Wausau

Is it still the Big Ring Classic if you don't have a big ring? This was a seriously fun race. I prerode saturday with Jesse, Jeremy, Nate and Justin. Then it was back to Green Bay to hydrate for Sunday. With forceasts calling for temps in the upper 80s and a heat index of upper 90s it seemed like a good idea. I wasn't sure how I would do, I spent Friday Afternoon cutting down trees and clearing brush from lot. So my legs were sore. Sunday morning did the swim and hot tub combo and started feeling better. Got out there in time to start seeing how dusty conditions were in the sport race. Warmed up and tried stay zen at the start line. I didn't get a good spot at the start but, with such a long leadout it didn't matter. No one seemed to want to go to fast on the leadout so I moved up to about 10th and sat in. On the first big hill I moved up to 4th and after the wood chips I moved up to 2nd in my wave. Was doing ok in the singletrack until I bounced my wheel wrong and stopped. Boom 10 guys go buy including j-vog. Jump back in and start chasing like normal. Seemed to be doing ok on the climbs just have to work on my over the top effort. Tried to ride with other people but, for the most part I was busy passing people. I rode with the leaders from the 35+ wave for a while on lap 2 until I screwed up in the singletrack again. I didn't even put a foot down on the third lap. In hindsight I should have prerode more. I can learn singletrack but I have never been a natural at it. So I finished 15th overall and 5th in my age group. I am pretty happy with the results and I caught all but 2 of the guys that passed me. On a day that hot its probably the best I could have done. Want to say a big Thank You to my team mates for the cheering, the bullhorn and, the handups. Seriously whoever put my bottles in the cooler deserves many beers. When I got the first cool one on lap 2 I was in heaven. Congrats to the rest of my Team Mates on their great finishes too. Hope for clouds at Kewauskum. See ya outside...