Wausau WORS

After having so much fun last year at the WORS season finale, I've been waiting all season for a chance to head to Wisconsin to take another swing at the cheeseheads. As the date for the Wausau race drew closer, I kept one eye on my training and the other eye on the weather forecast. In keeping with the cooler than normal weather pattern that Iowa has been experiencing all spring and summer, the weather-guessers predicted more of the same, with some rain thrown in for good measure.

So, as Cam and I loaded up our gear, I found myself packing jeans, sweatshirts, wool socks, and my winter jacket so I could survive Wisconsin in June. We left very early on Saturday morning in the rain, drove in the rain, and arrived in Wausau with the rain still falling and temps in the 40s. A full day of rain would leave an Iowa trail worthless for a race the following day, but the Wisconsin soils soak up the water like a sponge, possibly leaving the trails better for racing than when dry. We soon ran into Tyrine and tried to decide if we should go for a pre-ride. I quickly noticed the fire-burning stove in the corner of the lodge and had my decision made for me. Cam and Christine geared up for a lap of the course. Ty took a nap in his car, and I stayed warm by the fire.

The rain continued the rest of the day and into the night. However, the pavement was dry the next morning when we peeked out of the hotel room window! The skies never cleared, but the rain had passed, so we headed back to the course. Cam prepared my ride while I geared up for a cool 45 degree ride in the woods. Thankfully the trees are so dense that the blowing wind was kept from my easy-to-freeze fingers and toes.

As I lined up for the Sport race, I was excited to see 29 other women there next to me. Since I opted out of the pre-ride the day before, all I had to go on was Cam's recon report. I knew there was a good amount of cross country ski trails, some fun singletrack, and the infamous Ho Chi Minh trail - a challenging, rocky section of singletrack. Cam told me it was tough, but doable, and then he followed it up with some very good advice on how to tackle that portion.

With a "GOOOOOOOOOO!" we were off. I took my usual sweet time getting clipped in and up to speed. Again I found myself bringing up the rear of the field as we left the start area. Different than most races, the Big Ring Classic starts with some of the ski trails, rather than dumping riders immediately into the singletrack. By the time we reached the singletrack I had passed most of the field and was probably about 7th wheel. We had a quick taste of singletrack before hitting Ho Chi Mihn. At about that same time, we women had caught up to the tail end of the Clydesdale field and were trying to work our way past them. The wheels really came off my fast-moving bus at this point. Between the fact that I hadn't had a chance to pre-ride any of the course, the challenging nature of these rocks, and all the other folks falling into the abyss, I was like a bull in a china shop.

I maintained my position as best I could for as long as I could, but eventually, a couple women sneaked past me when I had to dismount for a quick hike. Once off the Ho Chi Mihn, I did the best I could to keep up with the other females, passing when I could, and disposing of some of the guys. I rode with a couple girls, alternating the lead. We never really seemed to make any headway in catching those ahead of us.

The rain didn't seem to affect the trails too much in the singletrack, but out in the open things got a little squishy. If you stayed on the worn path, the mud kinda sucked you in, but off to the side a bit was much faster. I was fast on the doubletrack, but I didn't seem to want to test my technical skills on the slippery, rooty singletrack. I finished the first lap in about 11th place, closely following the next girl back out for our second lap. We had a similar trip through Ho Chi Mihn and the surrounding trails.

At some point in that second lap, I seemed to run out of gas. I wasn't bonking, and I wasn't particularly tired; I just didn't go fast. I was just out there spinning my wheels, trying to get to the finish line. Two more women went past me and I had nothing to give them. A couple clydesdale guys followed me through the last section of trail. I crossed the finishline and was just thankful to be done. I ended up 5th in my age group and 13th overall. Not great, but a good workout nonetheless.

I rode around for a few minutes, and as I was getting back to the Jeep, I heard Don introduce Cam and the other pros for call-ups. I grabbed the camera and made it to the starting area in time to see him off. I gave the bike a quick hose-off and got out of my sweaty clothes and into my jeans, hooded sweatshirt and jacket as quickly as possible as the cold was quickly invading my bones.

I found a good place to watch - the Alterra tent. The start/finish area weaves around for a mile or so giving spectators many chances to see their riders. Cam's race broke into groups pretty early on and he hung around between 8-12th place for the whole race. A sprint at the finish put him to 10th overall and just in the money.

The other fun part of the day was watching Kim Eppen and Robin Williams, two women from Iowa City, go 1-2 in the Cat. 1 women's race. Kim's husband Brian took 4th in the men's race. A good day for Iowa, though I didn't have much to do with it...