Posted By email hidden; JavaScript is required § Dec 13th, 2008
If you want to ride during the winter in the midwest you’re going to end up riding in the snow. With that in mind Tony, Buck and I headed down to Red Wing to ride after the first real snowfall of the year. Buck had just bought a new camera and he was itching to try it out.
As we pushed up the hill I thought, “I’m not wearing enough clothes.” My hands were already numb and my 5-10 shoes which normally grip the pedals so well were doing their best impression of skis as I struggled to find a foothold. We dropped in and as I fought to keep the bike on line in the first corner I wondered if this was going to be any fun. In the second turn I stuck out a leg, felt the bike drift to the outside of turn until the tires hooked up and I rocketed out of the corner and I knew it was going to be a good day.
The best part of the trail was the middle section. A sharp left hand turn leads to a straight-away which crosses the XC trail which leads to a long sweeping left turn into a small jump over a partially fallen tree and then into a right-left chicane. I was a little apprehensive about hitting the over-the-tree jump. Normally it’s not a problem but you want to carry some speed into it and the bike was a little squirrley at speed through the snow. Tony hit it first. He just barely brushed the snow of the tree with his rear wheel and blew a foot off the pedal on the landing, but he kept it together. I hit the jump the first time, got in the air, cleared the tree and thought, “Hey this isn’t too bad”. Then my wheels touched down. The two inches of snow on top of three inches of leaves didn’t provide enough grip for my frozen maxxis 3Cs. The bike went left and I went right , sliding on my back into the trees. I brushed myself on and did again, this time with more successful results.
We sessioned the section for a while and Tony executed a picture perfect scandinavian flick into the chicane. The rear wheel breaks free pointing in the wrong direction and then swings the other direction setting the rider and bike up perfectly to rail the turn. It was beautiful! Tony was killing that corner all day, easily riding it as cleanly and quickly as I have seen it ridden in more optimal conditions.
Posted By email hidden; JavaScript is required § Nov 25th, 2008
Last Thursday the call went out. Buck had access to some studio lights and the Lexington Park jumps were going to be lit for a cold November night session. The snowflakes swirled around us in the pop of Tony’s flash as Adam flowed the line and I did my best to case every jump. Paul was out early with a busted pedal, but overall it was a successful session.
Posted By email hidden; JavaScript is required § Sep 11th, 2008
Overall men’s open series winners: 1- Pete Koski, 2- Tom Miller,
3- Jeremy Jedlicki
*random dog not a winner
All I can say is “WOW”!
With this race attracting people from as far away as Houghton, MI, we ended up having a record turnout of 43 racers. Big thanks to all the new riders that came out! With beautiful weather and a good crew of riders, it was a great day for a race. The course had seen some changes since the last race but Tom Miller came out and dominated again with Jed Olson coming in a close 2nd. We had a couple of crashes but thankfully no real injuries.
Big thanks to all the contributors that made this series possible. There were good number of volunteers as well as sponors that played a large roll in enabling this event to happen. Most importantly, we’d like to thank all the riders that came out to the races!
We are in the early stages of planning for next year and right now it’s looking pretty exciting! Plan on bringing your game face!
Posted By email hidden; JavaScript is required § Aug 19th, 2008
The guys over in Rice Lake are throwin’ a jam session at their local bike shop. Here are the details!
What: Dirt Jump session for Mtb and Bmx
Where: The New dirt jumps behind Grinders Bike Shop in Rice Lake, WI.
When: Friday, Sept. 12, 4:00-?
We had ordered two truck loads of dirt for the new dirt jumps in Rice Lake. We have two 6ft doubles made. We plan on riding from 4 pm into the night(there will be lights). There will be photographers shooting the action. Any other photographers are welcome. There will be a cookout and refreshments for riders, spectators, and photgraphers.
Posted By email hidden; JavaScript is required § Jul 25th, 2008
Great turn out for the 2nd Race! We are now half-way through this year’s State Championship Downhill Series and things are just heating up.
Thor Shellum during his winning run.
There was a larger field of riders at this race and some serious talent. One racer had come as far as the U.P.! Okay he tagged the race onto a trip he was already making but he’s vowed to return for future races with reinforcments.
Photographer Dana Schoppe graced us with her presence and took some amazing shots. Thanks again for coming out Dana! Dana’s photos.
See you all August 9th, where you will get $5 off if you bring a female rider!!
Click Here to view results, series standings, or to find out more about the up and coming races.
Posted By email hidden; JavaScript is required § Jun 1st, 2008
Talk about a productive day! Chris Bernard has been working directly with the city of Eagan to redesign their dirt jumping area. Some fundamental design flaws and a lack of adequate maintenance has left the current dirt jumping area virtually unutilized. Chris approached the city with some constructive suggestions and a willingness to take on the project himself and the city has granted him permission to rebuild the recreational area with the hope that some changes will increase use of the jumps.
Today marked the first build day for the Lexington Pump Track Project or LPTP, and as you can see by the pictures things went swimmingly! A good turn out of builders, beautiful weather, and proper planning helped complete the first phase of the project, a beginner pump track. Future phases will include a more advanced pump track, additional transitions and multiple lines throughout the area, re-building a dirt jump line, among other things.
Additional trail development and maintenance will take place each Monday throughout the summer. Trail Building Thread.
Thanks to all the builders that made it out today and a big thanks to Chris for all his hard work!
Posted By email hidden; JavaScript is required § May 31st, 2008
What up guys! Sorry for the late notice on this one! St Paul local Chris Bernard got permission to revamp the Lexington DJ we need to step up and give him some muscle to get the work done. We are starting at 10:30 on Sunday morning! I was able to check the area out last night. We’ll be building a pump track that is 20′x60′ and revamping some of the existing DJ lines! We need peeps with shovels!
I’ll have cold Red Bulls for the workers and Chris has some tools. But bring your own shovels, rakes, brooms, buckets, wheel barrows if you have em we’ll put em to use!
The area we are building at is off diffely road….from 35e go east till ya see a big water tower on the right hand side of the road. Turn right there, follow the little park roads to the right, back in there you’ll see a skate park, we’ll be right next to that come on up introduce yourself and grab a shovel! Come whether its for 15minutes or the whole day! Any and all help is appreciated we’ve got some dirt to move!
I know its last minute so post up with any questions and we’ll get ‘em answered!
