The Movement!

I have to admit I spend a lot of time talking with my riding buddies about what we can do or should try to do to get more "cool" riding in and around the metro and MN area in general. By cool riding we mean more technical, preferably gravity driven, pucker you butt and all around bad ass riding spots! Well the fire has been sparked, well it was sparked a long time ago by a couple of my buddies Tony B and Adam Buck AKA Buck but it has been resparked recently, by the Duluth Crew and Hansi our local IMBA rep, so lets start this scene a blaze.

I would like to think I have had some influence on bringing this style of riding to the main stream with my instrumental roll in getting the Lexington Street Bike Park designed and built and my relentless barrage of the local forums with Gravity garb and reasons to ride longer travel bikes with flat pedals, but lets be real I probably haven't done much in influencing anyone but maybe my friends. However that might be changing!

I have recently joined the MORC board, I was first just going to be the "gravity liaison" but decided to take the full plunge and really get my hands dirty and try to get some real changes to happen with a move in what I consider the right direction. I really think the current board is super open minded and on board with most of my concepts and I know the new President Reed and the local IMBA rep Hansi are all about diversifying the local riding scene into more disciplines such as gravity and freeride. IMBA's main focus at the global summit this year in Santé Fe New Mexico was bike parks, I love bike parks and think they are amazing and the most bang for your buck and best use of your land, so I guess my ideals are right in line with IMBA and MORC is also moving in that direction, so what better time to throw my time and effort their way and join forces for the good of all bikers! I would say man kind but that's a bit of a stretch! haha.

So like I mentioned earlier I spend a lot of my time chatting with my riding buddies about how we can get more cool riding spots around here and finally we came up with a great idea. Well I shall give the credit where it is due, to my buddy Trevor. He was really the one that came up with the concept of reaching out to more divers populations of riders and that sparked the discussion of how we can do that. That expanded into the idea of how can we show MORC and the land managers that this demand is here and what do we do with this information and how do we make this concept a reality? Well after a good couple days of chatting and swapping ideas we came up with what we felt was a pretty solid plan and then we decided to talk to Reed and see if MORC maybe wanted to join the cause and get involved with this.... We'll long story short they loved it and now we, Trevor and I have partnered with MORC and have started the movement that we call, wait for it..... Upper-Midwest Riders for Gravity/Freeride/BMX!!!!!!!!

So what are goal is, is to advocate for more Gravity/Freeride/BMX ride spots in and around the Twin Cities, the state of Minnesota and the entire Upper-Midwest. We are going to take the success of places like Copper Harbor and the buzz that Spirit Mountain and Mont Du Lac have started and really try to harness that energy and focus it here in the Metro and use it to grow and develop our riding scene and take it to the next level!

Which in turn we hope will help fuel other projects through out the Upper-Midwest! I know there is going to be an awesome new addition to the WI scene with The Rock Bike Park, and we are hoping to the do the same thing here. We currently are involved in various stages of the planning process with 4 potential new ride spots through out the metro area and this is above and beyond the normal single track that we all no and love and lets be clear about this, single track has always been and will always be MORC’s bread and butter and main focus. So all of you XC lovers, don’t worry it’s not going any where! MORC is just trying to diversify its portfolio to help grow its rider base and member population! Realistically why shouldn’t they? It is Minnesota Off Road Cyclist not MN XC riders or even MN mountain bikers, so I feel that MORC should be involved on some level with all forms of off-road cycling whether it be the classic XC style trail, Gravity trails, bike parks or even BMX tracks. We should be advocating and assisting to the best of our ability to see more of these places become a reality in and around the metro so we have more people putting their wheels to dirt! The younger the better! They will be better riders in the future and become life long cyclists sooner!

Like I said earlier I’m a huge advocate for Bike Parks and not just the BMX style bike parks but the full blown awesomeness of a place like Valmont in Boulder CO. I believe this is the future and a project like this can really unit the riding community! A place where you can basically ride any bike you can imagine and any style of riding you can imagine! That is my dream and that is why we have started this movement and are beginning to assist MORC in the avocation process!

So how can you help? Well first off go this Facebook page and Like us, then share the page and then go to the IMBA website and become a member, that is how you join MORC and then go to the MORC website and start getting involved in anyway you can!

I know there has been some stigmas and stereo types about MORC and their members in the past that weren’t viewed too favorable in the gravity/freeride/bmx scene but things are changing, actually thing have already changed. Like I mentioned earlier MORC is now under new leadership and heck I’m now officially part of that leadership! So please put the past behind you, keep and open mind and join me, join us in this movement! We are on the edge of something great!

Keep it real!

Winter?

Woke up this morning, its in the teens and there is a light flurry out side... nice... Oh hello winter are you going to take off your jacket and stay awhile or just passing through? well either way I hope you stay.

For me the cycling season is about over. I probably have a couple rides left in me but I'm not one of these hard core guys with fat bikes, lights and winter riding gear.. why? you ask... well it is too GD expensive that is why... So I fill my winter with hobbies that I already have the gear for like sledding, xc skiing, dh skiing (Kelly's family is big on this so I get hand me downs), pond hockey and ice climbing.

This last Saturday I went to Red Wing for one of the last DH sessions of the year and it was a blast. It was great to ride with Jed, Trevor and Reed one last time before the snow and cold comes. The trail was in great condition! Hero dirt, all we did was move some leaves and sessioned for like 2 hours or so! Everyone that wasn't there missed out! no rain, sunny skies and 10 degrees warmer then the metro! Over all just a great day to ride!

Saturday night we went to the Zac Brown Band concert. That was awesome! One of the best concerts I've been to in a long long time. Even the opening acts were sweet! I loved Blackberry Smoke, some good old Georgia boys playing some bad ass southern rock! The rest of the weekend was spent hanging with Kelly and Jerry and just relaxing. It was great. Sunday, no plans. I haven't had that in a long time. Sleeping till I just woke up was awesome!

MORC board meeting tomorrow night, othe then that will play it by ear to see what the weather brings us!

I'm sure you are familiar with Valmont in Boulder CO, if not click here: http://bouldermountainbike.org/valmontbikepark and the history of it here: http://bouldermountainbike.org/content/historyvision
Now WI is going to take a crack at it and are building the Rock Sports Complex , it will be a multi sport complex, however it will include an extensive bike park including chairlift-served gravity course, a BMX track and cross-country trails. This will be located in Franklin WI which is near Milwaukee.
Here are a couple articles about it :
http://bfw.org/2012/11/08/epic-mtb-p...g-to-franklin/
http://bfw.org/2012/07/12/wisconsins...b-ride-center/

I truly believe that bike parks and this bike specific sports complex are the it thing in riding these days and the way of the future. It started in CO and has spread to the West Coast and is beginning to get steam on the East Coast and now in the Midwest. WI is really stepping up, they now have the largest MTB race series in the nation, Ray's indoor MTB and now the rock. This on top of Nordic Mountain and Mont du Lac that offer shuttle or lift access DH on a semi-regular basis. I was also told by Grant at Alpine bike parks designs that they are working with Cascade Mountain Ski Area near Madison about adding a lift access bike park.

In my opinion this is very exciting opportunities and I hope that we here in MN can take this momentum of the bike park/ ride complex and support whats happening in Dululth and maybe make some of these things happen here in the Metro and other locations in MN!

Keep it real!

State Championship Race

The high school mountain bike league state championship race was yesterday, 10/28/12, at Buck Hill Ski Area. It was an amazing day for a race. The sun was out the temp was cool but not cold and the atmosphere was awesome. Gary Sjolquist and the rest of the NICA crew can put on a great event. I was really looking forward to this race. I knew the venue was going to be the most challenging of the year and I had only been able to attend the first race of the season at Salem Hills, due to other personal commitments. So I was amped up to help the team pre-ride and really feel out the course.

The course was actually cooler than I thought. I had heard some horror stories of endless climbing and limited descents but really it was pretty equal and all the climbs were wide open which makes them a bit easier. The descents were single track and were a lot of fun. Tight twisty single track! I might actually show up for a Thursday race or two next year… I need to focus more on fitness next year.

Overall the race went really well. Our only girl racer ended up having some technical problems with her brakes and finished 6^th, Andrew our team masochist, loves the climbs, left it all on the trail and finished 5^th in the JV division, followed by Kevin, Vaughn and Nate in that order. The other racers didn’t compete for various reasons.

Here is a link to some pictures from skinnyski.com and Griff

http://www.skinnyski.com/

http://mountainbikegeezer.com/posts/photo-album-mn-high-school-mountain-bike-race-at-buck-hill/

Over all it was a great season. I had a great time getting to know this group of young rippers and enjoyed helping them hone their skills. They really grow and developed as riders. It was a rewarding experience. All the riders from this season’s team are graduating and it is extremely time consuming. I am on the fence about coaching again next year. We will see what the winter and spring bring but I feel my time might be better spent developing the local riding scene. I feel I can reach more youth by simple providing them more exciting places to ride and possibly putting on some skills clinics!

Who knows? I’m pretty young still and would also like to focus on my own riding career for a few years. The High school league is young and I did my part to secure it and it is on the verge of exploding and I plan on coming back in a few years and helping again!

Keep it real!

Giants Ridge DH race

Giants Ridge Down Hill race was this last weekend, 10/13/12, and it might very well be the last Jolly Rogers Series race ever and the last race put on by Midwest Freeride Community (MFC), which is sad but I understand how difficult these things are to continue. Buck and Tony poured their hearts and souls, time and money into these events over the last half decade and really helped progress and grow the sport in the Midwest. It is unfortunate that they are bowing out right now as the sport is finally starting to get traction and grow in popularity here in MN but I understand as we age our priorities change.

The race was awesome, the course was phenomenal and hands down the gnarliest course I’ve ridden in the Midwest and maybe anywhere… the black hills might still have it, but it was a real test. It was truthfully the first time that I felt out gunned and that my skills might out way the bike. It probably wasn’t so, I probably didn’t reach the limit of the bike but more my limit on that bike. Which is awesome, that can only lead to growth as a rider. The venue was sweet and the people were amazing as usual. I just love being with 40 like minded people talking bikes and having a good time.

The race started at 12pm (noon), I woke up at 4:25am and got ready, I was packed the night before, and headed out the door to Trevor’s house by 4:45am. We loaded his car and were on the road, headed north by 5:15am. We arrived in Biwabick around 8:30am. Put the bikes together and were on the first shuttle heading up the mountain by 9:30am. The first run down was clean and slow. I was just trying to get my legs under me and check out the course. I had never been there before and never ridden that course so I wanted to feel it out.

To be honest the course kicked my ass for the next 4 practice runs. I either crashed or flatted every run down so I wasn’t feeling too confident going into the race. On top of that I was a little flustered as it took almost 30 mins to change my tube in on my new rims. It was pretty embarrassing actually. Those new Stan’s rims are awesome to ride but horrible to put a tire on or take off as they have a very shallow valley in the middle of the rim. I broke my tire lever trying to put it on and actually Tony was the one that finally got the tire on, thanks Tony! Haha.

The race finally got going, since it was my first downhill race and I wasn’t left too confident after the practice runs I chose to race Cat 3 (beginner) I knew that might be playing it on the safe side and I might get some shit if I actually pulled it together but who knows… 95% of the guys racing Cat 1-2 (open) were on full DH rigs, so I was definitely out gunned on my 150mm Giant Reign, heck most the dudes in the beginner category were on DH rigs!

I crashed first run, just a minor slide out and then rode through some tall grass after coming out of a corner wide, so that really killed my time, or so I thought. I put up a 2:18 and was in the lead, the next fastest was 2:28. Now I really felt like a sand bagger, haha and I was already hearing it from my buddies, haha. The next run I decided to just put it together run conservatively where I knew I might have trouble and pedal my ass off where I could. I wanted 1 freaking clean race run!

Viola, I did it I cleaned the tricky stuff at the top and was feeling pretty good. I pedaled my ass of in the flats and put down 2:08, which was good enough for first in the beginner category. However I would have only placed 3^rd in the juniors category! A couple of those groms were quick! I would have been in the top 15 I believe in open but nowhere near the top. Top 4 were all under 2 minutes.

Thor won with a 1:45, Paul second with 1:49, Jed third with like 1:54 and Pete forth with 1:57 I believe. The official results aren’t up yet. Either way it was an awesome Saturday. I had a great time, I got to do my first DH race and I can’t wait to do another. I won a sweet sword as my trophy and also took home some swag, a new set of green Chromag handlebars, a set of DMR pedals and some stickers and all the Red Bull I could drink (thanks Buck).

The future is looking bright for gravity riding in the Midwest, Copper Harbor has plans to add a new double black diamond DH trail next summer, Spirit has 2 DH trails with plans to have many more and Mont Du Lac has few trails now open and plans to continue to build! I can’t wait for next summer!

Duluth, the new Whistler?

Ok maybe that is a stretch but it definitely has the potential of being the true hot spot of the Midwest, the epicenter of MN/Midwest mountain biking. With the Duluth Traverse getting under way and when that is finished they will have over 100 miles of single track in side the city limits. Then there is Spirit mountain that currently has two completed runs (closed to the public till spring) and will be the first and only full time lift access bike park in the Midwest. It will most likely run Friday afternoon through Sunday night once they open. There are big plans for expansion, however it is kind of up in the air right now on total runs I've heard 5 to 25 so who knows but if they get 10-15 solid runs they will be very successful in my opinion as there will be nothing on that level around here. They are working with 700ft of usable vertical and a high speed quad lift.
I know it is technically not in Duluth but Mont du Lac, just south of Superior WI is very close and they are moving very quickly to offer the area an alternative to Spirit Mountain. As of right now they are not lift access but are offering shuttle runs. They are working with something just north of 300 vertical feet so a fair amount shorter but to my understanding the terrain is steeper and they are on private property so are really only limited by the owners and how much insurance they want to pay. The bonus for them is that they are in WI and WI has much looser insurance regulations. I have also heard the rumor that they may be moving to lift access in the near future for sure.
Either way, two legit down hill/gravity/free ride areas with in a short trip from each other and 100 plus miles of single track can make for a great mountain bike scene. Through on top of that one of the strongest dirt jump scenes in the state and a rather large college you have a good mix for potential growth. There is a great organization in COGGS backing this program and the regional IMBA rep is located in Duluth and is supporting this project with all his might.
There are other rumors of a new bike park being built in Duluth loosely modeled after Superior Bike Park in CO and my very own creating the Lexington Street Bike Park.
Exciting things are to come so stay tuned in and help support the local bike shops and organizations MORC, IMBA and COGGS, they are really what make it happen, so if you aren't a member join IMBA or your local club.
Tides are changing and soon very soon I think you will see some seriously bad ass trails developing!

IMBA Flow School

I know that this is a recurring theme, me not writing forever and then apologizing so this time I'm not going to apologize. I've been really busy at work and just life it's self and we only have one working computer at home and it's Kelly's work computer and she was gone for all of last week. So it was just Jerry and me.

The Tuesday night before I was scheduled to go to trail building school my back started to feel tight. I'm not sure what caused it. I could be from the crash in Copper Harbor, it could be from the hard crash at the bike park the Friday before or just who knows. Anyways I got home from bike park maintenance and was laying on the couch with Kelly and Jerry and I could just feel my back tightening up. I got up I stretched and foam rolled and went to bed and laid on the heating pad. I woke up about 2 am to go the washroom and basically had to roll out of bed in pain. My back was f'd. Serious pain, I hadn't been in this kind of pain from my back in years. I went down stairs to try and foam roll, no dice I couldn't even lay on it. I grabbed the ice pack and some ibuprofen and tried to go back to sleep hoping I'd feel better in the AM. Nope still felt like shit so I had to call into work for the first time in my professional life and find a chiropractor that was in my insurance network and that had an open appointment. I had to wait till 230pm to get in so it was more ice and heat and stretching to try and loosen up. I did this pretty much as a cycle till I went.

Jerry was super frustrated with me. He didn't get why I was home and not playing with him, I didn't smell sick so what was wrong. After the chiro I felt a little better but then worse. However in the morning I felt a lot better and went back to work but brought my ice pack and heat pad with me. Each day after that I felt better, I went back to the chiro on Friday, hoping that I would feel like a million bucks after the second go, but only felt about 75%. Super bummed. I had to drive to Duluth in like 3 hours and was really hoping to be able to shred and build like a mad man!

I left work about 245pm and headed north to Rudy's house in Hermantown, suburb of Duluth. It was good to see Rudy and Leslie again and they were gracious enough to let me crash at their place for the IMBA Flow School. Rudy was attending to so that was even better. We had a meet and greet at Spirit Mountain later that evening. I love these things, 20+ like minded people sitting around talking about bikes and excited about what is to come!

In the morning I was feeling about 80%, it was an improvement but still not were I wanted to be. Luckily the school that day consisted of a morning full of class room time explaining what "Flow" meant to IMBA and the two awesome trail builders that were teaching the class. Huge thanks to Aaron and Dan! Then we had a little presentation from Vermeer Equipment and then it was time to see the trail. I didn't get up there early enough to check it out like many of the others had the day before. A lot of them had already ridden it too.

We rode over to the trail. It was seriously cold out, not sure the exact temperature but the rain had turned to freezing rain and sleet. The trail looked super sick! I was just bummed I wasn't feeling 100% I really wanted to let loose on this thing, but I knew that probably wasn't a good idea and wouldn't help my recovery. So I rode the giant pump track at a gingerly pace while most the other people were tearing it up and trying to turn rollers into doubles and whip it out of the hip jumps.

This trail was truly a work of art. Aaron had done and amazing job so far. It was one of those trails that could really be fun for all levels of riders. Beginners could roll the trail with out ever having to leave the ground. The better riders could avoid pedaling all together by pumping and manualling everything and the good riders could start to really fly by doubling up some of the rollers and pumping the backsides of the jumps.

This picture brought to you by Hansi Johnson, our awesome local IMBA rep.
These photos have been blowing up all over the local forums and the Internet. Pro's like Richie Schley and Pinkbike have shared them on Facebook and they are getting mad reviews! I can't wait for these trail to open up and the lifts to start running! This will change riding in the midwest and MN forever and for the good! We might actually start seeing some longer travel bikes in shops as well as full face helmets, pads and even flat pedals!

Sunday came and I was feeling about 90% and it was time to start learning hands on and start building some trail. We had multiple stations were we got to watch Aaron work his magic in the mini-Ex and then rough shape the features, finish the features and then play with the Vermeer Equipment they had brought out for us to demo. Over all it was great day. It went too quickly. The end of the day was a bitter sweet day. I didn't really want to go home but it was time. I hadn't really got to give this trail what I wanted to or get to ride the other trail smorgasbord to even see what that had to offer. That was the first trail built out there by the on staff trail builder Glen, and this trail will be labeled blue as far as I know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdDsGg9ebuY&feature=player_embedded#

Over all it was a great weekend and I truly learned a lot of about building trails. I have the experience building BMX tracks and Bike Parks but now I have added another skill to my bag of tricks and will continue to expand and learn. It sounds like they will have another trail school next year in the midwest, an IMBA Jump Trail School and I hope to be there for sure!

How cool would it be to be able to make a living from building trails and riding my bike! My life would be complete, a great wife a sweet dog and a killer job doing what I love! Well maybe some day my dreams will come true, until then I will just keep doing what I do!

Keep it real!

The long and the short of it!

Ok so I said Copper Harbor was a blast but it was expensive! In terms of weekend trips in the midwest, at least for me. One gas was like $4.25 to $4.50 a gallonl dang! and then I desided that I was going to race the enduro! right on, good time, well now I need a new helmet, actually I got one, Fox Transition Hardshell, compliments of Random Bikes and my wife. This was actually on order prior to going to the UP as my birthday present. It was going to be my jump/freeride helmet but is now my everything helmet.

Then on top of that I crushed my wheel

so now I am rocking this rim on the front thanks to the Bicycle Chain

and do to a minor miss hap I will be rocking this rim on the back now, again thanks to the Bicycle Chain and taking care of me and making things right!

But over all it was an awesome trip, met a bunch of cool people got to network the mountain bike community a bit and ride the best trails in the mid west and rock cool shit like this!!!

Keep it real!