Dirt Bike Racing!

On top of the Open Singlespeed podium at the Rock.

After road season, there is always a bit of a lull in the racing calendar until 'cross starts up.  Every year I fill that lull with mountain biking and this year I've added some WORS races into the mix.  Before I started road racing, WORS racing was my main focus for the riding season.  While I typically hit a WORS race here or there most years, I've been doing them on a bit more consistent basis this year.  It been really fun getting back to racing dirt bikes...and the wins I've been picking up along the way are keeping me coming back for more!

It started in June with the Cam-Rock race.  There were a number of TMTers in the comp class race, including Seth, Micha, Dave S., and Michael H. (sorry if I missed anyone).  I had an great race on the belt-driven Trek Sawyer.  The CORP crew has done a great job with the trails in Cam-Rock and the course this year was the best yet. 

I got out front right away, likely due to the singlespeed forcing me to hit it hard on the opening climb.  After the first section of singletrack, it seem that some of the guys were gassed, so I went to the front to set the pace.  There was lots of slower traffic during the first lap, as we started behind the older comp wave , but things opened up during the second lap.  As we started the last lap, I had to let the two geared-bike racers that I was riding with go as the climbing was starting to wear on me.  Seth pulled up to me about halfway through the lap and I hung onto him as long as I could.  Micha was coming up as well, but managed to hold on to the finish before he could pull me in.  I won the singlespeed class and a lot of other TMTers had some great finishes.

I wasn't able to get to any of the July races, but I made it to the Kewaskum race just before Trek World.  This is a course I used to race on a regular basis, but there were some new takes on the open sections as well as some nice singletrack on top of the ski hill.  I battled for the first two laps with my good friend Jereme.  I was able to create a small gap at the end of the second lap and the open section had me checking the gap for the rest of the race.  I was able to hold Jereme off for the last two laps to take a hard-fought win.  Thinking back, Jereme and I probably had a couple of races just like this 11 or 12 years ago!

My third WORS race of the year was last weekend at the Rock in Franklin (formerly known as Crystal Ridge).  I wasn't able to get into a good position from the start and had some work to do to try and get back up front.  Late in the first lap I passed a couple of singlespeeders right before we started the start/finish climb.  As I started the second lap, I was able to catch the guy who is leading the series.  I came around him on a stretch of double track and kept the pace high in the singletrack to open a gap.  I didn't know if there was anyone else still up the trail, so I did my best to pull back as much time as I could.  Turns out, the second-lap pass was for the lead, so I ended up with my third WORS win in as many starts!

For those of you looking for a tune-up for 'cross season, get out and give a WORS race a try.  Lots of fun, great atmosphere, and some tough racing.  Next up is tomorrow's race in Suamico!