US Nationals Qualifier Information

As part of the involvement of the USAC-MTB National XC Calendar. the Maplelag Spring Opener will serve as a qualification event for the USAC-MTB National Championships (top-10 riders in each category, age-group, and gender for XC) The 2007 USAC-MTB qualification standards and procedures are posted here: http://www.usacycling.org/events/2007/mtbnationals/

USADA Information

The Maplelag MTB Spring Opener has been selected by USADA as an event to be tested. USADA will be onsite for the event on Saturday. Three male and three female athletes will be tested. More information will be available at the Pro riders meeting on Friday evening.

Course Information

The course for the Pro, Semi-Pro and Expert class will be approximately 8.5km in length. The lap includes mostly singletrack broken up by sections of ski trails. On dry and fast condition a fast lap is around 30 minutes. Total climbing per lap is around 700ft. The Male Experts, Semi-Pros and Pros will be doing 4 laps. Women Pro and Expert will be doing 3 laps. UCI JR men will be doing 3 laps. The Sport course will be the same as the Expert/Pro loop but not include the lakeside drops. The Sport course will take a left on Lucky's Loype ski trail that follows above the lakeside drops and pick up the singletrack after the lakeside singletrack. Sport men will be doing 2 laps and Sport women will be doing 1 lap. The Beginner course will run mainly on ski trails with a few short sections of singletrack. The Beginner loop will be approximately 5.5km in length and be 2 laps. All classes will be going up Suicide Hill. Lap distances and number of laps may change, depending on weather conditions day of race. There will be at least one tech/feed zone 1.5 miles into the course for the Sport, Expert, Sem-Pro and Pro races and another feed zone right before the start/finish area. For current trail/course conditions with photos, please visit the trails page .

Registration Information

Foreign riders do not need to purchase a one-day USAC-MTB license if they have a current international license issued from their national federation.

Beginner and Sport riders may race without an annual USAC-MTB or international license, but they'll need to purchase a one-day and sign the USAC-MTB athlete release form at race registration. Maplelag will cover the expense of single day licenses. Expert and Semi-pro riders need to have at least a domestic USAC-MTB license and Pros need to have an international license.

Registration will be available on site Friday from 5:30pm to 6:30 pm and from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm. There will be a Pro Riders meeting on Friday evening at 8:00 pm. The course will be available for pre-riding on Friday and after the races on Saturday. No pre-riding allowed during Saturday's races. Registration for Sunday's races will be available on Saturday from 7:30pm to 9:00 pm.

Timing Information

Peak Timing services will be timing the event. Chip timing will be used which monitors lap times. Media Information

Skinnyski.com, Midwest's premeir silent sport coverage provider, is planning on covering the weekend's events.

Photo taken during Laddies Loppet 2006 of Minnesota Pros Jeff Hall and Doug Swanson. In addition to the regional Pro riders, Maplelag expects nationally ranked and possibly internationally ranked riders to attend the race. skinnyski.com photo

Current Major SPONSORS of Maplelag Mountain Bike Events

Race coverage from Laddies Loppet 2006 on www.skinnyski.com