After a solid warmup, with some fellow teammates and friends I was feeling ready and relaxed going into staging. Never riding this course before nor pre-riding, I did not exactly know what to expect from the Red Flint Firecracker.
Despite being warmed up, the Wisconsin weather decided to change. It started down pouring at the start line. I noticed my heart rate drop and started getting cold. As we took off for the long flat lead out, I didn't have the start I exactly wanted. After the first mile of the lead out I was sitting in the first group of riders in the Cat 2 Comp category. We then went into the single track, and I started to gather myself again through the rain. During the first set of single track I took a wooden Berm, which was extremely slick due to the rain, and crashed, causing my chain to drop. After getting my chain back on I dropped about 10 or so places. It was a game of catching up from here on out.
During the second lap I gained back some time, trying to maintain speed in the muddy single track. Typical Wisconsin fashion, the Sun decided to come out making it a sticky 60 degrees. I continued to make some good time back and pace myself, knowing there was another lap and a half to go. After a few pile ups and traffic issues due to other racers falling, i managed to avoid these and continued onto the third lap alone. Trying to chase down the person ahead of me. During the third and final lap, things started to get messy. It began to rain again, and the only thing I could do was to relax and focus on my fundamentals so I would stay upright and avoid a crash. During the last lap, in the trail section called "onion," I happened to take a pretty good crash down a steep rocky descent going across a creek.
I quickly recovered and kept riding. At this point, it was mind over matter. I continued to push extra hard during the open ski trails to make up time for the muddy single track. At this point I realized I had put a huge gap on the riders chasing me. I began to cramp up the last mile of the final lap, which didn't help at this point in the race. I then crossed the finish line after a rough, yet fun, 21 miles.
I ended up finishing at 1:47:43, placing 3rd in the 19-25 age group and 13th overall. Not exactly the results I was hoping for but still happy to make the top 15 overall in some of the most interesting weather I've raced in!
A huge thank you to my sponsors this year for supporting me!
2 Rivers Bicycle and Outdoor / Trek
ESI Grips
State Farm - Zempel Insurance and Financial Service
Also thank you to the Hansen family for letting me stay at there house and coming out to support me. With a few down days and some training, I'm looking forward to the WORS Cup, the Midwest Regional Championship, in Alpine Valley the first weekend in July!
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