Lake Geneva hosted the 10th race in the WORS series. It's a good little course. I was pleasantly surprised at how much singletrack there was. At first it looks like another ski hill race but it was much better. The opening section sends you straight up the hill and then straight down. Repeat that 2 more times and you are redlined 4 minutes into the race.
Previously I was riding in the cat 2 comp category and doing well. I knew I would be forced up for next season so I beat them to it. Lining up with 54 other fast dudes is a little intimidating. Especially when 10 or so of them are "pro." Brian Matter, Cole House, Matt Shriver to name a few. When I had exceptional races in the comp category my lap times were good enough for mid pack in the 1 field, although I would have had to knock out an extra lap. So I was aiming for a mid pack finish.
We started out up the three climbs and I actually had good position going into the woods. I was suffering though - every time it opened into a passing section I was getting swarmed by 1 or 2 riders. Eventually I settled in. I took off my sunglasses and stuffed them into my open jersey. A minute later they flew out, if they were cheap glasses I would have left them but they weren't. I got off my bike and ran the 25 feet back to get them. A small group of 3 or so passed me including 2 that I fought to pass. Back on the bike and going again. Beginning of lap 2 I blew up going up the climbs. It was here that I worked my way to the last of the riders. It sucked pretty good. If I did a better job of pacing myself my overall would have been much better - it forced me to wait behind the stragglers in the single track. Halfway through that second lap and I was going good again with 2 more to go. I was coming up on riders at a steady rate and dispatching of them. Last lap I managed to pass a few more and got into a good battle with another dude. He was riding behind another guy when I came on them both in the woods. I let them know I was going to pass and he jumps the guy in front and pretty much attacks. I'm stuck behind for 30 seconds or so and quickly close the gap when it opens. I attack up a climb into the remaining singletrack. When we enter the final open section he starts sprinting and I had to put a dig in to keep in front but managed to finish ahead of him.
All the other races I was much more aggressive b/c I knew I was fast for my category. I was too reserved this time not knowing who these dudes were or how fast they were and that slowed me down. I finished 35th out of 49 finishers. 12 were "pro" 10 of 15 in my cat 1 age group. I was almost exactly 20 minutes behind Brian Matter who won. Thats a lot. He was knocking out 27 minute laps and I was doing 32 minute laps. Holy shit.
On the positive, my laps at the end of the race were my fastest. Best case scenario I could have saved maybe 4 minutes total. If I happened to do that I could have finished in 30th instead of 35th. MF'ers are fast.
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| Airing it out on a fast downhill |
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