The season of weather curveballs continued to present new challenges and really kept things interesting for our final race of the season at Trek's corporate singletrack testing facility in Waterloo! Saturday pre-riders were met with huge gusts of wind, a hailstorm and even a little snow sprinkled in for good measure. The team huddled around campfires and in our team tents - enjoying another hearty meal before settling in for a chilly evening. At dawn, we were met by 20-degree temperatures and a layer of icy frost glazed over the campground and all of our gear. The rising sun and our final team breakfast lifted everyone's spirits and our Championship Race Day was on!
The trails at Trek are truly worthy of a championship and course conditions were excellent, with just a little slippery frost in the shady spots for some of the morning races. The course layout presents itself in several very distinct sections - wtih long doubletrack grinds across open meadows, fast and flat tree-dodging singletrack, culminating in rocky and rooty technical climbs capped off with a ripping descent back down through a forested ravine and spilling out into the finish line.
Championship honors and the last race provided great motivation as all our riders wanted to finish up their seasons as strong as possible. Many were in the hunt for podium positions and contributing to a solid team performance, but our group of seniors were particularly inspired to go out and create one more memorable race experience to cap off their high school careers. Eli, Clayton, Janneke, Charlie D. & Jack all completed their final races and punctuated memorable runs with our team. It's been truly inspirational to see their growth in our program and their leadership has set the tone for future generations of student-athletes in Shorewood MTB.
Zoe returned to the podium for her Championship race with a 5th place finish in the JV3 field. On the boy's side of things, Isak & Charlie D. took 3rd and 4th for JV3 while David & Mark wrapped up their strong seasons by finishing 3rd and 5th, respectively. ALL of these riders earned podium positions in the season's overall competition and Nick built up enough of a lead in earlier races to still take the WIN in the overall, despite missing the final race with an illness. Special congratulations are also in order for Graham & Johan who finished their first NICA mountain bike race.
Since the early races of the season when Shorewood took the lead in the overall standings, the Hounds have continued to build upon their lead with increasingly remarkable individual performances. This momentum carried through all the various challenges of our venues and a long season culminating in our very first Wisconsin State Championship for Division 1! As our team, league and sport continue to grow, this will definitely be a milestone for ALL our current members and alumni to look back upon and be proud of!
The strenght and depth of our organization is apparent...from the regular podium finishers, all the way through the rest of our high schoolers battling these challenging courses and conditions for their best finishes. Our middle schoolers quickly take up the mantle and are just starting off on their racing careers...but perhaps most importantly, new riders are embarking on their mountain bike adventure - whether that comes to them through racing, conquering all the challenges of midwestern singletrack, or just enjoying the experience of being out in nature on our bikes. The mountain bike takes us places that many participants in other sports never have an opportunity to see and it's amazing to witness the participants in our sport, whether they are student-athletes, coaches, parents or adult volunteers - making that lifelong connection.
All of our success, and certainly our basic existence, would not be possible if not for the tireless group of committed coaches, volunteers, parents and supporters. Heartfelt thanks (and congratulations) go out to everyone who has ridden with us at practice, helped to fix and maintain our bikes, given us a lift to a trailhead, made a contribution to our cause, cheered us on, helped us conquer an obstacle, photographed our events, cooked incredible meals and created memorable team experiences. The Shorewood MTB Family is a special one...Go Hounds!
See below for the detailed race results and photos from the event and overall standings for the season...
