This is going to be the first super update to bring myself current in my recent endeavors. Let's start with the weekend of the last WORS race of the season.
The start was crazy as usual and left me chasing hard after the guy in front of me missed his pedal. By the hole shot across the parking lot I had worked my way into the top 15 and close to the top 10 by the first section of single track. Someone manged to stack it up in the first single track allowing me to pass a couple guys and into the top 10 where I belonged. I did a little count in the switchbacks and found myself in 7th place, sweet! I kept the gas on and managed to pass a guy or two in the next 3 laps and closing in on Brian Schwaller. Local spectators were giving me time splits to Brian and I was definitely closing the gap. By the end of lap 3 I had caught him as he was pulling out of the race on the equalizer. We later joked about how he was in 5th and decided to pull out of the race haha. Lap 4 was crucial, no mistakes to be made! The pain of cramps was starting to set in so it was damage control time while keeping the gas on as much as possible. I was running out of people in front of me in my wave and knew it was my race to take if I could hold off all the people behind me. It wasn't until 2 miles to go in the race that I caught the guy in 4th and layed down what I hoped to be a serious attack to distance myself from him in the closing miles. As soon as I knew I had dropped the guy in 4th I found another guy from my wave was breathing down my neck. Full tilt from the equalizer until the bride overpass proved to do little to shake the dude. There was less than 3oo meters from the bridge to the finish line so it was now or never. One last attack across the grass and into the little section of single track before the finish was just enough to hold him off! In my mind I knew I did pretty well and was in the top 5 in my wave but totally unaware of 4th overall in the race.
I honestly didn't know I was in 4th overall until I had changed and came back to look at the results board. Staring at the results board a little blankly and double checking what I was reading until it clicked, yes indeed I was 4th overall in the race. By best finish in a WORS comp race and by and large my best result of the season to date was the perfect ending to a WORS mountain bike season!
The day before the last WORS race of the season I decided to get a nice little warm up in by doing the cross race in Grafton. The course looked pretty good with one really steep climb towards the end of the lap. An important side note is the fact that I was doing my first race on my new custom SISU ti cross frame I finally got in but 2 days earlier. I managed to throw the bike together just in time for the race to test it out. The start of the race proved to be more trouble than I would have liked getting myself pushed to the outside of the first corner and almost in the back of the field before I could ever really get going. My work was cut out for me at this point so I did what needed to be done... start working my way back to the front. The field by and large stayed together for the first 3 laps, just really strung out. I was making up ground and picking off guys one by one as the time ticked by. The rather large hill I mentioned earlier was a deciding factor in the race and would prove to be my undoing soon enough. The first lap up the hill I could hear my rear derailleur trying to bobble between gears as I hammered up the hill with the large group. The same thing happened on lap 2 so I did my best to keep it smooth and steady. Lap 3 seemed as if the problem had gone away which eased my worries that I had something wrong with my last minute build of the bike. Lap 4 was go time and I was finally starting to feel good after a crappy start. I was closing in on Kip and decided to push the steep hill a little harder to try to make up some ground. Coming into the bottom of the hill full speed ahead and right out of the saddle left me on the rivet. No more than a quarter of the way up the hill the bobbling sound was back and worse than ever! I tried to keep it smooth and steady again until the feeling of no pressure on the pedals and the sound of defeat echoed through my mind and body. Game over, broken chain! I was pretty bummed to be done so quick but things got a little better after someone handed me a beer from the heckling section of the hill. Oh well hopefully this was a good enough warm up for the big race the next day.
It wasn't enough time racing to give a thorough assessment of the new frame but enough to know I was definitely pleased. Snappy response and great handling qualities not to mention a nicely damped ride from the full titanium frame and carbon fork to eat up the bumps. Definitely the best cross bike I have ever owned!
The next day was the last WORS race of the season on my local trails here in Sheboygan. The quarry and Evergreen Park is where it all started for me 8 years earlier almost to the day! I did my first ever bike race in the citizen class during the Wigwam Ultimax Challenge. Needless to say I have managed to learn the trails for the race inside and out. After a poor race the day before and honestly a poor WORS season all together, this was my last chance. I felt it was my time to shine and finally put the doubt out of my head on being able to race for a win in the comp class. If there was any course to do it on this was the one; home field advantage if you will.
The start was crazy as usual and left me chasing hard after the guy in front of me missed his pedal. By the hole shot across the parking lot I had worked my way into the top 15 and close to the top 10 by the first section of single track. Someone manged to stack it up in the first single track allowing me to pass a couple guys and into the top 10 where I belonged. I did a little count in the switchbacks and found myself in 7th place, sweet! I kept the gas on and managed to pass a guy or two in the next 3 laps and closing in on Brian Schwaller. Local spectators were giving me time splits to Brian and I was definitely closing the gap. By the end of lap 3 I had caught him as he was pulling out of the race on the equalizer. We later joked about how he was in 5th and decided to pull out of the race haha. Lap 4 was crucial, no mistakes to be made! The pain of cramps was starting to set in so it was damage control time while keeping the gas on as much as possible. I was running out of people in front of me in my wave and knew it was my race to take if I could hold off all the people behind me. It wasn't until 2 miles to go in the race that I caught the guy in 4th and layed down what I hoped to be a serious attack to distance myself from him in the closing miles. As soon as I knew I had dropped the guy in 4th I found another guy from my wave was breathing down my neck. Full tilt from the equalizer until the bride overpass proved to do little to shake the dude. There was less than 3oo meters from the bridge to the finish line so it was now or never. One last attack across the grass and into the little section of single track before the finish was just enough to hold him off! In my mind I knew I did pretty well and was in the top 5 in my wave but totally unaware of 4th overall in the race. I honestly didn't know I was in 4th overall until I had changed and came back to look at the results board. Staring at the results board a little blankly and double checking what I was reading until it clicked, yes indeed I was 4th overall in the race. By best finish in a WORS comp race and by and large my best result of the season to date was the perfect ending to a WORS mountain bike season! 
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