The Cuyuna race is part of the Minnesota Mountain Bike Series — a multi-race summer series that runs at trail systems around the state from June through September. The Cuyuna stop is held at the Cuyuna Lakes trail system near Ironton, which is one of the best trail networks in the upper Midwest. The MN MTB Series races are USAC-sanctioned and draw a solid regional field across all categories from kids through elite. We’ve been doing this series as a family for several years — it’s a good mix of competitive racing and a reason to spend time at great trail systems. The Cuyuna race tends to be one of the more popular stops on the calendar. mnmtb.org
Bike: Niner AIR 9 RDO w/ RockShox SID · Tires: Vittoria Barzo (Front) and Mezcal (Rear) · Wheels: Old set of Bontrager XXX (Bontrager rim on DT Swiss 240 Hubs) · Drivetrain: SRAM AXS · Brakes: SRAM G2
Lynn
Bike: Niner RKT 9 RDO w/ Fox 32 SC · Tires: Vittoria Barzo (Front) and Mezcal (Rear) · Drivetrain: SRAM Eagle · Wheels: Stans Arch · Brakes: SRAM G2
Steve
Bike: Niner RKT 9 RDO w/ Fox 32 SC · Tires: Schwalbe Racing Ray (Front) and Racing Ralph (Rear) · Wheels: Reserve XC 28 (Reserve Rims on DT Swiss 350 Hubs) · Drivetrain: SRAM AXS · Brakes: SRAM G2
It was a bit eventful for the boys and I…
Kyle was on the wheels of the lead 3 in the first lap and then slid out. He ended up in last place after straightening some stuff out on his bike and then chased back to 9th by the end and 2nd in his age group.
Reid bumped up classes for his first Elite race! He did not have a clean race either. He had a great start, passing me on the opening climb like he was out for a Sunday cruise and then ended up crashing as well and falling back. He has a bit of a banged up shoulder but he finished it out.
I went over the handlebars early after a pedal strike on a rock that broke my pedal. Also folded my chainring over and dented my helmet up. I need a new helmet, chainring, chain and pedals.
Hard/intense racing yesterday hopefully keeps us all in check… Thankfully Lynn had a clean race! She always has a smile on her face too!
Results
Lynn (Comp) — 16th overall, 7th in age Reid (Comp) — 14th overall, 4th in age Kyle (Elite) — 9th overall, 2nd in age Steve (Elite) — DNF
2023
Results
Reid (Sport)
26th overall, 5th in age
Kyle (Comp)
46th overall, 14th in age
Lynn and I sat the sidelines this weekend, so we could watch the boys race… Reid is always racing during Lynn’s race and Kyle is always racing during mine, so I haven’t been able to watch Kyle and Lynn hasn’t been able to watch Reid this year. It was nice for us to see both boys racing and I really enjoyed doing bottle hand ups for Kyle again. As far as racing goes today… If you ask both of them, they didn’t have the races they wanted. Both said they just didn’t have the legs today to stay in the power. Gotta go thru the bad ones to get the good ones though! Been a really busy August in the shop and this week was no exception. I hadn’t been on the bike myself since Tuesday. Cheq 40 is coming up soon, need to reset and get our legs together…
Reid (Sport) — 5th in age, 26th overall Kyle (Comp) — 14th in age, 46th overall
