WORS Race #6 (Sunburst Showdown)

We arrived in Kewaskum Saturday afternoon and set up camp. I took Collin out for a little pre-ride fun. The Juniors course was not marked so I assumed that maybe they were doing one lap of the full course. Let me tell you that Collin did not find it FUN. He wondered why the course had to be all uphill and so hard. My standard response is if it was easy then everybody would do it. We went and ate spaghetti for supper that was put on by the ski patrol. Gary and I headed out for another lap after dark with our lights. I'm not sure why but riding at fun is a blast. When I got back I was informed by Collin that he and I had a big day of racing tomorrow and I needed to get to sleep.

Sunday morning I awoke to Carrie telling me, "Yes, that is rain you hear on the tent." Great! I have the wrong tires on my bike for wet conditions. Luckily right before Collin's race the sun came out and stuff started drying out. Collin fought through the uphills to come in 2nd place. He had the first place rider in his sites but a crash and one last uphill climb made him fade a bit.

When my race started the lead out to the steep climb felt pretty good. I was mid pack but I made a stupid mistake on the first climb. I hung on the wheel of 3 slower guys that I could have easily passed. I thought saving some energy for the next two times I had to climb it was smart but in reality it allowed the guys in front of us to get away a little more. ALWAYS, ALWAYS pass when you have the chance. Wow, was it rough and dusty. On lap 2 I got stopped by a rider crashing coming at me and his bike landing on my side of the trail. 3 of us had to get off our bikes and run around the downed rider and bike. Getting off the bike is the worst especially on an uphill because it is so hard to get going again. By the third lap there were people cramping up but I still felt good. I stayed ahead of Gary for the whole race which almost never happens. I came home with a 20th place finish which is a little lower than normal but there was an overly large amount of climbing which made it a little harder.

Next is my first 12 hour solo at the 24-9 next weekend.