Saturday
We woke up at a reasonable hour and checked out the park. Sherry, Rowan and Kerry had set up their pop-up on the other side of the other stock barn. The park is pretty big so there were a couple dozen campers and tents set up early. I staked out a parking area for Dan and Liz plus any other tents that may show. Karen and I went into town to pick up odds and ends for the camper so the up coming trip west. Sephie hung out at the Muddy Cup and had coffee all morning. Well, most of the morning. She helped Rowan shed his training wheels. He was quite thrilled to be training wheel free. We grilled brats and burgers for lunch and then we set out on the course for pre-rides. Dan, Brian, Jared (not Marilee's dad), Kerry and I took off together and I was over-geared and under-trained. I had hoped a 34x18 would be fine, Kerry was running 36x17 but then he's found a motor somewhere. I labored on the lap and came to the conclusion I needed to spin it up and find a tempo for the race or I'd be in the same painful situation I was in Suamico. We got back and changed to a 20t.
While we were out I was also trying to look at the trail through Sephie's eyes and skill level. She may be brave and strong, but she's a ways to go before I won't worry about her on a trail. I also worry about her walking at this point in her development. I know she likes to ride, who doesn't? Wouldn't you rather have sweet singletrack to ride instead of a mile of flat ski trail with a scary rock slide before a suspension bridge trampoline? When Kerry and I came upon the rock descent McKenzie Daanen was telling her mom and dad she'd rather be watching WALL-E instead of tumbling down a mountain. Jerry and Barbara Daanen were seeing the same trail I was. Once we got back I asked Tim Montee what he thought of the trail for the Citizen Youth, what with him being a parent and all I thought he'd have a constructive opinion. He did, and so did the lil' missus Gretchen. Put in the singletrack just around the corner of the fence and come back onto the original trail after the rock slide. Sephie had found Marilee Collier and wanted to go for a ride on the trail. I had to let her go unattended if I wanted to talk to Craig Manthe, race director and all around good guy, to give him some feedback about this trail. After he listened to Getchen, Jarrod and me he ditched the golf cart and hopped on the bike. The two of us railed through the sweet single track while discussing the changes with the limited signage the folks at WORS had provided. While it was a simple change I think it provided a better trail for the kids and I think Craig slept easier afterwards.
As Craig and I were coming back though what I think he called the "roller coaster" there were a couple of riders stopped. One was helping Sephie with her bike on the rapid descent. We let Sephie and Marilee get a gap before following. Craig asked the girls what they thought of the course and the answers were "I liked it a lot" and "I had to walk too much." You figure out which one came from someone with 50% of my DNA.
Sherry and Karen took off on a lap while all this was happening. Sherry's getting a handle on the singelspeed thing even if she's on tiny 26" wheels. Karen was out on her new bike for the first time and only her second trail ride this year which resulted in a new perspective on the trails. Her worst fall was walking down the rock slide when her cleat slipped and the ground rushed up to meet her.
Sephie was of the opinion she should wait for a different course before following up her 5th place finish at Suamico. So she didn't do any paperwork this time. Only when she's ready as far as I'm concerned.
The Milwaukee crew of Cupcake, Bubba, Megatron and Rob finally showed up around 7ish. After a quick lap they hustled into town and found a nice mexican place for food.
Sunday
After the requisite cup of Muddy Cup wake-up juice I prepped to follow in Russell's tire tracks. Craig had asked if I'd join TMontee, Cupcake, and Nick Montee in sweeping after the 'utes and after being a dad with an opinion the day before I knew I had to step up. We gridded behind the youngsters and when Don announced "the Hayes Support crew will be doing without Russell today" there was a young man in the call-up row who threw his hands in the air and shouted "YEA!!" Fool best recognize...
After the 'ute race I watched Jarrod and Dan get ready for their races. Jared was doing his age group on his MUSS and Dan finally got new tires and lengthened his cable housing to eliminate suspension bob related shifting. Both were prepped to race. The heat tried to slow them down but they had a good time and were issue free.
Brian and I wouldn't be as lucky. Brian took off in his wave ahead of me and was having a good race until his seat decided to wait for him to finish. He toughed it out with his seat rails taunting him. I had my own issues. I spun out the 34x20 and was pretty gapped by the time we hit the singletrack. Brent from Twin 6 was behind me as we went in but I knew I needed to let him around me. I was gassed and settled into a tempo I could live with. Things were okay as I took my hand-up from Jared after the water tunnel. I took a couple of turns pulling with Mike D from River Falls and we went into the rock slide together. I was halfway down whne my front tire slid out just a bit and all I had to do was stand up to avoid crashing. I let Mike by and picked up the Fe+ and rode the rest of it down and across the bridge. A hundred of so yards later I reached for a handful of front brake... WHOA NELLIE! No brake lever. I looked down to see the front lever had vanished. Well, that's all folks. I rolled back to the scene of the crash and retrieved the lever.
With my day ending early we were able to get the camper popped-down and the truckster loaded fairly quickly and get back on the road.
I need a day off to recover from the 3 day weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment