“Do not touch the fences, they will shock you.”
Englewood Open Rule Book
For the second year in a row, the Coyotes sent a contingent of riders to the Englewood Open MTB races in Fall River, Wisconsin this past weekend. The event was upgraded to UCI C1 this year and included three days of racing. It is one of the few events available to our riders seeking international ranking points (which are the currency for national championship callups).
Along with seven of our High School Coyotes, riders from other MiSCA teams (Lake Orion Dragons, Orange Krush, and Brighton Bulldogs) were in attendance. The race itself drew riders from 28 states across the USA, and Canada. For Addison, Luke, and Eric, this was one of their last chances to race as a Coyote. USA Cycling recognizes them as high school seniors until the national championships conclude in July.
The races our riders competed in, included:
- Friday: UCI XCC and short track for non-UCI racers
- Saturday: UCI XCO race, and a non-UCI open XC race
- Sunday: WORS XC Race, all ages, all categories
Terminology:
UCI races are those races that earn international ranking points. Non-UCI races in Wisconsin still earn you national ranking points through the Wisconsin Off-Road Series (WORS). For more information about the potentially-confusing classification of races beyond MiSCA be sure to see our explanation page about national/regional racing.
This year, the Englewood UCI races were upgraded to “C1” meaning that more ranking points were on offer than in previous years. For the women, that meant world cup riders Emily Batty and Hanna Otto (Finchamp) were on hand. For the men, the deep field included perennial Iceman champion Brian Matter and previous Englewood winner Daxton Mock.
- XCO = Cross Country Olympic racing. The target time for races is 90 minutes for pros and 60-75 minutes for juniors. Unlike Michigan where “Expert” and “Elite” races are often 2-3 hours, UCI and WORS focus on alignment with the official international times, meaning the races are all roughly the same duration.
- XCC = Cross Country Short Track. Races are 17-25 minutes in length, on very short (less than 0.5 miles typically) courses. Lapped riders are pulled (it’s not a DNF, you’re just done early), and the leaders are essentially sprinting at 110% for the entire race. It’s intense and great for watching because the course is so short. As an example, lap times at Englewood XCC were 2 minutes per lap with riders doing up to 10 laps.
Friday – Short Track (XCC) Racing
Short-track racing at Englewood featured a 0.5-mile loop, with a long steady opening uphill, and then a flowy set of downhill berms and a sweeping flat finish area. Races included UCI Pro XCC (men & women) as well as short track racing for all age groups from 14-Under. Coyotes racers on Friday included a mix of current team members, coaches, and parents. Here is a list of all club members in good standing that raced:
- Haydon Frehr, 24th, Men 15-16
- Luke Zuelke, 48th, UCI Pro Men
- Coach Aaron Zuelke, 8th, Men 19&Up
- Eric Hoffman, 14th, Men 19&Up
- Coach Brian Miller, 19th Men 19&Up
Saturday – UCI XCO and Non-UCI Open XC
The full XC course at Englewood is 5.3-mile purpose-built course used exclusively at this event each year. For 51 weekends a year, the course is closed and not used for anything beyond cattle farming. The course features more technical features than courses our racers tackle in Michigan, with large rock gardens (uphill and downhill), small drops, numerous jumps, and true A-Line/B-Line rider choices.
Click here to review a course map or click here for the Strava segment for the course.
Riders again included a myriad of Michigangsters from various teams in MiSCA. Coyote finishers are listed below. The pro women’s race featured a duel between perennial world cup favorite Emily Batty, and up-and-coming American standout Hannah Otto (Finchamp), a former Iceman Cometh runner-up. Hannah pulled away on the final lap, after leading the entire race. She has a race writeup on her blog that is worth reading! On the men’s side Luke Vrounwenvelder won in a sprint finish to earn the top spot, preserving his top-100 international ranking in Men’s XCO. In the junior race field, Benjamin Crismon won the race over Brady White (both of them are ranked in the top 50 internationally for Juniors). For junior women, Lauren Aggeler (world #4 ranking for junior women) won the race by 45 seconds over Mia Asletine from the Bear National Team. Just the opportunity to line up with such a skilled field is great experience for our Coyote juniors. Well done all!
UCI Coyotes:
- Anabel Miller, 19th, UCI Cat 1 Junior Women
- Madine Whitmer, 21st, UCI Cat 1 Junior Women
- Addison Forrester, 25th, UCI Cat 1 Junior Women
- Gerrit Boer, 42nd, UCI Cat 1 Junior Men
Non-UCI Open Race Coyotes
- Coach Aaron Zuelke, 20th, Open Men
- Coach Chris Boer, 30th, Open Men
- Haydon Frehr, 33rd, Open Men
- Eric Hoffman, 34th, Open Men
- Coach Eric Forrester, 40th, Open Men
Sunday – WORS Racing
The WORS course is exactly the same as the UCI course, ensuring it was the most technical many riders would get to face this year. The large fields that race at WORS, combined with the technical courses, are a real eye-opener for our racers. The event is punctuated by onsite grilling of grass-fed beef and homemade black bean burgers, ice cream, fried cheese curds, and a substantial presence from Trek, the WORS Series title sponsor and owner.
The WORS series brings categories and organization more familiar to Michigan riders. While it still uses the USAC Category (Cat 1, Cat 2, Cat 3) system, WORS actually Splits Cat 2 into Comp (equivalent to “Expert” in Michigan) and Sport (same as Michigan). The WORS series also includes age groups, allowing for more podium chances, more head-to-head racing, and also more crashing, sadly. Cat 1 is referred to as Pro/Elite and Cat 3 is called “Citizen” (referred to as Beginner in Michigan races).
Coyotes that raced Sunday at WORS:
- Eric Hoffman, 1st, Cat 2 Sport Men 19-24
- Haydon Frehr, 2nd, Cat 2 Sport Men 15-16
- Coach Chris Boer, 4th Cat 2 Comp Men 45-49
- Coach Brian Miller, 4th, Cat 2 Sport Men 45-49
- Coach Alan Hoffman, 7th, Cat 3 Citizen Men 50-59
- Coach Aaron Zuelke, 10th, Pro/Cat 1 Men 40-49
- Levi Minnerick, 15th, Cat 2 Sport Men 15-16
- Gerrit Boer, 17th, Cat 1 Elite Junior Men 17-18
- Madine Whitmer, 18th, Cat 1 Elite Junior Women 17-18
- Addison Forrester, 20th, Cat 1 Elite Junior Women 17-18
- Luke Zuelke, 25th, Pro/Cat 1 Men 29-Under
Englewood logistics – Join us in 2023!
For Coyotes looking to dip their toe in regional and national racing, the Englewood Open is probably the best chance you’ll get. The UCI points help improve your national ranking if you’re interested in national championship races. If you’re not interested in national races, the fact it’s a UCI race ensures a festive atmosphere, with lots of other riders, and a general level of excitement. Plus, the pro-racing is next-level, providing great spectatorship opportunities. If you’re looking to something new, this is a really fun first step!
The course at Englewood is compact, situated at a rural cattle farm, and specifically designed for XC racing. This means that spectators can walk to any part of the course during a race, and see their favorite rider at various points along the course.
Lodging is either camping onsite in a field (no hookups, no electricity…just a big farm field), camping at a nearby campground (Silver Springs Campground is pretty nice, and about 15 minutes away), or getting a hotel (Beaver Dam, WI is 20 minutes away, Madision is 40 minutes away).
Team areas can either be along the racecourse, or in the camping field. For 2022 we had two families with RVs parked in the field, and we put our team tents between them. This provided room for a couple team tents and bike racks. We were not near the race course for this, but you could always put a tent there as well. We did meals together on-site as a team, and were able to cheer for each other during the races.
Other opportunities will exist for some out-of-state racing in 2022. The Millers are going to the Trek HQ “Red Barn Classic” WORS race at the end of June in Waterloo, WI. Several families will be at the USA Cycling National Championships in July at Winter Park, CO.
