TJ and I just finished up a three weekend trip in the Midwest. To start, we loaded up the Taurus with four bikes, our gear, and took off to Wisconsin. To break up the drive we stayed with some friends in St. Peter, MN, where TJ added a Hypoxico Altitude Tent to his collection of training toys. Oh joy. All in all, the trip turned out to be about 2,600 miles.
After St. Peter, we took a circuitous route through Minneapolis on our way to TJ’s mom’s house. We stopped by Calhoun Cycles and Dunn Bros Coffee, which conveniently had conjoined buildings (it’s usually raining). This was my first of three experiences in Minneapolis that involved tasty coffee and bikes next door. Not any bike shops, but utility bicyclist oriented bike shops. It’s no wonder that Minneapolis was picked as America’s #1 Biking City by Bicycling Magazine. No doubt I’d cast my vote for Minneapolis (and second Tucson–no bias here!).
Our first race was the Dirt Spanker Classic in Mt. Du Lac near Duluth, MN. It was a little muddy. Actually, it was the kind of mud that sticks to bike parts and tires and itself, which after about 10 minutes, makes pedaling a bike impossible. Then after 30 minutes, pushing the bike was even impossible. So after ‘racing’ a 3-mile course in about an hour–I gave up, quit, called it good.
After hours of bike washing and more hours of scrubbing mud from shoes and bike clothes, I started to pack for another trip. This one was for the Nature Valley Grand Prix where I raced with Specialized D4W/Bicycle Haus. I wrote a recap of the event for Women’s Bike Talk, here’s the link. I actually won something at a road race. We took home the Green Jersey which is the award for the Top Amateur competition. Here’s TJ’s nephew Mason modeling the jersey
Next, we packed up the Taurus (again) and drove to Mt. Morris, WI for the fourth round of the Subaru Cup Pro XCT. This event is a pretty big deal for the Midwest racing scene, which hasn’t seen a national-level event since 2001. WORS (Wisconsin Off-Road Series) is one of the most successful and the largest mountain bike series in the country. It’s very apparent from the couple WORS races I’ve been too. The spectators are dense, there’s energy, the fields are large (even the women’s), there’s 12 races a year, and the entry fees are sub $30! A huge thanks to Don Edberg for bringing the Subaru Cup to the Pro XCT and putting on a fantastic event.
Luckily, I had a good cross-country race and finished in 9th. I spent most the race in 7th, then crashed and lost some rhythm. Then I was 8th, racing neck-to-neck with Jenna Reinhart (which is where we always wind up at the end of a race). Unfortunately, in the last bit of downhill I flatted the front, rolled the tire in a corner, but I was able to get it to re-seal with a Big Air. Jenna got by me but luckily there was plenty of time before the next rider. So 9th it was. I’m feeling pretty strong on the bike again and am looking forward to the Pro XCT finals in Colorado Springs.
Photo credit: Dave McElwaine
Thanks for checking in!
Go to the Source – choleforsman.missingsaddle.com
