It's Time!

To whom it may concern,

You may now send in your postcards for Ragnarök 105 2013. Registration will close January 1, 2013.  Please send your name and email address on a postcard, not a cut up beer box or slip of paper in an envelope.  If I get something like that it might go straight in the garbage.  I dont mean to be a scrooge but it is much easier if they are close to the same size, plus my mail man will appreciate it!  Im looking forward it!  Can wait to see some cards!  Race date is April 13, 2013.

Sent to:
Jake Huot
1079 Putnam Ave
Red Wing, MN 55066

Take Care,
The Rök crew

PS. I will try and send confirmation emails as long as I can read your hand writing.

Some pictures from this year

The men's and women's first place finishers of this year's Ragnarok 105, Brandon Kraczyk and Abby Ruess

Patti Iverson, the winner of the fantastic wheelset from HED

The lead group, on the climb out of the Zumbro bottoms (mile 68)

the final sprint

these pictures and a few more can be found here

2012 Ragnarok 105 results

Link to the 2012 course

OA	Rider name	#	Z-Falls	L-City	Finish	Avg spd	Time
1	Kraczyk, Brandon	52	9:50	12:32	2:07	16.2	6:37
2	Moore, Brendan	62	9:50	12:32	2:07	16.2	6:37
3	Wilson, Drew	100	9:50	12:32	2:07	16.2	6:37
4	Meiser, Joseph	60	9:50	12:32	2:15	15.9	6:45
5	Petersen, Matt	72	9:51	12:35	2:16	15.8	6:46
6	Carlton, Philip	16	9:56	12:39	2:20	15.7	6:50
7	Curran, Devin	26	9:51	12:39	2:21	15.6	6:51
8	Ek, Tim	80	9:58	12:39	2:21	15.6	6:51
9	Shad, Charlie	86	9:51	12:39	2:22	15.6	6:52
10	Manske, Brandon	1	9:53	12:39	2:30	15.3	7:00
11	Coyle, Ray	25	9:58	12:46	2:36	15.1	7:06
12	Hippen, Scott	40	9:54	12:44	2:37	15.0	7:07
13	Iverson, Al	43	9:56	1:00	2:38	15.0	7:08
14	Sauber, Larry	83	9:55	12:52	2:41	14.9	7:11
15	Elson, Brandt	31	9:51	12:44	2:42	14.9	7:12
16	Parenteau, Roger	68	9:57	1:03	2:46	14.7	7:16
17	Chezik, Kyle	19	10:04	1:03	2:48	14.7	7:18
18	Grelk, Dennis	38	9:50	1:03	2:48	14.7	7:18
19	Horkey, Ryan	41	9:58	12:40	2:48	14.7	7:18
20	Pherneton, Michael	75	9:58	1:03	2:51	14.6	7:21
21	Wertz, Tim	99	9:58	1:07	2:58	14.3	7:28
22	Kershaw, Jeremy	49	9:56	1:01	2:59	14.3	7:29
23	Fry, Jeremy	34	9:55	1:07	3:05	14.1	7:35
24	Rudnick, Martin	79	9:54	1:03	3:09	14.0	7:39
25	Tetmeyer, Andy	94	9:55	1:04	3:19	13.7	7:49
26	Ruess, Abby	80	9:51	1:10	3:20	13.7	7:50
27	Iverson, Patti	44	9:58	1:18	3:22	13.6	7:52
28	Anderson, Bruce	3	10:16	1:26	3:23	13.6	7:53
29	Cizmas, Dave	20	10:04	1:27	3:24	13.5	7:54
30	Dittmer, Dan	27	9:58	1:29	3:27	13.5	7:57
31	Braasch, Grant	11	9:58	1:29	3:27	13.5	7:57
32	Skillicorn, Kelly & Brad	89	9:57	1:36	3:29	13.4	7:59
33	Shauss, Scott	87	9:58	1:21	3:30	13.4	8:00
34	Worely, T.C.	114	9:58	1:29	3:31	13.3	8:01
35	Karow, Eddie	47	9:57	1:24	3:33	13.3	8:03
36	Praman, David	77	10:06	1:21	3:33	13.3	8:03
37	Strachan, David	92	9:54	1:15	3:33	13.3	8:03
38	Swenson, Brett	93	9:59	1:21	3:35	13.2	8:05
39	Reed, Jim	78	9:58	1:33	3:38	13.2	8:08
40	Zagozen, Chris	142	10:10	1:31	3:41	13.1	8:11
41	Thompson, Lisa	95	10:19	1:42	3:42	13.0	8:12
42	Schroeder, Sue	84	10:10	1:38	3:38	13.2	8:08
43	Wright, Jerry	135	10:19	1:43	3:48	12.9	8:18
44	Everstone, Hurl	32	10:05	1:35	3:49	12.9	8:19
45	Krawczyk, Paul & Janna	53	0:00	1:38	3:55	12.7	8:25
46	Seaburg, Mark	85	10:10	1:43	3:56	12.7	8:26
47	Steichen, Steven	90	9:58	1:39	3:56	12.7	8:26
48	Lawrence, Troy	56	10:10	1:50	3:56	12.7	8:26
49	Weisbrod, Heath	98	10:45	2:06	4:05	12.5	8:35
50	Clausen, Ted	21	10:17	1:53	4:05	12.5	8:35
51	Bialas, James	9	10:17	1:53	4:05	12.5	8:35
52	Johnson, Matt	46	10:07	1:53	4:08	12.4	8:38
53	Ward, Denise	97	10:15	1:47	4:08	12.4	8:38
54	Parsons, Richard	69	9:59	1:39	4:15	12.2	8:45
55	Nelson, Bill	64	9:55	1:36	4:15	12.2	8:45
56	Nichols, Joel	65	10:17	2:04	4:25	12.0	8:55
57	Pitts, Justin	70	9:56	2:01	4:27	12.0	8:57
58	Oney, Ben	67	10:15	2:10	4:29	11.9	8:59
59	Cary, Neal	18	10:15	2:08	4:30	11.9	9:00
60	Magner, Alix	58	10:24	2:15	4:33	11.8	9:03
61	Shepard, Bob	88	10:24	2:07	4:35	11.8	9:05
62	Larson, Mara	55	10:32	2:19	4:40	11.7	9:10
63	Koenig, Jeremy	51	10:19	2:15	4:55	11.4	9:25
64	Asp, Dave	6	10:15	2:15	4:56	11.3	9:26
65	Jick, Raymond	45	10:15	2:15	4:56	11.3	9:26
66	Peterson , Keith	74	10:19	2:15	4:58	11.3	9:28
67	Sanborn, Allen	82	10:00	2:07	5:00	11.3	9:30
68	Bell, Pete	8	10:15	2:16	5:00	11.3	9:30
69	Boltz, Ed	10	10:33	2:36	5:02	11.2	9:32
70	Dukek, Brian	29	10:19	2:07	5:28	10.7	9:58
71	Gruhn, Leah	39	10:41	3:15	6:01	10.2	10:31
72	Phillips, Kalli	76	10:41	3:26	6:04	10.1	10:34
73	Million, Porter	61	10:36	3:23	6:16	9.9	10:46
74	Stepanik, Brett	91	10:19	3:23	6:16	9.9	10:46
75	Gonzalez, Mary	37	10:49	3:23	6:20	9.9	10:50
76	Kelly, Allison	48	10:48	3:42	6:57	9.3	11:27
77	Burton-Kelly, Matt	13	10:48	3:42	6:57	9.3	11:27
78	Baltzley, Jessica	7	10:52	3:42	7:00	9.3	11:30
79	Carragee, Christine	17	10:52	3:42	7:00	9.3	11:30
80	Cochran, Molly	23	10:57	3:38	7:06	9.2	11:36
81	Cochran, Bryan	22	10:57	3:38	7:06	9.2	11:36
DNF	McBeain, Tom	59	10:25	1:50
DNF	Penman, Jeffery	71	10:07	2:01
DNF	Arrigoni, Curt	5	10:36	2:15
DNF	Fredrickson, Eric	33	10:19	3:23
DNF	Krizek, Elliott	54	10:36	3:23
DNF	Tri, Charly	96	9:54
DNF	Gold, Dan	36	10:40
DNF	Anderson, Randy	4	10:40
DNF	Klees , Drew	50	11:04
DNF	Carlson, Mick	14
DNS	Tandem, Andy & Justin
DNS	Brueggen, Pete
DNS	Carlson, Ryan
DNS	Cohen, Andrea
DNS	Donaldson, Caleb
DNS	Huseby, Christian
DNS	MaCwilliams, Kelly
DNS	Peterson, Josh
DNS	Morford, Robbie
DNS	Nikodym, Matt
DNS	Gates, Kari

Checkpoints

Someone asked about checkpoints so I thought I would make sure everyone knew what to expect.
When you sign in on Friday night at Wheelhouse cycles or on Saturday morning at the start, you will get a race number that needs to go on the front of your bike, a sheet with some basic race information and the notes for the first leg of the race. At the end of that leg, in Zumbro Falls, you will see one of our cars parked with a Ragnarok sign by it. This is the checkpoint. You will tell us your number and we will record your number and the time you arrived. Once we have your checked in, we will give you the cue notes for leg 2 and you are ready to go. Feel free to hang around the checkpoint as long as you want. If you are in a hurry, you can leave as soon as you have your notes. If you are in a pack of riders, do us a favor and agree as a group to wait until you all have your notes before heading out. We can only record your times and hand out notes so fast. At the Lake City checkpoint, you will receive the notes for leg 3. If you arrive after the cutoff, you will not receive the notes for the next leg and your race will be done. You will need to average around 9mph to make the cut-offs.

I wanted to remind everyone that we do not support riders and we don't provide drop service. If you need additional supplies, you can carry it with you, make use of the convenience stores in Z-Falls and Lake City, coordinate with someone to bring things with you, or talk someone into providing support for you for the day.

The "Wheres"

Here is a Google map with some locations of note this year 

It includes the start and the two checkpoints. It also includes a route to get from the start to the two checkpoints.


The map also includes the locations of the two area hospitals. Please, let's make sure no one needs to know where those are.
 

2012 Timetable

Notable dates and times for this year's event:

April 8th, midnight
   The deadline for withdrawal from this year's event without penalty.

April 13th, 7:00 - 9:00pm
   Early sign in at Wheelhouse Cycles (1932 Old West Main street, Red Wing, MN)

Day of:
6:15am  Sign in opens
7:15am  Sign in closes
7:20am  Rider meeting
7:30am  Riders depart
11:45am Cut-off for Zumbro Falls (@ 36 miles)
4:45pm  Cut-off for Lake City (@ 82 miles)
7:30pm  Cut-off for finish (@ 107 miles)

How the finish is going to work this year.

The official finish for placings this year will be on the top of the Lehrbach climb. This is the last hill before the finish. We will have someone there to record the placings for the top few riders. For the rest of the riders, if you want to race for a finishing spot, you should use that location as your finish line and keep your finishing order til you reach Mississippi National. Your finishing time will be determined by when you reach Mississippi National.

A few more notes

For those biking the Ragnarok 105 this year who haven't done an event that uses "tulip" style cue sheets, here is a basic explanation: Cue sheets 101

We will be using Mississippi National Golf Links as our start and finish again this year. A few rules:

• Only park in the "lower" lot (the one furthest from the club house)
• No bikes left by the club house. Walk there and back if you are going to head over.
• No normal food or drink is allowed that is not purchased from MNGL. (bike food is obviously ok)
• They will be hosting a wedding reception in the afternoon. PLEASE go out of your way not to disturb them.
• Because of the wedding this year, will have something setup downstairs for food and drink purchases and we will need to stay downstairs.
• Make sure the parking lot is cleaner than you found it.
• Be sure MNGL is glad they allow us to use their facilities. Purchase a pop or burger after the ride.

If you are signed up and unable to ride this year's race, please let us know so we can give someone else your spot or reserve spot. You can email me at larryboberry (atgmaildatcom) if you need to drop out

We have been able to bike most of the course and things are looking good. There is one road that is "closed" due to a bridge replacement, but they have a bypass road that a bike can get across.

Some early pre-race notes

April is quickly approaching, I hope everyone has been taking advantage of the mild winter to ride your bike. Some early notes:


We are 99% sure that we are using Mississippi National Golf Links as the start location again this year. They are hosting a wedding reception later in the day, but they are willing to work with us to make it  happen. They promised to have the doors open so we have access to the bathrooms this year.


The route will be split into 3 legs, like last year. Distances for each leg will be 36, 46 and 26 miles respectively. 


Unless we hear tremendous outcry, the King of the Mountains competition will take a year off. It wasn't well contested last year and it requires a fair amount of work to pull off.


Lake City will now be a full checkpoint with optional outside rider support, just like Zumbro Falls. It will be at a new location, however. 


For the top 5 or 10 overall riders, we are planning on using a "mountain top" finish at the top of the last climb (on Lehrbach road) this year. 


A reminder to all that are entered to let us know as soon as possible if you are unable to attend so we can fill your spot with someone from the standby list. Anyone taking a start spot that doesn't show up will likely be excluded from future events. If you take a spot, we expect you to show up, even if it's 35 and rainy the day of the event. We will post a final withdrawl date as the race date gets closer.

Be Careful Out There

Some of the areas the 'rok goes through are very "squatchy". Keep your eyes peeled!

Hmmmmmm

Thanks for all of the comments! It's always to get some constructive discussion going.

Really... thanks for the comments. It's great to see how excited people are to be involved with our race. Or how much people would like ride... just a few thoughts... and try not to take anything personally...

First off... Here is the deal... believe it or stuff it the majority of the riders in the race were in fact pulled out of a regulation sized grocery bag (paper) randomly. Seriously.

Secondly.... these races are not even true "races", at least that isn't our intent. Yes, any time a group of people ride bikes together there will be some racing... but these events are meant as endurance challenges. Yes we give out a rock (yes, our trophy is a rock) to the winners. Yeehaw. Your name also is at the top of one of our blog posts for ever!!! Ooooo boy! These races are meant to be fun, low key things... if you are hot headed enough to be all crazy on a blog because of these races then I'd be willing to venture a guess that you potentially are *edited* more suited to 24 hour races, or 12 hour races (WEMS events?).

We also make MAD bank... entry fees have skyrocketed all of the way to $0.00. Just think of all of the extra money we could make if we just opened the race up! It's a free race.

Hmmmm what else. Oh... I'd be glad to offer up some tips on what goes into a pretty sweet gravel course. These tips could come in handy when you start your own race that will undo all of the injustices done by our race. Seriously, if we can put on an event, anyone can.

See... it is our race. And we will run our race how we see fit (for the enjoyment and safety of the riders that show up). If you can't handle not being in a free race (that has the route posted either by us, or people on Map My Ride once it is over) then don't send in a postcard (or envelope, or slip of paper, or whatever it is that people send in).

Feel free to comment and disagree with how we are doing it, I don't mind... I don't think that Jake or Larry really mind either. What is frustrating is name-calling/swearing/etc. without any accountability.

Thanks.... Isaac

Results of the drawing - (updated 4/4)

Below is the start list for the event, followed by the reserves. We had over 200 entrants this year, which is good to see, but it makes it tough to turn that many folks away.
If your name was drawn and you cannot attend, let us know right away so we can notify the next person on the reserves list. Once we go past the deadline we expect everyone on the list to show up on race day, since you are taking a spot that someone else would have gladly taken.
If we have your name wrong, please let us know.

Start list
Abby Ruess
Al Iverson
Alix Magner
Allen Sanborn
Allison Kelly
Andrea Cohen
Andrew Lindberg
Ben Oney
Bill Nelson
Bob Shepard
Brandon Manske
Brandt Elson
Brendan Moore
Brett Stepanik
Brett Swenson
Brian Dukek
Bruce Anderson
Bryan Cochran
Caleb Donaldson
Charlie Farrow
Charlie Shad
Charly Tri
Chris Zagozen
Christian Huseby
Christine Carragee
Curt Arrigoni
Dan Dittmer
Dan Gold
Dan Utoft
Dave Asp
Dave Cizmas
David Praman
David Schultz
David Strachan
Death Rider
Denise Ward
Dennis Grelk
Devin Curran
Drew Klees
Drew Wilson
Ed Boltz
Elliot Krizek
Eric Fredrickson
Eddie Karow
Grant Braasch
Heath Weisbrod
Hurl Everstone
James Bialas
Jay Pee
Jeffery Penman
Jeremy Fry
Jeremy Kershaw
Jeremy Koenig
Jerry Wright
Jessica Baltzley
Jim Reed
Joel Nichols
John Berini
Joseph Meiser
Kalli Phillips
Kari Gates
Keith Peterson
Kelly MaCwilliams
Kelly & Brad Skillicorn
Kyle Chezik
Larry Sauber
Leah Gruhn
Linsay Kocka
Lisa Thompson
Mara Larson
Mark Seaburg
Martin Rudnick
Mary Gonzalez
Matt Burton-Kelly
Matt Johnson
Matt Nikodym
Matt Petersen
Michael Pherneton
Mick Carlson
Molly Cochran
Neal Cary
Patti Iverson
Paul & Janna Krawczyk
Pete Bell
Pete Brueggen
Phillip Carlton
Porter Million
Randy Anderson
Ray Coyle
Raymond Jick
Richard Parsons
Robbie Morford
Roger Parenteau
Ron Saul
Ross Hargrove
Ryan Carlson
Ryan Horkey
Scott Hippen
Scott Meulebroeck
Scott Shauss
Steven Steichen
Sue Schroeder
T.C. Worely
Ted Clausen
Tim Ek
Tim Wertz
Tom McBeain
Troy Lawrence


Reserves (in order)
Greg Ames
John Hatcher
More as needed..