ON to WI and the States in Between........

Well it's July 1st, Canada Day.  I am ironically bundled in a thermal undershirt and plaid flannel (a la Canadian stereotype), as the temps dropped and the rain is falling hard.  It's not feeling like summer today.

Where have the last few weeks gone?  Geesh seems so long ago that I was in WI yet it's only been just over 2 weeks!  So going back to June 15-16.....  our trip to Wisconsin and my W.O.R.S (Wisconsin Off Road Series) race.  It was W.O.R.S. race #4, Battle of CamRock.  W.O.R.S. is the largest MTB Series in the U.S.A.  We did the early morning wake up on Saturday, picked up E-Racer (a.k.a. Erin, my awesomest teamie) and her and I slept for most of the 7.5 hour drive.  We were not very good company for Jay.  We arrived at the venue around 2:00 pm (WI time) to get a pre-ride in.  To our surprise, after the loooong drive, they had closed the trails until further notice, due to the heavy rain falls they had received within the last 24 hours.  Gah, all this way and we can't ride?  Erin and I kitted up and thought we would just go spin out on the road but before we hit the pavement, we went over and talked with the trail/course designer/coordinator, Tom.  He was a super nice guy and gave us a thorough rundown of the course via a map.  After a lengthy conversation, I think he took a little pity on us for our distant travel and gave us the go ahead to "inspect" the course and come back to him with feedback on the trail conditions.  We assured him that we wouldn't damage the course and we would avoid any section that looked like it was in poor riding conditions.  As it turned out, the trail was a bit slick and we chose to stay out of 80% of the singletrack.  We pre-rode the double track which really didn't help in getting to know the course.  It was going to be a 2 lap race.  Tom had further explained why he added the 1.5 miles of open grass double track.  He felt like it provided for great passing and also would give racers a chance to play out some strategic attacks.

(Erin snapped this picture of me as we stayed on dry grounds to "pre-ride" CamRock.)

Just as quickly as night time and bed time came so too did morning.  With our 1:30 pm start, there was no need to rush in the morning.

Fast forward to 5 minutes before the race......
We were informed by the promoter that there had been a change in the race course.  We were now going to be doing 3 laps instead of 2 and that the 1.5 miles double track section had been taken out.  Alright, the one section we pre-rode was now out.  No biggie..... let's just race!

(Pro Women start)

In words that went something like this, "One foot on the ground, one foot on the pedal, tires behind the line..... 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5,  , GO!"  The 16 pro women were off and heading up the opening climb.  I wasn't very quick off the line and definitely not the fastest one up the hill.  I was 4th cresting the top and heading into the first twisty, flat, short singletrack.  I knew the rider to beat would be the hometown and WI favourite, Abby Strigel (Honey Stinger/Bontrager).  She was leading the way.  I wanted to be behind her and because my poor start I was 3 behind her. Bah!  Early in the singletrack the 2 racers in front of me collided (I think), and we were foot down already.  I got around one lady and about 15 ft later the other women "endoed".  I did a quick check to make sure she was ok, hopped around her with my bike in hand and got back in the saddle.  I was probably close to 25-30 seconds down from Abby and we were only about 3.5 minutes into the race.  The way the trail flowed and weaved around, Abby was out of sight.  As I got into the tougher singletrack section I caught an pro male rider.  He managed to endo in front of me as well.  I had to grab the brakes pretty hard and managed to stop in time, with just a tap of my front tire onto his frame.  He was ok, I was off my bike sort of hopping over him.  I got through lap 1, sitting in 2nd.  I struggled with my flow and focus through lap 2.  On my 3rd and final lap I tried to let things roll a bit more.  I came across the finish line in 2nd.  

(Somewhere out there!)

(Photo courtesy: Cyclingnews, Xtreme Photography Unlimited)

(Podium with some great racers!)

As for the last minute course change;  by her own admission, Abby had talked to the promoter 15 minutes before the race, she felt the race was going to be too short at about 1hr and 30 min, so he decided to change it, to omit the double track section and add a lap.  Guess that's the way the "cheese" crumbles in WI. ;)  Regardless, the course was awesome, challenging, and demanding.  A real MTB race course!  I love racing W.O.R.S., the competition is so strong, the people are very friendly, and the atmosphere is welcoming.  If it wasn't such a far drive, I would probs do the whole series!

(Awesome cafe, awesome eats, awesome vibe, overall..... awesome!  CamRock Cafe!)

After awards (which last a long time), we went for a quick bite to eat and headed home.  We rolled into our driveway around 4:00 am!

I took the weekend after WI off from racing.  Instead opting for a couple of fun laps at PLRA!

Last week was my recovery week.  Dang, recovery weeks are tough for me!  I get very hungry, antsy, restless, and my sleep is effected.  Seems like those weeks are long..... I chose to add a race at the end of my recovery week.  I raced the Bloomer Park Daze promoted by Tailwind-Racing.  They did a great job at getting the course ready for the race, including the removal of fallen trees and rerouting the course (because of all the rain and storms as of late).  There was only one glitch with the lack of trail markings (lap 1) but I ended up back on track/course and they quickly had it marked come my second time around.  I rolled through the finish line in first.

                               

(Bloomer Park Podium)

Here we are today, I am looking forward to a couple of hard effort days this week.  I plan on taking this coming weekend off from racing, so I may need to find myself some fun trail to ride!

Happy Canada Day, Happy Trails, Happy Riding.... and for darn sake.... please return the sun and the heat!

Cheers,
Sue