Wet rainy and dreary weather on the day before the race had many wondering if the final race of the Minnesota state championship series was going to be a wet mud fest or a fun tacky singletrack ride. To date excellent dry conditions had greeted racers at previous series stops. When race day dawned sunny and reports from course set up were great conditions everyone was excited for the race to come to finish up a mostly dry year of racing in MN. The event was a great success with record numbers and money raised for the ski and mountain bike trails at the site, and a Salsa Selma frame given away in the raffle by Revolution cycle and ski.
Pro/Expert:
Sam Oftedahl navigating one of the rock gardens.
The expert/pro race went last on the day and had probably the best course conditions ever experienced at the Singletrack Escape. The course was very fast but still tacky enough for excellent cornering. The only muddy areas were in the rock gardens of Twisted Sister which could be described as “canadian-esque” and feature a few small bridges - rocks and rooty areas requiring constant weight shifts and attention. The race got underway with the elite men followed one minute later by the elite women. In the elite men's race Sam Oftedahl (Hollywood Cycles) quickly got a gap on Brendan Moore (Rochester Velo) who had raced (and won) in the earlier single speed state championship. Sam continued to build on his momentum of an early lead and was never seriously challenged for the race. Sam maintained at least a 20 to 30 second gap on all his rivals throughout the day, and ended up winning by two minutes over brother Eric Oftedahl (Hollywood Cycles). Third place on the day was taken by Luke Nelson (Penn/Nature Valley).
Kyia Anderson out front on lap 2
The women's race was a very strong contest between Hometown Pro Kyia Anderson (Revolution/Cannondale/Hidden Bay) and rival pro Jenna Reinhart (Specialized). After the first prologue loop, Jenna and Kyia came out of the woods together with Kyia glued to Jenna's wheel going through the start finish. On lap number one, Kyia made an attack in the technical section of the course and put about 40 seconds on Rinehart. Coming back around for the end of that lap, Jenna had brought that gap back and the two were together again. They continued to go back and forth with the lead on different sections of the course making for a very exciting race for the spectators who, in rock garden number one, were lining the course four deep. But in the final lap of the day after Kyia and Jenna had exchanged attacks and were still together, Jenna clipped a tree in a tight section of the course allowing Kyia to get a strong gap and build on it to the end. Kyia ended up winning the race over Jenna by about five minutes with pro rider Anne Grabowski in third about 14 minutes back.
Single Speed State Championship:
The state championship race brought out people from sport riders through to Pro class riders all intent on being able to say they were the 2009 state single speed champion. Approximately 40 riders toed the line for the state single speed race. The champion for the last few years Heath Weisbrod (LCR) would face some new and stiff competition in the likes of Brendan Moore (Velo Rochester) and former single speed world champion Jay “Hollywood” Henderson who was just back from the world championship event in Durango, Colorado. As many expected, Brendan Moore took an early lead in the race coming out of the first prologue loop. Brendan continued to build his gap and won the race from start to finish by over two minutes on second-place finisher Heath, with newcomer to the state single speed podium Cody Larsen in third.
In the women's race, last year's state single speed champion Kyia Anderson elected not to partake to focus her efforts on the elite race. Kris Brazil took charge of the women's race early on and after the prologue loop had a small but growing gap on second-place finisher Emily Goltz and chaser Allison Tungseth. Kris Brazil held on for the win and the coveted granite trophy that goes along with being the state champion with Emily in second and Allison in third.
Brendon Moore, Hollywood and Dan Meyer prepare for the MN State Single Speed Championships
Comp race:
The comp race was won by Clayton McLagan (Peace Coffee), with Trent Warner (Maplelag/Paramount) in second, and Joe Surla (Wannabee Racing) in third.
Mr. Anderson EMCing
Sport:
The men's sport race was won by longtime series racer Thomas Reinhart (Nicollet South/Specialized), followed in second by Brian Korver of St. Cloud and Craig Wicklund in third. The women's sport race was won by Tara Steele (WannaBee), with Amy Johnson in second, and Desta Meyer (Fastwax) in third.
Citizen:
The citizens mens race was won by Thomas Baldini, with Andrew Barrlage in second, and Josh Holst in third. The women's race for citizen was won by Emily Goltz, with Rachel Jensen in second, and Samantha Bushendorf in third.
Kids Comp:
The boys kids comp race was won by Travis Caflisch with Ian Price in second and local Mason Hallstrom in third. The girls kids comp race was won by local rider Josie Amo, with Callie Beck in second Briana McLagan in third.
The Kids Comp field has seen good numbers all season!
