Gopher Cycling Blog

This past weekend was the first race weekend of this fall's collegiate mountain biking season. The U of M dominated all around, with Ben P and Matt K securing conference wins on both days and Maria S leaving no questions unanswered in the women's field. Here is a recap from Ben P:

"Saturday was the short-track. It was basically a criterium on dirt. Fast, non-technical course, with some loose sandy corners to deal with and short, gradual climbs. The men's A race started out fast. Sideburnz (Matt K) and I sat in 3rd and 4th wheel for a lap or so. People were slowing too much to turn, so we both started to attack on one corner. Sideburnz told me to go for it, so I took off. A guy from ND and the lone expert rider in the race seemed to be staying close, so I dropped back after about a lap to recover. I worked with the ND guy, but the expert guy wouldn't pull, so I decided to see if he was sitting in or if he was really just hanging on. I guess they both were, because I simply rode off the front and stayed away for the remaining two laps of the race for the win. Matt hung on for 5th overall I think, 3rd in our conference.

Maria and the women's A field raced alongside the men's B racers. Maria got in with a group of guys, leaving the rest of the women's field behind in another group. At first she was just sitting in, saving energy for the XC race the next day, but her competitive spirit took over, and she hung with the leaders and sprinted it out for 2nd overall, 1st woman by a lot. If she had known that the guy in front of her was the 1st collegiate men's B racer, I think she'd have had no problem putting him away as well. It was pretty sweet.

Sunday's XC race was a real killer- a 10+ mile loop (which they thought beforehand was around 9miles), lots of technical stuff, then tight singletrack, a big climb on the back side, and some fast singletrack to finish the loop. It was also damned hot. Women did 2 laps along with the collegiate men's B field. Once again, Maria pulled out the stops and went to town on the technical stuff- leaving behind not only the collegiate women but a local hero woman expert racer as well. Then she trounced the men's B field by over 4 minutes. It was pretty dominating.

Men's A racers did 3 laps, and it was rough. We started out pretty fast- sideburnz in first to the technical stuff. Andy from Kansas got by us, so I went to chase him down. I was feeling really good, so I really gave 'er through the early rock sections but I flatted almost immediately. After that I was livid. I tried to chase, passed rider after rider who had flats- including sideburnz. I'd gotten close to the leaders when I flatted again at the big climb- this time from thorns. In the meantime, Matt passed me doing pretty well. I used my last tube and continued, trying to be more careful. As I was catching up again the curse of Kansas got me, and I flatted again and had to drop out. Meanwhile, Matt was in 4th place, behind two texas guys and a kansas guy. He passed the kansas guy and left him behind. At the beginning of the final climb, Andy from Kansas caught up with him and passed him. Matt kept his cool and kept chugging up the climb, despite cramps. Apparently, Andy cramped as well, and Matt crushed his spirit by charging up the hill passed him, cramps and all. He held on to win for our conference and took 3rd overall for Collegiate.

Overall a successful weekend. Maria is even better than last year, and Matt and I seem to be holding our own as well. However, we're not going to win the conference and qualify as a team for natti-Ice with only 3 riders. We need more people to finish races and score points. So even if you only race in the beginner catagories, we need everyone we can get. It's super fun, and nobody will put pressure on you- we just want you to finish and have a good time. Just make sure that for the conference race in Kansas you have some beafy tires."

Well done, Gophers!