Loon State Cyclists

2008 marks the 20^th anniversary for the Loon State Cyclists Bicycle Racing Club. The team was formed by a couple young employees at BJ’s Bike and Ski in Brooklyn Park, MN. The founding members were Chris Smith, Mike Noer, and Al Lindberg.
The photo on the left is from the 1996 Northtown State Criterium Championships. (L-R: Brian Koeneman, Tim Mulrooney, John Baker)

The team was founded on the principles of promoting bike racing and cycling in the Twin Cities. Some of the early races promoted by the team were the Osseo Criterium and Maple Grove Road Race. The story goes the Marching Band crossed the road during the crit, and the road race course was one of the busiest circuits ever in terms of automobile traffic. The team also used to host an informal members-only time-trial out west, where traffic laws were completely ignored. Other races promoted by the club that are now just a memory:

• Lakepoint Criterium
• Tater Daze Criterium
• Anoka Road Race
• Fridley 49er Days Criterium
• Crystal Frolics Criterium
• Trap Rock Road Race
• Northtown Criterium
• Manitou Days Criterium
• Afton Cyclocross
• McLeod County Road Race

Chris “Smithers” Smith was the first club President, and established its bylaws and constitution, which determined the way team meetings and business were to be conducted. Those meetings, which have since gone the way of the Dodo bird, tended to follow strict parliamentary procedure, but got the job done. Other club presidents, over the years, have included Tim Lunde, Daryl Doering, Bill Kuster, Jim Cullen, and currently residing Mike Delaney. In addition, Larry Martin was the General Manager of the club for much of the 1990’s. The team was the 1993 USCF Central Region Club of the Year, and also received the North Star Cycling Award from the State of Minnesota in 1993.

BJ’s Bike and Ski was the first shop sponsor, until they went out of business in the mid-90s. Anoka Wheelsports sponsored the club during the mid-90s until they closed as well. The current shop sponsor, Bicycle Chain in Roseville, has been with the team since 1996.

The team’s first bicycle sponsor was Miyata. Unfortunately, in 1989, every ones Miyata cracked along the top tube. Other bike sponsors have been American, GT, Litespeed, and current sponsors Specialized and Giant.

The team’s jersey is currently in its 4^th generation of design. The famous original design, depicting a loon during sunset, lasted from 1988-1996. A short lived purple and hot pink design only lasted 2 years from 1997-1998. The 3^rd design, bringing back a subdued version of the Loon, and the stalwart LSC colors of Blue and Yellow lasted from 1999-2003. The familiar, mostly yellow, current design has been around since 2004.

In 1991, the team wasted a small fortune to hire Tom Schuler to give a poorly attended weekend clinic, in conjunction with a criterium near the Velodrome.
Spring Training Camp is legendary within Loon State Cyclists. The original training camp was held in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. In 1990, Tom Cory went off the road in a downhill corner. In 1991, despite being warned, Tom’s brother Dave went off the road in the exact same corner.

LaCrosse, WI is where many of the training camp stories come from that have been shared and exaggerated over the years. Here are a couple of them.

• Dave Lunde measures out a 100 mile route on a map using a straight ruler. 100 miles into the ride, they spot a sign that shows 60 miles to LaCrosse, prompting the sag van to immediately fill. At 135 miles, it’s too dark to ride. Kerry Christian, Steve Schwister, and Kevin Tidemand are stuck on the side of the road waiting for the sag van to return. Kerry, cold and bonked, decides to start gathering trash into a barrel and start a fire. Unfortunately, no one had any matches. He thought he was going to die.
• On a brutally windy day, the team stopped in a small town for lunch. Following lunch, people had to decide between taking the tailwind home or continuing into the headwind. The group of 2 dozen riders was split about 50/50 until the wind grabbed a hold of a beer sign on the local tavern, ripped it off the building, and threw it down the street. Only about 5 riders continued on into the wind.

There was also an ill-fated trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1996, where a snow storm didn’t allow anyone to ride.

Training camp was moved to Whitewater State Park in 2002, to take advantage of the economical state park camping facilities. In 2003, our camp was mostly snowed out, but not before we did a 5 hour ride in the sleet and snow, where several riders fell down on the icy roads. Sadly, at camp in 2004, George Szymansky was killed in a collision with a grain truck, while going around a blind downhill corner.

In 2005, training camp was moved to its current location in Whalen, MN, along the Root River Trail. The accommodations are quite plush, and the roads are hilly and endless. Each year, in the last weekend in March, over 30 LSC members brave the unpredictable weather conditions, hoping to become a part of the legend that is Loon State Training Camp.

The longest standing members of Loon State Cyclists include since 1991: Frank Wambach; Since 1992: Jay Thompson, Bill Kuster, Steve Schwister, and John Baker.
A World Masters Championship, a few National Championships, several MCF Riders of the Year, and many MN State Championships have been earned by riders during their days as a member of LSC.

World Championships:

Dave Lunde – World Masters Track Champion

National Championships:

Deb Pilger – 1998 Masters Road and Criterium Champion

James Tainter – 2006 Masters Track Champion

MCF Riders of the Year:

John Baker – 1996, 1997 Masters 35+ Road

Jim Cullen – 1998 Cat 3; 2006, 2007 Masters 35+ Road

John Stamm – 2003 Masters 50+ Road

Dan Meyer – 2003 Masters 45+ Cyclocross

Bill Kuster – 2006 Masters 45+ Cyclocross

Jordan Cullen – 2007 Juniors Under 15 Road and Cyclocross

The most successful racing season by a LSC member would have to be John Baker in 1996. He had 13 wins that season, including the Cat 1/2 MN State Road Race, Cat 1/2 Sogn Valley Road Race, and the Pepin Hills Regional Masters Road Race. Honorable mention has to go to Dave Lunde who made a bid for the 1996 Olympic Games in Track Cycling. Dave participated in the Olympic Trials, but was unable to qualify.

Many prominent local racers, past and present, have ridden with LSC. Here are just a few:

• Chris Smith
• Bill O’Reilly
• Jeremy Sartain
• John Bagley
• Eric Hansen
• Luke Winger
• Andy Minier
• Darrin Homme
• Dewey Dickey
• Brian Koeneman
• James Tainter
• Jeremy Donatell

Loon State Cyclists is as strong a club as ever, with 105 current members. In 2007, they successfully promoted a Spring Criterium Clinic, 6 race Opus Criterium Series, Gluek Road Race, MN State Road Race, and co-promoted the Tour of Granite Country. The team plans to continue in their proud tradition in 2008 and beyond.

 

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