4th PLACE ICEMAN 2013

The entire SKJ family ventured to Traverse City, MI this year so Sara could give the Iceman a go. The biggest draw for Sara is the simple fact that there is a women's only start and the overall race tactics play out without the aid of men. Of course, it is always a bonus to get to toe the line with Olympians/World Cup medalists/multiple time Canadian National Champions like Emily Batty and Cathrine Pendrel - not to mention a cadre of other fast pros from around the country.

In order for us to get ready to travel 10+ hours from home we have a week-long packing extravaganza, plenty of bike maintainace, extra school prep since I have to take a personal day and general mass chaos trying to pack the old Volvo with enough supplies to get us out of any potential bike failures. Thankfully Kiera is a travel queen as long as she's got a pile of books and a few toys.

Steve Ferguson, a good buddy from Marquette, MI graciously offered us a room to sleep in on the way out and back, making this Iceman the easiest to date. THANKS STEVE! The big bonus was getting to catch up with him and hearing about all the great mountain bike trails around his area. The only drawback is we arrived at his place pretty late Thursday and Saturday evenings so we didn't get to spend as much time as we would have liked in Marquette.

The 2:30 pm race start on Saturday made for a long wait for Sara but it allowed me to explore the endless singletrack with my running shoes. I couldn't believe how much there is and I didn't realize the North Country Trail made its way through this part of Michigan (one bonus of not racing). We ventured over to the start venue and Sara layered up and got in a good warm-up while Kiera and I read stories in the car trying to stay warm. I ventured out to the start once the men were off and they called up plenty of women but not Sara. Even though she's done the race three times prior, getting second twice, that's not enough to get a front row start. Nonetheless, she worked her way up to the front group where she stayed until almost the halfway point before losing Cathrine and Chloe Woodruff(who had a fantastic race, by the way) when she found herself behind a gal that struggled in a singletrack section allowing a gap to open that ended up being too wide to bridge back up to a group of three. She wasn't all that worried though since Emily Batty was with her and Sara figured the two of them could work their way back up to the gal in third. It would be for not however, and Emily and Sara ended up working together the remainder of the race with Sara getting the upper hand in the finishing sprint, nabbing 4th overall.

I can't say that it surprises me that Sara is able to mix it up with the top pro women in the sport. She has always been extremely strong on the bike and she has a ton of race experience from her years as an Elite Nordic skier. Sara continues to be motivated to race her bike with races like the Iceman around.

The Big Check

The pull of 35 miles of single track coerced us to get serious about repairing the Eurovan. Immediately following yet another disappointing Chequamegon (for me of course, NOT Sara)I got busy spending money on the copious amount of parts needed to get the old boy rolling down the road. It has been on blocks since last August so it was daunting to think about spending an entire day working on the vehicle, yet not knowing for certain if it would make it to Ishpeming, MI after such a long furlough. After replacing the water pump, timing belt, timing belt tensioner,the serpentine belt, a/c compressor, and rebuilding the alternator and starter, we figured it should be ready for a 250 mile trip.

Thankful the van worked better than I did. I sputtered about and seemed to be missing at least a couple of gears throughout the race. Furthermore, the course had very little single track so my motivation was snuffed out completely and by the end I was barely moving and content simply be upright.

Sara, on the other hand, rode a very smart race and ended up winning the $1000 for first place. She too was disappointed in the actual race course as opposed to the advertised fare but was quite happy to suffer away and collect the big bucks. I am still amazed that she can ride as fast as she does considering she was bedridden for about a week at the end of July.

Sara is still contemplating the Iceman in November. If she is feeling good we will travel to Traverse. I won't do the race since it is a point-to-point and it's difficult to get back to the car with the bikes. Instead, we'd pack up Kiera and make a family trip out of it.

Maplelag

Jeff Hall leading the pack during the short track

Sara pulling a pack of comp men in the short track










Why is Maplelag our favorite race of the year?
1) Family atmosphere (and we don't have to cook)
2) Three races in two days on old school mountain bike trails (they still have rocks, roots, fall line climbs, etc.)
3) There is a lake, sauna, hot tub, huge lodge
4) Bottomless cookie and coffee jars/pots (if one stays in the cabins or lodge)
5) The Richards family

Every race we do after Maplelag is a let down. I think it would be great if this was the final race of the series since it is such a huge event. I'd like to see the series awards happen on Monday if the series could pull off the quick turn around in points tallying for the year.

Racing was super fun for us and we were both pleased with our results. Sara said she could have done another lap (her second lap was faster than her first)which hopefully bodes well for Chequamegon.

Thanks to the Maplelag crew for another fantastic weekend!

Race one this weekend for the Minnesota High School Cycling League. We have a great group of kids from Duluth and I have a feeling they will do a great job in Inver Grove Heights on Sunday. If you know of any mountain bikers (grades 7-12) in the Duluth area that wants to practice with the team or race, send them to the Duluth Mountain Bike Team Facebook page and have them sign up to the wiggio account.

Up next: Chequamegon

Summer is Going Fast

This is the setup...

Nice and sparkly!

Multiple chains ready for action

Like always, summer in Duluth goes past in a flash. I am back to work this week and start with students next Wednesday. I am excited to start up again and get back into the teaching groove. The posted picture depicts our clean drivetrain. Thanks to Scott's hard work and ability to try new things, this has been one of the best things he has done to make sure our bikes work perfectly! We have had perfect shifting and no grease marks all year.

The SKJ household has had a rough summer health-wise. Sara somehow picked up Lymes and the flu at the same time. She was on antibiotics for a couple of weeks but her stomach is still giving her fits. Thankfully she can ride her bike and race shorter races. Her eyes were affected by the Lymes and that was one reason she didn't do Ore2shore. The other obvious reason was that she was bed-ridden for almost a week and she didn't eat a thing only two weeks before... Thankfully she opted not to race, but that meant I had to. Sara was able to win the River Falls race while still on antibiotics, but she cramped badly/couldn't see very well because her eyes watered so badly, and in hindsight, it is an event she shouldn't have done. She felt much better at Mount du Lac and she's hopeful that she will be able to do Chequamegon but it is still to early to know. She didn't feel normal yet (she was ready to be done after two laps and she usually finishes feeling like she could do another lap). Diana McFadden ended up second and Rachel Byrnes was third so the Duluthians had a good showing.

Kiera managed to get the flu a handful of days before Sara, followed by a crazy bad stomach ache which found us traveling to the hospital for x-rays and then a CT scan. We hate exposing her to that kind of radiation but she was in so much pain we didn't feel like we had an option. No answers but her stomach ache is much better. Our gut instinct from the start was constipation but we don't know for sure...

I was able to break a couple of ribs at the Lester race but it only kept me off the bike for a week. Plus, my injury was pretty minor based on Kiera and Sara's troubles. I was able to race without tightly wrapped ribs for the first time at Mont du Lac this past weekend! I was willing to risk it since it was so blasted hot. I ended up in 3rd behind Jesse Rients and Eric Thompson. I would catch Jesse at the bottom of the singletrack loop and he would put 30 sec or more into me on the climb each lap. This seems to happen every year between the two of us... I also set a new trend (?) using a ridged fork on my Specialized Epic since I broke my suspension fork. It worked just fine at River Falls and I was able to nab sixth place in a sprint. Broken ribs and a ridged fork aren't the best combination but I was able to make it work. Ore2Shore was a pretty fun course and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the race. I had a rough start and was off the bike behind a big crash early on but I the legs finally came around by the 8 mile mark or so. I was comfortable pulling the group for a solid 10 - 12 miles before catching a large group where I could sit in. Finished somewhere around 30 but still plenty content considering I wasn't planning on doing the race until Sara decided last minute to pull the plug.

Paul, Kelly and Leo Hanson drove the motor home up north and stayed in our driveway for a few night this past week. Kiera and Leo had a terrific time playing together and Sara and I enjoyed showing Paul and Kelly some of our trails. There is nothing like watching young people giggle non-stop while playing in the yard.

Sara and I will be doing some coaching for the newly formed Duluth Mountain Bike Team. We have some super fast riders in Duluth and they are chomping at the bit to race against other kids instead of a variety citizen racers. Thanks so much to the Minnesota State High School League for helping get us organized and off the ground. We are excited to hopefully host our first race in Duluth next year.

First "official" high school team practice.

No racing for us this weekend but we are excitedly gearing up for Maplelag.

It's Been Awhile...

WEll, since the last post, we've raced at Red Wing, Buck Hill, Lester Park, went on vacation in Cable, WI for a handful of days with the Raymond family, swapped out our 170mm cranks for 175mm and I've managed to crash HARD twice in just under a two week span.

Sara has won the last five races she's done and she is starting to feel quite comfortable on the Specialized Epic. Sara's the State Cross-Country Champ after winning the Red Wing race. She followed up with wins at Buck and Lester Park. The 175mm crank arms make a huge difference and it is still a head scratcher as to why a measly 5mm can cause such a pronounced power outage... I am also loving the 29er even though it doesn't have an affinity for me yet.

I've broken my helmet twice thanks to big crashes. I tried bunny hoping a tree going uphill on an easy ride with Sara and ended up quite bloody from head to back on my right side. I followed this crash up with a catastrophic mistake at the Lester Race on Sunday when my giant antler bars (I love the extra leverage of wide bars but now will be cutting them down...) caught a tree in a tight open section (crossing the old tubing hill) and almost ended my day 10 minutes in. I was able to work my way back into second place but then came completely unhinged at the start of the last lap and wobbled my in, losing too many places to count. Bruised ribs, cut up left forearm, sore back and shoulder along with my fancy Specialized helmet smashed up in three places thanks to my error in judgement. There is nothing worse than feeling like the legs are good enough to give a push in a hometown race and end up having nothing to show for it except a bunch of bumps and bruises. My crash has forced me to take some time off the bike. Probably a good thing since I'm prone to ugly crashes lately...

Sara's looking forward to Ore to Shore and possibly the Afton Race. She is intrigued to see how the 29er rides at Ore2Shore since she's never had the pleasure of racing the big wheels in the sand yet. I'm looking forward to handing her water bottles and playing with Kiera since the O2S isn't my thing.

This weekend I'm going to get certified to become a NICA mtb coach so a Duluth High School League MTB team can hopefully get established. There are plenty of young riders itching to race but nobody is certified to coach from around here yet.

Chain Drive Update

Thanks so much to the Chain Drive Organizers and host site hotel, Franklin Inn Square - Best Western. If you are looking for a fantastic point-to-point race course, look no further than this one (in the midwest anyway). The only reason we are willing to drive 4+ hours is because this is one of our favorite courses. Plus, how many races can you finish and coast back to your hotel room for a quick shower (hanks Best Western for the late, late check out!)?

My race went okay. I have zero ability to go hard and recover. I guess I might have to do some intervals again... I went up the climb and felt great, hit the single track and couldn't ramp it up until the last few miles of the the 30 mile course. Thanks to Todd McFadden, I had a wheel to follow the entire race and moral support when I almost fell into the creek (since I cannot swim, Todd made sure I got through it and didn't leave me for dead). Bushey also rode most of the race with us along with a gentleman from Houghton so at least I had people to talk to which assuaged my suffering. Funny that I rode more with Todd and Bushey in Houghton that I have in Duluth for a long time...

Sara is feeling better and better as she races. She's feels like she's still missing a gear and she's certain it is because she has 170 cranks instead of 175. We both are going to go back to 175 and hopefully this is the last change we'll have to make on the bikes, which by the way are worth every penny. The Epics are made for the bumpy, fast descents that the Houghton/Hancock offers. Sara enjoyed riding with a young gal, Cooper D., for a good chunk of the race before turning the throttle and getting away the last few miles. She rarely gets to race with other women so it was nice to have someone on her wheel.

Luckily, Bart Rodberg and his wife Jean were also at the race and their daughter Madeline agreed to entertain Kiera. It makes for the perfect weekend when Kiera can travel to the races with us. On Sunday we headed up to the Copper Harbor and rode as much trail as we could find in the Brockway Mountain Drive area.

Up next, volunteering at Grandma's Marathon at 4:30 AM on Saturday and then off to Red Wing on Sunday.

This week I have a mountain bike camp with 20 kids for 3 hours a day in the morning. We have been riding in Hartley and these youngsters are going to be rockstars at some point. I've got a kid going into fifth grade that can shred downhills and scamper up technical ascents. It is always a blast showing these kids trails because they never complain about a thing and they are game to ride up or down anything.

Life of the Working, Child Rearing, Racing Folks (along with some soapbox preaching)

This is a crazy time of year. "Training" consists of riding to and from work when it isn't raining too hard and I don't have an early morning meeting. Sara will accompany me when she starts later so we can get in a short ride together. Kiera is getting old enough now that when she sees Sara in her kit she begins hollering and leveraging to join her on the ride (or stay home and skip riding). It is tough for Sara to leave with Kiera wailing away with tears the size of grapefruit dripping off her chin. Kids sure are good at manipulating and vying for what they want.

We've got two races in the past couple of weeks - both in Cable, WI. Cable Classic was a gravel road ride from start to finish. For those of you who claim that is "old school" you are sadly mistaken. Old school mountain biking is riding on two track through deep creeks, hoping over logs, boulders, etc. and yes, riding some gravel, wide single track and maybe even a bit of blacktop. Racing on perfectly manicured gravel roads is not old school mountain biking, however.

Sara and I could not hide our lack of race fitness like we can at the typical Cable course so it seemed like work from the first pedal stroke to the last. Definitely not the ideal course to start the race season. We would have done the first MNSCS race if we hadn't pre-registered. Lesson learned. I sure wish Todd McFadden could have pulled off the win so he and Diana could have stood on the top podium spots together. Congrats to Aaron and Diana for winning the men's and women's races and the dominator t-shirts.

The Mount Borah Epic, on the other hand, provided plenty of single track. Not only is there a nice variety of trail, but the new stuff they finished at the end of last year is loaded with big berms, pump track sections and overall big grin terrain. Sara led the women's race from start to finish, but Abby was less than 30 seconds behind. Since the men and women start together the women rarely get to dice it up (with other women). I know Sara would have enjoyed racing wheel to wheel with Abby and chatting along the way. Hopefully there will be more point-to-point races in the near future that will allow women to start together without the men.

If you like flowing single track this is a must do race. Ten years ago this area had bits and pieces of single track that locals built (like Tom Geier) and held races on for the Northwest Series. Now they have a mountain bike destination on their hands and riders are coming from all over the place to ride the 50 plus miles of sweetness.

Thanks to the Raymond family for the accommodations and specifically to Kathy for watching Kiera while we raced. There is nothing better than getting to do a race on the weekend AND being able to bring Kiera along to be a part of the action. Hopefully Ben and Luke (Ron and Kathy's boys) bike riding skills will inspire Kiera to get rid of the training wheels.

On a side note, we are slowly getting our new Specialized Epics dialed in. I cannot believe how long it takes to get new bikes properly set up. We have been changing seats, stems and seat posts to try to get in the right position. Furthermore, we are experimenting with shorter cranks so it's sort of like being tossed into the washing machine on the regular cycle and trying to stand up... We are getting closer every day though.

Morning Commute

Still snow on the Enger Golf Course!



There used to be single track up there (Piedmont MTB Trail).



100 meters of Skyline Rd. under construction.







View of Duluth/Superior harbor.




Tough to tire (no pun intended) of this view.

April?

We ate at Miguel's, this fabulous little Mexican restaurant, all but one of the five evenings. Variety is the spice of life, right?



We ate, drank coffee and read at Love Muffin every morning.



The weather did not deter us from riding but it did remind us way too much of March in Duluth.



We got to battle the elements in Colorado on the drive out and back. Vail pass was especially bad. Got to see the aftermath of a Subaru (without snow tires?) trying to make up time on the icy Interstate (one for I 70, zero for Subaru). Also saw a car melting into the Interstate in Nebraska (stopped traffic for bit) and a couple of nasty accidents. We alway are thankful to have made it out and back without any serious trouble.



Our humble abode for the week. It got down to 25 one evening but our summer bags were good enough.

Sara and packed up our old 850 Volvo for a little R&R in Moab, UT by ourselves for the first time in over ten years. We put in over 25 hours of riding in six days and over 42 hours of driving in two days. I know this seriously violates some folk's rules on driving vs riding, but the riding in Moab continues to get better. A mechanic at Rim Cycle, a great shop my brother Brad worked at over ten years ago, said the local volunteers have been going gangbusters building new singletrack. It has gotten to the point were we don't have to ride any jeep trails anymore. In fact, it appears that Moab now has more twisty, turny midwest style singletrack than even Fruita, CO. I assumed IMBA had influence in the new trails but I ran into the IMBA rep for that area and he said they don't even have a chapter in Moab...

We were able to ride a good chunk of the Whole Enchilada (other than the upper La Sal trails since they were under snow). We did ride Sand Flats road to where it ends at the La Sal Mountain Loop Rd and then on to the Kokopelli single track, UPS, LPS, and the return down Porcupine single track to Highway 128. Long day in the saddle but incredible views to be had from the La Sal Mountains. I'd love to be able to do the other couple of higher elevation trails but there is always snow when we head out in April (not as much snow as we have in Duluth right now, but plenty nonetheless).

The other rides worth mentioning are the M.O.A.B. Brand trails, Klondike Bluff trails (yeah, your read that right), Pipe Dream (a stone's throw from downtown Moab) and Sovereign trail. We didn't get to ride the new stuff at Sovereign yet but if it is anything like the other stuff they've been building, it is a must ride.

We did make the mistake of doing over seven hours to complete the loop from our campsite in town of the Magnificent Seven trails, to Gold Bar/Gold Spike, to Poison Spider back to town. Sara thought it would be a good idea since the Epens did it last year. Way too much blacktop for me with such great single track available. It didn't help that Sara had two flats and one of the three tubes I brought had a Schrader valve. Needless to say, I had to ride her bike for the last half of the ride since we didn't have a patch kit and it was getting too late in the day to walk out there. Felt like a real rookie and have to admit that I was a bit nervous once she got the second flat. It didn't help that the Specialized FSR Expert 29er demo bike from the SKI HUT came with a patched sidewall. I had a new tire sitting in the Volvo that I would have gladly put on had I known the sidewall already had a hole in it and the patch would let loose during the ride.

Even though the weather was cold, wet and snowy for over half of the trip, it was the best bike trip to date. Sara rode the Specialized full suspension 29er for the first time and she was riding more stuff than ever by the end of the trip. I still have trouble believing how strong a rider Sara is. She can suffer more than many of the guys I ride with and she's determined to ride in any conditions. Hopefully we'll be able to do a trip like this every year because I forgot how easy it is to train for a week without any other responsibilities.

Changes

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After thirteen years on the same bike brand, Sara and I will be riding Specialized Epic 29ers this year. Incidentally, Sara cut her teeth on a Specialized M4 full-suspension MTB in Moab, UT fourteen years ago. Even though it was her second trip to Moab, there was a lot of blood, tears and angst during her second visit. Thanks to Ski Hut and Specialized, we are building the bikes from the ground up, so it’s exciting to work with a bunch of new Specialized components along with the new SRAM XX1 group. We are waiting for all of our XX1 components to show up but by the sounds of it, it will be worth it.

We’ve been putting in a bit more time on bikes now that good skiing is behind us. It’s amazing how tired we get riding on the road, spinning our legs versus skate or classic skiing – or chugging along on the chubby bike. From a neuromuscular standpoint, we’ve got some work to do. Speaking of the chubby bike, I was fortunate to swap out our 80mm rims for 100mm clown shoes. The wider rims transform the bike into a snow surfing machine, easily navigating deep, rutty, new snow. I now see what all the fuss is with these bikes. In fact, I rode snowmobile trails last week in the afternoon sun in 47 degrees, an impossible feat on any other type of bicycle. It was fast on my first pass, but the second time through was much easier. I’d highly recommend getting one if you are looking for an alternative to fighting a skinny tire bike in the winter. Make sure to get clown shoes and Big Fat Larry tires though.

Since my dad returned from paddling the Buffalo River in Arkansas, Sara and I had the good fortune to ride together both Saturday and Sunday – on gravel/pavement with crossbikes on Saturday and chubby bikes on snowmobile trails on Sunday (55 degrees and sun on Saturday, 32 degrees and 30 + mph wind gusts on Sunday).
For the first time in 17 (or more) straight years, I won’t be going to Moab. Although I hate to miss it, the drive is getting too painful. Maybe Arkansas or Missouri are in the cards this time around…


$4000 or best offer. Know anyone looking for last year's Trek Top Fuel? It was Scott's bike and it's in great shape. We also have carbon clincher and carbon tubular 26" wheels and tires if interested.

Nordic Racing

picture credit: Clayton Keim, Nordic Spirit Race Director

Sara has done one Nordic race so far this year and I am up to two. Sara would have done the Boulder Nordic race at Boulder Lake, about 45 min north of Duluth, if Kiera hadn't gotten sick. Mick at the SKIHUT was kind enough to give us bibs for the race so Sara still feels bad about letting it go to waste.

Skiing is the fantastic right now in Duluth. In fact, I haven't been on my bike for a couple of months due to coaching and good snow. I much prefer to ski over bike in the winter since I can work myself over so much better on skis than on the bike. I blew ski high at the Nordic Spirit race a couple of weeks ago and there is nothing harder than finishing off a ski race when you are seeing triple (in addition to being tired, one has to continue to cordinate a lot of moving equipment and try to keep from freezing to death).

Sara took the week off and we planned to go to Telemark and hang out with friends but Kiera's illness will keep us grounded at home.

Fat Bike Race on Korrki Nordic Singletrack

This is from Chis White at the SKIHUT:

I am going to put on a fat bike race at Korrki Nordic an March 16th...11:00 start time.

This will be a great event with a venue that will include...snow, mud, roots, hills and twisted

trails...maybe even a creek crossing,depending upon the weather. Guessing 20k

We are trying to raise money for a new mower for the trails, as one didn't make thru last season.

I am planning on charging $20.00...awards to 1,2,3 overall for men and women.

Bring dry clothes for after the race, we will have a bonfire a few cold beverages and brats.

Let me know your thoughts and pass the word...we will limit the event to 100.This race will be about going

out to have fun with friends