From the comfy confines of Michigan, our racers often feel like mountain bike racing is about smooth dirt turns, sandy climbs, familiar foes, and non-technical race lines. Outside of Michigan, racing is a different animal, and the annual Englewood Open provides a UCI-caliber race course, and three days of racing for riders of every skill level, including everything from novice 10-year-olds to world-cup racers who flew straight to Wisconsin from last week’s race at Nove Mesto (UCI World Cup at Nove Mesto was awesome: men’s highlights and women’s highlights).
The three-day event takes place on a course built specifically for racing, at the Englewood Grass-Fed Beef Farm in Fall River, Wisconsin. Anyone who has experienced the hospitality of the Agnew family that owns the farm knows that the venue is as special as the event. Riders either stay in hotels 30 minutes away near Madison, or camp in a pasture that the Agnews open specifically for the event. This year’s event was marked by a lengthy (and ultimately, thankfully, successful) hunt for David the cat, mooing cows in the middle of the night, dark skies, and some incredible racing over three days.
Normally our race-writeups focus on listing podiums, detailing finishes, and hyping up our riders for whatever races come next. But sometimes, once-in-a-while-events transcend mere podium finishes and rise to the level of legend. Such is the case with two totally distinct events at the Englewood Open: “The Tale of Missing Cat”, and “The Liberation of 210 Bratwursts.” I will try to communicate the sheer magnitude of these tales while also covering race results.
At the Englewood Open, racing is split between UCI racers, seeking international ranking points, and non-UCI racers seeking national ranking points. All races at the event help riders improve their national ranking in preparation for USA Cycling nationals. Racers with UCI points are guaranteed placement in the finals at our national championships, and racers with improved USAC rankings can improve their call-up order. In short, the Englewood open provides some high-stakes racing for riders seeking national exposure (and the only race closer than 10 hours of driving to earn those points).
Cats, unlike UCI points, are forbidden at the Englewood Open. Camping rules state “no pets, no campfires, no glass containers” but it’s rumored that violating all three rules cancels them out, so we went for the trifecta. One thing about cats: They don’t like riding in their car carriers. So, on Thursday night, before any racing had occurred, a cat named “David” decided to test his legs. Side note: we’re pretty sure the writers of Schitt’s Creek named their famous character after this cat… high praise from a great TV show, that’s for sure. At 10pm, in the dark night of the Wisconsin countryside, when David saw his chance to escape, he made a run for it at 476mph, out the door of the RV and into the pastures of Fall River. He did one large circle at Mach-Cheetah and then disappeared into the famous rock gardens of the Englewood Race Course. Thursday was over, David was free, and we were confused. Rain was in the forecast.
Friday was a day for Short Track XC (or “XCC” in UCI terms) racing. Short-track mountain biking takes place on a very short loop (3-minute laps are normal) over a very short period of time (20 minutes for the winners, 23 minutes for the back of the pack) and riders who are in danger of getting lapped are pulled from the course to keep a clean field. The result is a frenetic all-out sprint to stay in the lead pack and try to complete as many laps as possible before getting yanked from the course. At Englewood, the 0.6-mile short-track course featured a gradual opening grass climb, with some switchback downhills and a flowing course through the venue infield for spectators. The famous rock gardens of the XCO race were not included in this short loop, so some riders were able to dial in their lines, practice clearing rocks while avoiding chainring-smash, and generally prepare for the longer races later in the weekend.
David-the-cat was nowhere to be found, Pete Boon had yet to enter the scene, and the greatest brats the world has ever known were not yet liberated from the Piggly-Wiggly freezer in Waterloo. Some things are worth waiting for.
In Friday’s short-track race, Coyotes’ varsity rider Gerrit Boer raced the UCI Cat-1 17-18 Mens race, finishing 23rd overall after starting near the back of the field. His race was hard-fought, and he moved up the entire time, finishing only a few places behind Jon Meyer (formerly of Lake Orion Dragons and last year’s MiSCA varsity champion) who finished in 19th. UCI races have a stacked field that is definitely next-level, with the top racers in this 17-18 age group already riding in Europe for most of the summer season. Please join us in wishing Gerrit congrats on a great race. It is hard to overstate the level of competition in UCI racing, and on the national stage, Gerrit showed he can hang with the big dogs. Alumni Anabel Miller (9th, UCI Junior Elite Women), Madine Whitmer (18th, UCI Pro Women), Luke Zuelke (40th, UCI Pro Men), and Eric Hoffman (18th, Non-UCI Open) all raced as well.
Saturday’s racing was highlighted by UCI XCO racing as well as a non-UCI XC racing. In the UCI XCO Junior Elite race, Gerrit Boer toed the line but a crash sent him to the back of the pack. He finished 52nd overall, a lap off the leaders. The good news was that like the natural casing on a high-quality Wisconsin bratwurst, his frame didn’t crack, despite some initial fears that it had. Haydon Frehr took to the Open race in search of some national ranking points and snagged 40th place in a field peppered with USAC Cat-1 racers. Both racers have set themselves up well for a showing at the USA Cycling National Championships in Pennsylvania as well as preparing for a MiSCA Varsity campaign their senior year in High School.
Meanwhile, across the pond, Pete Boon gassed-up a single-prop Cessna at an undisclosed airfield near Muskegon with one goal in mind: Picking up the single greatest bratwursts ever produced in America’s Bratwurst Capital. While racers were sweating on course, Coach Boon was loading coolers into his plane. While we were making lunches in the midday sun, Coach Boon was driving a borrowed car from the Madison airport to the Piggly Wiggly in Waterloo, Wisconsin. While we did handups in the feedzone of the XCO races, Pete was negotiating the release of 210 bacon/ranch bratwursts that have lived rent-free in all our mind’s since last year’s races in Wisconsin. Waterloo is also apparently the home of Trek Bicycles World HQ.
Alumni racing on Saturday included Madine Whitmer taking her first UCI podium with a 5th in the U-23 XCO Cat-1 women’s race. Anabel Miller finished 15th in the UCI XCO Junior Elite race. In the non-UCI racing Eric Hoffman was 37th and Coach Brian Miller galloped home like the clydesdale he is, five spots back in 42nd. The XCO course features two substantial rock garden zones, one near the finish has a ripping downhill run of rocks and jumps, with a 180 degree turn and a challenging climb up a rock-zone before turning and doing two downhill rock drops in rapid succession. The other rock garden was a series of rock obstacles on a long flowing downhill run near where David the cat disappeared. It has always been a signature viewing point for the race, and this weekend was no different. A variety of photos and movies were shot of riders negotiating the obstacles, and all your Coyotes, coaches, and alums appear to have navigated the rocks without issue. One thing nobody captured a photo of was David, still missing in action as of Saturday afternoon’s racing. Fear and trepidation coursed through all our veins as the cat remained lost-but-not-found.
Ultimately the various threads of this story were woven together Saturday evening into a beautiful tapestry of light, love, and sausage. As the odor of bacon ranch bratwurst wafted throughout the race venue, Coyotes enjoyed the late saturday sunshine, in anticipation of Sunday’s WORS races. David the cat returned from walkabout and was safely reunited with his mobile home and family, and the bratwursts were cooked and consumed with reckless abandon.
Sunday racing bid adieu to the UCI commissaire and hello to the Wisconsin Off-Road Series (WORS) circus. WORS features more people, more racing, Trek sponsorship, a big merch tent, more food trucks, bikes from world champions on display (for oohing and ahhing), and the same great courses that are the hallmark of Englewood. Because WORS is a state series (billed as the nation’s largest) it features racing for everyone from littles-on-striders to many of the same Cat-1 elite racers that toed the line the previous two days. In these races, our Coyotes shined, earning podium placements in their age groups through a combination of course experience, great racing, and tenacity on a third day of exhausted legs. Gerrit finished 4th in the Junior Elite 17-18 Category, and Haydon Frehr finished 4th in Sport Men 17-18 to give both Coyotes a podium finish to round out the weekend. In addition, Ray Muhlenz made his first trek to a WORS race and nabbed a quality top-10 finish in the XC race on Sunday afternoon.
Sunday also saw Coyote alumni and coaches score some great finishes at the WORS race. Coach John Frehr (P7, Sport) made his return to racing this weekend, while Coaches Emeritus Alan Hoffman (P7, Clydesdale) and Pete Boon (P10, Clydesdale) held down the fort in their division. Alumni Eric Hoffman (P5, Comp) and Jacob Boon (P4, Sport). The capper of it all? Former Coyote standout Kyan Olshove won the Pro Men’s race on Sunday by 38 seconds in a solo-breakaway! Congrats to all our alumni and coaches for a great weekend.
