This race moved from just north of Shawano last year to The Bear Paw Outdoor Adventure Resort just south of Langlade, WI this year. I never knew there were trails to ride here but they were technical and flowing and can only be described as top notch singletrack. The staff was friendly and did an awesome job preparing the course and were very friendly.
The pre-ride weather was overcast and cool after a day of rain. The course shed the water pretty good in some spots and in others there was standing water to ride around. Collin and I went out and rode the juniors lap and Dan and Gary gave me the report of what was on a small section of the Sport course that I missed. I found out when the race started that I needed to ride that lap at a much faster pace. The technical areas weren't as difficult at a slow pace as they were when the race started. Collin rode a lot of technical areas very well and improved a lot. Uphill is still something he hates and it caused a meltdown on one hill which he got over and continued.
Race day was much cooler and I has plenty of clothes on to head out to take some pictures of the Juniors on their lap. I walked up the first climb to conserve some energy. The view from the top was nice.
It wasn't long after I got set up that the first kids started coming through. There were a few that were a little scared of the switchback downhill.
The older kids were the first through and then Collin and his age group showed up.
Collin isn't a fan of the caution signs on the course.
He did just great. He rode the hardest parts and cruised home to a second place finish just 7 seconds behind the leader. I actually caught up to Collin and tried to get him to pick up the pace in the last 100 yards and try to catch first place but he couldn't get in the right gear.
I lined up for my race and waited for our start and I was not ready for the pace we were going to set going up the first climb. LONG and STEEP is all I can say to describe the first climb on the course and my lungs and legs hurt when we got to the top. This pic gives a little perspective on part of the first climb.
Part way up the first climb my shoe came out of the pedal and I smashed my knee into the handlebars. I thought the footbed broke but later I found out one of the screws that hold the cleat on came out. It made the rest of the race extremely tough because it was hard to get my shoe out of or into the pedal. The wet and slippery conditions combined with the technical parts of this course made it slower than a lot of courses but it was fun none the less. I can't wait for next year and I hope it is dry.
By the third lap I was tired frustrated and just wanted to be done. Can you see it on my face?? Actually that is mud.
The special people even showed up at the race.
Aryana and Gavin showed up to race again too. I didn't get to see them this time because the times were slower than normal but they had fun.
Next is the last race of the season. See you at Sheboygan.
1 comment:
Nice! I forgot that Carrie took that picture of me ;)
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