This means WORS

Back to back racing, is anything better?  One day a road criterium; next day a mountain bike race.  Two very different styles of bike racing, both awesome though.

This was to be my first WORS race, I know absolutely zero abour WORS racing.  To be honest I know zero about mountain bike racing.  The only thing I really know is to keep my legs rotating around an axis of rotation.  This was also to be my big girl's first race (29'er Rita).  Andy, Jason, Jim, Sam, and I departed fair Milwaukee around 8 am, headed towards Suamico Wisconsin (near Green Bay).   It was a 2-hour drive filled with silly jokes, napping, Skittles, and Taco Johns.

We arrived at the parking lot and unloaded everything.  This is when I noticed my problem.....during the car ride my front brake bolt (one that holds the cable) had fallen out and was lost somewhere along the highway.  Son of a bitch.  Luckily Jim stepped up and let me borrow his bike since he wasn't able to race that day due to a bum shoulder.  I adjusted it as well as best as I could to fit me.  It would work.

We all lined up, it seemed like there were a 100 people or so in our race.  The race started off and was just packed, luckily the first 4 miles or so was wide double-track.  This is where my road skills paid off.  I was zipping along passing people, but still trying to get used to a different bike.  This is when I started doubting myself and my speed.  Mainly because I had no idea how far I had gone, how much was left and I didn't want to burn myself out.  So I decided to slow down a bit and see what was to come.  The first double-track was fast and fun.  Everyone seemed to quickly spread out and clump into little groups.  This is when we hit the first single-track section.  Now it is very clear that I am not good at single-track.  I was caught by a few guys through the single-track section, I still claimed a personal victory of not falling.

We then came out upon another wide double-track section of mud with a light cover of wood chips.  The wood chips did little and it turned into a mud pit of doom.  There were big dips in the mud that you couldn't see that would suck your front wheel down.  This is why 29'ers were created they say fuck you to such things and roll on through.  The main tactic was to not be anyone near this mud because you would most certainly be eating the mud that flew off their wheels. (I ate a lot of mud).

The entire course was two 12.5 mile loops of alternating double-track and single-track and it was awesome.    I kept yo-yoing with a certain group, they would destroy me at the single-track and I would catch up during the double-track.

The first lap I was slower than I should have been, for fear of burning out and my lack of skills.  When I started the second I was still feeling fresh, so I decided to drop it and cook it on the double-track.  This time when I came around to the single-track I felt like my handling skills had improved exponentially.  I braked about 50% less compared the first lap and flew through more of it.  This time no-one caught me and I actually caught a few people.

During one of the more technical sections it began to pour.   This is where wearing glasses is a curse (not sure when it is good yet).  My glasses were rain soaked and slightly fogged, the perfect time to be racing through a technical area.  I tried not to let it get me down.

I also caught my yo-yoing friends and flew passed them.  They never caught me after this point and I was beginning to near the end when I saw some people ahead of me.  I decided to start my sprint early and get the jump on them.  No one chased me and I passed a few people right at the end.   Overall I finished 6th SS, which I was fairly happy with considering I wasn't on my own bike.

From my point of view, mountain biking brings out a wider group of people that are all racing different races.  Some are racing the course, some are racing themselves, and some are racing who ever is front of them.   This diversity makes it a lot of fun, because most people are extremely friendly and helpful if you have questions/problems.