Chippewa Firecracker

I participated in the Chippewa Firecracker on the July 4th weekend and had a blast. The track is located in eau Claire Wisconsin. For the most part, it was a very fast race with a minimal number of climbs and descents. There were several technical obstacles to deal with in the form of logs, creeks, and rocks. The course was primarily single track with very few passing opportunities aside from the one mile of fire road on each lap. The race began with a sprint of a mile or more on the aforementioned fire road. I made the mistake of taking it easy at the start which I paid in the form of slow traffic later on. I entered the woods in the top 30 (out of 80 riders) but quickly found that some of the faster guys on the road were not capable of handling the obstacles. There was one point in which we came to a complete stop just before a two foot mound of dirt. I knew I was in trouble at that point. I felt like I had a great ride but came in 8th out of 20 in my class. This was a bummer as I was not passed the entire course. In fact, I passed between 9 and 12 riders so the end result was disappointing. Next year I will make a sprint for the front to make sure I do not get caught up in traffic. The course had some cool obstacles to include a steep descent on a large rock followed by fast single track into a steep climb. There was another area in which you could build up speed and launch into a rock trail at the end of a steep climb. I bailed during my first practice run but made it the rest of the time. All-in-all it was a fun race and I look forward to returning next year.