Hundreds of racers pack Pine Valley

Cloquet's Pine Valley Park was crawling with mountain bikers last weekend, as nearly 1,000 student athletes competed in the sixth Minnesota Cycling Association race event of the season. Add in their parents, coaches and fans, and the woodland recreation area was in constant motion, with fans hiking into the woods with cowbells or large speakers blaring music under a canopy of yellow, orange and red tents.

Jana Peterson

The announcer's voice could be heard across the park and up to a mile away, as he delivered instructions and start times for nine middle school girls and boys races on Saturday, and seven high school boys and girls races on Sunday.

A horn blew to start each race, and soon riders were zooming through the start lanes along the Pine Valley parking lot and onto the wider walking trails in packs, before making their way to the more challenging mountain bike trails, many only suitable for riding in single file.

Emily Good, who manages racing for the cycling association, said roughly 25 teams from around the state traveled here for the competition. Kids really enjoy the trails here, she said.

"Pine Valley is a little more classic mountain biking course with a really nice 'up north' character," she said. "It's riding through the forest with a little more climbing, plus it's just more cozy out in the woods."

The varsity boys raced 12.8 miles, or four laps each, up and down hills and numerous switchbacks, over roots, rocks and a fair amount of sand, thanks to a dearth of rain in recent weeks. Many rode only a foot or two behind a competitor, looking for an opportunity to pass.

The intensity didn't stop some of them from turning small rises into jumps, leaping into the air on their bikes, some only a foot or two, others three or four feet off the ground.

A little added flair is part of the joy of the sport.

"It makes it more fun," said Esko senior Braydon McKibbon, admitting to an adrenaline high. "There's not much speed in it. But it's definitely more fun."

Friends also make it fun. A kid who loved riding bikes, McKibbon started after his friend, Max Foster, told him about the new Cloquet-Esko-Carlton mountain biking club. Since then, he's made friends with other bikers from across the state.

"I like the people," he said. "Everybody's so awesome; it's fun to get outside."

Fellow senior Foster said he wasn't always the kid who took risks.

"I was actually kind of a shy kid growing up," he said. "But this just kind of brought out the daredevil in me."

CEC assistant head coach Josh Hendrickson said the sport teaches kids about perseverance, hard work and being a good teammate.

"That's one thing our kids are really good at: supporting one another," he said. "It's not adversarial, which you see in a lot of other sports. They're all very supportive, they're all friends."

Jana Peterson

From left, CEC seniors Colton Dewey, Ethan Lindgren, Max Foster and Braydon McKibbon pose together after the final Pine Valley race of their careers.

This year's senior class were the first sixth graders to join the mountain biking club. Now they're the club elders.

"It's kind of sad being a senior, knowing it's your last year. You won't get to be around these people ever again," Ethan Lindgren said. "It's kind of like a family. We've been here six years and we've all just grown really close together."

Colton Dewey concurred with the sentiment, but said it's just the start of his journey.

"I've got a lot of racing left in my life," he said.

Dewey placed seventh and was the top CEC varsity boys finisher in 1 hour, 31.7 seconds. Other top CEC boys varsity riders included Lindgren - in 13th place, only 20 seconds behind Dewey - and Max Foster in 16th. First place in Sunday's varsity race went to Eric Olen from East Ridge High School, who finished in 57 minutes, 1.1 seconds.

Ava McKibbon was the top local girls finisher, taking third place in the JV3 race Sunday, while Aleah Lindgren placed 21st. Find full race results at bit.ly/481y2eX.

At least a couple riders finished Sunday's race carrying their bikes, due to crashes or malfunction, which can be tricky in the close quarters of the mountain bike trails.

"We encourage all the kids to finish, regardless of what happens," Hendrickson said. "But they have to cross the finish line with their bike, because the plate on the front has the chip for their time. If they decide not to finish, they don't get points for the race, and that affects their standing for state."

Hendrickson took a break from trying to fix a damaged bike Sunday afternoon to talk about this year's team and their remarkable coach-to-athlete ratio: they have close to 30 coaches - mostly parents, almost all volunteers - for the 54 riders on this year's team.

Jana Peterson

CEC assistant head coach Josh Hendrickson works on a bike that had axel issues during the race.

"We have fantastic families," Hendrickson said. "They're awesome people. This starts with good people, good families."

The cycling association's Emily Good praised the local bike club and the larger community. United Way volunteers came by with coffee Sunday morning for race staff and others, and the local bike club did a lot of prep work getting Pine Valley ready for such a large race.

The senior boys were proud to see their home course filled with bikes and people.

"I really like this course," Ethan Lindgren said. "Seeing everybody here, seeing what this sport has brought to Cloquet, it's just really cool."

Mom and volunteer coach Carrie Foster agreed.

"It's truly amazing to host this event and see all these riders," she said. "Thanks to the community for letting us have this event here. Cloquet really rolled out the red carpet. It's been really special."

The state race is this weekend, at Redhead Mountain Bike Park near Chisholm, Minnesota.