Laddies Loppet

Another great weekend of racing on the home course at the Laddies Loppet. The team once again putting down some solid results and great finishes. The high individual placings by the team have unofficially moved us in to second place overall among nearly 30 teams going in to the final race of the season!! Fantastic job everyone, proud of each and every one.  Weekend recap with links to results and more photos on skinnyski.com. Thanks Bruce for taking all the great photos.

Garrett Horsager dicing it up in the short track.

Jordan Horner having another solid weekend, taking a time trial win and another cross country sport win en route to the overall Sport win.

Greg Ames focused in the short track.

Matt Horner in the short track, keeping consistent in the cross country with another top 10 finish.

Greg Ames, Jeff Beck and Dave Simmons post race time trial.

Jake Richards watching bro Jon finish the TT as younger brother Jens getting staged for his race.

Duluth connection: Scott Kylander-Johnson chatting with Matt Lee and Kasey and Mason Bacso.

Wyatt Horner on the line with Ripley Garden and Garrett Horsager.

Matt Lee looking to pick off riders in the short track.

Endurance specialist Dave Simmons going hard in the short track.

Jens Richards coming through the forest in Kids Comp cross country race.

Wyatt Horner working through traffic in the Kids Comp cross country race.

Isaac Hall focused on the singletrack in the cross country.

Taylor Horner sweeping through a corner in the singletrack.

Devon Horner pinning a drop deep in the woods.

AAndrea Horner out on course.

Thad Schulz back in action after t-boning a pickup truck and boat trailer a few weeks ago. Good to see Thad dicing it up again

Jon Darling working through the rock garden lakeside.

Jordan Horner weaving through the tight and twisty nicely.

Denny Barry getting ready to head over to the twin lakes singletrack in the cross country. Big thanks to Denny for the trail work on Friday morning and cutting out trees on the course Saturday afternoon.

Ben Olson finishing up the twin lakes singletrack posting a solid result in the Sport race.

Claire Garden ready to go in the Kids Race.

Leading out the kids race.

Mason Bacso hitting the last lakeside drop. Mr Consistency nailing another 4th place finish in the Elite race.

Eric Oftedahl moving up nicely in the cross country race Sunday for a top 10 finish, best placing of the year.

Kasey Bacso chasing hard in the cross country.

Jeremy Hecker dialing in the last lakeside drop section.

Matt Lee weaving through the singletrack.

Jake Richards picking his way through a rock garden on the twin lakes singletrack.

Steve Wenzel all smiles on the lakeside drops.

Tony Schmitz, (kit and shirt designer) catching up with teamers post race.

Great job again everyone! Good luck to those racing at Chequemegon!

Keep the wheels moving!!

MDH100-Dirt Spanker Classic-Flugly

A late season heat wave is ending out the summer as team riders have been racing across the Midwest in series races, grass roots type events and epic endurance races. In the Minnesota Mountain Bike Series team standings, the team has moved up to third! Nicely done.

Race recaps from Dirt Spanker,  the hot MDH 100 and Gear Grinder on MW MTB Report.

Jeremy Hecker on the big climb at Mon Du Lac.

Flugy report from Denny Barry:

After the  unique hill start , got to use the every hill you can find around that area , the next section was wind in your face for a few hundred yards and then into the single track . I was hanging close enough to Todd Hale's tail to feel if he ever took a quick nap or stopped for a sandwich I may have a chance to catch him , until the 3rd lap. On the weaving up and down the bank section,  some dude in a green shirt with a polo pony on it was walking his dog . Funny what one notices when trying to avoid things . I came around a corner , seeing this dude almost standing on the trail at the top of the steep little down , as I rounded the turn I needed to adjust my line to not elbow him , and then saw the dog in the middle about half way down , missed the dog , but not the tree waiting to attack .. Arm smacks an old limb stub sticking out ( which I didn't see ). Good thing I'm right handed because my oatmeal would  be cold by the time I would finish using my left arm , the  arm one with the big hicky this morning .
 . I yelled some Irish not sweet tunes at the guy to get his dog on a leash and off the trails . After that it took awhile to get back to feeling in tune .One person passed my while I was getting my bike out of the brush . After hitting left arm on tree , the left turn at the bottom just came way too fast . I was prepped for hitting dog -with enough speed to hit it and ramp over .
long story longer - I attempted to catch back up to Todd , and had the second and last bobble of race occur - cooked a turn , did the third best save of a life time of saves - I did nothing  but shut my eyes  trying to   think quickly  about a what to do. My  bike did it all   for me as it seemed to sense it was leaned way too far on the dry marbles . It didn't brake nor did it put any pressure on the bars . I love my Giant , it has done things like this many times .
all good races need good stories , not all need me being the stunt man. Fun race
but no watermelon afterwards at 120  degrees with 106% humidity

Denny Barry racing at the Flugly.

New team rider Isaac Hale racing the Flugly.

Team members after last Wednesday's race.


Looking forward to having most of the team this weekend for the Laddies Loppet stage race weekend!

Keep the wheels moving!

Border Crossing-Blacks-Rusty Ride-Wednesday Night Racing

Summer is zipping on by! Events galore on the calendar. The team is riding strong with solid results as Maplelag gears up for the big Laddies Loppet weekend.

Currently the team is sitting fourth overall in the Minnesota series, led by the Sport (3rd overall) and Expert (2nd overall) classes, moving up a few spots after the Border Crossing.

Team rider recaps from Border Crossing and Black's Grove on August 6th MW MTB report on skinnyski.com

Jordan Horner leading the charge in Sport Women. Taking her fourth consecutive win in the overall Sport female! Nice job Jordan!

And recap from the Rusty Ride on the August 13th MW MTB Report on skinnyski.com

Greg Ames cranking it in the Wednesday night race at Maplelag. Greg raced the Rusty 100 last weekend and racing the MDH 100 this weekend!

Denny Barry at the start of Black's River Crossing MTB race. Denny and crew did a great job with course prep and putting on the event.

Thad Schulz racing at Black's. Thoughts and prayers towards Thad as he crashed in to a loaded boat trailer earlier this week. The bike was toast but Thad came through okay and a few weeks of recovery will be back in action.

Jens Richards rolling through the singletrack at Black's en route to winning the kids race

Maplelag team riders at the line before Wednesday night racing at Maplelag on the 2013 Loppet course. Racing again on the 21st of August at 6:50pm! One lap of the Sport/Comp/Expert loop (7.5miles)

Results from August 14th

1)Richard Jaime     38:42

2)Greg Ames            42:40

3) Asa Jacobs          45:10

4) Steve Wenzel       45:25

5) Ben Olson              47:49

6) Matt Wenzel         49:10

7)Tony Schmitz        50:42

8) Jack Ellefson        51:06

9) Aaron Spicer         54:12

10) Todd Hale               55:35

11) Denny Barry       57:32

12)Andy Maganatto  58:06

13) Anne Ellefson       58:38

14) Tom Clowe             61:03

Photos from August 14th MTB Race on Facebook

Steve and Matt Wenzel out for a ride on the course a few weeks ago, hanging out with Maplelag's new dog to shred the Lag!

Jack rippin' on the singletrack last week.

The first Maplelag mountain bike team was called "Team Zizi", short for Zizibaakawadaboo which means "sugarbush" in Ojibway. Scott Olson, one of the original members, out on the course this week, still rolling the 26 rigid!

Keep the wheels moving!

Afton Avalanche-Riding Around the Midwest

Most recent action saw riders hitting up the hilly slopes of Afton Alps for race #6 in the Minnesota Mountain Bike Series. Race recap from Anne Ellefson, (who recorded a 6th place overall in female Sport and 4th in the age group) on MW MTB Report on skinnyski.com

Other places by team members include:

Wyatt Horner 4th overall, 3rd in age class, Kids Comp division

Devon Horner 24th overall and 2nd in age class, Citizen division

Jordan Horner, 1st overall Female and 1st in age class Sport (Third win in a row for Jordan! Nicely done Jordan!)

Andrea Horner 2nd overall 1st in age class, Sport

Denny Barry, 63rd overall, 3rd in age class Sport

Corey Coogan Cisek 4th overall 2nd in age class female Elite

Eleanor Magnusson 6th overall 1st in age class female Elite

After 5 races, the team was sitting 5th overall out of 17 teams in the Omnium standings, led by the Elite class in 2nd place. 

The team members aren't racing, they are on the road training or hitting up dirt throughout the Midwest. Check out the photos below.

 Jeremy Hecker climbing at Afton to a 35th place finish and 3rd in age class, Elite

 Matt Horner rolling to a 9th place overall and 1st in age class, Comp

Mason Bacso hammering to a 6th place overall and 2nd in age class Elite male

 Bjorn Adelsman out on the road while doing a 50 mile ride last weekend.

 Dave Simmons, Matt Wenzel and Greg Ames getting in some good training in the Paul Bunyan State Forest last weekend.

Bruce and Bjorn Adelsman heading out for the final leg in New Brighton to Bemidji road tour.

Jake Richards checking out the singletrack at Piedmont in Duluth area.

Eric Oftedahl at the Lester Park trailhead in Duluth.

 Jon Richards rolling down the Goat Ranch Rd near Maplelag

Great riding on the Maplelag course with recent cooler temps. Felt like October in the mornings this past weekend.

Jens and Cooper working on a berm on the Maplelag mountain bike course. The track is looking great and we are getting excited for the upcoming Laddies Loppet weekend!

Keep the wheels moving!