WORS Race #12 (Wigwam MTB Challenge)

The final race of the season brought with it the coldest weather of the year. We headed for Sheboygan on Saturday, the sun out and wind blowing and a brisk temp in the upper 30's. I packed all the biking clothes I had since you never know what to expect. We checked into the hotel and unloaded all our stuff. We changed to head out for a pre-ride lap. I put on more clothes than I have ever biked in before. I am not a fan of biking in the cold. We headed out to Evergreen Park to get a lap in. I even put a winter hat under my helmet. I wanted to get moving to get warm. The familiar lap warmed me up and was fun as always. Collin disagreed any time I got a little bit out of site and swore off racing for good a couple times. I was also going to be told on for not waiting. When we got to the two spots where he crashed on his little bike last year, he was quick to get off even though he had ridden much tougher obstacles already this year. When we came to the water crossing was where he was determined he couldn't do it and was done. After me doing it twice and Collin riding up to it about 6 times he finally did it. My feet were froze from the water. We made it to the end of the lap and headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for supper.

Sunday morning brought a lot of frost and temps in the mid 20's. We tried to wait close to Collin's start to get out into the cold. I put on as many clothes as I could and headed out to take some pictures. I could hear Don tell the 11 and over kids to go so in a couple minutes Collin's group would get started. I waited by the bridge crossing for the kids to start coming. I didn't know what place he was in when he got to me but I think it was 3rd.



It was just behind me where the water crossing was so I set up there and got pictures of a lot of the kids some of whom didn't cross it cleanly. Collin made it just fine without even thinking about it.





Next it was on to "The Bowl" where Collin had issues the day before. Today he rode down in and passed 2nd place who decided to walk down it.



He was on the move and the last spot I rode to when he showed up he was in first place with 2nd place hot on his heels. Somewhere after they got out of site, Collin had a chain issue and wound up in 2nd place just behind 1st place. Awesome job.



It was still cold at the start of my race and I was not warm even after riding around taking pictures. I waited till the very last minute to take my jacket off. Ass you can see I had long sleeves on and I was still cold.



The first two times I went through the water crossing I'm not sure what I was doing but I kept hitting the left side of the rut and had to get off my bike both times. I've never had a problem before. Maybe it was Richard cheering for everyone. Maybe it was just me. The 3rd time was a charm and I nailed the right line. The log jump was perfect every lap.



The other parts of the laps felt great and even though the gearing on my bike doesn't allow me to really climb "The Equalizer" hill I ran up it the first two times but the 3rd time when I got off my bike and started walking up it I got cramps in my legs.



While I didn't hit a lot of my goals I got faster all season long and ended the last race with a time faster Dan. It took all year but I did it and it shows that I got faster. Even though after the last couple races I could hardly walk because my left knee hurt so bad. I'm not sure what that is all about. That wraps up another season. While I get to stay in the same age group for next year, Collin gets to move up an age group to more competition with some older kids.



Actually I have one more race to go. Dan, Gary and I are heading to the Iceman Cometh race in Traverse City, MI. on Nov. 7. 3900 people are entered. Stay tuned for a report.

WORS Race #11 (Wolf River Rendezvous)

It's been three weeks since the last race and I have to admit there hasn't been nearly enough riding in between races or blogging for that matter.

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.