Midwest MTB Report

Summer like weather with little humidity making it for awesome riding the past week. A few thundershowers here and there to dangle around but many locales needing the moisture. All good. This weeks report includes a special report from Steve Wenzel who competed in the Gunnison Meowler Mountain Duathlon with fellow flat landers Matt Engen and Kent Throlson, the Strava Ride of the Week, and mountain bike news and notes.

Gunnison Meowler Mountain Duathlon

After nearly 30 years of mountain bike adventures and racing, 53 year young Steve Wenzel made an early visit west to compete at the high altitude in Gunnsion, CO.

Steve's report:

Fellow Maplelag team member Matt Engen from Fargo, Kent Throlson from Golden Valley, MN and myself traveled down to Gunnison, CO for the second annual Gunnison Meowler Mountain Duathlon held last Sunday, May 22.

Topeak Ergon Racing Team member and director of the Gunnison Trails association Dave Wiens is the boss of this event and put on a great show.

The race info clearly states in capital letters - EXPERIENCED MOUNTAIN BIKERS AND TRAIL RUNNERS ONLY, PLEASE! We're flat landers, it's hard for us to train locally for this! None the less, we hauled out there ready for a great adventure.

The mountain duathlon took place at the Hartman Rocks Recreation area outside of Gunnison. Weather at the 7am start was bluebird, light wind and 38 degrees – perfect! The first MTB leg started at 7700 ft and only went up from there. The single track moved in, over and through granite rock formations. This area is definitely high dessert with spectacular 360 degree views throughout the day.

(Photo: Steve Wenzel pictured)

The run in the middle was the highest leg starting at 8000 ft going up and over 9000 ft. Running up is hard, but in my opinion going down is even harder. I had to remind myself to make sure and soak up the views, it was really beautiful.

The second MTB leg was even tougher than the first. The run killed my legs, and then after the run transition, the course went up and through "Skull Canyon" – brutal! It seemed to take 5 miles to get my bike legs back. The course was never easy –" you had to be "on" every pedal stroke.

As a group from the Midwest, we were schooled by the Coloradans – big time! We were sucking air through a straw! Matt, Kent and I have experience acclimating and riding at altitude, going out a couple of days earlier would have definitely helped, but busy lives did not permit. We all finished with smiles on our faces and great stories to bring home.

Dave Wiens and crew put on a grass roots organized event! The volunteers, aid stations, course marking were top notch! The Gunnison Meowler was absolutely an excellent adventure, something different that challenged our abilities! The weather was prefect the views were amazing - I highly recommend trying in 2017.

Strava Ride of the Week

There were a lot of great rides this past week and last weekend. The fantastic summer like weather and lack of stifling humidity has made for ideal conditions to log miles on the bike, short or long. It was hard to pick out a ride with so many cool adventures out there. Initially I was going to select a ride from those that partook in the National Bike to Work day on Friday but two rides stick out that both make Strava Ride of the Week. Jeremy Myrum dropped a note of a ride he and his buddy did that was pretty epic. Jeremy reports:

"My friend Robby and I set out from St. Louis Park today to hit Elm Creek, Hillside and Mammoth. Ended up at 129 miles and it was a blast. Oh and we did it on fat bikes. We are training for Lutsen and Tatanka 100. A few weeks ago we did Wirth, Leb, Terrace Oaks, Murphy and the River Bottoms (~101 miles total) and are loving the challenge. RADonneuring we call it :-)"  

Thanks Jeremy for sharing. 

(Photo: Dominic Talerico riding at Theo Wirth by Max Ellingson)

Another big ride in the Twin Cities area on mountain bikes was logged by the group of Max Ellingson, Tim Gut, Brenden Bellew and Dominic Talerico. The foursome put in an impressive loop hitting up the trails of Salem, Battle Creek Carver, than finishing up with the Theodore Wirth trails for a total ride distance of 77.1 miles in 5:32:31 .

As mentioned before, if anyone has a ride to share, please contact me at

Bonus: Ben King's Tour of California Strava data highlighted in VeloNews

News and Notes

Cuyuna Praise

Once again, Cuyuna has received a top ranking in another mountain bike list/ranking. This time it is coming from Singletrack.com on the top 12 flow trails in the country. Jeff Barber writes:

Flow trails are being constructed all across the USA, so we thought it was time to catalog some of the best examples for those who love to flow

For whatever reason, flow trails seem to be a touchy subject for some riders, but here's the thing: Should every mountain bike trail be converted into a flow trail? No. But are flow trails fun to ride? Shoot yeah. Over the past several weeks we surveyed readers, asking them to share their favorite flow trail, and here's what we found:

Barber has listed a entry for "most technical" trail that will be interesting to see the results. 

The Being Dad Show - Getting Old

The most recent Mountain Bike Radio show touches on being a dad and advancing age and what that means for them and the struggle between getting better on the bike and being good dads.

Swift the Survivor

On a more sad note and one of the craziest mountain bike related stories I have seen, 303 Cycling.com has a post on the sad attack on cyclist Jesse Swift who was a survivor of a random stabbing.

Trail Stuff

River Falls, Wisconsin Meyer Middle school stopped by the White Tail Ridge mountain bike trail systems last week for a little trail work. Kinnickinnic Off Road Cyclists stated on their Facebook page: "They are putting in a skills area and are doing a great job! Look for it at the entrance of the trail. Thanks to most of the Meyer Middle School students who took part!" Nice work kids! 

MORC Partners with MN HS Cycling League

Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists (MORC) to reward student athletes in new partnership with the Minnesota High School Cycling League.  With the prominent rise of High School League teams established throughout the Twin Cities metro, the need for education in sustainable trail design, construction techniques, and building practices became apparent in order to provide a deeper connection and higher level of understanding and respect for the unique nature of singletrack trails for our sport's future stewards

IMBA and Sustainable Trails Coalition Issue Joint Statement

Statement from IMBA and STC: The ongoing discussion of trail access and advocacy has been a heated one no doubt. Several open letters from prominent people and groups throughout the mountain biking world have been lobbed out into the internet world over the last six months. Forums, comment sections, and social media feeds have been filled with educated and uneducated bantering for one side or another, driving a wedge into the mountain biking community.

Master Trail Builder Course in Eau Claire

Looking to become a CERTIFIED MASTER Trail Builder? CORBA along with TDS is looking to hold a course in Northern Wisconsin in July. This in partnership with the Wisconsin DNR & the City of Eau Claire. They need to hear from all interested parties ASAP.

Euro Stuff

If you didn't catch the wild and crazy sprint finish between Nino Schuter and Julian Abalone in last Sunday's World Cup, check out this link. Fantastic sprint! What I almost like best about it though is Absalons dismount off the bike while he is still moving. Great stuff.

To be honest, I haven't paid much attention to the electronic bike. Personally I like to have the satisfaction that I pedaled some big climb all by myself. What did catch my attention recently was the cool blog post by Christophe Sauser Trans Vesubienne with eMTB Levo.  Upon further research we discovered some interesting links:
Specialized Turbo Levo
Good article on testing the eMTB

Keep the wheels moving!

About the author... Jay Richards maintains a very active lifestyle. He somehow finds time between managing a full-time resort (Maplelag) and bringing up a family of four boys with his wife Jonell, to compete in both mountain bike and a few cross-country ski races. Jay rides for Maplelag Resort, manages the Maplelag/LaMere/Paramount/Jake's Bikes mountain bike team and enters his 26th year of racing and promoting mountain bike races. Have an event or mountain bike related information to share from the Midwest? Feel free to contact Jay at