The Shorewood MTB Race Machine is really kicking into gear...Another trip to the northwoods and an explosion of fall colors set the stage for what was probably our most consistent performance across the board this year. Another new venue awaited us and the cooler temperatures remained from our previous weekend. Back-to-back race weekends are a challenge, particularly with signficant travel involved - but our support crew made everything run like clockwork.
Nine Mile Forest, just outside of Wausau has a vast network of ski trails and singletrack to work with. The League put together an excellent combination of fast, flowy singletrack and wide open gravel trail for passing. The ski trail sections featured several lung-burning power-climbs, but the singletrack smoothly swerved through dense conifers, littered with stumps and pine needles. Every rider came off the pre-ride raving about the course and eager for another great race day.
The venue at Nine Mile is certainly the 'wildest' in setting and the autumn foliage and calmness was astounding. Our hosts from the Wausau team even lit up the night with a music/light show wrapped up with some fireworks. After another great team dinner and a cool fall evening around the campfire, everyone was settling into their tents.
The race day action for Shorewood MTB was dominated by close finishes and sprints to the line. Zoe improved on her best finish and won a very close battle for 2nd place. Nick kept his streak going and edged out his competitors to win the Freshman race again (in a photo-finish). David & Mark launched out of their chase pack heading down the final straightaway to take 3rd and 4th. Charlie D. & Zane finished 4th and 5th in the JV3 race and Eli locked down 5th place in a bike throw to take the last spot on the Varsity podium. The course definitely lent itself to dramatic finishes and several other Hounds edged their rivals by very narrow margins.
For the third race in a row, the Hounds brought home the team win and further solidified their standing heading into the State Chanpionship race at Trek. Even late in the season, the whole team continues to improve and the season's finish line is in our sights. As always, congratulations are in order for the whole team and our support crew - particularly making the quick turnaround on back-to-back race weekends. See below for the detailed race results and photos from the event...
