Are you sure this is Mt. Kato?
That was a question on the minds of many veterans of the Bluff Riders Charge in Mankato Sunday. Over the past few years, the race day weather forecast has read like something out of Death Valley, with tropical humidity thrown in for good measure. As the racers lined up for the start yesterday it was about as nice of a day for racing as you could ask for. While the winds blasted the racers while traversing across the top of the ski hill, it was no matter as the temps hardly climbed into the 80’s and a little rain the day before set the trails up for tacky, speedy goodness. People could focus on some other, more manageable demons. The famed kato climb, the mad squirrel, or the cursed quick release/luge…
(The Quick Release is a steep, narrow, tree-lined descent down a ridge line with two 90-degree turns and some monster roots to keep everyone on their toes. Mad Squirrel is a very tight, 180-degree switchback that drops as it turns. You either make it through cleanly or you go on an over-the-bars field trip down a wooded ravine.)
As the mushroom clouds erupted over kato climb throughout the day, it was clear that in years past the heat was only a small non-essential ingredient to the bonk formula, the climb being the main one… However, the ambulance midway through the Comp/Expert race, and the rumor of a certain sport rider sporting a neck brace for the next 2 months leads me to believe that going with gravity tended to cause more harm than going against it…
Well nevertheless for the majority it was a good days racing, and quite possibly a record for turnout in Kato. The Citizen class drew 70 riders, with Andrew Barlage taking the Win, and Emily Goltz winning the womens division. Sport saw 125+ riders, Josh Collins won with the only sport time under an hour, and Beckie Alexander finishing strong as the top sport women. Cody Larson won the Comp division handily, posting some lap times that would hold up quite well in the expert class.
Chris VanErt recaps The Comp 35+ wave:
“The wave started and Clayton McClagan was off like he was shot out of a cannon. He set a blistering pace for the rest of us to try to follow, crushing the climb up the ski hill and keeping a high tempo and smooth flow through all the sections. I tried keeping him in sight but was wondering if I could keep that pace all day. I made it through Mad Squirrel and Quick Release unscathed. One down, three to go. Lap two and Clayton is still up front and I'm still barely hanging on. We made it to Quick Release and heard shouts of "Rider Down!". Whenever you hear those words you hope that it's nothing serious, especially in terrain like that. Mtb patrol told everyone to dismount and walk the last section of QR at which point we could see WannaBee rider Jason Sherman flat on his back at the bottom. I heard the patrol ask for an ambulance, which is the last thing you want to hear. (Checked with his teammates after the race and they said he was doing okay, but went to the hospital to get checked out. Speedy recovery Jason, hope all is well.)
Lap three begins and Clayton and I are still up front but start running into a few minor traffic jams. My biggest fear was getting stuck in traffic going through Mad Squirrel or QR and not being able to take the line I wanted. Well, that and having Dana capture photographic evidence of me crashing... Sure enough, I just about ate it going through Mad Squirrel, but saved it and pressed on. I was a bit jittery going through QR after seeing the crash on the previous lap, but I made it through and out of the woods for the bell lap.
At this point I'm thinking I'm in first place for my age group, so I gave it everything I had. I made a few passes on the big climb and pushed it as much as I could the rest of the way. Big sigh of relief after I made it through Mad Squirrel for the last time. Played leapfrog with a few riders along the way and we kept the pace high, pushing each other for a strong finish. My quads were starting to cramp climbing up Staircase and I thought that was going to be it. I managed to recover, made it down QR with the rubber side down and then floored it out of the woods. Thought I had it. First ever win. Yay me! Not so fast... Somewhere along the way, Brandt Elson got by me for a well-deserved first place ride, with me in second. I need the guy on the motorcycle with the chalkboard like they have in the Tour de France to let me know who's in front and what the gaps are, or maybe just the motorcycle to keep up with Brandt...
All in all, a great day on a fast and fun course with Chamber of Commerce weather. Can't think of a better way to spend a summer afternoon.”
Paul Hanson Recaps the Pro/Expert Race:
“The Pro/Expert race saw a few new faces which is always good… Notably the winner, Jason Sager, a pro biker (and more importantly, pro blogger), fit Mt Kato into his schedule, his most recent achievements include making it on the blocks at the famed Sea Otter Classic. I think he turned a few heads when he pressed his tubular MTB wheels to the max at the start and left us all in his dust. I should have known better and settled in, but if you are going to try one Herculean effort in a race, it might as well be at the start when everyone is still watching… right?
Well lucky for me my training has been spotty this year, and the legs told me NO quite quickly. Brendan Moore was the only native to match the initial effort and hung in there for a majority of the first lap, before having to ride at his own pace, which was still faster than the rest of us. Jesse Rients and Cam Kirkpatrick tried to reel him in all afternoon, but as far as I could tell from post race photo/blog analysis that order never changed.
Sam Oftedahl, the first mortal finisher (Expert), climbed the 600 vertical feet per lap quicker than most, and into the pro field ahead of youngster pros Eric Thompson and David Olson… Andy Sieben and Eric Oftedahl took 2nd and 3rd Expert overall with Chris Fisher rounding out the top ten. Normally the list stops there, I’m going to abuse my media credentials and mention myself in 11th 6 seconds behind Fisher…
Jenna Rinehart took the women’s race (and comp men’s race) by storm, putting some serious time on Jen Fisher. However I was an undercover reporter pre-race, and witnessed Jenna taking Jen on a very long “warm up” ride on some “secret” single-track a mile from the course…. Sounds like a ploy to tire out your foes before the race if you ask me… Jen hung in well considering, and I look forward to the retaliation next year on Jen’s home course in Inver grove Heights…. Corey Coogan rode a great race sliding into 3rd place by a handful of seconds.
A non-racer (this year) but equally influential 50 yr old spandex clad spectator that gave every rider in the expert/comp race a nice push at the top of Kato Climb needs mention (even though his name is omitted, his identity is clear). Reports are that he crushed the TT leg of the North Mankato triathlon earlier that morning wearing the same red specialized chamois/jersey, that he festered in all day pushing 130 riders into the woods over 4 and 5 laps. Thanks for being a great fan AND wearing deodorant… Oh, and his average speed… 28 mph… Thankfully (for us) guys like him that can go that fast lack the ability to navigate between trees.”
Redwing is up next so see you there!
And a reminder to all: Keep up those training schedules, less than 7 weeks to the Border Battle with WORS, we need everyone in top shape, no excuses!
Chris Van Ert is a graphic designer and Comp racer for the Peace Coffee Racing team. He can be reached at cvanert@earthlink.net.
Paul Hanson is a Professional Racer for the BearNaked/Cannondale Racing Team.
