The Mt Kato Mountain Bike Race is part of the Minnesota Mountain Bike Series and is held at Mt Kato ski area near Mankato, Minnesota. Each lap you climb the full front side and the full back side of the ski hill, along with mid lap going about half way down and back to the top again. It’s a hard course and the reward sections are short, but there is something about it that has us coming back most years. If you like climbing, this is your XC race. mnmtb.org
At a glance
| Location | Mt Kato ski area, Mankato, MN |
| Discipline | Cross-country mountain bike |
| Series | Minnesota Mountain Bike Series |
| Terrain | Ski-hill laps – full front and back side each lap |
| Official site | mnmtb.org |
Results and Race Recaps
2024
Results
| Lynn (Comp) | 15th overall, 4th in age |
| Reid (Comp) | 9th overall, 4th in age |
| Kyle (Elite) | 8th overall, 1st in age |
| Steve (Elite) | 10th overall, 5th in age |
Bike setups
| Reid | Bike: Cervelo ZHT-5 · Wheels: DT Swiss XRC 1200 · Tires: Maxxis Recon (f) / Icon (r) · Drivetrain: SRAM AXS Eagle |
| Kyle | Bike: Niner AIR 9 RDO · Wheels: Bontrager XXX Rims on DT 240 Hubs · Tires: Vittoria Barzo (f) / Mezcal (r) · Drivetrain: SRAM AXS Eagle |
| Lynn | Bike: Niner RKT 9 RDO · Wheels: Reserve 28 XC on DT 350 Hubs · Tires: Vittoria Barzo (f) / Mezcal (r) · Drivetrain: SRAM Eagle |
| Steve | Bike: Cervelo ZFS-5 120 · Wheels: DT Swiss XMC 1200 · Tires: Schwalbe Racing Ray (f) / Racing Ralph (r) · Drivetrain: SRAM AXS Transmission |
Kyle put the hammer down this weekend and put almost 3 minutes into me (Steve). He came by me early in the first lap. I yo yo’d off the back of him a bit and then about halfway thru first lap, he hammered out of an uphill switchback, pulling away and I never saw his wheel again. By the time I came around the lap to hit the climb again, he was already up it and putting more time into me. It’s so fun to watch him race and being in the race lets me see a lot more of his racing! I must have a couple hours of him racing on GoPro now out in front of me.
Reid is still dealing with his skin issues and it is very uncomfortable for him to race or be in the heat, but he is still getting after it more and more. He had a good race!
Lynn beat her average lap times from last year, even after 3 laps this year in Comp vs 2 in Sport last year.
Side note… We finished off Joel’s entire race cake after the race!
Fuel / hydration
Steve
USWE pack w/ 2L bladder and 2 servings of the heavy carb SIS powder. Underdiluted the mix and then topped off bladder with ice cubes. Had cold mix for at least the first half of race. Frozen bottle hand up on the 2nd and last lap (they were thawed enough this time!)
Strava
2023
Results
| Reid (Sport) | 4th in age, 12th overall |
| Kyle (Comp) | 4th in age, 4th overall |
| Lynn (Sport) | 1st in age, 4th overall |
| Me (Elite) | 8th in age, 16th overall |
Hot racing weather this weekend. Last time I raced here, it was really hot also. Love the car ride home from the races and hearing each others play by play race stories… The boys both had clean races while Lynn and I both came off the course dirty. She crashed twice. I wiped out and slid down the hillside off the trail on my 3rd lap. The trails are so dried out this year. Need to watch any of the off camber soft corners… I dropped back a handful of places getting my bike back up on the trail. Pulled back in a couple spots in the last lap. Kyle and Reid are racing strong and are good climbers. They both had really good races. Kyle would have beat me in Elite today, based on his lap times. The competition in each class right now with the 18 and under kids is so good to watch. It’s great to see so many kids out there racing this series, along with some of their parents.
Fun side note… Last time I did this on a Supercal that was about 4 lbs lighter than my Niner RKT that I’m riding this year and I set PRs with the RKT on both major climbs with majority of laps/climb efforts beating most of the Supercal times, including a few other segments on the course. It surprised me a bit as the RKT is set up with a 120 Fox 34 and on paper should not be climbing as well as the Supercal did with it’s setup. Need to nerd out on the specific effort power numbers, but do see that overall race NP and avg power was a little higher this year, which is a good sign for fitness as well, but obviously plays into the PRs also. I’ve set PRs on this bike in some of the other races this year as well and this is actually the previous Gen RKT vs the latest updated one.
Strava
2021
Results
| Reid (Sport) | 1st in age, 3rd overall |
| Kyle (Comp) | 2nd in age, 2nd overall |
| Lynn (Sport) | 4th in age, 10th overall |
| Me (Elite) | 5th in age, 20th overall |
2015
Results
| Steve (Comp) | 25th Overall |
Race Prep
I’ll start out by saying that I am really glad that I pre-rode the course on Saturday. I’ve never ridden Mt. Kato before and there were a few technical sections on the Comp course that would have taken me by surprise. We hauled our camper down to Mankato Friday evening and camped at Land of Memories City Campground for the weekend. It is a nice little park and we were not the only racers that had the same idea.
When I did my shake down ride at Carver Lake on Thursday, I was starting to have some rear brake problems. They were squealing and there wasn’t much modulation, they were either not braking or locked up. After messing with them on Saturday morning, I decided to stop by Nicollet Bike Shop in Mankato for some new rear brake pads.
This turned out to be a really nice shop. They took care of me pretty quick. They installed the new pads for me, adjusted the brake levers, calipers and also made a head set adjustment. Within a few minutes, the bike felt like new again. This is also where I got the tip about the tight left hander and a few other sections of trail and decided I should go ahead and pre-ride.
I did 2 laps of pre-riding on Saturday and couldn’t figure out how to safely ride the tight lefty. I decided I would go “Cyclocross style” during the race and do the “hike a bike”. The pre-ride gave me a good opportunity to figure out my strategy. I figured the big climb wasn’t really the tough part. The tough part was some of the mid course section climbs with tight switchback that were pretty steep. There was also a downhill section that was a little sketchy to get down and required a bit of hanging off the back of the saddle to get down. A dropper seat post would definitely have been handy here.
I was feeling pretty good after the pre-ride. My brakes were great, but I had this creak in my frame that was really getting to me. I had thought it was the cable ferrules rubbing in the frame stops when the suspension was working, but that wasn’t the case. The bottom bracket felt solid. I eventually found my main rear pivot bolt was a little under torqued. I had checked it once already and it seemed fine, but after backing it out I realized it wasn’t torque enough. I backed it all the way out and separated the joint. I cleaned everything up, put some Phil Wood Grease on the bolt and put it back together. This solved the problem. Now the bike really felt like a new bike again and I was pumped.
The Race
There I was at the start line thinking about where I should fall into line on the big climb that begins only about 100 yards from the start. As we hit the climb, I dropped in line 2nd from the back of my age group starting heat. I am still learning where I stand in the pack and decided there was no sense in blowing myself up on the first climb as I had 4 laps to do. I actually felt a bit held back and if I remember correctly, I ended up going around another guy toward the top of the climb. Once you get to the top, there is some nice single track to roll on.
I kept feeling like I could go faster, but I figured I would hang on the wheel in front of me for now. We dumped into the the single track of cedar climb and started to get bunched up. I was feeling pretty strong with the climbs and wanted to pass. The guy in front of me missed the left hand turn into Mad Squirrel and I was able to get some open trail. I dismounted for the tight left hander and got back on the pedals smoothly. I caught the next pack of racers in the switch back climbs. I had to dismount at one point because the guy in front of me bailed in one of the tight climbs and I couldn’t get around. I jumped off quickly and ran my bike up the trail about 10 yards and got back in it.
This took some energy out of me and I needed to settle my heart rate down. At this point, a couple of the lead guys from the 40 to 49 year old age group had caught and passed me. I hope I keep getting faster as I get older too… I was on the wheel in front of me through the switchbacks of Dead Horse and was able to fly through the Maze at a decent speed before hitting the Staircase Climb back to the top. I made up another spot on the climb. I had a clear trail in front of me for Ridge Run and was able to carry some speed.
I popped out on to Cabin Run to finish out my first lap right at the 26 minute mark. I was feeling pretty good and the bike was functioning well. I made it up the climb just as well as the first time up. At this point, I had figured out the sections where I could make up time. I traditionally haven’t been the strongest climber, but I have definitely improved. I held back a little on the big climbs and made up some time in the flowing single track.
Here is a nice picture of my son cheering me up the climb!
When I came around to start lap 3, I was starting to feel the pain a bit and was struggling to get in my head that I was only half way through the race. This is where the mental game starts. I pushed through and spun and easy gear up Kato Climb and recovered a bit. My cardio was feeling good but the legs were starting to burn on the climbs. All that being said, I made it through lap 3 and picked up another spot or 2.
I was a little more aggressive going up Kato Climb on lap 4, but knew that I still had to get through Cedar Climb and Staircase. I hammered in the flats again, but did struggled on Staircase where I lost 2 spots in my age group. I didn’t lose sight and stretched myself out on Ridge Run a bit and was able to pick 1 of the spots back up coming down Cabin Run into the finish line.
Results
25th out of 65
7th out of 15
Lap 1: 26:00.6
Lap 2: 26:04.3
Lap 3: 26:12.6
Lap 4: 26:08.2
1:44:25.6
Summary
I was pretty happy with the race. I raced my race and didn’t get caught up in anybody else’s game. My 4 lap splits were all within 12 seconds of each other. I feel good about racing in the Comp Class after this and will only improve from here. That being said, this may be my last race until the Lutsen 99er and I will most likely concentrate on training over the next 3 weeks before taking an easy week before the Lutsen to recover.
Even though I still have a lot of room for improvement, I do feel stronger on the climbs and more confident in the technical sections. I also have to mention that, it is in fact, a little bit about the bike… My bike functioned well and in much better shape than at the Woolly Race, which provided for a much smoother and confident ride. I did switch to a tubeless wheel and tire assembly, which dropped some weight and my new tires are gripping much better than the old ones. Having a good functioning bike and some new treads was helpful.
I also took in some calories during the race this time. I learned from the last race that I needed some food. I took 1 packet of Honey Stinger Energy Chews in my jersey pocket that totaled 160 calories. I had 2 or 3 of the chews each lap. This was just enough to keep a few calories coming in and not feel any hunger. If the race was any longer, then I definitely would have needed some additional calories on top of this. About a hour and a half before the race, I ate a sweet potato. I may plan on the sweet potato again in the future.
Also, I have to mention that the kids had a great time doing the short Kid’s Fun Race. They were very excited for their medals and have set their sights on the Kid’s Comp Race for next year. I think it is great that the Minnesota Mountain Bike Series puts this together.
Thanks for taking the time to read through and please pass this along if you enjoyed it. Until next time… stay focused and keep hammering on!
