Welcome to Bike Minnesota, I am Addison Aleman and this is where I will be talking about my experiences being part of a mountain bike team. Throughout this I will talk about a majority of the places I raced at and my experience at each of the locations. Not only will i talk about the places i raced at but also the terrain and details around the park.
Lake Rebecca
September of 2024 this will be my 3rd and last time having the opportunity to race a lake Rebecca. After a long summer of racing and putting in effort and dedication to the team it was time for the race season to start. Lake Rebecca is probably one of my least favorite races because I am so familiar with it and have raced and practiced so many times. Lake Rebecca’s terrain is fun if it’s your first or second time there, but after going countless times you’ll probably find it gets repetitive and boring. For starters, there is basically only 1 main mountain bike trail that is 13.25 miles long. There are not many interesting features at lake Rebecca but if you were to ride there you will find some vigorous up hills and drops. This trail is near a lake so there are lots of turns loops to fit more trails into a smaller amount of space. The race itself is not fully on the trail. If you ever race with MCA you’ll find they love to start the race either in a field or a giant hill.
At lake Rebecca the race starts in a field but ends on a huge gravel uphill. You will find the gravel road to be very dreadful and feel like it goes on forever. Going uphill on gravel isn’t always easy if you’re not positioned right and have everything on your bike correct. You may find your back tire start to slip which will slow you down in the long run. On the specific course there are a few bridges on tight downhill turns and if you’re going fast enough you might just fly right off the bridge and crash. On top of all that, the lake Rebecca race usually takes place in September so it tends to be on the hotter side. There are points throughout the race where it is just in a span of grassy fields. It gets hot and there are always bugs while you’re trying to focus on the race. Although it isn’t my favorite race or trail to ride on, it is still a good trail that is nearby especially for going on a quick ride.
Whitetail Ridge
3rd race of the season. My favorite race. If you ask any of my coaches what race I do the best at every single year they would probably say white tail ridge. I love everything about this race. Even though it starts on a gravel hill this is typically where I am able to get ahead of other people and find basically where I will be for the rest of the race. This race is pretty technical but it is so much fun. Either people love or hate white tail ridge.
There are a couple harder spots on this trail, that if you have never rode this trail, you might find it really challenging. One of the hardest spots of this race for me is a very slow uphill turn that is almost 180º. I have fallen off my bike too many times to count at this spot and if someone is in front of you, the chances of you falling are much higher especially if you don’t have good control over your bike. Whitetail ridge is one of the smaller mountain bike trails, as it is right off a highway and is fairly new. They have around 5 miles of fun single track that you can ride on. For most of the trail it is very flowy but some spots are harder than others. The most challenging parts are definitely the uphills with a lot of roots and the drops. The drops are somewhat hidden and there is no warning for them so you kind of just have to commit to the drops. This mountain bike part also features a small section of a pump track with large bridges and jumps. If you ever find yourself racing with MCA you will find that they take the race off the course and modify the way the race goes. For example, it starts on a gravel service road that wraps around a water tower and the race ends in a grassy field by the road. If you are ever looking for a fun and quick ride I would highly recommend whitetail ridge.
