Words by Alex Anderson. Photos by Dylan Juchemich and Nick Ryan.
The 2024 Copper Harbor Trails Fest was another great stop of the Lake Superior Gravity Series! The weather being much nicer than when racers were here for Ride the Keweenaw, racers were treated to some amazing trail conditions!
Cross country racers started off the event Saturday morning, while the downhill riders went up to get their practice laps in!
Don’t forget to stop and check lines with your friends! –Nick
Overflow is one of the most iconic trails in Copper Harbor. Lucky for us, the trail crew got the revitalized Overflow Gap fixed up just in time for the event! The feature had been closed for most of the summer due to needing new boards. They added some length to the feature, which in turn made the gap smaller. That didn’t prevent people from getting hurt on it. Multiple people during practice or on Friday went down while trying the gap for the first time. It’s a big feature!
Paxton McKeowen making the gap look stylish –Nick
At the bottom of the trail, the favorite spot for spectators, Man Pants also claimed some victims this weekend. Some during practice and at least one during the race.
Jacob Link tackling Man Pants on his way to 3rd! – Dylan
There’s no doubt about it, Overflow is rowdy!
Photos-Dylan
With a little rain earlier in the week, racers were treated to some amazing race conditions! The top 3 riders in the men’s division were all in the same second! Congrats Bode McFadden on the win! The women also had a great showing in the DH with over Sam Breeuwer standing on the top step!
Saturday night during the concert it rained pretty darn hard! But it barely affected the trails for the enduro.
Racers started out at East Bluff, with the advanced riders doing 4 stages over there.
A couple of the stages were a little slick right away in the morning after the evening rain, but after that the dirt was amazing!
The trail crew opened up a new top section to Whipsaw, and riders were impressed! It held up great for just being opened, and riding it was an absolute blast.
After riders were done over at East Bluff they pedaled back to Copper Harbor and up Brockway. Doing one stage off Brockway and transferring up to the Mountain Lodge to end the day with Red Trail.
Red Trail has a couple of climbs that maybe not everyone was a fan of!
Enduro Photos-Dylan
After a full day of racing, Ryan Zinzow took the win (with a crash and sprained ankle during one of the early stages). Lauren Maki took the win in the Women’s division. Wisconsin came out swinging in the enduro. With 5 people on the podium in the open division being from Wisconsin!
Overall the weekend turned out to be a great one as always! Copper Harbor Trails Club did a great job putting on the event and we can’t wait to come back again next year!
Thank you to all the volunteers that help out during the weekend!
Only one stop left for the Enduro portion of the Lake Superior Gravity Series. Will you be there?
You should be there –Nick