Gopher Cycling Blog

The U of M held the Lebanon MTB Time Trial this past weekend, and, as other schools in our conference had indubitably feared, dominated the event. Read Ben P's report for the details:

"The event was an off-road Time Trial: One rider went off every minute, racing against the clock to complete two 4.5-mile laps of semi-technical single track. The course features very tight, twisty single track, a number of obstacles and jumps, rock gardens, bridges, fast downhills and a moderate climb.

University of Minnesota was hosting and we delivered on our home turf. In collegiate men’s A, I rode like I had someone breathing down my neck the entire time, but wound up winning by nearly two minutes, in a time of 0:47:45. Sideburnz finished 3:06 back in 6th place, followed by Satoshi Ishii in 7th at 4:15. Satoshi’s finish was truly classic: as he crossed the line, he cased it and took out the water table- not just the jugs, but the table itself. It was pretty amazing. Anyway, Screech rounded out the field in 10th at 12:01, on his rigid singlespeed.

In Men’s B, Andy Phelps (Kansas) won with a time of 55:26, followed by the U of M’s Chris Koch, Tim Srenaski, and David Nunez. It was the U of M mountain bike racing debut for both Tim and Dave, both of whom rode well.

Collegiate Women’s A was the one-two punch of U of M’s Anne Hansgate in first at 53:10, followed by Maria Stewart 1:15 back.

Another good showing for the Golden Gophers, and a great turnout for our home race. Next week’s races are in Mankato, so again, not too far away. It would be great to get this kind of showing for at least that race, to show the conference that we’re not just fair weather racers. Check out the race flier. I know at least Maria and Sideburnz are heading down for the gravity events, as will I if I can find a big bike and some danger pants to use, and we should all head down to support the team for the XC events."