Wausau

I fear this could turn into a very long post; I'll try to keep it brief for you attention deficit people.
Saturday we made the 4.5 hour drive up to Wausau. We pre-rode as soon as we arrived.
I never have a good pre-ride at Wausau. I hate it. I always puke, get sick, overheated. Saturday was no different. I felt terrible. I ended up puking after the ride in the bathroom. I felt a little better but my stomach was a cramping mess for the rest of the evening. I was definitely not looking forward to Sunday.
The course had a super long lead out and what seemed like barely any singletrack and to top it off, my fork was broken. Ugh.
After the pre-ride we headed to our hotel, left again to grab some pizzas and sat in our hotel room chowing down while watching the Blackhawks. What a game. Both teams seemed a little out of sorts, but it still made for some great watching. I can't wait for tonight! Anyway lights out just before 11pm.
I actually slept really good for a change. Usually I wake up at 3am, 4am, 5am and then fall asleep til about 6 and then feel all groggy and shit.
Down to breakfast, then cleared out our room and headed to 9 mile.
Man was it hot. I bitched and crabbed and moaned about this race all the way up to the start line. And then I complained to fellow racers as we were racing, they were, however, all in agreement, it was brutal.
I hated the lead out. It was so damn long. My side started hurting before the race started. I couldn't figure out what it was; I still don't know. But it really did mess with me while riding. Every bump or rock I hit would seize my back right in that area. It actually distracted me from my normal hip issues, but I'd rather deal with my hip issue, at least that's just uncomfortable but doesn't really affect me until maybe later in the race.


My second lap I must've settled a bit. My side still hurt but I wasn't gasping for air (it hurt when I'd take a deep breath too). I went back in forth with some peeps so it was good to feel like I was actually in a race. I have to thank Brenda. That girl just keeps you motivated and makes you smile! I love her.
The majority of the comp men were awesome. My only complaint is that some of them need to call the pass. A couple times I'd be sandwiched by them passing simultaneously on my left and right and nobody called it. Hopefully it's not a disaster waiting to happen.
My third lap I'm not sure if I just got used to the pain in my side or it was starting to subside because I actually felt like I could maneuver the bike again and I could put a little bit of power to the pedals. I actually felt best on my 3rd lap, which is way weird for me. I passed, Karlene and then passed Hannah in the last sections of singletrack. I hung onto the comp guys wheels in the singletrack just hoping that Karlene and Hannah weren't right on my wheel. After getting out of the singletrack I gave it my all to the finish.
I pulled off my jersey right away; I didn't care if it was like slut move (as someone once told me they call that). Whatever. It was hot and I was way overheated.
I'm going to talk to Brent and Ryan about next year's kits being full zip. Design be damned. ;)
I hated the course on pre-ride. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that you know how much good singletrack is actually there. And when there are super long sections of open and more climbing than usual, well, let's just say it's not a fave. After racing this course, I actually didn't mind it. It didn't suit me really because of so much open, but it kicked my ass and when it was all said and done it was awesome. Someone told me, I can't remember who, just finish the race, just think, you'll be able to eat whatever you want next week and it won't matter. I won't lie, that did keep me motivated more than a few times to keep going.



Thanks to AmyD and MTBGirl for taking pics.