West Side Story..............

From East side to West side of the State.... the last 3 races have been a blast!!

In August, a week after Ore2Shore (in the U.P.) I decided to skip the Subaru Cup in Wisconsin and stay a little closer to home. Maybury TT was the same weekend and they put up a big purse for the winners of the Elite Men and Elite Women categories. It was the usual Maybury trail (tight, twisty, flowy) with added longer out and back climbs. I came in 1^st and Erin came in 2^nd! We had a fun day, as always! 

(Awards at Maybury TT)

 

 (Erin and I)

 

Saturday, September 8, 2012 was the 1^st Annual Battle At The Burg at Cannonsburg Ski Area in Grand Rapids, MI. This race initially was not on my calendar because it was the same day as Provincial Championships in Collingwood. Up until Friday morning, Jay and I had plans on making the 5 (+) hour drive on Saturday morning to race at Provincials (Sunday). I had already pre-registered and was ready to go until we saw the forecast!! There was sooooo much rain that would be hitting that area and the possibility of no pre-ride on the Saturday. I gave it some serious thought and that's when the plans changed. Long drive, no pre-ride, sitting around, no thank you!

So I looked at my other options. Scott Quiring (Quiring Cycles) was going to be at the expo at Cannonsburg Ski Area and the Battle at the Burg race was also taking place there. It was a quick decision and a real no brainer! To Grand Rapids we will go, where the forecast looked great and I get to see one of my awesome sponsors!

We left early Saturday morning so I could be registered by 9. This was the 1^st year for Battle At The Burg so I really wasn't sure what to expect. I knew that Johanna Schmidt was pre-registered, so there would be good competition. I had never ridden or raced at Cannonsburg Ski Area and I would not have a chance to pre-ride either. The Battle At The Burg website was/is awesome and got me excited and fired up to be part of this race!

After registering we hung around and chatted with Scott and Christina until it was time to warm up for race time at 1:00 pm. The field was small but it was mighty! :) I got the holeshot with a conservative pace, went up the short opening climb in the lead and gained a bit bigger of a gap before I hit the single track. The course was about 80% flowing fast single track. The terrain was sandy but it was packed down a bit thanks to some rain that fell the night before. There was some gradual climbs within the single track but the biggest climb came at the end of the lap. We headed straight up the grass ski hill!! Reward was we then came straight down to finish the lap! With each lap I extended my lead. On my final lap with about 15 pedal strokes to the top of the ski climb a group of people were cheering me on at the top. I gave a smile said “thanks” and with then one of the men said he'd beat me to the top. I quickly said “wanna race?”, he chuckled then started to run. I gave a quick sprint to the top edging him out and getting a good laugh in! They cheered!! Down to the finish line for the victory!! The organizers did a fantastic job marking the course, they were very organized (one glitch there was no category for Elite women but they were quick to get us taken care of), the course was fun and challenging, awards were done promptly after each race, and they had great friendly volunteers! If you did not race at the Burg, you must put it on your calendar for next year!! I see it as becoming part of the Cry Baby, Peak to Peak novelty race package!! The turnout was not huge and therefore there was no payout BUT my prize package was so cool! Oakley glasses, an awesome t-shirt (my new fav), Dakine riding gloves, Battle At The Burg hat and many free little samples! There were also many booths at the expo and so many great people. I can't say enough good about the event other then DO IT NEXT YEAR!!



 

(If only I would have put the hat on straight on the podium! :) )



 

We spent the night in Grand Rapids and took our 2 youngest (Clayton and Nolan) out for a trail ride at Luton Park. Once again fun flowing circuit of trails. Nolan managed to have a couple of crashes getting a bit bloodied and bruised. What a fun filled couple of days!!

Now a break from racing for a couple of weeks!

Cheers,

Sue