 Race Report- By Brandon Andrews. - Want a tasty treat, try Kringles. Seriously had no idea what that was until after Laura got 3rd place in her race and one of her prizes was a genuine Kringle. It is like a danish or some other pastry awesomeness. Ok so that is enough advertisements for the title sponsor for this Wisconsin CX Series race. Hosted at Hales Corners Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this race was going to be one for the stories before we even got there. Weather proved to be the real winner for the day. Thunderstorms ran through the area all morning long. My pre ride was a slippery muddy sludge fest. It was liquid mud so there wasn't too much of an issue of it packing around the wheel or not being able to clip in. There was one long climb which if you didn't have the right gear or sit back on the bike you would would be stuck at the bottom watching people slide their way up. When I lined up for my 10:30 race the rain and wind was so strong I almost missed the start because I was trying to hold down our tent that was crumbling in the wind. This would be a good time to advertise for some 1,000 dollar tent and how it stood the storm, but instead I bought the 100 buck one that was bending like a twig. So I raced up to the starting line and lined up as the weather hit its max. I was honestly surprised that we were still outside. Just after the start about 2 minutes into the race I started to hear ringing in my ears, soft at first then louder and louder. Then I figured out it wasn't me but the weather sirens going off nearby. We continued to race for about another 2 minutes, I even asked the guy racing next me as we were riding through the turns if this was safe. Sure enough just as I thought about pulling off course and sacrificing my sure last third of the race position, the IMBA Bike patrol guys pulled us off the course. We were told to seek shelter in the nearby building. I went straight to my flimsy tent to find Laura hanging on to the tent for dear life. I told her to take the boy, shimano the pug, and head to shelter while I quickly collapsed the tent. After joining Laura in the shelter we found out our race would go on an hour. That really was the only excitement of my race. We did restart and I had an ok race. I kept going back in forth with another rider until I was finally able to get ahead of him enough to establish a good distance, right until I slipped on a section of the course. I went down in the mud and quickly stood back up and started running with my bike. I looked back and saw the other rider with hunger in his eyes as he sensed that I was in trouble and the finish line just near by. I quickly got back on the bike and sprinted as hard as I could, looked back right before the line to see he gave up. I finished 24h out of about 36. Laura did great. She has continued to make gains on the competition the past few weeks. Due to the weather they started the 1/2's with 3's together. Laura had a great start even with the 1/2's. Her abilities in the mud and technical terrain really showed. Even with one technical mishap she was able to recover and keep going. Laura ended up placing 3rd in the women's 3's. It was a great race for her and I was very proud. We both enjoyed the fruits of her labor, a Racine Danish Kringle. :) Race Report- By Brandon Andrews |
Archives
April 2019
|
RSS Feed
