A 3 hour drive north

After a week of relatively easy riding I packed up a Crit-ready Flyte and the Fe+ for the drive to River Falls. The girls were on their way back from points west and we'd arranged to meet Saturday at the race. I'd been looking forward to doing a crit and having it mean something and it looked as though the WORS vs MNSCS shenanigans would be entertaining. I rolled up just before 3 and found the crit had been cancelled due to lack of interest. WTF? I asked the promoter if what was going on and he told me I was the only one who had asked about it... I guess the minor questions on the WORS board hadn't baited anyone into doing the crit. I was surprised when the promoter offered the 1st place prize of a hotel room for the night. I countered with a free camp site for the girls and he accepted. $10 reduced from the weekend's expenses just that easily. But I still would have rather raced. Too bad Cupcake and Russell weren't there, we'd have given an entertaining show. 

After preriding on the Fe+ I decided a 34x20 would be the gearing for race day. The Curtes brothers were running a 34x19 for the day so I wasn't too far off condition. 

A moment for the course. It was very good for a first-time WORS event. Good climbs, nice singletrack with good flow, rocking downhills with enough treachery to keep you awake and not too much open prairie double track.  I liked it even if I needed the Reba. 

There was a pretty good turn out. 35 or so age group multi's and single speeders lined up and we were gone. I think our wave accounted for more than a third of the total Comp field. I clung to the back of the field for nearly half a lap. About then I was toast. I found my cadence wasn't as high as it had been the day before and I didn't have any motivation. On the 2nd lap the nose of my saddle started pressing uncomfortably on my taint. Half a lap later it was noticeably pointed up instead of level. I paused occasionally to smack it with my fist to get it level again and it seemed to work. I didn't have a multi tool with me so it's my own fault. I'll fire my mechanic soon. Karen deftly gave me my hand-up after the Rock Garden at the top of the serpentine climb and I stayed hydrated and body problem free all race. In the end I out sprinted a multi in the last 100 yards and dropped my chain with 20 to go. Perfect.

In the end I was 9th again, but I'd slipped nearly 28 minutes behind the Curtes bros and Jerry. Not a great performance but again I was crash free and the bike held up... mostly. 

I won't be racing again until the Wolf River Rezdenvous on the 28th. Time to change the house furnace and my own too.