The Wisconsin League dialed up a couple of new race venues this year, so the anticipation was very high for our riders to hit these trails for the first time. Both of them had histories as popular WORS series venues, so they were both ready for action when their weekend rolled around. The fairgrounds at Eau Claire and the adjoining trails at Lowe's Creek Park were a fantastic setting as our first real taste of autumn began to set in. Earlier forecasted rain never bothered to show up and the cooler temperatures (and lack of mosquitoes!) were a welcome relief from the team's previous race experience.
The singletrack at Lowe's Creek is considerably flatter and faster than most of our other venues, with only a couple soft, mulchy climbs up from the creek providing a significant change in pace over the course. Lots of twisting and leaning through trees and stumps over a slightly longer and sandier track gave this race it's very own character. A long, fast rollout led into a long stretch of 'kickers' - followed up by a healthy dose of singletrack (and berms) over the remainder of the lap.
Field sizes for the races were slightly down with the extended travel time up to Eau Claire, but the course was a smash hit with our riders. Nick battled a couple of tenacious local racers to hold on for another win in the Freshman Boy's race and was joined in 5th place by Kyle with his first ever podium appearance! Zane returned to podium form with an excellent 4th place in the JV3 Boy's race and Zoe put together a strong race to finish 5th in the JV2 Girl's field.
In the Team Competition, despite a lower turnout, the Hounds were buoyed up by the new podium appearances and some very solid races across the board. The team locked down another race win and increased our lead in the season overall standings! Once again, congratulations are in order for the whole team and our support crew. See below for the detailed race results and photos from the event...
