WORS Race #2 (Crystal Lake Classic)

For the second week in a row we headed to Rhinelander to Camp Tesomas and for the second week in a row I underestimated how long it takes to get there. If you know me, I like to arrive early and not feel rushed. I quickly went to registration and Kelsey and Carrie went to find a spot to view the start. When I got back to the vehicle I changed into my biking shorts, jersey and shoes and while talking to a friend and being in more of a hurry than I like to be almost locked the keys in the truck.

After a little more of a warm up ride than I like to do it was time to head to the starting line. At the sound of Goooooo! it was off on a miserable lead out that is an all out sprint on gravel road for what seems like miles.



It is probably really 1 to 1.5 miles. It felt like my heart was in my throat along with a lot of dirt. Once I got in the woods and into the singletrack I got a little rest before a couple small uphill climbs. How the rest of a lap at Rhinelander can be described is brutally rough. Evidence of this was that 3 out of the 4 bolts that hold the front chain ring to the crank set were loose when I checked them tonight.

I told Carrie that I would be done in 1:30:00.0 and I finished almost right on time at 1:30:18.0 and it took all that I had left in the tank. I pushed it as hard as I could and wound up in 15th place. I have taken 20 minutes off the time I had for the first race of the year and was 3 minutes faster than last year for the same race.

Next week is Wausau and I am looking forward to it because it is where I do most all of my riding and I really like it there. Right now the weather shows showers for Sunday and that might make it interesting.