhus@mac.com.
Heat, humidity and wet conditions offer challenges to racers
RIVER FALLS, WIS. -- In the end, it all came down to 1.
1 minute, 1 point.
For one of Minnesota's top Men's Pro racers, Brendan Moore: he was just over 1 minute behind Sheboygan, Wis. racer Tristan Schouten. That minute meant meant a third-place finish for Moore.
For Rebecca Sauber, one of Minnesota's top Women's Pro racers: she was just over 1 minute behind Madison's Abigail Strigel. That minute meant a second-place finish for Sauber.
And for Minnesota as a whole, the entire Border Battle of 2010 came down to 1 point.
Wisconsin won the annual battle by 1 point.
"Minnesota was ahead by 10 points after the Sport event, so it all came down to the last race," said Race Director Adam Schmidt, of Muddy Paws Racing. "What a day."
Nearly 700 racers turned out for the Border Battle, which drew racers from both Wisconsin and Minnesota to some of the hottest temperatures of the 2010 summer. Actually, it was one of the hottest summer races in years.
"I've run 100 or so events over the last 15-17 years, and to me it feels like one of the hottest that I can ever remember," Schmidt said.
Not to mention competitive.
Brendan Moore said the four Pro race leaders kept trading the lead spot, each taking turns attacking on the climbs each lap.
"We all were out front for a while," Moore said. "Everybody took turns grilling."
It remained a dead heat -- ahem -- until the fourth lap, when the heat became a deciding factor.
"The fourth lap I started feeling cramps and thought, you gotta take care of yourself," Moore said. He then eased off. "Tristan really kept the pressure on. He was great. That last lap, all I could about was the pool at the end of the rainbow."
Part of the heat factor was with the humidity. Heavy rains from the night before left the western edge of Wisconsin just steamy. It left the course a bit muddy and sloppy as well.
Tim Heeb of the Twin Cities was exhausted after his Sport race.
"The hot weather makes it hard," Heeb said. "Plus it was a bit greasy out there."
Alison Tungseth raced Sport Single Speed at a 32:16 ratio on 26-inch wheels. She was able to tackle the course, she said, because it was essentially her back yard. She lives 15 minutes away — and regularly trains here.
"I could have ridden the course blindfolded," she laughed.
Still the heat took a toll on her as well.
"It was high dew point, high humidity," she said. "I was sitting at the start and just glistening."
Moore said in the end that even with the heat and third-place finish, he had a blast.
"It's a super fun course," Moore said. "It was really fun."
Troy Melhus is a Saint Paul writer and racer for the Peace Coffee Bicycle Racing Team. He can be reached at tmelhus@mac.com.
Course conditions were perfect, while temperatures and heat indexes soared
BURNSVILLE -- There's hot. There's humid.
And then there was the Buck Hill Birch & Bump on Aug. 1.
With the dog days of August come, well, those dog days on the race course.
"Now's a good time for some electrolytes," said an exhausted Lee Penn, after she finished 4th in her age group in the women's Sport race Sunday morning. She extended her hand, inviting fellow racers to touch her sweaty, slimy arm.
"It's just disgusting out there!"
Penn was talking strictly about the temperatures and humidity, of course. Trail conditions were near perfect at the annual Buck Hill race, and she couldn't stop raving about that. It was Penn's first Sport race, to boot.
"It's so fast — and so fun!" Penn said. "I absolutely love the descents!"
WannaBee Sport racer Michael Thompson of Saint Paul couldn't have agreed more. "The course conditions were great," Thompson said.
With such great conditions, the biggest challenge for racers on this 2.7 mile loop — other than keeping track of one's laps on the short course — was keeping hydrated.
Fortunately, volunteers and the Buck Hill Ski Patrol were on hand to provide handups to racers throughout the day, keeping our thirsts quenched.
"We want to give a big shout out to the Buck Hill Ski Patrol station," said race director Scott Finne.
Finne said Sunday's race ran as well as it possibly could have. "It was great weather — it couldn't have been better," he said.
328 racers turned out overall — 29 more than last year. Brendan Moore of Savage won the overall race for men, finishing 6 laps in just 1:09.36 — more than a minute and a half ahead of second-place finisher Sam Oftedahl. Sara Kylander-Johnson of Duluth won the women's expert division, finishing five laps in 1:08.34.
John Sandberg of Prior Lake won the men's Comp division; Kyle McKimpson of Minneapolis won the men's Sport race and Sophia Marchiando won the Sport women. Paul Jacobs of Andover won the Citizen men's race, and Amy Ochs of Marshall won the Citizen women.
If there were any disappointments Sunday, it was just that the Buck Hill course remained, well, short. Like 2009, this year's race cut out a significant portion of the wooded singletrack on the north side of the course — 1.4 miles — due to housing development.
"Without that part of the course," sighed Comp racer Cal Collins of the WannaBees, "it's a shadow of its former self."
That said, Collins still completely enjoyed the race. "Especially the descents into the woods. The cool woods."
Indeed, the shade of the woods was the only respite from the day's blistering temperatures.
"Was it hot out there or what?" asked Expert racer Ed Alpasa, with a laugh after the race. "With the short track, I felt like I was doing hot laps. I think I'm ready for an IV."
Troy Melhus is a Saint Paul writer and racer for the Peace Coffee Bicycle Racing Team. He can be reached at tmelhus@mac.com.
Elk River: Perfect race, perfect course -- thanks to the volunteers
Volunteers turn Single Track Attack! into a big winner
ELK RIVER -- If ever there was a day when volunteers made an undeniable difference at a race, Sunday's Single Track Attack! in Elk River was that day.
Nearly two dozen volunteers were on site by 5 a.m. race morning, chainsaws in hand, to help clean up the trails after severe storms damaged several sections of the course Saturday night.
The volunteers -- many of whom would race later in the day -- spent more than three hours on the Hillside Park trails, methodically removing debris and cutting trees that were damaged by tornadic winds and hail less than 24 hours before.
"The volunteers made all the difference -- they made this race," said race director Rich Omdahl. "I had a crew of volunteers with lights and saws ready to be here at midnight, ready to work all night if we had to. We were here at 5 a.m., just waiting for the sunrise. As soon as we had light, we went to work."
And that was just the start of the volunteer presence.
The city of Elk River helped recruit an additional two dozen volunteers Sunday, who did everything from guide traffic, to operate concessions, to offer hundreds of water handups to thirsty racers gasping for hydration.
Speaking for myself, I would have probably dehydrated Sunday afternoon on my third lap if not for those handups: While the race morning started out cool and cloudy, the afternoon woods turned into a sweltering jungle once the clouds cleared.
"As soon as the sun came out, you could feel the temperature in the woods just shoot up," said Pro/Elite Trek racer Brendan Moore. "You could feel the moisture coming out of the ground."
Of course, that's because Elk River received nearly an inch of rain in the passing storms the night before -- rain that you think would have left the trails muddy, sloppy and unrideable. (Because, of course, muddy races are what the 2010 MnMTB Series needs more of this year).
The reality: The sandy Hillside Park soil quickly absorbed the rain, leaving but just a few greasy corners by the start of the Citizen race.
"The course was MINT," Moore said. "I have never seen it better."
Omdahl described this year's course as a particular challenge, regardless of the weather. Even seasoned veterans were licking their wounds after three laps. "A lot of people took good beatdowns out there today," Omdahl said.
Moore couldn't have agreed more. Moore crashed on the first lap on the stair descent; the large, red scrape on his chin all but detailed what broke his fall. Then he broke his chain.
"There's no forgiveness out there -- it's a challenge at every turn," Moore said. "Between the crash and my mechanical, it just wasn't my day out there.
"And Cody was riding really strong."
By Cody, he meant Cody Larson, who won the overall Expert race, completing three full laps, and the prologue, in 1:55:19. He beat Moore by nearly a minute. LCR's Rebecca Sauber won the Elite women race, completing two laps in 1:37:25. Penn Cycle's John Sandberg of Prior Lake won the Comp men class; Lucas Hieb won the men's Sport race; 13-year-old Jordan Horner won the women's Sport race; Trent Thompson won the Citizen men's race; and Beth Shedd won the Citizen women.
Nearly 400 racers turned out for the event Sunday, topping last year's turnout by five, Omdahl said.
"It was the perfect turnout," Omdahl said. "This is our capacity right here. And the weather probably kept some people away."
Just like the swag probably drew some. There was more swag than mud at this race, with prizes ranging from GPS mapping devices to cutlery sets. Between that and the party on wheels from Red Bull, the whole day could only be described as dynamite fun.
"Everything seemed to go perfectly," Omdahl said. "It just went great. Everything worked."
And how. This is how races should be run.
Troy Melhus is a Saint Paul writer and racer for the Peace Coffee Racing Team. He can be reached at tmelhus@mac.com
The Bluff Riders Charge race is “A GO” for tomorrow at Mt. Kato
There will be no pre-riding today or tomorrow.
Course changes are being evaluated today and will be checked again tomorrow morning. The courses will most likely will be different than those shown on the race event page on the MNMBS web site - http://www.mnmtbseries.com/page/show/4832-race-4-bluff-riders-charge. Racers may encounter some muddy spots. Start times are still planned as published, however, depending on tonight’s weather they may be delayed. Revisions to the courses will be described by the PA announcer tomorrow morning.
First of all, I’d like to thank our racers for enduring a seriously muddy course at the Dirt Spanker. Second, I’d like to thank Adam Sundberg and the COGGs crew for doing the best they could with a difficult situation. Last year, we were blessed with great weather for all our events. As we’ve seen, this is a different year. A few updates for our racers:
1. Bad Weather – If at all possible, we want to get our events done when scheduled. Promoters have the options for wet weather to delay, reroute their race course, and/or reduce laps. These situations are difficult at best, so please try to be patient and understanding.
2. Series Registration – we put this on the web site several times since early May. To have your results count in the series, you need to pay a separate fee to join the series. The final date to register for the series is at the Bluff Riders Charge on June 27th.
3. Only One Retroactive Race Counts for Series Registration at 3rd or 4th Race – racers registering for the series at the 3rd or 4th race can only use one past race to count for the series. The good news is that you still have 6 races to accumulate points, so still can make that podium at the Awards Party at the end of the year once you’ve registered for the series.
4. Wave Order and Age Group Listings:
a. Wave start order, times, and age group listings will be posted on the MNMBS web site event page two days prior to the race.
b. Wave start order, times, and age group listings will be posted in multiple places around the registration and pit area. We’ll also post this information on the Start Line chute near the left upright.
c. Wave start signs, including age groups, will be placed in the starting chute area to indicate where waves should gather
d. The announcer will list wave start times and age group listings at 30 minutes and 15 minutes prior to the race as well as several times during call-ups for the category and class
5. Penalties for Starting in an Earlier Wave:
a. If a race official sees a rider starting in an earlier wave than what they have registered for, the racer is subject to disqualification
b. Racers starting in an earlier wave than their registered class age group are subject to being protested per USA Cycling rules
c. Protesting racer must contact Timing and Scoring within 15 minutes after race results have been posted.
6. Lapped Racers:
a. Racers who have been lapped by the leading racer in their own race class(Category), of the same gender, may be pulled from the race course as they begin their final lap
b. The decision to pull a racer from the course will be made by the Chief Judge, USA Cycling official, and the event Promoter
c. Timing and Scoring will assign an appropriate time for the racer being pulled. They will not receive a DNF.
Thick, sticky mud clogs and chokes a series favorite
MONT DU LAC – There was no dirt spanking at the annual Mont Du Lac Dirt Spanker south of Duluth on Sunday.
This year, it was just mud.
All mud.
Mud so thick that it choked derailleurs, cranks, wheels and chains to points that they could no longer turn.
Mud so thick that some 20 Comp and Expert riders logged DNFs, because they literally had to walk more than 70 percent of their first lap.
Mud so thick that organizers shortened races by up to 2 laps to ensure all the racing got done. It was taking Expert riders more than an hour to complete just one 5-mile loop.
“It was unfathomably bad,” said Race Director Adam Sundberg. “It was worse than we could ever have imagined.”
It wasn’t just that rain poured on Duluth the entire day before the race. It was that Duluth had been without sun — or temperatures above 60 — for almost a week leading up.
Still, conditions were rideable Saturday night, Sundberg said.
“We thought it would be just some puddles and a little mud at the top,” Sundberg said. “But the trail deteriorated so fast. It just got progressively worse. Mother Nature really pulled a fast one on us.”
Sundberg said he actually had looked early in the week into whether to cancel the race, but weather forecasts had been calling for sun.
“Today was supposed to be sunny,” Sundberg said. “And the race always goes on unless there’s lightning.”
Freewheel Bike Shop racer Bruce Parker waited almost an hour in line to wash his bike after the Citizen race. He finished second in his age group — but not before crashing twice and cracking his helmet in several places.
“It was a mudfest out there,” said Parker, who himself was covered in it. “It was sloppy.”
Ironically, Mont Du Lac’s notorious climbs were the easiest part of the race. The ski area’s new ownership recently retooled the gravel road climbs, so they were essentially mud-free.
Not so with the race course’s infamous roller coaster compressions. The typical thrill-ride twists and turns quickly devolved into greasy death traps, bruising shins and egos alike.
Remarkably, injuries were kept to a minimum, Sundberg said — perhaps by the lack of any real speed.
“Nobody was seriously hurt, but everybody was seriously miserable,” Sundberg said.
For Lisa Heyesen, it was all a big welcome to mountain bike racing: Saturday marked her first-ever mountain bike Race. The Duluth racer had only competed in road events until Sunday.
“It was crazy — like cake batter out there,” Heyesen said. “My friends all told me if you can ride this, you can ride anything.”
Troy Melhus is a Saint Paul writer and an expert racer for the Peace Coffee Racing Team. He can be reached at tmelhus@mac.com.
Many thanks to those who raced the Freewheel Frolic and Lifetime Avalanche at Afton last weekend. The attendance at both races was outstanding. Here are some reminders and also some actions we will be taking and considering to improve the wave starts.
For the response to pulling racers who have been lapped:
From the Series perspective, we have a schedule that provides racing for up to 570 people that begins at 9 am and ends around 3 PM. The ‘getting pulled after being lapped” rule is not so much aimed at Expert or Pro racers, as is it aimed at the Sport and Comp racers who are unable to maintain a “race” pace throughout their race. At the Freewheel Frolic, we had two or three racers beginning their last lap 20 minutes after the top 10 had finished. This delays the beginning of the next race, as well as the medal ceremony, and prolongs a very long day for our heroic volunteers who are staffing the event. These last racers, when asked to leave the course, will get the same finishing order as if they completed the lap. The only thing that’s really happening by letting them slog through the lap is that the entire program is being held up while they finish. Our series is a “racing” series. It’s not a “training” or “endurance” series. If you’re unable to maintain a race pace for the class you’ve entered, you need to think about dropping down a class.
2. For the headphones issue – The MNMBS Guidebook, on page 9, clearly states that wearing headphones or ‘listening devices” is prohibited. If we see you wearing headphones, we’ll ask you to leave the race immediately.
3. For cutting the course/switchback trails – cutting the course, under any circumstances, is prohibited as indicated in the Guidebook, page 9.
4. Wave starts A) – the Executive Committee of the MNMBS Series is aware of this issue. In some cases, due to inexperienced racers, it’s ignorance. In other cases, we’re not sure if some people are taking advantage by starting in earlier waves. If they are, this is blatant cheating and pathetic.
To help rectify this situation, we’re going to implement Wave Start signs in the starting area so each wave knows where to gather prior to call-ups. We’ll also ask that announcers clearly repeat the wave starting order, and that just prior to the start, the announcer will ask racers individually to check that they’re in the right wave. We’ll also request that promoters post in several locations (registration, the restrooms, etc.) a list of wave start times and age groups, and we can post this on the MNMBS web site two days prior to the event.
As you know, to allow different classes or age groups the opportunity to get a clear start, we rotate the order of the wave starts. So it’s important for the racers to assume the responsibility to know when their wave starts and seek out this information. We can’t get these methods into place before the Dirt Spanker, but we’ll have them in place for the Bluff Rider’s Charge on June 27th.
5. Wave starts B) – The Series can implement various methods to ensure that the right age group is in the right wave start order. But “self- policing” by the racers will be the most effective manner to keep the right age group in the waves. Peer pressure works best of all. If you see someone who is clearly in the wrong wave, bring it to the attention of the announcer or start line personnel.
6. Wave starts C) – if the methods implemented above still haven’t effectively dealt with wave start issues after the Bluff Rider’s Charge, the Series will look at other methods (duplicate number bibs on the back of the jersey, for example) to rectify this issue. Keep in mind that duplicate numbers means additional race and administrative costs for the racers. We’re trying to keep costs down, so would rather not have to impose additional expense for a process that’s really pretty simple to comprehend.
Series Update - 05/29/2010
Many thanks to those who attended the Freewheel Frolic and endured our altered schedule due to the bad weather. Now that the season has begun, we’d like to remind our racers about the following Series Race Procedures:
1. Lightning – lightning was a key factor in the Freewheel race delay. We cannot race when lightning is present. If lightning occurs during a race, we need to shut the race down immediately. So if lightning is imminent, we’d rather wait for it to pass than start a race and have to cancel it halfway. The good news is that intense weather generally moves quickly, so delays will be relatively brief.
2. Race delays – we will do everything possible to complete our races on race day in the event of bad weather. As indicated at registration, there are no transfers or refunds due to a race being held later than the published time on race day.
3. Race results – it is the responsibility of the racer to check the race results timing sheet to ensure proper placement. Typically, preliminary race results will be posted after the first 50 racers have finished. Often a second results sheet will be posted when almost everyone is in. A final results sheet will be posted once the course has been cleared. Between the posting of this final result sheet and the awards ceremony (typically right after the next race begins), it is the responsibility of the racer to bring any discrepancies to the Timing tent (look for the tent with the blue top next to the finish line). Once the award ceremony has taken place, results are final and cannot be changed.
4. Medals – generally, we try to begin the awards ceremony right after the next race has started. The race announcer will also announce a time for the award ceremony to begin. For those who placed in the Kids Comp and Citizens classes in the Freewheel race, but did not pick up your medal, please stop by the Series desk at the Lifetime Avalanche at Afton Alps and pick up your Freewheel Frolic medal. If you were told at the Freewheel Frolic that we would mail your award, and cannot pick your award up at the Afton race, please contact Gary Sjoquist (garys@qbp.com) with your name, class, and age.
5. DNF - If you DNF a race, you must report your DNF to the blue timing tent at the finish line in order to receive points credit in the Series standings. You can also leave your transponder at the blue timing tent.
6. Lapped riders – with a full day of racing scheduled, and classes approaching 200 racers, it is simply not possible to allow everyone to complete their races at their own pace. A full day of races is scheduled with reasonable intervals between classes. Any rider who is lapped by the race leaders before the last lap should complete their lap and leave the race at the finish line. Racers who have been lapped and need to leave the race will be placed according to the number of laps they are down and their position at the finish. If you cannot complete a race within a reasonable amount of time behind the leading racers, you should consider moving to a class with fewer laps of racing.
