Closing the Gap
A quick belated update on the WORS Cup/ Pro XCT and the past couple of weeks. It's been busy and I've been dropped from the blog peloton with all this training, traveling and Tour/ MTB World Cup watchin'.
Leading in to the XCT I felt some good form coming on and was hoping for top 20's in both XC and STXC events, and possibly a podium in Super D. I'll do a Matter style report and break it into three.
Photo by Heather Marty
XC - Started a few rows back behind North America's best. I was concerned about the bottleneck going into the woods at the top of the climb so I decided to give'r and see how far up I could make it and then try to maintain position. I made it up into the top 15 and felt strong coming down through the woods, and settled in for the 1st lap. Towards the end a rider without tech skills crashed on one of the downhills and I was following too close and went down as well. It was quick but a couple guys got by and worse, my bars were turned about 20 degrees. No time to fix I just jumped on and rode it out for another lap, making the rock drops alot more interesting. Oddly enough by the time I got annoyed enough by it going into lap 2 I I stopped at the top of the start switchbacks to turn it back and it felt weird since I had gotten used to it being misaligned. Anyway Matter went by here so I jumped on his wheel and we proceeded to move up steadily through the field. His pace was just right so I thought I had a top 20 locked down. Going over the top into the last downhill I attacked 3 guys we had caught and tried to open a gap, but soon after I heard a loud rattling coming from the rear end of my bike. I had to stop eventually to check it out, letting the guys I passed pass me back. I finger tightened the loose bolt as best I could and got going again, but it kept loosening up and I had to keep stopping so the thing didn't go flying into my wheel and end my race for good. Every time I stopped a couple more riders would pass me and I was getting really frustrated, since I usually carry a tool. I made a mental check to check every bolt before a race from then on. I finally got to the "tech zone" and borrowed a tool to get it locked down, now sitting in the mid 20's. Nathan went by and I jumped on his wheel, and started to catch back some riders. I got a little carried away attacking on the start climb and cracked a little, Nate went by me and countered and it took me forever to recover. I battled back and forth with a Tokyo Joes rider but the 20's were out of reach even going full gas on the final lap and fending off some cramps. Finished 22nd a bit peeved about the events in the race but with short track the next day there was an opportunity to try again. We headed back to the Peariso's for another tasty 212 team dinner by Michelle and crew and hit the hay early.
STXC - A better callup today in the 3rd row, I lined up left. We went off and the whole field went left; oops, blew that. I got around the traffic jam and started moving up, feeling good. I was sitting maybe top 15 again and then came around and made the mistake of looking at the clock thinking we were almost done. Nope, only 16min in. I started cracking and going backwards quick, trying to recover. Luckily the Epic 29 was flying the downhill section and I maintained position and eventually came back to life after a lap or so. I started riding back up the next few groups and riding through them, I was hurting pretty bad but managed to work back up to 18th with the help of some friends on the course cheering me on. I felt I rode a good race and got the top 20 I wanted so I felt satisfied and spun out to get ready for Super D.
Super D - This is one of my favorite events, a fun Chinese downhill through the woods to finish of the weekend of racing and remember why MTB racing is way more fun that road racing. The course was awesome and we did multiple hot laps to get it dialed. The Epic 29 was just amazing and I thought I could get on the podium if I could get through the LeMans start. After some delay we were finally lined up down the hill for the run up to our bikes. Legs completely trashed and being a lousy runner, I made it up and over in about 7th wheel, passed up Ronsta before the singletrack and settled in behind Nathan and Tristan. I could see Matter up ahead with Carl Decker and another visiting Pro. They were getting away though and I couldn't get by Nate and Tristan until we came out at the bottom. I attacked hard around the lake and caught up to 4th wheel, then attacked again going into the finish chute to grab 3rd. 2 out of 3 goals for the weekend ain't bad.
All in all it is pretty amazing that we have a Norba level event here as part of our WORS series. Don and crew put on a well-oiled weekend on an awesome course and with the super fun course and awesome fans I think this race really captures the spirit of MTB racing. Nice work!
Photo by TJ Harron
July 4th Weekend Chimene and I headed up north of Green Bay for a long weekend at a friend's cabin. I was in the middle of a big intensity block and had some hours to put in on the bike, but they were shortish 3hr rides so the rest of time was spent relaxing and enjoying the perfect weather that we get this time of year in the midwest. We were right on a small lake so after getting off the bike I would get a bite to eat, then it was out for some floating and soaking action on the water.
At night we cooked brats and pudgie-pies on the fire, drank New Glarus beer and ate s'mores. That right there is about all a man needs to re-charge the batteries. Chimene was stoked to be outdoors and not having our time revolve around racing so in the future I need to make more time for trips like these.
Oddly enough I think I've spent 90% of my weekends so far in Wisconsin this summer, though I don't mind the driving as I think the WORS Series offers the best competition in the region. And now we have a National caliber UCI-1 event to measure our talent against the best without having to spend the time and money flying all over the country. A little driving is not much to ask.
Up next, WORS Firecracker report...finally a "W" on my favorite course!
Leading in to the XCT I felt some good form coming on and was hoping for top 20's in both XC and STXC events, and possibly a podium in Super D. I'll do a Matter style report and break it into three.
Photo by Heather Marty
XC - Started a few rows back behind North America's best. I was concerned about the bottleneck going into the woods at the top of the climb so I decided to give'r and see how far up I could make it and then try to maintain position. I made it up into the top 15 and felt strong coming down through the woods, and settled in for the 1st lap. Towards the end a rider without tech skills crashed on one of the downhills and I was following too close and went down as well. It was quick but a couple guys got by and worse, my bars were turned about 20 degrees. No time to fix I just jumped on and rode it out for another lap, making the rock drops alot more interesting. Oddly enough by the time I got annoyed enough by it going into lap 2 I I stopped at the top of the start switchbacks to turn it back and it felt weird since I had gotten used to it being misaligned. Anyway Matter went by here so I jumped on his wheel and we proceeded to move up steadily through the field. His pace was just right so I thought I had a top 20 locked down. Going over the top into the last downhill I attacked 3 guys we had caught and tried to open a gap, but soon after I heard a loud rattling coming from the rear end of my bike. I had to stop eventually to check it out, letting the guys I passed pass me back. I finger tightened the loose bolt as best I could and got going again, but it kept loosening up and I had to keep stopping so the thing didn't go flying into my wheel and end my race for good. Every time I stopped a couple more riders would pass me and I was getting really frustrated, since I usually carry a tool. I made a mental check to check every bolt before a race from then on. I finally got to the "tech zone" and borrowed a tool to get it locked down, now sitting in the mid 20's. Nathan went by and I jumped on his wheel, and started to catch back some riders. I got a little carried away attacking on the start climb and cracked a little, Nate went by me and countered and it took me forever to recover. I battled back and forth with a Tokyo Joes rider but the 20's were out of reach even going full gas on the final lap and fending off some cramps. Finished 22nd a bit peeved about the events in the race but with short track the next day there was an opportunity to try again. We headed back to the Peariso's for another tasty 212 team dinner by Michelle and crew and hit the hay early.
STXC - A better callup today in the 3rd row, I lined up left. We went off and the whole field went left; oops, blew that. I got around the traffic jam and started moving up, feeling good. I was sitting maybe top 15 again and then came around and made the mistake of looking at the clock thinking we were almost done. Nope, only 16min in. I started cracking and going backwards quick, trying to recover. Luckily the Epic 29 was flying the downhill section and I maintained position and eventually came back to life after a lap or so. I started riding back up the next few groups and riding through them, I was hurting pretty bad but managed to work back up to 18th with the help of some friends on the course cheering me on. I felt I rode a good race and got the top 20 I wanted so I felt satisfied and spun out to get ready for Super D.
Super D - This is one of my favorite events, a fun Chinese downhill through the woods to finish of the weekend of racing and remember why MTB racing is way more fun that road racing. The course was awesome and we did multiple hot laps to get it dialed. The Epic 29 was just amazing and I thought I could get on the podium if I could get through the LeMans start. After some delay we were finally lined up down the hill for the run up to our bikes. Legs completely trashed and being a lousy runner, I made it up and over in about 7th wheel, passed up Ronsta before the singletrack and settled in behind Nathan and Tristan. I could see Matter up ahead with Carl Decker and another visiting Pro. They were getting away though and I couldn't get by Nate and Tristan until we came out at the bottom. I attacked hard around the lake and caught up to 4th wheel, then attacked again going into the finish chute to grab 3rd. 2 out of 3 goals for the weekend ain't bad.
All in all it is pretty amazing that we have a Norba level event here as part of our WORS series. Don and crew put on a well-oiled weekend on an awesome course and with the super fun course and awesome fans I think this race really captures the spirit of MTB racing. Nice work!
Photo by TJ Harron
July 4th Weekend Chimene and I headed up north of Green Bay for a long weekend at a friend's cabin. I was in the middle of a big intensity block and had some hours to put in on the bike, but they were shortish 3hr rides so the rest of time was spent relaxing and enjoying the perfect weather that we get this time of year in the midwest. We were right on a small lake so after getting off the bike I would get a bite to eat, then it was out for some floating and soaking action on the water.
At night we cooked brats and pudgie-pies on the fire, drank New Glarus beer and ate s'mores. That right there is about all a man needs to re-charge the batteries. Chimene was stoked to be outdoors and not having our time revolve around racing so in the future I need to make more time for trips like these.
Oddly enough I think I've spent 90% of my weekends so far in Wisconsin this summer, though I don't mind the driving as I think the WORS Series offers the best competition in the region. And now we have a National caliber UCI-1 event to measure our talent against the best without having to spend the time and money flying all over the country. A little driving is not much to ask.
Up next, WORS Firecracker report...finally a "W" on my favorite course!
posted by Mike at 3:57 AM
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