It started out with the worst possible thing in the world. Saturday morning at 5am Rosco left us for good. It was the worst morning in my life. Unfortunately I was committed to do a Expert Level Race Clinic that same day in Rhinelander. I thought about bailing, but I had a job to do....So with a huge question mark I left for the north woods of WI. I did the race clinic and I think it turned out good and then did one more lap on the course. It was nice to just go and ride. I was lucky to find a little peace of mind by spending the night at the cabin in Eagle River where Rosco loved to hang out. It was perfect weather and he would have loved it....
With a heavy heart I took to the start line for WORS #2. Luckily Don messed with me a little bit on the start line and it put a smile on my face and changed my attitude about the race. I was mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted, but somehow I came away with win number two.
Lap 1 was absolutely brutal and was pure shock to my system...I was doing everything I could to hang on the wheel of Mike P for the first half lap. I took over half way through the lap and tried to slow the pace a bit to something more manageable, only to be attacked heading out for lap 2 by 'the new guy'.
Jesse caught Joe Maloney by the end of the lead out starting lap 2 and then set a good pace. I was relieved to follow Jesse, somebody who could rip some singletrack, in a smooth, fast, easy manner. Then the wind picked up, it got dark, and started to rain, I went to the front and went hard! Jesse told me to keep going - we had a gap. At the end of the lap it was down to 3.Nathan took over Lap 3 and the pace was not to my liking. It hurt again. I thought I was done for, but hung on. At one point in time Jesse looked at me with a familiar face and told me that his 36:16 gear used to be easier to push! I had to smile to myself. I took over the second half of lap 3 and kept the pace high, but I felt like I had no rhythm or couldn't go hard...I thought it was lights out...
Starting lap 4 I sat in going down 3/4 of the road, but then it was my turn to pull. No challenge to enter the singletrack so I kept it steady. As we continued on during the last lap I felt more rain and weather coming in...I also sensed the end of the race near. I knew everyone was hurting and I knew I had a chance for the win. I went with the same plan as last year...go hard, then go harder, and finally go really hard. It worked and I got win number #2. It was brutal...I finished with a wave of emotion, I missed my dog. It was no doubt the hardest race of my life due to the circumstances. I had to go do a 30 minute cool down on the road in the pouring rain and take a little time to myself.
1 comment:
Im sorry about Rosco. Your house probably feels much larger and quieter then it should be. Those little guys take up alot of space in our lives, but you probably would not have had it any other way.
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