Revenge at Big Ring

Just wanted to take a quick break from studying to write my race report from the 3rd WORS race that happened this past weekend. After the flat which lead to my first DNF ever (I'm still clearly not over that) the weekend before, I wanted nothing more than to come back and race strong. My plan was to race as hard as I was at Rhinelander, but with more control. No more riding above my abilities.

Anyway, enough of that. We got up there Saturday afternoon around 4 and it's 45 degrees and pissing rain. If I didn't know better, I would have thought it was Portland in November for a cross race, but no, it was truly Wisconsin in June. We got registered and against our better judgment we went out for a practice lap. Over the course of Saturday, Wausau got something like an inch of rain, but the trails were amazing. We were wet and had some mud splatters on the bikes, but the bikes were not at all affected (just needed a good spray) and all of the course was ridable.

Once we had finished, I was mildly hypothermic, but confident that doing this race in spite of the rain was a good idea. After spraying down the bike and changing into dry clothes, we found our hotel. Yes, we got a hotel this time. Kyle had made the decision the day before we left that we should not camp this time and BOY WAS HE RIGHT. Not only did we not have to sleep in the cold and the rain, but as soon as we got into the room after riding, we were able to take hot showers before we got dinner. It was glorious. Maddie came along as well and was kind of a problem because she slept on the bed with us and she never does that at home, but it was definitely much better than sharing a tent with her out in the cold and rain.

Sunday morning brought a mixture of good and bad fortune. Things were going well in that although it was still cold out, it had stopped raining and it did not look like there would be any precip during the races. Bad news came in the fact that my bike was broken. Kyle went to adjust the shifting for my rear der and found that once in the biggest cog in would not shift back down. We didn't know if it was from the der itself or the cables and housing or something else. Kyle started by replacing the der hanger, then lubed the cable and put it back in the housing and finally monkeyed with the der itself. After all that, it was happy as a clam and I was happier than a clam (if that is possible) since it was fixed. I really don't know what I would do without him :)

After a long debate about what to wear for the race since it was only 45 degrees, I decided to go with a short sleeve jersey. I had to quickly change my number over from the long sleeve it was on, since Kyle said that he was burning up with arm warmers on. The start line was full of familiar faces and a few ones. I spoke briefly with Lisa who was behind me when I crashed the week before and who had actually DNF'ed herself after flatting in that race. She said she got her flat in almost the exact same spot as I got mine but on the second lap. This made me feel a bit better about the situation since maybe it wasn't completely my incompetence that caused my bike failure, but it didn't change the fact that I was bound and determined not to make that kind of mistake again.

And then we were off...we were moving pretty fast, but nobody was really pulling away right at first. After a few ups and downs on the fire road, Kim suddenly jumped and took off up this moderately difficult climb. No body even batted an eye. She rode away and we kept on battling our own little war. I switched places several time with Abby and Lisa. Once we were in single and double track, they would get a few seconds on me, but them I would catch and pass them on the climbs and the fire road. When we hit the horrible climb that lead into Ho Chi Minh trail, Abby was in the lead followed by me and then Lisa. It was just like last year. One of us would spin out on the rocks and the 2 would go by and then another one would slip and we would change places again. It didn't matter though because we were still together when we popped out the other end. The 3 of us battle it out until the slow (due to the mud) climb to the water station. I passed Abby and pretty much pushed myself as hard as I possibly could. At the top, I took a water, but was breathing so hard that I couldn't even swallow it. I looked back thinking one of the 2 would have grabbed my wheel, but I was alone. With that I took off. It was mostly downhill fire road with some rolling climbs for over a mile. I just hauled ass. Then, whenever a group of single speeders or comp guys came around I would up the pass to stay with them for a a minute or so. I was in second and I thought all I had to do now was ride strong, but smart to the finish.

With one lap to go, Kyle said that Lisa was only 30 seconds back. I again pushed the pace on the climbs and when I got passed, knowing that 30 seconds would be pretty hard to get back from me as long as I didn't do anything stupid. BUT THEN, out of no where, with like 1.5 miles to go, I look back and see a chick. I looked back like 5 times not believing my eyes. Then, I hear Kyle yelling "you have one right behind you. She's 8 seconds back." All I could think was that this was Iola all over again. This rider was closing in on me in the single track and I would say got within 5 seconds of me. Once on the open track through I was able to put time back between us. Then with only one strip of single track left, I gave it everything I had. My plan was to keep riding smart, but to stay just enough ahead that she could not see me. I made it without her catching me there and when I hit the last open section to the finish, I pushed those pedals with everything I had. My head was down and I just prayed I had enough left in my legs and that she had worn herself out trying to catch me. This would be the case and I managed to finish 2nd just 20 seconds ahead of Kyia, who I was later introduced to. Kim finished an amazing 9 minutes ahead of me. She is clearly in a league of her own.

Next up...Step 1 of the boards. Then, the Subaru Cup. Can you guess which one I am looking more forward to? :)

Goodnight!