WORS #2 Rhinelander Crystal Lake Classic

Day 2 of my mini stage race was in Rhinelander at Camp Tesomas for WORS #2.  I love going there, first because it is close to home but most of all because the course is incredible.  For a course that beats on your body over 2 hours it ends up being one my most favorite courses of the year.

Sunday brought me good legs that were not as soar as I figured they would be from the previous days effort.  They warmed up very well and only left me without a small portion of high end power.  The start was fairly calm until Big D hit the front for a Mikey lead out.  I just didn't have the legs to come around enough guys to get in the ideal spot for the single track.  The hard pace up the start climb put me a bit behind on the energy level.  I was in the single track around 7-10.  I knew for this race you have to be around the 4-6th in to get a good spot before the split happens.  Sure enough the split happened at rider 5.

After a short recovery through the opening section of single track I was OK settling into a pace and a group.  Knowing I didn't have what it took to jump with the lead I was confident I would now had the legs to stay steady and smooth throughout the 2 hour effort.  I found a great group of riders in Koenig, Piontek, and McConnell.  McConnell and I shared the load on the 1st lap and then the The Bike Hub teammates shared on the 2nd.  Ben hit the 2nd lap hard keeping our pace up.  I like that he did because for a short period I thought it might pull in the leading group if they were playing games up front.  1/4 way into lap 2 we were only 60 seconds down but we never did make anymore ground.

Lap 3 McConnell and I shared the work load again and 3/4 way into the lap we seen Maloney coming back.  I followed briefly but took the chance to jump to keep the pace up.  Coming up the 2 track Phillips came back to us and we continued on.  Starting the final lap I noticed riders off just enough to entice Piontek and McConnell to keep rotating.  It split us off for a 3 man final lap.  McConnell took the lead and was riding very strong.  I knew by the way he was riding it would come down to the finish.  Unfortunately he burped a front tire and down he went.  It left Piontek and myself.  1/4 lap to go and the rain started pouring down.  I took advantage of my Maxxis Ardent and pushed the pace.  It opened up enough of a gap to finish up 4th.




The bike and tire selection were perfect for Rhinelander:
Bike: Trek Superly 100 Pro
Tires: F. Maxxis Ardent 2.2, R. Maxxis Ikon 2.0    

Good reports here and here.