Subaru Cup Pro XCT race report

How awesome is it to compete against the best in your category (or in the case of the Subaru Cup, the next category up)? You see, in the Wisconsin Off Road Series (WORS) Cat 2 is split into to separate groups; Sport where I race and Comp which faster guys who usually do one more lap than Sport riders. However, since the Subaru Cup is a USA Cycling event all Cat 2's raced together. No, I didn't beat single Comp rider, but it was cool to get a gauge on where I stand in relation to those guys. I mean if I didn't like competition, I wouldn't be racing, right? Plus, it's always nice to chat with the Pro's.

I chose to ride the Airborne Goblin for the XC and Short Track races. I'm not sure a hardtail 29er was the best choice for me given the technical nature of the XC course at Nordic Mountain. But at the same time the top finishers among the Pro men and women were riding hardtail 29ers, so I certainly can't blame the bike.

I actually wasn't doing too bad until about with 2 miles left on my last lap, I hit a rock hard with my rear wheel and proceeded to listen to the sound of my tire going flat with each rotation of the wheel. The stan's finally sealed the leak with what felt like about 10 lbs of pressure left in the tire. At that point it was so squirmy that I couldn't hold a line and risked damage to the wheel if I pushed through any technical sections. So I basically just road very cautiously and pretty slowly the last couple miles and hoped that no one would catch me.

I was wrong. Someone caught me on the last climb and passed me with about a 1/2 mile left. He kind of blew himself up on the last climb and I stayed with him and tried to out sprint him but could not make the last 180 degree turn up to the finish line. That was really frustrating because I know on any other day I could have out sprinted him. Next time :)

Where the Goblin really shined was in the Short Track event. The course was basically a short cyclocross track. I was able to hang mid pack for the majority of the race. Then on what I figured would be my last lap, I just went all out and passed 4-5 other racers and hoped I would get pulled. Luckily that's how it went down and I finished better than I probably would have otherwise. It was pretty intense and after initially deciding not to do the Short Track race, I'm glad I had the experience.

The last race was the Outback Super D. I pulled out my purpose built Yeti 575 for that race and man, what a hoot. I had so much fun on that bike on that course. I wish I could to the Super D as a stand alone event that wasn't proceeded by an XC and Short Track race.

You can check out the whole event in this video I produced for WORS.

The Goblin weight reduction program begins: I finally received the new Fox fork for winning the WORS Subaru Cup Video Remix Contest. I chose the F29 RLC w/15mm QR axle. It'd be going on the Goblin tomorrow and will have it's first test in the race this weekend in Eau Claire, WI. This will be nice step up in performance and step down in weight. There was nothing wrong with the Rock Shox Reba that came stock with the bike, it's just that I really like the feel of Fox forks and it's lighter.

I'll be sure to let you know how it performs and how the race goes after the weekend. In the meantime, get out and ride!!!! This weather is awesome!!!!!