Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
COLIN GAUTHIER rides his bike in the Wisconsin Off Road Series this past summer. Gauthier earned first place by a wide margin, even as he raced in the 13-14 year old division at 12.
By IAN MINIELLY
Ironwood - Colin Gauthier, a 13 year old Ironwood youth, spent the summer traversing at least 4,000 miles driving to and from different races throughout Wisconsin as part of the Wisconsin Off Road Series. Gauthier, even though he did not turn 13 until after his final race in the series, raced in the 13-14 Junior Series, making him younger than most of his competitors by as much as two years in any given race.
The series' first race was on May 6 and the final race for Gauthier was on Aug. 20. Both of those races were second place finishes. Sandwiched between those two races, Gauthier scored a first, third, first, first, first, first, and another first. Gauthier elected not to race in three of the last five races because he had already sewn up the championship, according to his father Glenn Gauthier, a sergeant with the Michigan State Police.
By the time Gauthier finished his final race in August, he had sealed the championship by over 200 points. Gauthier finished the season with 1402 points, while the second place finisher, Zachary Feldmann, finished with 1195 points after competing in one more race.
Gauthier has been racing for two years according to his father, Glenn, but he still cost him a new set of tires for his truck with all the driving, which is one of the reasons Glenn said he is thankful for the support from sponors.. In the next year, Gauthier plans a different path, racing in the Great Lakes Gravity Series instead of the WORS. Although Glenn said Gauthier will still race in a few of the WORS races in Wisconsin to mix things up.
The GLGS races are in Marquette, Duluth and Copper Harbor, according to Gauthier. The GLGS races have 3-6 stages with a mix of intermediate and expert single-track, according to the GLGS website. Gauthier said the GLGS series is about racing against the clock, not other racers and it will expand the younger Gauthier's racing repertoire.
Gauthier described the different mechanics necessary for the downhill series as compared to the enduro-style races in Wisconsin, leading to another bicycle. Gauthier's new bike has a full suspension system and significantly more aggressive tread with a "seat dropper post," which allows Gauthier to drop the seat onto the post so it stays out of his way on the down hill portion of the track.
