Prove yourself, thats what every one face says. Prove your season is going to be good, prove that you deserve to race elite, prove that all that beer you drank over the winter instead of getting on the trainer didn’t matter. The first WORS race of the year alway has this feel. You can see it in their eyes, actions and mannerisms. I try not to let it bother me, I joke with Abbey about the free beer in the Mafia racing tent “I will just take one now and watch you guys inflict pain on yourselves”.
Sometimes at the beginning of a WORS race I think to myself, why do I do it? What does this mean to me, the question really hangs at the beginning of the season. I could just go ride with my friends and enjoy myself.
GOOOOO! Whoa snap out of it Cory, lets get a move on! Maciej rockets up the hill in a blaze of glory as we head up and down hill into the winding single track. Damn these guys are moving I think to myself.
As I pick a rad line I enter one of those wonderful moments of clarity one can get on a bike. I come to the realization, as I swoop through a sweet line of single track, I race because I love the rush of barely making a corner at a high speed, I love the exhilaration of just holding on to a corner and not letting that guy ahead of you pick a better line then you, and I love the clarity and perspective it gives to my life. I do it because it is pure freedom.
I hang mid pack for a few laps, and think to myself they will burn out soon. I keep a difficult but comfortable pace and ride my own ride. Smooth in the single track and fast in the double track. Keep it consistent, that is how I like to race. Problem with that is this is Iola, in Iola there exist a different way of racing a type of racing I historically suck at. It is called giver till ya puke.
I hit it hard for a lap and my lack of speed training smacks me right in the gut as I watch the people I passed walk away from me. Not yet I tell myself, wait a few months and it will be a different story.
I finished the race a little below mid-pack. Actually one of my better Iola finishes. As I said earlier me and this race have a sort of history. If this race were a girlfriend it would be the tough un-rewarding kind of relationship that just lets you know that you should really date some one else.
Thanks to Mafia Racing who gave me a beer to help with the break up, and helped me to see I could do better.
The H8tr has been called many things since it inception, The hell of the south, MBM, and the H8tr; notice easy is not one of them! Today I would have called it rebellious.
I have had a pretty good history with the H8tr, the year of it’s inception Nine and I pulled off a huge win. Last year I was lucky enough to place 3rd after 6 hours of sleep and jet lag from a business trip. This year however it seemed the residents of H8trville were not on my side.
The race started out innocently enough, Djonn handled the pace out of town on the parade start leading eighty riders down the South West commuter trail, in Madison. Once unleashed Jesse Lalonde laid down an intense effort that stretched the field like taffy.
We hit the dirt pacing at a blister 28-30 mph and people quickly began to rally for position. Being a Badger trail veteran I quickly got into the pace line and over to the left, knowing that a large drop off lay ahead. Well, unfortunately someone went on a flier at the not so right time and at the last minute saw the drop off. This proved to be bad for me as he quickly tried to avert his death crashing into a bush and causing a pile up. I quickly got around him as I watched the lead group attack my misfortune. I laid down a hard effort trying to close the gap, I looked for someone to pull with me only to find myself in no mans land between the lead group and the chase group.
I chased solo for a solid 5 miles, not gaining or losing ground, until the chase group finally caught me. This seems to be a solid group and a little organization could lead to a successful chase down. I quickly organize the group and we start taking short hard pulls. As we start to close in I clip a rock and hear the air quickly leaving my tire. D**** there goes that chance.
I fixed my flat and decided to just hit it hard for a while. I get into a grove and slowly worked my way backup. Unfortunately, I was pinning it a little to hard to pay attention to the trail signs. I saw a sign that had a straight ahead arrow on it, what I didn’t see were the words turn around written on this sign.
I actually ended up with 76 miles istead of the scheduled 56 mile race. I enjoyed every minute of it however. I got to help out some of the stragglers at the back of the pack by getting one poor lady who had overdone things a bit to a coffee shop for some much needed food, and rode with some friends I hadn’t seen in a while.
Much love to Djonn for yet another great race, and to all the sponsors, including Twin Six, for the sick door prizes. I even won a set of Sun Ringle rims.
Congrats to the winners as well:
mens:
1st- Jesse Lalonde
2nd- Matt Gehling
3rd- Lylez!
