Five friends find that if you build it,
riders will indeed come
WHITE KNUCKLE MTB BIKE CHALLENGE By Eric Wuennenberg If you live around Westby, in the heart of the western Wisconsin's coulee
country, you get used to seeing people fly through the air. The first Europeans to settle the area back in the mid-19th century were Norwegian immigrants. Legend has it that after the basic family shelter was built, the second structure to go up was a sauna. In all likelihood, the third thing that got built was a ski jump. Visitors to
Westby can't help but be aware of the area's airborne approach to recreation. A massive 112-meter scaffold, the home of the annual Snowflake International Ski Jumping Tournament, looms over the countryside. In its shadow lies a collection of smaller structures, used to train local junior jumpers. A ski jumper even flies off the municipal logo on city vehicles. Unfortunately, one of the casualties of global warming
has been reliable snow an essential part of ski jumping. Sure, you can make the stuff, but moving and packing it can be so time-consuming, especially when you're an adventurous kid looking for high speed and big air. So when the ski jumps are bare, you learn to snowboard, and skateboard, and pole vault and you start to race mountain bikes. After you go to enough other places, and ride enough homogenized trails to
realize that the gnarliest terrain between Denver and Pittsburgh is right in your own back yard, you don't have much of a choice but to share the knowledge and put on a bike race of your own. Which brings us to the White Knuckle Mountain Bike Challenge on the weekend of June 28-29.
The White Knuckle is the creation of five friends who came of age in Westby. Brothers Breezy and Sunny Willis, and buddies
Aaron Bland, Karl Evenstad and Reed Doerr, started riding mountain bikes together when they were in junior high. It was the easiest way to traverse the hilly terrain that separated their houses, especially when the logging roads and tractor paths were so much faster and fun than pedaling on pavement.
In 1996, the guys entered their first race, a small affair that was sponsored by the ski jumping club. Within a few years, they were regulars on the WORS circuit.
By the fall of
2000, Aaron, Sunny and Reid were in school in Madison, but they still found time to get together in Westby with Breezy and Karl for weekend training. It was during those rides that the idea of the White Knuckle was born.
"We felt there weren't a lot of technical race courses out there," Breezy recalls. "Most of the time, it seemed like we were racing on wide dirt roads on fairly gentle terrain. It was nothing like the rugged stuff we rode on at home or had seen when we
went on trips out West."
They checked several possible sites, including the hills around the Snowflake Ski Jump. But nothing had the length and land access they were looking for. Then, during the winter, Karl brought up the possibility of holding the race on land his family lived on outside Westby.
"We'd done a lot of riding there and knew it was big enough and had the hills to make the kind of course we wanted," Breezy says. "We came up with the name, picked
a target date, got a friend to design a poster and started talking to local sponsors. Then we remembered we'd better check with Karl's parents."
"At first, they were opposed to the idea, especially my dad," Karl says. "But after several long conversations, they became convinced of how committed we were and they've become very supportive. My dad, John, gives us a lot of help with promotion and sponsorship while my mom, Sharon, heads up the concessions."
During the spring of 2001, the guys hand dug and mowed a six-mile race trail. The route included 12 water crossings and several climbs and descents of a 400-foot ridge.
"We got the word out locally and at Madison bike shops where we had connections. We said this course was like nothing they'd ever raced on in Wisconsin," Breezy says. "We thought we were ready for everything, but we forgot about the weather."
On the race day in 2001, the skies opened up in a
daylong downpour. Only 15 riders left the starting line and nearly half bailed out along the way, defeated by the tough course and slippery conditions.
"We really felt down for a while, but got a lot of encouragement from the people who showed up that first year," Breezy recalls. "It wasn't too long and we were starting to plan the next race."
In 2002, the White Knuckle added a timed downhill event on a course carved out of a rugged hillside.
"Aaron and Sunny were doing a lot of downhill racing and they were really excited about what we could do here," Breezy says. "Since we were starting from scratch, we were free to be creative."
The White Knuckle downhill drops over 400 vertical feet in three-quarters of a mile. In the upper section, the trail is a winding single track, bouncing riders around boulders and over stumps at ever-increasing speeds. Then the trail emerges into the open, launching racers 20
feet through the air off a rocky outcropping and into a set of banked curves before ending with a tabletop jump and the midair finish line.
"The top riders will finish the downhill in about 30 seconds," Breezy says. "This course really stands out. There's nothing like it in the Midwest outside of a few spots near Lake Superior."
The 2002 event drew over 50 competitors on a bright, sunny day. The field included riders from Iowa and Minnesota, as well as
Wisconsin.
"We got a few questions about only running the course twice for advanced riders and one lap for everyone else," Breezy said, "but we didn't hear any complaints when they finally made it back. We also had some riders try out the downhill course on cross country bikes, which led to some pretty hard landings. I don't think we'll see that again this year."
For 2003, the White Knuckle Challenge is expanding again, growing to two days and adding a dual
slalom event.
Again, this new race course is designed and bulldozed from scratch, and features several jumps, banked turns, side-by-side gates and another flying finish. Breezy, who now competes primarily in slalom events, designed the layout.
The 200-yard course runs through a bowl that allows spectators to see the entire route, but retains a natural feel that's often missing in ski slope events.
This year's race schedule has the cross country races running on Saturday,
June 28, and the slalom and downhill events on Sunday.
Racers will have free camping on site and there will be music on Saturday night.
Riders interested in getting a feel for the terrain can call up full-video runs of the downhill and slalom courses at www.whiteknucklemtb.com. Selected shots taken along the cross country course will also be available.
Preregistration is $18 for one event, $32 for two events and $48 for all three races. Race-day registrations will also be
accepted.
Entry forms are available at Midwest bike shops, can be ordered through the Web site or from White Knuckle Racing, E10901A Evenstad Road, Westby, WI 54667; whiteknucklesc@yahoo.com; www.whiteknucklemtb.com
Although all five founders are now in college, they still make it back to Westby on weekends to work on the trail.
"We think the White Knuckle can be a major community event and a great way to introduce people to the beauty of the area," Breezy says.
Just be ready to earn the view.
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