The who’s who of USA pro women mtb racers were in full colour in Wisconsin last weekend. WORS was hosting their Subaru Cup, which this year also doubled as a USA Cycling Pro XCT national race.
Jay and I drove through the night on Thurs. (actually, he drove I slept)! We arrived in Wisconsin, at the venue (Nordic Mountain) around 7:30 am (6:30 am WI time). We checked out the terrain and the on-site camping. The place was quite, you would never have known that there was going to be a big race the next day.
We opted to camp at a camp ground about 10 minutes away. It was a good choice because it was spacious, rustic and had pine tree covered sites. Peaceful, and quiet just what I wanted!! So we set up our tent, took a 2 hour nap, and then went back to the venue to sign in and pre-ride the course. The course was sooo much fun. It had alot of switch back climbing and switch back descents, very little free speed, so the short 5 mile lap made you work.
That night we enjoyed comfortable temps, good eatin’ and a great night’s sleep. I was so out of it that I didn’t even hear the thunderstorm that roared through in the middle of the night.
Saturday, race day came real fast. We made a quick tire change (GEAX Barro Race), did some fine tuning on my bike and we were at the venue by 11:30. My warm-up flew by and by 12:15 pm they were already calling the pro women to the staging area. After call up I found myself in the 3rd and last row. With the national anthem sang, “GO” was inevitable. Some of the racers charged up the opening climb faster than others. I found myself in the “others” category. A few tire rubs and tight squeezing through sections and I settled into the climb. Once again my recovery was not that great and I rode a steady pace, not a race pace. I almost feel like I’m beginning to sound like a broken record. Time to reevaluate things! My effort was good enough for 16th.
Top 5 podium spots went as follows:
Georgia Gould (Luna Pro Team) – 1st
Willow Koerber (Trek/Subaru) – 2nd
Heather Irmiger (Trek/Subaru) – 3rd
Amanda Sinn (Canadian – 3 Rox Racing) – 4th
Katie Compton (Planet Bike) – 5th
We headed for home early Sunday morning, taking a small detour through Kalamazoo, MI to pick up some Bell’s beer. Just what I needed!! :o)
My week has been busy, kids are now out of school for the summer and I have chosen to take the week off from training! Hopefully I will have fresh legs by Sunday and I can resume with some harder effort training rides.
Cheers,
Sue
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