Ore to Shore Soft Rock - Andy

Negaunee to Marquette
Saturday August 14, 2010
by: Andrew Schirpke

This is one of those 4 day vaca races. My dad took off Thursday and Friday so he could take my cousin and I. Travis stayed over Wednesday so we could get a good start Thursday Morning. Rolled out around 9:30am. First pit stop was PDQ for gas and coffee. Next stop was a couple hours later in Escanaba. Grabbed some lunch and started the last leg. Made it to the Motor Inn and realized we had a time change to an hour later (even though I think we went a little west) Room was nicer then the reviews and after unloading we hit the town.
Biked up to Presque Isle and checked out the lake. Stopped by Beef a Roo and ate by the marina. Looked into the candy shop and cruised the town a little. It felt good to do some spinning after the long car ride. Quick stop by Econo foods for some snacks and an Oberon keg. Don’t remember when I finally crashed but it was after 2:30am.
Late breakfast and all the hotel had was toast and doughnuts…oh well. JJ’s for lunch and then 3 hours of bowling. Went back to the hotel and grabbed our bikes to ride to registration. Lines were long and we ran into a few friends. Bill, Lance, Russell, Wally, Shane, Maja, Connie, Rick, John, Ben, Coop, Brian, John and Kathy. Biked back and hit Subway, took it to the room. Nate and Jerry showed up and they setup to stay the night.
Saturday…Race Day! 6am and everyone was busy. My dad ran to the store for some fruit and yogurt. We all got ready and wished Darrin luck on our way out to Negaunee. Got to the start an hour early. Plenty of places to put your bike. We decided to ride the lead-out with friends: Connie, Shane, Maja, Candy, Liz, Anne and Andi.
The gun went off and the controlled lead-out was super fast. Great pace to start with. We slowly pulled away from our group because we needed to keep our 15mph pace. A lot of roads in the beginning and tempo was important. Really nothing technical but plenty to keep you busy. This is longer than a WORS race and I needed to do everything right. It’s hard not knowing where your competition is. 1000 riders are hard to keep track of. It was just us against the clock. The sand pits bit me twice. The second time was right after I caught another kid. It took 3 miles to catch him again only to lose him when my chain came off. Caught him again in 2 miles but when down in some more sand. Pressures were good but the ruts were deep for my xs frame bike.
I got tons of encouragement from all the people I passed. They all asked me how old I was and if I was having fun. Our team strategy was working until the 50 yards of singletrack. Usually it’s my strong area but 10 feet in I pancaked against two trees. For the next 3 miles my dad kept asking me if I was alright. I just didn’t have it after that and my shoulder slowed me down. We had kept our pace above 15 for 25 miles. The easiest section was in front of me and I just kept slowing. I lost everything I worked for in the last 2 miles.
I did manage to shave a few minutes of off last year’s time but it wasn’t enough. This year’s category was 12-15. As I crossed the finish line they announced my name and said I was the youngest finisher so far. Too bad there isn’t a twelve and under. 5th place. Trophies to 1-3. NO METAL. Next year for sure.
Biked to the hotel and cleaned up. My dad biked to the start to get the Jeep. When he got back we decided to put Panda Garden out of business. I think we did some damage. Stopped at Wally world and got some videos. Couldn’t believe we were still hungry but at midnight we made a run to Big Boy. We don’t usually eat stuff like that but it’s one of those weekends. Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs and a couple office episodes…out…
Got up slow Sunday and packed all the gear. Checked out Reamy waterfall and started our journey south. This next piece of information is for my mountain bike friends only. Marinette has a cafe named Scoops. Great food, cheap and plenty to eat. Not organic but a real treat. I love it when they make cotton candy in front of you. Home and unpacked, water bottles are even drying already. A great time and the best race so far this year. I hope to see everybody at the Reforestation Ramble this weekend.

Andy