Trek Border Battle

Just got back from race #8 in the MNSCS. The Trek Border Battle is a race that is designed to be a competition between riders from Minnesota (MNSCS) and Wisconsin (WORS). The event is held at White Tail Ridge Park in River Falls, WI. The Citizen course is two laps for a total of 10 miles. There are no dramatic ascents or descents although the course begins by climbing a fire road before entering the single track. For some reason, I have found the trail to be difficult and have crashed several times in training. It is a great course, I just haven't gotten dialed in on it yet.

There was quite a bit of rain last night in River Falls so I was wary of what the course would look like. I was pleasantly surprised to see it was in pretty good shape with a few soft spots in the corners and switchbacks. There were a few areas where I took my time but my lap times were nearly the same as in practice. The race began with call ups from both the MNSCS and WORS. I took the outside edge next to another MNSCS rider in my age category. The race started clean as we began the 1/4 mile run for the first hill. I settled in around 7 or 8 and took the hill with few problems. Once we reached the top, there was a single trail section which I believe was the slipperiest of the course. There were several crashes with one rider falling off a foot bridge. I completed the first lap without incident in 30 minutes. I did notice there seemed to be an abnormal number of breakdowns and crashed but this was probably due to the rain.

I felt good on the second lap but for some reason took 31 minutes to get it all done. I may have passed a dozen riders but still did not do as well as I would have hoped. For my age group, I placed second to another Minnesotan which was good with me. I had beaten this guy the last two races but I had no chance today. The last time I saw him was at the top of the first hill and then he was gone. I believe he beat me by a minute or so. He was certainly the better rider today. As far as the Border Battle goes, I placed 6th with the top three slots occupied by Wisconsin riders. Oh well.....next year perhaps.