WORS Cup and Nationals

After all the travel out to Montana and Colorado, I was really looking forward to spending a weekend at home to race in the biggest WORS race of the year, the WORS Cup. This year the race moved from Mt. Morris down closer to home at Cascade Mountain. The course at Cascade has taken shape over the last couple years and I was pumped to race on it this year. I spent the week preparing but was never able to get out on the course. So when I showed up on Friday night early enough to get two laps in, then grab some food and hang out before the race. The course was much more technical than what it had been in the past and I really enjoyed the changes that had been made. What I loved the most about it was the combination of slow grinding technical uphill and then fast big hit obstacles on the way down. It will never be riding in the mountains, but it lives up to the fantastic legacy of Mt Morris.

Back to the mountains for the Missoula XC and the final round of the US Cup

The past 11 days I made a trip out to the Rocky Mountains for 2 rounds of national level competition. Way back on June 19^th my girlfriend Kelsey and I packed up the car for 11 days of racing and vacationing. For me, mostly racing and training though.

The trip out was long and tough as always. The fastest way out is through the great plains of South Dakoda. The unfortunate thing about that drive, is the plains aren’t so great, until the turn into mountains in Wyoming and Montana. But we stopped in Rapid City on day 1 so I could hit up the trails from last year in Founders Park. Love the trails, but we got there as the sun was going down so I only had about 30 minutes to ride. Worth it. We grabbed a hotel and got some sleep after dinner and a few more hours of driving.

All Work and No Play...It's pretty much been all play

After all the fun in Rhinelander and rippin the snake, I had an even busier weekend coming.

I was lucky enough to get an invite from the Mt. Borah Epic, a tribute to the amazing trails in the Chequamegon National Forest. Unlike the famous Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival, this race is something like 95% on single track. This had me excited. I drove up with Team Wisconsin Director, Dave Eckel and stayed with Wade Loberger and Melissa Putzer in a nice little cabin they have right near the start and finish. The race starts on Randysack road, a road that if you’ve ever raced the short and fat, you’re familiar with. But unlike the short and fat, the Epic takes a turn into the single track pretty quickly and doesn’t come up for air until the half way mark. And even then, it dives back in until the finish.

WORS Rhinelander and slaying the Snake

I’m a bit behind on race updates, but the good news is that means I’ve been racing a lot! After the big result at Iola I took a step back and realized that I was a little bit ahead of where I wanted to be so it was time to take it easier for a while. Last year, I did something similar, I was a little too far along at this time, but I didn’t take a step back then. I’m glad I did because this year I think I’ll time my peaks much better for big results when they really count. But long story short, it’s been some lower volume, high intensity training, with lots of rest.

The Trek SuperFly FS is wicked.

The title says is all.

I was lucky enough this year to get hooked up with a new bike and I have to say I felt like I took a little bit of a chance. Personally, coming from a hardtail 26, a 29er full suspension was a big jump. But to summarize, it was the right choice. That bike is miles past what I was on, and even more than that, doesn’t have any of the draw backs I was afraid of.