News and Updates
May 2, 2008 - New Crit Schedule, more racing!
We've listened to you and we agree, longer crits! Check out the new crit scedule to see the changes. We've also added additional lighting along the course, just in case. What a great way to spend the longest day of the year.
April 14, 2008 - New Junior rider discount!!
We want to do everything we can to encourage young rider participation. Therefore we've come up with new pricing for riders 17 and younger. 35 bucks will get them into any and all events over the weekend. For 35 bucks, they'll be able to race the Friday night crit, the Saturday road race and the Sunday circuit race. We do have a XC deal for kids 14 and under also. We're currently updating our registration pages. So get the kids fired up and we'll see you in June!
April 12, 2008 - Chocolay Ace Hardware ready for this year's SBF
A KMK founder and member has taken initiative in supporting the growth of local involvement in USA Cycling road events. Tom Mahaney, owner of Chocolay Ace Hardware has committed to privately support, develop, and fund a local road racing team. Funding sponsorship is also being provided by Kent Jenema of Peninsula Pharmacy. The team will be a USAC category 4 and higher race team participating in events throughout the Midwest. This sponsorship will allow more racers to attend races while defraying a portion of the cost involved with travel, equipment, and entry fees. Mahaney will be the director of the Chocolay Ace Hardware cycling team and hopes to provide a team where “weekend warriors” can reach their potential through teamwork and also a place where younger riders can be supported in there climb through the ranks. The team has had a spring training camp to kick start the season. Although the first race was cancelled due to bad weather, the team has a full schedule including the Duluth Classic stage race, Superior Bike Fest, and Superweek. Other supporting sponsors include KMK, Signs Unlimited, Bontrager and the Sports Rack. Roster: Cat 4 Chris “Topher” Chase Tony Lackey Blu Tenbrink Dave Grant Wes Pernsteiner Cat 3 Derek Anderson Jeff Juntti Greg “Stumpy” Steltenpohl Eric Chase Ben LaForce Tom Mahaney Andy Langlois Cat 2 Tyler Jenema
April 8, 2008 - Exiciting Changes for 2008
This year we've bumped the weekend's cash purse to $9,100. We've also added categories. Cat 3's, Cat 4's, Master's 35+ and Master's 45+ are now separated. We've also moved up the start time for Saturday's road race to 11:00 AM for that little bit of extra recovery from Friday night. This year, all awards will be given after each race following the 15 minute protest period. For teams traveling up, we've arranged rooms at one of our accomodation sponsors at a discounted rate. 89 bucks per room, fill it up with riders. That also includes an excellent breakfast buffet. Please email us for details as this is a first come, first serve deal and the number of rooms are limited. Check out the 2008 race bible for more details.
April 8, 2008 - The 2008 SBF is now part of the MBRA series calend
For the first time ever, the 2008 SBF is now part of the Michigan Bicycle Racing Series. If you're looking for points, here's three days of racing to earn them.
April 4, 2008 - Superior Bike Fest Article in Marquette Magazine
Superior Bike Fest The story has it that the plans for Superior Bike Fest were hatched by a couple of Ski Patrollers on Marquette Mountain’s chair lift in the middle of winter. Whether it was the view alone that inspired them or the fact that the view included the course for the Mountain Chase bike race, we may never know. But that day, Donn Wolf and Jim Grundstrom, part of the Ski Patrol crew that put on the Mountain Chase, were thinking less about skiing than about a bigger and better bike race. Their summit meeting (so to speak) set the ball rolling. The Mountain Chase expanded to include a popular new road racing event. Donn and Jim agreed to share race director duties. And they renamed the enterprise ‘Superior Bike Fest’ to reflect its wider scope. The Superior Bike Fest has boomed in the three years since then. USA Cycling, bike racing’s governing body, now sanctions several events, attracting top competitors from Maine to Arizona. The number of riders has increased from 85 the final year of the Mountain Chase to around 500 last year. And spectators have discovered the thrill of the race: thousands of them gather in downtown Marquette to watch the Superior Bike Fest’s Friday twilight criterium. If you’re not a cycling aficionado, ‘criterium’ may sound like arcane legal or scientific jargon. Rest assured it’s way more exciting than that. A criterium is a bike race held on a course of closed streets in an urban setting. Cyclists pedal laps for a specified time, trying to stay with the pack. If the pack circles around and overtakes you so that you’re a lap behind, you’ve been ‘lapped’, and you’re out. The first cyclist to cross the finish line after time is up wins. Most criterium racing, said Donn, takes place in slightly less-populated sections of a city, such as old industrial areas. But Superior Bike Fest’s directors are just crazy—or visionary—enough to put their course in the heart of downtown Marquette. “Riders are just blown away to find themselves riding in the streets of a real city,” Donn said. You can imagine what a blast it is for spectators, too. They’re an arm’s length (should they be so foolish as to stick out an arm) from a swarm of cyclists zooming by at speeds up to twenty-eight miles per hour. Cycling, even at these velocities, is still a silent sport. If you’re listening closely as the pack passes, you’ll hear breathing and maybe a whirr of spinning chain. They come upon you with the swift silence of a cougar taking down its prey, gone before you can focus your thoughts or your camera. It takes your breath away. If that intrigues you, you can take the next step and participate. Superior Bike Fest has ‘citizen’ categories for the amateur racer in each of its five major events, including the criterium. There are even two one-lap classes in the criterium for kids up to age 12, and the effect on young riders is electric. “These kids' eyes are like silver dollars when they cross the finish line,” Donn said. There’s no charge to enter the youth classes, so your kid can get a taste of racing and it won’t cost you a cent (at least until he or she gets addicted to the rush and requires you to purchase a high-end racing bike). Saturday’s road race takes riders out of the city and into the countryside. The pro classes race a 100-mile course that loops twice through Gwinn and Palmer before returning to the starting point in Marquette. Too far for you? Try the 55-mile or 35-mile versions. Rather ride your mountain bike in the road race? There’s a class for that too. There’s even a non-competitive touring category for riders who want the fun and logistical support of the race without the pressure. The old Mountain Chase lives on in Saturday’s downhill event. The concept of the race is pretty straightforward. You start at the top; you end at the bottom. Between you and the finish line is a single-track path twisting back and forth across Marquette Mountain. The curves are expertly banked, designed by trail architects Doug Pennala and Mike Brunet to optimize the physics of getting to the bottom as fast as your daredevil soul will allow. This event is almost as spectator-friendly as Friday’s criterium. You can observe from practically any point along the trail, as long as you earn that right with a little uphill hike. Sunday’s cross-country race is another holdover from the Mountain Chase. The eight-mile single-track course circles Marquette Mountain. You can ride the one, two, or three-lap category, or get a couple of buddies and enter the three-lap race as a team, each of you taking one spin around the course. The circuit race at K.I. Sawyer on Sunday morning is sort of a cross between a criterium and a road race. Cyclists loop a 2.2 mile course for a set amount of time that varies by class, starting and finishing at the W. There’re plenty of spectator opportunities there, too. And there’s plenty of incentive to give a couple of events a whirl yourself. Besides cash prizes, the Fest awards riders points for all events in which they compete. Riders with the highest totals get the Omnium award—an overall prize for the Renaissance man and woman of the Bike Fest. You don’t have to be the best at one thing; you can do reasonably well in several categories and rank. Or you can just watch. That’s okay too. This year’s Superior Bike Fest is June 20-22. Check out www.superiorbikefest.com for details on all of the events.
