Cuyuna-Race to Sunset

Good representation last weekend both at Cuyuna for the xc race, part of the Cuyuna Mountain Bike Festival and also a handful of riders in Bismarck for the Race to Sunset race.  Check out race recaps from both races on skinnyski.com !

 Team riders ready to roll at Cuyuna!

Mt Borah Epic

Matt Engen in the feature photo in a article featuring the MT Borah Epic. Nicely done Matt! 

Good luck to everyone this weekend!

Riding in Montana

Team riders Thad Schulz and Denny Barry meeting up with Helena resident Paul Cullen this week for some mountain riding. Photo taken at Mystic Lake near Bozeman, MT.

Bluff Riders Charge

Team members took to the trails this past weekend in Mankato, taking on the hilly slopes of Mt Kato which was race #2 in the Minnesota Mountain Bike Series. Team member Mason Bacso wrote a nice recap of the day which is featured in the Midwest MTB report on skinnyski.

Andrea Horner leading the Sport women up the first climb at Mt Kato en route to a 2nd place overall finish.
                                                              (Todd Bauer photo)

Other places by team members include:

Wyatt Horner  2nd age class 4th place overall Kids Comp
Devon Horner  1st place age class, 17th overall Citizen
Thad Schulz    2nd place age class, 19th place overall Sport
Jordan Horner  1st place age class,  3rd place overall Sport women
Anne Ellefson  5th place age class, 6th place overall Sport women
Kasey Bacso    3rd place age class, 10th place overall Elite men
Mason Bacso   6th place age class,  37th place overall Elite men (flatted)
Eric Oftedahl   12th place age class, 23rd place overall Elite men
Corey Coogan Cisek, 1st place age class, 3rd place overall Elite women

Very proud of the great job by everyone! Lot of events coming up on tap and good luck to everyone racing this coming weekend....keep the wheels moving!

New Season

 It has been a slow start to the mountain bike season with the late winter and cold and snowy spring but the race season has started and the team is stronger and bigger as ever. We have new kits this year designed by team member Tony Schmitz. We have continued out partnership with Kyia Anderson who has now moved to Podiumwear and sponsorship of the Elite team. The new fit feels and performs great and look forward to seeing them at the races. The first batch of kits is out and the second batch should be in racers hands the next few weeks. We have also teamed up with Tuxedo framesets and look for a few riders to be rolling this new ride. 

Corey Coogan Cisek waving the flag at the first Minnesota Mountain Biker series at the St Croix Woolly, sporting the new race kit en route to a second place overall.(Kyia Anderson photo)  Click here for full results. Racers also hit up the Spring Fling at Hillside last weekend. Check out the Midwest Mountain Bike Report on skinnyski.com and new team member Anne Ellefson's report and full results. Good riding and racing to everyone....thanks for waving the flag and keep the wheels moving!!

Racing on the Home Front

The end of summer has seen most team members racing in the backyard including races in Moorhead at Johnson Park and Black's Crossing outside Wadena. 

Labor day weekend the majority of the team was at Maplelag racing in the Laddies Loppet stage race. Solid performances in all classes with great results.  Click here for full report from the Loppet weekend with skinnyski.com photos and link to results.

Team riders at the Flugly. Race report from Flugly and Blacks Crossing on Skinnyski. com

Jens Richards racing short track, Kids comp.

Michael Cisek coming up the steep hill in Sport short track action.

Greg Ames in front of the lead group Comp short track.

Jens racing with cousin Garret in the xc.

Max Bergner waving the flag for the first time in Kids Comp xc.

Wyatt Horner Kids Comp xc.

Ben Wenzel, Citizen xc.

Devon Horner in Citizen XC.

Tom Heilman heading out for xc racing action in Sport XC.

Brandon Charboneau in short track action, Comp class.

Andrea Horner mixing it up with a strong women's field in the XC.

Ian Fritz lakeside, Sport XC.

Jon Darling lakeside, Sport XC.

Jordan Horner lakeside, Sport XC.

Tony Schmitz coming down off the bridge heading over to Twin Lakes singletrack, Sport XC.

Thad Schulz riding the bridge, Sport XC.

Denny Barry reading to cross the road and head to the west, Sport XC. Big thanks to Denny for blowing out a lot of the singletrack Friday and Saturday.

Mason Bacso lakeside, Elite XC.

Corey Coogan Cisek lakeside, Elite women XC.

Steve Wenzel lakeside, Comp XC.

Matt Horner lakeside, Comp XC.

Lars Ellefson lakeside, singlespeed Comp.

Matt Engen reading to drop in lakeside drops, Comp XC.

Jeff Beck set to drop in lakeside, Comp XC.

Sam Oftedahl climbing Suicide Hill, Elite XC.

Very proud of everyone waving the flag. Nice work!! Thanks Bruce at skinnyski for the great photos....Keep the wheels moving!

Maah Daah Hey 100- Mon Du Lac

Steve Wenzel along with team riders Jeff Beck, Greg Ames, Matt Engen and Eric Oftedahl participated in the Maah Daah Hey 100 mountain bike race. Steve reports:  In short, the absolute toughest event that I have done.  Not so much physically, but mentally.  Loved every pedal stroke!

The Maah Daah Hey 100 mountain bike race was held Saturday August 18th out in the beautiful badlands of western ND.  I had ridden the whole trail in sections from both directions one year or another but this adventure I was gunning for the whole deal, 104 miles of single track in one day.

5am sharp we took off from the start of the North section of the MDH trailhead at the CCC Campground.  Considering it was 5 in the morning all 50+ riders toeing the line were equipped with some sort of light on their bike.  It is hard to wrap your mind around the fact that you were going to be on your bike riding single track for the pre-race meeting estimated finish time of 20 hours.  Prior to the race I was considering only needing light the first leg of the ride, not on the other end to finish up.  The batteries on my lights were not going to last that long.  My plan B was my trusty LED Petzel head lamp.

Aid stations/baggage drops were located at 25 mile intervals throughout the day.  Reaching them was always a carrot dangling in front of you and very much appreciated when you reached that goal.  

At the halfway point I was on pace to finish before the street lights clicked on in Medora.  At 75 miles I was still feeling fine and rode on through the last and easiest section of the Buffalo Gap trail.  As you reel in the last miles of the Buffalo Gap section there is still over 3 miles of single track into the Medora trailhead.  Hitting that familiar road going into Medora was an unbelievable feeling.  Knowing that you had just completed one of the most difficult single track sections in the country!  The biggest plus was the fact that the sun was going down, but the street lights were still black as I rode over the finish line all smiles!

In reading my Garmin data, I personally was very happy with my overall results.  I ate, drank and rode consistent speeds throughout the day. There was not one time I doubted my ability or questioned if I should quit.  

Nick and Lindsey Ybarra race organizers and passionate about the ND badlands along with numerous family and volunteers pulled off a top notch first time event.  Check out their web page for future activities and overall news about this absolutely awesome part of the country.  http://www.experienceland.org

Eric's report in the Midwest MTB Recap

Other racing action saw a few riders hitting up Mon Du Lac with Mason Bacso recording one of the best finishes of the season with a 3rd place finish! Thad Schulz recorded a 24th place overall and 4th place age group. 

Good luck this weekend to team riders hitting up the local races in Wadena and Moorhead!

Keep the wheels moving!