It’s tough to say goodbye to another race season. The last WORS race was yesterday in Sheboygan. Bittersweet is the bes
t way to describe the race. Sheboygan is regarded by most of the WORS mountain bikers as one of the best venues to attend. We wait all year for this wonderful event and when it’s over, it’s over for the season.
The weather was beautiful and sunny. The trees were almost at peak, and the temps were in the upper 70s. It was a perfect day for a mountain bike race. I was able to park along the trail and setup camp for the day under some large birch trees. When we left in the evening, the car was covered with leaves, a further reminder of the short days coming in the near future.
If you are not familiar with WORS races, they are something you need to experience at least once. WORS is the nation’s largest mountain bike series. Families come from all over the Midwest to race. Most events are in a park like setting, and many offer overnight camping. For unlicensed riders, there are citizen and citizen youth races starting at 9:30. All family members can race. Next up at 11:30 the beginning level Sport class goes out. At 1:00 there is a kids race for children 12 and under. Last, but not least, is the main event consisting of the Expert and Comp classes. While dad is racing, mom can be looking after the kids. While mom is racing, dad can watch.
WORS races offer a few things that WCA might consider for its races: season numbers, and quick registration. You register once for a season number and use that number all year. You can pin the number on your jersey the night before the race. If you don’t pre-register for a race, they have a quick registration lap top computer set up at a table in the registration building. All you do is type your race number in the highlighted textbox and hit enter. That’s it; your registration form prints out. You sign it and turn it in with your race fee. No need to reregister at every event.
All together there were 672 racers who raced, including 4 from Team Wheaton. The Wheaties were our regular mountain bike racer, Ron Knutowski, myself, and 2 surprises for the day, Addison Faul, (pictured above) and Nick Frye. (Pictured below) I use to race full time in the dirt, but recently split my season between the road and dirt. Nick and Addison typically race on the road but came out this weekend to have some fun. Nick and Addison went out first in the sport class at 11:30 and both were looking good.
Addison finished a solid 5th in his age group and 26th overall in Sport. Nick was doing well and running close to the front of his class, when he encountered chain problems. Eventually he got back in the fight, but was way off the pace. He worked so hard to catch the leaders that he ended up blowing up his legs.
The Equalizer is a short steep hill that is infamous in WORS lore. It is about 75 feet long and about 50 ft tall. It feels like you are climbing up the side of a 2-story building. Very steep and daunting. We were lucky this year, because the rain that hit earlier in the week made the hill tacky and easier to climb. The race organizers add an incentive to climb this daunting hill. A volunteer stands at the top of the hill and hands out $5 dollar bills to those that ride the hill. There is only a certain amount of cash for each event. The cash ran out for me by the second lap, which means everyone was having a good day on the hill.
Ron and myself went out to face the Equalizer at 1:30. I raced comp and Ron raced expert. Ron ended up 5th in his age group and 26th overall. A very respectable result for Ron, who has moved to expert this year, and is representing our team well in the top tear of the mountain bike series. I finished 6th in my age group and 39th overall. A respectable finish for me, considering the size of the field and the level of the competition. I climbed the Equalizer four times without putting a foot down. This is only the second time in eight races that I was able to climb it on every attempt. Whether it’s been bad conditions or other riders in my way, it has always been a tough hill to climb. We had a classic creek crossing which made for some muddy conditions after it. And of course there was a good size climb after the creek. Sheboygan is also known for its roots that are difficult to traverse.
Now it’s time to relax, enjoy the beautiful fall weather and think about how to plan for the next season. I love mountain biking, and now my teammates got me hooked on road racing. Out here you race the trail, on the road you race as a team, and I have the best teammates anyone could wish for. Have a great off-season.