The Lutsen 99er is fast approaching; coming up June 28, 2025. After saying I would never do this race again after last year’s debacle, I find myself registered for this year’s installment. Short memory, I guess. Question for the broader group, or potentially those more local to the area. With the…

Is anybody here familiar with the road conditions of the new course? Looking on Google Maps as best I can and the vast majority now looks to be gravel roads and without the single track section is the new course going to be a gravel race trending on the side of a little bumpy? I see maybe 2 or 3 s…

I would like to say that I am not familiar, but from the 99er website, “96.8 miles, about 5,200 feet of climbing, Gravel 49% | 2-track 28% | Pavement 10% | ATV 4% | Snomobile 3% | Singletrack 6% = 100% FUN!” With High Climber taken out, the singletrack percentage should be 0. Obviously that is just …

Thanks, sounds like I can just keep the 34t on. I’ve racing on a dropper since 2015, but I did a season of switching back and forth in '21 and found that if I have a dropper I’m going to use it, and even on moderately technical singletrack I’m faster on a ridgid post cause I’m always on the pedals…

Thinking about swapping my gravel bars with the new red levers over to my XC bike for this one. Looks like they would work (“performance may vary”) with my level stealth 4P brakes. [image] Wondering if I will regret riding curly bars at any point on the course?

If there’s no mud on the course, then there is nothing technical now that the singletrack is gone. I think you’ll be fine.

Have any of you thought about your fueling plan now that the drop bags are available at the miles 32 and 68 aid station? I’d really like to start without a pack or heavily laden with fuel/water on the initial climb. It seems much more doable to start light now that I can get at my drop bag early in …

I was wondering about this myself. Without thinking about it too hard, I thought I might be able do the course without stopping, or perhaps stopping once for bottles. But now I am considering bottle+gel hand ups. I have never been here so I am not sure how reliable the spectator spots will be.

Both my Lutsen experiences it was cool so lower hydration needs. Morning is even cooler so you need less in the first half of the race. I can’t see Curly bars being a big disadvantage if you’re competent with them and still on at least front suspension, but at the same time, I wasn’t solo very mu…

[image] BCM: I can’t see Curly bars being a big disadvantage if you’re competent with them and still on at least front suspension, but at the same time, I wasn’t solo very much the entire time I was there so I’m not sure if they’re a big advantage advantage either. Finished less than 90 seconds …

I am chickening out on riding the gravel bike, I am going to ride my mountain bike.

Lutsen 99er 2025

Racing

TooManyDogs July 8, 2025, 11:04pm 33

Congrats on the win! Seems like the Lauf MTB worked out nice. I’m enjoying the Off the Front YouTube series.

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Lutsen 99er 2025

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