Category Archives: Race

Laddies Loppet Mountain Bike Stage Race Weekend

Laddies Loppet is a mountain bike race we hold every Labor Day weekend at Maplelag. Laddies Loppet 2009 will be September 4th-6th. Once again we are part of the Minnesota State Championships (MNSCS) for 2009. Laddies Loppet will be race #8 in the series this year. The Laddies Loppet is also part of the USA Cycling National Calendar and a qualifier for the 2010 USAC-MTB National Championships at SolVista Colorado. (Click here to see the entire series races) The race is named after our former, friendly dog, Laddie. This is a great event for the whole family with races and age categories for every type of rider.

Stage race returns for the fourth year! We will have a open class for male and female riders in the Citizen, Sport, Comp (male only) and Expert classes. General classification will be scored on cumulative time with the rider with the lowest time taking the overall win. Awards for the top three overall stage winners in each class with cash to Experts.

Weekend Schedule:

Friday night Supper 7pm (all meals are served family style please come at meal time)

Saturday Breakfast 8am

Registration opens at 9am

Time Trial 10am Elite, Comp, Sport, Citizen in this order. Elites be ready at 10am

Skills Clinic with Kyia Anderson 11am to 12:30

Lunch at 12:30 pm

Short track racing with Citizen start at 4pm (schedule below)

Dinner 7pm

Registration for Sunday at 8:30 pm

Sunday Breakfast at 8am

XC racing begins at 9am with kids comp and ends with Elites at 1:15

Lunch served in lodge at 11am to 3pm

Supper at 7pm

Bonfire 8:15 pm

Monday Breakfast at 9am

Cash payout as follows for top five overall male and female elite in stage race:

1st-$350
2nd-$250
3rd-$200
4th-$150
5th-$85

100% cash payback plus $200 awarded to the top five as a minimum in Elite men and women time trial and short track with special awards to the top overall finishers in Comp, Sport and Citizen.

Note: You do not need to race in the time trial and short track to be counted (point wise) in the MNSCS. The Sunday cross country race is the race that counts in the point standings for the series.

Racing action begins on Saturday with a time trial at 10:00 am. The course will be approximately 3 miles in length running mainly on cross country ski trails with a few short sections of singletrack. Cash primes to male and females who break course record set in 2008. All classes will be riding the same course. (This a a great event for the first time racer as well as the distance is short and is a good introduction to mountain bike racing). Cost of this event is $10. Saturday afternoon is the short track criterium. The laps are 1-2 minutes in length and run in between the cabins and lodge making for a great spectator event. Total race time is around 20 minutes. Citizen short track starts at 4:00pm, Sport at 4:30 pm, Comp and Expert Women at 5:00 pm and Experts at 5:30 pm. Cost of this event is $20.

2009 Laddies Loppet Cross Country Course
2009 Laddies Loppet Cross Country Course


Minnesota Pro Kyia Anderson will be leading a free skills clinic on Saturday in between the Time Trial and Short Track events, 11am to 12:30pm. The clinic will cover basic bike handling but also cover skills riding on the Maplelag course including the lakeside drops.

Short track racing action, 2008
Exciting short track racing action, 2008 (skinnyski.com photo)

Sunday the main event will be the cross-country mountain bike race. We will have kids comp, citizen, sport, comp and expert race categories. The citizen and kids comp race runs on the cross-country ski trails at Maplelag and includes a few small sections of singletrack. The kids comp race is one lap of the citizen course. Citizen riders will do three laps. Laps are around 3 miles. The sport,comp and expert races run on the ski trails and also include sections of the famous singletrack at Maplelag. Laps are around 6.2 miles.  Kids Comp (1lap) race starts at 9:0am, Citizen (3 laps)starts at 9:30am Sport (2 laps) is at 11:00am, Comp (3 laps) 1:15pm  and Experts (4 laps) at 1:10 and 1:11pm. Kids race at 12:45pm. (The kids race will be a short spectator friendly loop near the start finish area and will include a small section of ski trail). T-shirts are given to all registrants and awards are given in the different age classes. We also have a great kids race that is suitable for ages 3-11 with prizes for all who participate. Our great sponsors provide us with several door prizes to give away. What a great chance to experience Maplelag, other than during the winter season, at a very reasonable rate! For those of you not interested in racing, please consider hiking, canoeing, fishing, or bird watching as other activities to enjoy during the weekend. Bonfire Sunday night.

Call 1-800-654-7711 or e-mail us for more information on lodging. The special rate of $72 per adult per night includes at least two meals and use of Maplelag amenities. The rate for children ages 10-15 is $29, ages 6-9 is $19. Children ages 5 and under are free. We will also have a limited number of camping spots available. Cost of camping is $29 per person but includes meals. We will also reduce the cost on the Tier 1 units (rooms without a bath) for this weekend at a rate of $49 per person. Call 1-800-654-7711 or e-mail [email protected] to make reservations. A two night minimum. With Labor Day on Monday, why not stay Sunday night and relax at Maplelag before heading back home!! As of September 1st, the camping and lodging is full.

2008 Laddies Loppet mountain bike stage race coverage on skinnyski.com Satuday coverage, click here

Riding through the trees on the famous Maplelag singletrack
Riding through the trees on the famous Maplelag singletrack (skinnyski.com photo)

Current trail/course conditions on the Trail Map page.

Results from 2004 Laddies Loppet Scroll down to the bottom

Results from Laddies Loppet 2002

Photos and video clips from Laddies Loppet 2004 can be found on skinnyski.com .

Trail Report

About as good as it gets for a winterlike day on the trails. Conditions were pretty much ideal for the DL Invitational ski meet today. Cloudy in the morning and then clearing in the afternoon with no wind and temps in the middle teens. Teams from Detroit Lakes, Bemidji, Brainerd, Long Prairie, Deer River, Fergus Falls, and Northwest and Battle Lake hit the trails with lots of smilin’ good times. Conditions a bit soft for racing with all the fresh snow but beautiful in the woods and could of not asked for a better day. Grooming on the trails the rest of the week as we gear up for the weekend.  Select photos below from the day. More photos and results will be posted on skinnyski.com (go to racing/results and high school section)

http://picasaweb.google.com/6birdman6/January6thTrailReportPhotos