A big change for this weekend was I did not have my parents and wife as a support crew. I have been very lucky and blessed that they have been able to travel with me to just about every race offering the best race support a racer can ask for. The challenge, not having them and staying hydrated for over a 2 hour race with no hand offs. The solution, $50, a helping hand, a trip to Lowes, and 1 hour's time. With that we were able to make an absolute gem of a bottle dispenser.
We set it up at the top of the ski hill at the end of all the support crews. It worked perfect!
The race was fun, hard, and hilly. It was at a small ski hill and they brought you to the top of it 4 times throughout the race. It had a huge amount of single track and only a few hundred yards of two track between. The longest portion of two track was the first mile of the course when they have you climb the ski hill 3 times. After this your opportunity to pass was very limited. The good thing or bad, I guess it's how you look at it, is I didn't have to pass many people. The only passing I had to do is on the final lap when we started reaching the back end of the womens and comp races. Other than that I had an awesome start, putting me as high as 9th at one time, and did not have to pass my competitors.
The race started up hill and I knew I had to get to the top with the field. I was feeling good mid hill and decided to just keep on going. This put me in great position for the remainder of the roll out and the first single track. I entered the single track 9th and tried to establish myself with the group. With my single track skills lacking their level of riding I quickly faded. After the first section Brian Matter came around me and I wanted to see how long I could stick. Ummmm, maybe 5 seconds. He is so smooth on that Trek. The next open section Ryan Krayer came around and took the lead. We could see a group of 3 riders just ahead including Brian Eppen and I figured Ryan could ride us up to them if I just followed his lead. I took the gamble and did whatever it took to stay with him. I managed to keep pace through 2 laps and finally had to make the decision to fall back. I was riding a bit outside my limit and we were not catching the group ahead. The increased pace in the first 2 laps put my 3rd lap as a recovery lap. This allowed one rider, Ted Hanes, to close in on me. Coming over the climb for the final time I still had a minute or more on him and figured I could hold him off but I felt my energy depleting so I did all I could to stay steady. Half way through the 4th lap he came around me and I could not muster enough to hold on. The final 10-15 minutes of the race I dug deep and picked up my pace to hold my 12th place position. I crossed the line pretty gassed and very pleased with my finish.
I rode outside my limit for a considerable amount of time and felt good doing it. It didn't cost me as much as I figured it would and this I'm pleased with. With every race I'm learning more about racing with the front guys and how my body will respond. I learned a lot and finished 12th overall in a stacked field of 7 professionals including a 2 time Olympian. Damn! these WORS races are stacked.
I would like to thank my support crew, PVC pipe bottle dispenser!
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