The FORCS had a great showing at the first WEMS race of the year! We had a 3 person 100 mile team (Berlie, Sabrina, and Sue) and two solo 100 mile riders (Carol and Deb). We also had a wonderful pit crew with Kathy and an intrepid bike riding turtle to cheer us forward. FORCS purple dominated the woods!
The weather was not friendly, with intermittent rain and mist and quite chilly temps. As it had been raining all week, they had to reroute a lot of the course to avoid the worst of the swamps. This left some sticky single track at times, and two massive "lakes" for us to ride through in a lower part of the course.
Despite the tough weather, this venue was terrific as usual. The race organizers did a great job, there was a warm building for needed breaks from the cold, and they offered great door prizes (including a Niner frame. One of these years I'm going to win that bad boy).
Carol and Deb both did wonderfully cranking out those solo miles, despite mechanical issues for both. Carol had some uncooperative Stans in a tire and had to backtrack some miles for a fix. When I encountered her returning to the pits for a fix she was smiling and cheerful as usual. Deb's single speed decided to drag its brakes so hard that she could barely get the bike to move in her first lap. Way to add some resistance training Deb!
The team managed to avoid any mechanicals or serious mishaps. Berlie managed to pull a beautiful track stand after getting bogged down in the middle of one of the lakes, thereby avoiding a wet slog through the muck. Wish I could have seen that. Sabrina got tough and pulled an extra last lap for the team late in the day. Thanks Sabrina - I was cheering you on while sitting in front of the warm fireplace!
The next WEMS race is in 1 1/2 weeks at Greenbush. That's another great venue. Hope we can have another big turnout. Those of you who haven't ridden much WEMS races are welcome to come too. They will have a shorter 30 mile solo option, or we can get together a second team for the day if we have enough riders.
-- Sue
