Valders is in the books

This past weekend was round 8 of the District 16 Hare Scramble series.  We have raced at Valders for years which can be good and bad, depending on where my head is.  Good because I know what to expect and bad because the course is getting beat up. 

The Viking gun club owns the place and as far as I know allows only this race once per year.  ATV trails litter the land but they trails are for access to various hunting screens and shooting ranges and not normally used for race courses.  Valders is south of Green Bay.

The land must be about 50 acres or so with some open rolling hills, some leafy tree sections and a ton of sandy soil with fist sized rock.  The temps were in the 60s on race day but the dirt was a little dry so the course didn’t hold up very well.  Rain would have been a good thing.

I was 2nd to first turn but quickly lost a spot before turn two.  The soil was too loose for me to get any grip so I was making noise but not getting anywhere.  JD got the holeshot and usually checks out pretty quickly so I wanted to be as close to him as possible.  I recovered the 2nd place spot a few turns into the course but by then JD was stringing things out and was a few turns ahead of me.

Because we only ride here once per year the single track takes on a personality that I struggle with.  Loose rocks gather in the bottoms of the ruts.  I like to stand nearly all the time but my standing style wasn’t working with how loose the trail was.  I kept losing the front of the bike and hence losing speed and confidence.  It wasn’t until I was back in 4th place that I figure out that I needed to make a change to my riding style.  I started sitting in the places I normally stand.  It took me a while to get going but I finally did. 

About that same time the two guys that had gotten by me started to fade.  The third place guy, Matt Herrington, looked like he had arm pump or some sort of fatigue.  He moved over to let me by in a wide open field.  I guessed I was 30 or more seconds behind Ben Bernard who was in second when Matt let me by. 

I was still making small mistakes but getting better.  I had given up hope on ever seeing JD again but figured I could catch Ben.  That same lap I had a big bobble and that put my efforts in neutral for a moment.  I had a short but firm mental conference with myself to try to put things in order.  I was unhappy with how I was riding and needed to get back on the ball.  A lap later I caught Ben.

The race was 16 laps and I finished 2 minutes and 1 second down on JD.  That’s a big improvement for me considering JD nearly lapped me at Valders last year.  It’s not worth stressing over how I might have done if I had my head in gear from the start but I have to wonder how much closer I might have been.

I have a 31 point lead over Ben Bernard in the AA class at this point.  That’s something I am proud of and feel satisfied with all my hard work this year.  Only two races to go, one of which is on my home course in Rome, WI.