Members of the new Cook County high school cycling league are L-R: Will Surbaugh, Lutsen 99er Race Director Peter Spencer, Leif Anderson and Henry DeArruda-Weaver.
Henry DeArruda- Weaver and Will Surbaugh are no strangers to mountain bike races. Now joined by teammate Leif Anderson, these three mountain bike enthusiasts are new to the Minnesota High School Mountain Bike League…and so is Cook County!
The Minnesota High School Cycling League was founded in 2012 and is a statewide independent activity provider for student athletes in grades 7-12. Their mission is to build strong bodies, strong minds and strong character regardless of ability. Their core values stipulate that there are no bench warmers, every finish counts; no try-outs; everyone rides; lifelong fitness and good health starts here; student-athletes are students first; and work hard, play fair, respect others and the community.
Student athletes from 7th through 12th grade participate from all corners of the state. In four quick years, the number of student participants has increased from a handful during its inaugural year of race events to nearly 2,000 participants in 2017.
The season consists of five races at different locations throughout the state with the state championship race held in Mankato October 28-29. On September 9-10, the boys traveled to St. Cloud for their first event. New to this format, they arrived on Saturday to pre-ride the course with the full-on race on Sunday. This is not a distance race like the Lutsen 99er or LeGrand Du Nord we have here in Cook County. This is principally a single-track course requiring technical skills while allowing for some open areas to sprint and change positions. The course combination single track/open field race course is four miles. Different age groups and different abilities all race the same course but with different intervals. New to the sport run one lap with more advance riders covering the course with three or four lap intervals.
Henry and Leif ran the junior varsity three-lap event (12 miles) of technical riding. Racers are seated based on previous starts in the league. Because they are new to the league and have not had a previous start, they started dead last in their group. To put this in perspective, they were lined up behind 77 other racers. Henry moved up 21 spots and finished in 1:04:59. Leif moved up nine spots and finished in 1:07:42. Clearly, there is a disadvantage in lining up dead last. But with good movement on their very first event, they will have better starting positions when they race in Rochester in a couple weeks. Top 10 for this event had times at 57 minutes and top 20 at 58 minutes. So with continued moving up, these boys look to advance during the season.
Will Surbaugh participated in the varsity four-lap 16-mile event. Like Henry and Leif, Will started dead last and had 41 racers in front. Will moved up 14 spots in a very competitive field and finished the 16-mile technical course in 1:20:50 and was just 5 minutes off top 10. Make no mistake about it – five minutes is a big gap to make up. But when starting last, and with a better seed for the next race, watch out.
Having the boys participate in this statewide independent league has found a lot of area support. Tom Wahlstrom is helping as technical coach during off days when the boys are not practicing on the cross country running team coached by Tom’s wife April Wahlstrom. And with the great single track developed at Pincushion and Britton Peak, the guys are sure to sharpen their technical skills with Tom. April is helping guide this too because as head coach, she is careful to balance the training and not to overextend these student athletes but find balance and success in each sport. Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux will be helping Tom throughout the season. Sawtooth Outfitters in Tofte (Jeff and Sarah) have provided counsel as well on bike mechanics and technical riding skills along with the Superior Cycling Association and Cascade Vacation Rentals helping with travel costs and travel logistics.
These boys have no problem with endurance and hill climbs thanks to the natural terrain here in Cook County. They are strong riders. It’s the technical part where additional training will help in upcoming races.
And, if more kids are interested, this is open to anyone in grades 7-12. If a bike is lacking, SCA can help. Stop by and talk to Jay at Fireweed Co-Op bike shop in Grand Marais.
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