Close your eyes and imagine a velo-inspired weekend consisting of a three-day celebration of all things two-wheeled in one of the most beautiful landscapes of Michigan. I’m referring to none other than the Superior Bike Festival, which I am now nominating as the “Sea Otter of the Midwest”. If you have a passion for self-propelled two-wheeled contraptions, than SBF is the venue for you. This festival left nothing out; downhill races, XC, Criterium, State Championship Road Race, and Circuit.
It’s sheer irony that we watched RAD, what I regard as the greatest story ever told, on our venture up to the U.P. on Friday as the SBF could be paralleled to Helltrack coming to Cochrane. It was impressive to see a community of people who were all engaged in the weekend’s festivities and took great pride in hosting it. Being submersed in The Motor City, I tend to sometimes forget what a town that embraces the ownership of their land and trail systems looks like. I’ve been to many destination races out of town/state that the city simply regards a race coming to their town as a bit of an inconvenience to their everyday course of function. I’ve also been to many races where the hosting town completely embraces the events and takes pride that many elite athletes have made the trip to race in their backyard; Marquette unquestionably fit into this category. For every race, the spectators far outnumbered the racers and the roar of the crowd served as fuel for the fire and added to the recipe for great racing.
Weekend Objectives: (In order of importance)
1. Stay safe, healthy, and injury-free=accomplished
2. Have fun bonding with my teammates=accomplished
3. Get a long road race and take another crack at a State Championship=1/2 accomplished
4. Get a good short MTB race in with some hard efforts=accomplished
With the big show being less than 30 days away, I was a bit discretionary as to which races I choose this weekend as to not put myself in any situations that could potentially jeopardize my main goal with an injury. So after taking a look at the Crit course, which entailed four downhill corners and a healthy helping of elevation change, I decided to simply spectate that one, likewise with the circuit race course. So I spent Day 1 simply previewing the MTB course and exploring some of the most perfectly constructed single track I have ever ridden in Michigan.
After taking in a copious amount to coffee and breakfast at a local diner Saturday morning we rolled over to the Road Race. The course was 100miles and featured a defining climb a mere 3 miles into the race. The story was that last year the winning break went on the first hill of the day and was never to be seen again. So my strategy was to be ready early this year. As we hit the base of the climb, attacks started and I ensured that I never left the top 5 positions the entire way up the first hill. As we reached the summit, I glance back and realized over half the field had been shed and we only had a group of about twenty remaining. However, little did I know that the worst was yet to come. For the next twenty miles or so, calculated and relentless attacks streamed from the Bissell Boys. With only two other teammates remaining in the group with me, we were seeing stars trying to cover as many moves as we could. Eventually, the cord snapped and 10 guys got away without any WSC teammates. Amazingly, one of my teammates Corey who had been chasing for miles caught us at this point and we engaged in a team time trial at the front of our chase for the next 20 miles. After much effort, we brought the break back in close sight only to watch them roll away again when they realized they were being caught.
The remainder of the day in the saddle was pretty uneventful and somewhat miserable as the clouds rolled in and we were forced to finish the race in a 60-degree downpour. I ended up rolling in at 14th for the day. Despite another failed attempt at a State Road Championship, I was simply content to have gotten a good ride in and looked forward to an evening of shenanigans with my teammates that only a road trip could bring about.
Sunday’s Mountain Chase XC Race boasted a healthy field size of 44 racers, much larger than some of the local MTB races back home. The course compiled a brilliant mix of climbing, single track, dirt road, and some pavement…it was super fast and rolled really well.
The race started with a neutral roll out until we hit the first climb. Mike Anderson, of The Bell’s Brewery Race Team, was the returning champ and the one to keep an eye on for the day. As we hit the first climb I stayed as close to his wheel as I could. A few miles of trail later, he out-muscled me and another rider and was off. For most of that lap I kept him in sight in the open sections but was inevitably losing time. I wound up racing in third for the remainder of that lap until the second lap when a Wisconsin racer rolled up on me. We decided to work together for the remainder of the race trading pulls in the road sections. However, as we approached one of the last climbs of the day, he attacked and I simply did not have an answer after yesterday’s road race still lingering in my legs. I held him to about 15 seconds and rolled in at 4th overall and first in the Men’s 30-39 category. I was pretty happy to have survived this race with tired legs, as a 24mile MTB race is a bit short for me and not really my discipline.
As we jumped in the car to head back to Motown Sunday afternoon, I couldn’t help but get excited for next year’s SBF. I highly recommend this race to anyone who wants to bask in an environment of shared passion of all things two-wheeled with a community of great people. The organization was top notch and the promoters are dedicated to further improving/building on this event. Also, I like to give a special thanks to the Chase Family who so gratuitously invited in twenty-plus racers to their home for the weekend…I hope we can come back next year!
