Photo by Brittany Nigh
After an embarrassing performance at my first Elite WORS race, I felt a bit defeated and wasn't sure I belonged in Cat 1. I arrived in Kewaskum expecting to improve on the first race and hoping I'd finish the day feeling like I put in a good effort that was competitive at this level.
I was a little more aggressive at the start of this race and moved up a few spots before entering the singletrack climb up the ski hill. On the first lap I narrowly averted disaster on a fast downhill when my shoes inexplicably unclipped from my pedals simultaneously. I learned quickly that you have very little control over the bike when your only points of contact are two hands and your taint.
I tried to hold back a little bit on the first few laps to avoid bonking. The first three laps were within 3 seconds of each other, so I knew my pacing was good. The last two laps slowed down just a touch, but I held on to get 26th place out of 47 finishers, 11 minutes behind the winner, Brian Matter. Full results are posted here.
I rode hard, didn't bonk, felt good and improved my results as measured both by overall placing and % time back from the winner. The improvement is encouraging, but I am still shooting for a top 20. It is within reach, but I need to get myself in better position in the starting chute and ride quite a bit faster.
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