Upper left: Luke Fenwick of Grand Marais led Adam Swank (80) up a hill. Fenwick won the Citizen Race while Swank placed third in the Expert Class. Above: Kailey Todd (72) of Thunder Bay won the Expert Class, a ride of 21 miles. Far left: Gerald Hamm (182) of Thunder Bay was the male winner of the Sport Class. Middle left: Suzy Smith (183) was the first woman across the line in the Sport Class. Left: Josh Gillingham (74) of Thunder Bay was declared the winner in the Expert Class after several riders ahead of him took a wrong turn.
With temperatures in the low 60s and the Pincushion Mountain trails dry, the 62 riders who participated in the September 8 Sawtooth Mountain Bike Challenge found conditions ideal for the race.
Riders came from Thunder Bay, Duluth, the Twin Cities and even Colorado to compete for fudge, fun and an assortment of other prizes donated by local merchants.
With the race starting in downtown Grand Marais near Artist Point, riders climbed a lung-busting 1,000 feet in the first 1½ miles to reach the Pincushion Mountain single track trails. Once on the rocky, twisty, technical trails the racing began in earnest.
There were three classes of riders: the Expert Class pedaled three times around the mountain (about 21 miles) while the Sport Class completed two laps and Citizen Class racers completed one lap.
Duluth’s Adam Swank crossed the finish line first in the Expert Class, but he quickly told finish line officials that he and two other riders had mistakenly taken a wrong turn on the first lap and, said Swank, “You can disqualify me if you want. I didn’t take the right turn on the first lap. The fourth place finisher raced the whole course and he should be the winner.”
After some discussion, fourth place finisher Josh Gillingham of Thunder Bay was declared the winner with Ailey Keith, of Thunder Bay, Adam Swank of Duluth and Matt Zack of Eveleth awarded second through fourth places. John Twiest of Grand Marais finished 5th overall, just 3:20 behind the winner.
Kailey Todd of Thunder Bay was the only woman to complete the Expert Class race, finishing in 2:22:19.
Other local finishers in the Expert Class include Max Wahlers of Grand Marais and Bill Lane of Tofte. Wahlers finished in 2:22:02 while Lane was across the line in 2:45:29.
Thunder Bay riders dominated the 15 mile Sport Class with Gerald Hamm clocking 1:23:13, almost 3 minutes ahead of second place. Former Cook County resident Eric Larson of Boulder, Colorado, placed third overall while Grand Marais riders Sam Hedstrom finished 6th, Jonathan Rova, 10th, Kyle Stover 15th, Tim Kennedy, 19th and Woody Gilk, 23rd.
Suzy Smith of Duluth was the first woman into the chute in the Sport Class with a time of 1:41. Reilly Wahlers, age 12, won her age group and placed 4th overall in the women’s race with a fine time of 2:03:26.
Two Grand Marais residents, Lucas Fenwick and Sarah McAteer won the men’s and women’s division of the 6-mile Citizen Race. Fenwick’s time was 43:28 while McAteer finished in 56:29.
The Superior Cycling Association sponsored the race and Mark Spinler of Superior North Outdoor Center and Tim Kennedy of Beth’s Fudge & Gifts organized the family friendly event and hosted a picnic for riders and their families. All in all it was a great day to be outside, and once prizes had been awarded and people finished eating, a large group of riders got on their bikes and were jubilant as they headed down the long hill towards town and their parked cars.
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