The WORS cup is the biggest weekend for the Wisconsin Offroad Series. Also known as the Midwest Regional Championship, the event draws racers from about 9 states in the Midwest. This year it was held at Alpine Valley, just about an hour from home. Never riding here prior to the event I had no idea what to expect.
On Saturday, the cross country race was the event of the day for me. Racing in a huge Cat 2 field with over 175 riders, I saw lots of unfamiliar faces and didn’t know the field to well. I started the day with a solid warm up and a quick look at some of the course. Fellow 2 Rivers teammate, Jeff, and myself had a solid warm up with a few sprints waking the legs up. When I got to the start line I was feeling good, but more nervous than usual. As the USA Cycling official told us just before taking off, there was a cut off time and riders would be pulled after 50 minutes if they didn't finish their second lap in time. This caught me off guard and changed my race strategy entirely. As we took off, I had a pretty normal start, I got in the lead group and sat on the leader's wheel. I then stayed with the lead group for the first mile or so. I then finalized my game plan and decided to give it all I had for the first two laps to make the cut off time, then recover the third lap and finish strong with what I had left in the tank.
The first lap was the shortest of the three, I completed this in about 16 minutes, continuing to stay with the leaders. At this point I was sitting in about 5th place. As a came across the lap/finish I was feeling great and the legs agreed. The second lap was the longest of the three laps. Still thinking about the cut off, the lead group all split apart. It was a solo effort on my part, which became a mental battle trying to pace myself. I crushed the climbs early in the lap then focused on my skills in the singletrack using it as a recovery. I finally came across the lap/finish area again at about 41 minutes or so. I knew the third lap wouldn't be easy with the amount of effort I gave the last two laps.
After focusing on finishing the race, I used everything I had left on the double track and climbs to pass other racers and rest in the single track. I was chasing a racer from Brazen Dropouts most of this lap. I made a solid pass right before going into the final section of singletrack, and powering through this fast flowy section. I finished this 13 mile course in 1:13:19. This put me 5th overall out of all 186 riders and 1st in the Cat 2 U23 age group! After staying for awards and receiving my gold medal, claiming the Cat 2 U23 cross country Midwest Champion, I went home and rested for an even bigger day on Sunday.
I woke up early on Sunday for the Amateur Short track event. The course was about 0.7 miles long and had one long climb. Originally I had an okay warm up, knowing the warm up for STXC is a lot more crucial to have a successful race. When I got to the starting line along with all the over racers; there was a conflict in the schedule so my wave, Men 19-39 had to wait 40 minutes to race. This ended up being in my advantage due to the not so good warm up I had originally done. I quickly drank some electrolytes to replenish the ones I lost the day prior in the cross country race. I then went out for a solid half-hour warm up. When I rolled up to staging again, I was feeling way better and the legs were finally awake. I got the second call up for this race, which put me in a great spot. As the whistle went off I made a move straight to the front. I then sat in 2nd place, letting the leader set the pace. The two of us had put a decent gap on the rest of the field after the first lap. Each lap only taking 2-3 minutes, the pace was quick. I could tell the leader was struggling on the one climb. But I continued to let him pull me the second lap. I then made a move during the third lap to take the lead. I powered through this lap to put a gap between us.
I finished 1st overall in the Cat 2 19-39 field. This was a huge accomplishment for me. This field was stacked with fast riders. Taking two gold medals this weekend was an incredible accomplishment.
With the success and race strategy I used this weekend at the WORS Cup, I’ve made the decision, and after qualifying in both events, I’m excited to go to Mountain Bike Nationals in West Virginia next week!
A huge thank you to all my sponsors for making this weekend a huge success and the huge support as I head to Nationals next week!
2 Rivers Bicycle and Outdoor / Trek
ESI Grips
State Farm - Zempel Insurance and Financial Service
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