Racing – Downhill Midwest

Bike Duluth Festival Race Report

Alex — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 19:51:20 +0000

Photos by Dylan Juchemich and Grayson Wolf. Words by Alex Anderson.

The Bike Duluth Festival at Spirit Mountain went down this past weekend and it sure was an action packed!

Friday saw riders coming in and getting practice laps in for all the events, but the festival officially kicked off at 5pm with the Chainless Downhill Race!

Riders ditched their chains and raced down a modified Cheese Grater to Smorgasbord. Over 115 racers joined in on the fun as this isn’t a typical event you get to see!

Some racers even got festive and dressed up!

E.T. even came out for the occasion

MOOOOVE out the way!

Riders were allowed best of two runs. Spectators and racers alike enjoyed the kick off event!

Saturday morning the enduro kicked off. Slotted to be a seven stage day, riders were ready to be out on the trails for a full day of racing! During the day riders would get to use the lift 3 times, whenever they wanted. So racers got to strategize when they wanted to take a lift break and when they wanted to pedal up the hill.

Riders started off the day all on the same stage. But then as the day went on two different stage groups would open up.

Stage 1 was Sprung a Leak – Candyland – Boot -Steel Toe. With lots of pedaling and corners to start, this stage would end up being the longest stage of the day that counted towards rider’s overall times.

After stage one was completed by all the riders, stages two, three and four would open up and riders could choose which to ride next!

Riders could choose between Port Gitch – Smorgasbord (2), All Weather Trail to Greenman (3), or Sprung a Leak – Candyland – Happy Camper – Wild Cat – Boss Hog (4).

Stage 2 was almost the same as the chainless race on Friday. Smorgasbord is fast with a little bit of tech build in. It’s a fan favorite for all skill levels.

Stage 3 was the most technical trail of the day. Starting with a pedal on All Weather Trail, and a punchy climb to the top of Greenman, racers’ heart rates were already maxed out before dropping into the most challenging section of the day.

Stage 4 was nicknamed Air DH. As the new section of Wild Cat going into Boss Hog has plenty of opportunities to catch some airtime!

After all the racers had completed those stages the second block of three stages opened. But mother nature had something in store for everyone.

Racers got to complete some of the last block of stages, but then a thunderstorm rolled through. And for safety reasons, the lift and race courses were put on hold. After holding off as long as they could, race organizers eventually had to cancel the last block of stages. Only the first four stages of the day ended up being counted towards the results at the end of the day because of this.

With a great mixture of fast and technical courses, riders had a blast even if they didn’t get to finish all of the stages!

Luckily for these riders, their crashes on this stage didn’t matter after the lightning cancelation.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!! After the rain Saturday, the weather was looking perfect for some Downhill action! Riders got to practice Wrecking Ball to Calculated Risk all morning until Seeding Runs occurred just after noon. Unless you were one of the riders who signed up for King of the Mountain. Then you were racing the long cross country course right up until it was time for seeding (some people only did their race run).

This course has been raced here at Spirit Mountain many times over the years! This year they did switch up a little taping. Changing the entrance to the terrarium, and opening up an inside corner lower down the course. The trails is a great mix of high speed and technical sections. Perfect for testing riders willingness to push their limits!

Some pushed their limits a little too far…

Race times were tight, and riders had a blast!

A huge thank you to the trail crew is in order. With all the rain Spirit Mountain has received this year, a good chunk of the trails that were raced on this weekend were still closed just a week ago! Trail crew pushed hard to get them running, and they were running great!

Thank you Spirit Mountain for hosting this awesome event and Bike Duluth Festival for putting it on!

Check out this cool video by Minnesota MTB

Alex Anderson uploaded his race runs to YouTube if you want to see the trails!

Miner’s Revenge Race Report

Alex — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 13:48:06 +0000

The SOKE Miner’s Revenge race weekend went down this last weekend at the Adventure Mine in Greenlad Michigan.

This was the first time this year the Lake Superior Gravity Series racers were lucky enough to have dry weather, but the riders sure did not stay dry. With temperatures well into the 80’s everybody was getting their sweat on during the races!

Photos by Dylan Juchemich

The weekend started off Friday night with a Whip Off on the final jump of Miner’s DH!

The Whip Off was a hit with riders and spectators alike. A lot of riders participated and many more joined in for the warms up prior to the official start of the competition.

Riders had 20 minutes to hit the jump as many times as they wanted. Going for as much height, and as much Whip as they could muster!

The whip off was a lot of fun and I’m sure they’ll be doing that again in the future!

Saturday morning, racing commenced! The enduro was up first, with 6 stages for Expert, 4 for Sport and 3 for Beginner.

Each time up the hill was a push up the ski run, with all stages coming off the same peak.

Of course the mine was involved. With this year racers having to race through the entire mine. Even having to get off their bikes to duck under the low ceiling height spot!

Racers started with the mine stage. With being an almost 4 minute stage, was the longest of the day. Some fun singletrack brought you down to the mine entrance. Where racers were greeted with cool air, lots of water, and lots of pedaling!

For stage 2 the theme of pedaling was continued with Lions Back. The second longest stage at over 2 minutes. If you navigated the slippery right hander into the uphill climb on this stage, you did well! I heard many stories of people getting caught out by that corner.

The last of the morning stages was Miner’s DH. The same trail used for the downhill course, just with a different start and the large jump in the middle of the course was taped off.

After a break for the timing to get switched around, the afternoon started with Hunts trail. The most technical stage of the weekend. Riders dropped into a couple steep rock sections, followed by some fast and rooty singletrack and finished off with a very wet road!

A new addition to this years race was Scenic Piste. Which had racers speed tucking their way down the ski slope, into some tight turns at the bottom! This was the shortest stage of the weekend with the fastest time being 30 seconds.

Finally the enduro ended with Dangerous Curves. A technical trail with, you guessed it, some dangerous curves in it!

Times were tight in the men’s field, with Mike Cortright winning by only 7 seconds. Anett Tribet won the women’s expert category by well over a minute!

The afternoon was calling for a chance of thunderstorm. But yet again racers were blessed with beautiful weather for some racing!

The race was held on the Miner’s DH course that was raced for stage 3 of the enduro. But the start line was moved back, and the large gap jump was opened up for racers to use!

Trucks shuttled racers to the top of the course! Which was a welcome relief for anyone who had also done the enduro!

The course had plenty of pedaling! If you weren’t breathing hard, you weren’t going fast!

Racers went fast and pushed their limits on the short course. With Sam Ocarroll coming away with the win!

Spectating was fun!

Racers had fun!

You should come have fun next year!

Thank you to the race organizers, sponsors and volunteers!

Thank you Dylan for all the great photos!

Check out videos of the trails on Alex Anderson’s YouTube channel!

Marquette Trails Fest Race Report

Alex — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 03:27:52 +0000

This weekend Marquette Trails Fest went down as the rain came down. Even though the weather wasn’t the best, the racing was fantastic! (Photos by Dylan Juchemich. Words by Alex Anderson)

Dual Slalom winner Ryan Zinzow in the zone!

The weekend started strong with Dual Slalom on Friday.

It rained some in the middle of the day, but by the time racing began, the rain had stopped. Leaving perfect conditions on the track for the riders!

Transition and Quick Stop Bike Shop were on site cooking hot dogs for the hungry racers and spectators!

A big crowd showed up to cheer on the racers and there was some amazing competition throughout the evening. Youth racers started off the event with Kaden McKeown coming away with the win!

The women’s field saw some amazing racing. Tight racing all night lead to the final heat between Lexi Curran and Sam Paternoster. Both racers were pushing it to the limit, and unfortunately Lexi found that limit. Hitting the ground, allowing Sam to cruise to the win for the night.

The men’s field was no different. 26 men started the evening, but only one could walk away victor. Ryan Zinzow showed off them BMX skills all night. Coming out the start gate hot every lap and didn’t cool down till after the finish line. Fueled by Hams and Goldfish from the Transition food tent, he came away the winner on the night.

More Dual Slalom Action!

Saturday, or should we say Saturated Day! I don’t recall the rain letting up at any point during the day. But that didn’t deter racers from taking on the trails for the Enduro!

Volunteers stood in the rain all dang day for racers to be able to race. Thank you volunteers!

Six stages awaited the Expert racers, while four stages lay ahead for the Sport group! The morning stages were Jawbone, Easy Rider and Combo Platter. The afternoon saw Flow, Southern Cross and Chunder Muffin.

Wet roots kept things… interesting…

With all the rain, the trails were extra slippery! If you kept it on 2 wheels all day, you should get an award! Many racers struggled with vision, as you were either looking through muddy, wet goggles. Or you were playing the safety squint game with all your might!

Yet again, we see Ryan Zinzow come away with an event win in the Expert Ment category. While Abby Strigel claims victory in Expert Women!

How long do you think it took Mason to get the mud out of his eyes?

Sunday, the driest day of the weekend! We see racers line up for some high speed, downhill action!

As the mud on Landin’s bike would tell you, it wasn’t a dry track!

It may not have been raining, but the track certainly wasn’t dry. An upper section had water running through it, there was a two foot deep puddle, and plenty of other miscellaneous moisture to keep things, spicy!

This year was the first year of doing seeding runs, and all the racers were happy to see the integration. It kept race runs clean from needing to pass and kept it exciting at the bottom.

Spectators lined up to watch the rock garden and were met with some great racing!

Ryan Zinzow cleaned up again, with his 3^rd victory of the weekend!

Mara Breeuwer was the fastest female of the day!

Some more great photos from Dylan!

This year was again the biggest Marquette Trails Fest to date! Thank you so much to all the volunteers and people who put on this great event! We hope to see you out there next year and hopefully we break that record again!

Race Recap: Ride The Keweenaw Enduro

Alex — Fri, 31 May 2024 18:54:13 +0000

Last weekend, Ride the Keweenaw hosted the first stop of the Lake Superior Gravity Series!

The week leading up to the event, Copper Harbor saw plenty, and I mean PLENTY of rain! This had the East Bluff trails closed all week until Friday for pre ride. When first tires got on trail, it was apparent why they had been closed!

Josh Knapp driving through the mud! (Photo by Dylan Juchemich)

Even with all the hard work the trail crew had done during the week leading up to the race, the trails were axle deep with mud!! Loam Ranger and Thunderbolt are two trails that were particularly soft. As hand cut, natural trails that haven’t been open long, there were spots that had a lot of topsoil holding water. The other trails, having been more established and armored, ran well. They were running slow, but they handled the moisture well.

Saturday the Lake Superior Gravity Series hosted a Jump Jam on lower Dueling Banjos.

It was great seeing so many people of all ages and abilities show up and enjoy some air time! Photos by Alex Anderson

Saturday night more rain moved in just to really make sure the trails were fully saturated for race day! Sunday was a bit overcast, which kept the humidity at bay and created a really pleasent day for racing. As long as you paid no attention to the hoards of gnats at the top of the hill! Kudos to all the volunteers that were up at the top all day fighting the clouds of bugs off!

Overall it was a great day of racing! Nobody escaped the day without getting dirty, even if you stayed upright! We look forward to Ride the Keweenaw again next year!

Find full results list over at Superior Timing!

Photo by Dylan Juchemich

If you missed out on the slip and slide, check out this video from 5th place Alex Anderson to give you an idea of how wet it was out there!

Support those who helped put on this event:

Copper Harbor Trails Club

East Bluff Bike Park

Lake Superior Gravity Series

Superior Timing

Big Evil Race Results

Alex — Wed, 22 May 2024 01:34:39 +0000

Saturday saw almost 50 racers show up to Mont Du Lac resort to tackle the first of the Big Evil Races for the year.

Some thunder in the morning pushed practice back an hour, and when the first riders got on course, it was a complete slip and slide. I don’t think anybody was able to make it down for at least the first 5 laps of the day! Many riders opting out of the early practice sessions to wait for the dirt to dry out.

Lucas Miller put out a few fun highlight (and lowlight) videos on Instagram. Higher Base Media supplied us with the great photos and plans to put some video highlights up on his Instagram as well!

After the dirt dried out though, it made for a fun race! With a fast top section, and a lower section that had multiple line options, it was clear riders were enjoying themselves.

Racers did one seeding run and then headed back up the hill for their race runs!

You can see the podiums below, but for a full list of results and times head over to Roots and Rain!

Thank you to everyone who came out and made the event such a fun time!

And thank you so much to the crew who put it on! Adam, Ethan, Ryan and Wyatt! Ya’ll are legends!

And of course, thank you Mont Du Lac for letting us have such a fun event at your venue! They are going to be running shuttles Thursdays and Saturdays for anybody who wants to come out and pay a few bucks to not have to pedal uphill!

Ride the Keweenaw Weekend

Alex — Tue, 21 May 2024 22:29:09 +0000

The 2024 ride season has arrived, and we are back in Copper Harbor with another year of incredible events. The upcoming season will feature four weekends of fun spread out across the summer, and of course, there is something for everyone!

We kick off the lineup Memorial Day weekend with Ride The Keweenaw, three days of exploring the best singletrack across the Copper Country, culminating into the first Lake Superior Gravity Series Enduro of the year.

The event kicks off on Friday, May 24th at 6:30 PM with a guided group ride through the caverns at the Adventure Mine; make sure to bring a light as it gets dark down below the surface! Riding your bike underground is a unique experience that should not be missed.

Saturday, May 25th, starts bright and early at 9:00 AM with a guided group ride at the Michigan Tech Trails. All adults will be required to have trail passes; all of the proceeds go directly back to the Michigan Tech trails. At 10:00 AM, we begin the second annual Family Enduro, which is presented by Singletrack Flyers. This is a great opportunity for kids and families to experience a short Enduro race in a competitive, but not too competitive, environment.

From there, we pack up and head across the bridge to the Churning Rapids trails in Hancock, where we will have another guided group ride that begins at 1:00 PM and will leave from the Christensen Road trailhead off M-203.

We close out Saturday with Women’s only pre-ride of the Enduro stages for Sunday’s race, which begins at 2:00 PM; registration is required.

On Sunday, May 26th, we line up to race an all-new Copper Harbor enduro course featuring trails entirely on East Bluff. Registration and check-in are open from 8-10:00 AM at the Grant Township Hall in downtown Copper Harbor. Space is limited, so register early if you plan on racing! We will follow with awards at the Donny Kilpela Memorial Park at 3:30 PM and finish the weekend with a final celebration featuring live music and the unveiling of this year’s limited-edition ArtBike Posters at the Mariner North at 4:00 PM.

Come on out, enjoy the long weekend and ride some bikes! We look forward to seeing you out there!

Mont Du Lac Downhill Race

Alex — Mon, 13 May 2024 16:32:23 +0000

Racing season is about to begin here in the Midwest!

Come out and race this weekend at Mont Du Lac resort in Superior Wisconsin!

Tentative Schedule:

Friday 4pm till dusk -Self Service Practice (Shuttles are not provided during this time)
Saturday 9am-11am – Registration $30 cash (Waiver found here)
Saturday 1pm – Seeding runs
Race immediately following seeding runs (fastest in seeding drops last)
Podiums to follow

There will be four classes. Open Men, Open Women, Junior Men, Junior Women.

100% payout per class! Payouts will be 50% for first, 30% for second and 20% for third!

Fill out the waiver beforehand online, otherwise you can sign on on site in the morning.

We look forward to seeing you out there this weekend!

Upcoming Winter Enduro Races

Alex — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 17:30:15 +0000

Are you missing racing while all this snow is around? But maybe XC racing your fat bike isn't your favorite?

There are two fat bike enduros coming up on February 3rd!

Up in the U.P. there is the Eh Winter Experience. With biking, backcountry skiing, and snowshoeing all happening!

In Duluth there will be an enduro put on by COGGS!

Click the links to learn more about the events. Head out there and get some racing in! You can also volunteer or even just brave the cold to cheer on your friends!

Thrillseeker Enduro

Alex — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 22:47:16 +0000

The 2023 Thrillseeker Enduro was hosted a couple weeks ago on October 8th. The riders were given the challenge of conquering the six stage course without a preride. This style of racing is considered “blind” racing. Most of the time riders get to see the courses the day before, but not this weekend. The weather held up nicely for the riders being this late in the season. Almost 100 riders came out and challenged themselves on the course in one form or another. The crew at Ardent Bicycles and the volunteers did a great job of keeping things rolling throughout the day.

If you missed the race and wanted to see what the trails are like, join Alex as he tackles the course on his first ride back in 3 months.

If you have photos, videos, event news or anything downhill/enduro related from here in the Midwest, email us and lets share your stories!

Mont Du Lac Race Photos

Alex — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 18:44:49 +0000

Last weekend the Mont Du Lac race series hosted another race. This time it was on Big Foot, Mont Du Lac’s spiciest trail. With some steeper sections, drops, jumps, and a fresh cut section, racing was bound to be fun. Racers got to practice from 1:30 until 4:00 to get their lines dialed in. The new section in the woods had people trying a few options as the section developed. It was definitely the spot to watch during the race!

Photos by Alex Anderson. Check out Higher Base Media on Instagram for more photos and videos of the event!

Follow Mont Du Lac socials for info on next year’s races!