I had a pretty awful ride Friday evening. I had been looking forward to heading out to Grand Geneva for another preview of the course for Sunday’s race. Unfortunately, I just wasn’t feeling it. I struggled to make it up a few of the loose, rocky climbs, and my pace just wasn’t there. The two laps that I did were 10 minutes slower than the laps that I did on Tuesday. I drove home feeling disappointed and full of doubt.
Two weeks ago I raced the first Wisconsin Off-Road Series (WORS) race of the season and my first race in the Comp category. I placed 17th out of 18 in my age group and 50th out of 54 overall. I was 20 minutes behind first place and 17 minutes off the podium. Definitely a totally different feeling considering last year I was vying for podium places in the Citizen category. It was a humbling experience but left me hungry for more. I firmly believe that riding with faster people will make me a faster rider. I’m fully committed to riding the full season in the Comp category, come what may.
For those that are not aware, WORS has different categories for racers. Among the categories are Citizen, Sport, Comp, and Elite. It is recommended that if you place on the podium for the series, that the next season you move up to the next category. Last year, I placed first in my age group in the Citizen category, so logically, I should move up to Sport for the 2025 series. I was feeling a bit optimistic about my potential and decided to jump from Citizen to Comp. It was a bold move but I’m committed to doing my best and seeing how this plays out.
Today, I did another lap of the course to prepare for Sunday. I did better on the climbs and didn’t feel as slow as I had felt on Friday evening. I definitely thing that I need to dial my nutrition in a little better. After the last race, I felt like I could have taken in more water. I felt pretty dehydrated immediately after the race. Later on Sunday evening, I got some really bad muscle cramps in my hamstrings. I’ve never felt pain like I felt that night. I was hobbling around my living room practically in tears.
I am cautiously optimistic about how things are going to go in just 24 short hours. I have done half a dozen laps on the course this week, so I am definitely familiar with the problem sections and tricky areas. I need to realign my focus and remember to just send it. Even if I finish dead last, or close to it like I did two weeks ago, it’ll feel good knowing that I didn’t give up. I’m sure there are people that question why I’m racing in this category, or saying that I don’t belong in the Comp category. I’m not really interested in their opinions. Perseverance is the name of the game this season. Fortune favors the bold and I’m going to give tomorrows race everything I got.