WORS #6 Firecracker

Eau Claire, WI
Sunday July 11, 2010
by: Ryan Shiroma

I had pretty high hopes for WORS #6 after having a pretty good race two weeks ago at WORS #5.  The course had a long and fast leadout.  I didn’t have a very good start so I sat pretty far back in the field heading into the first single track section.  I was hoping to make up some ground in the single track but a couple crashes had us moving at walking pace.  Once we got going again I found myself behind a guy who was hammering the open sections and crashing or clipping out in every technical section.  I’d catch him or pass him in the single track but end up behind him again in the next section.  On the second lap he finally crashed hard enough for me to drop him.  I was going fast in the single track but really struggling in the open sections which was frustrating.  To add to the frustration I was taken out by a confused racer in an open section on the last lap.  I hit the ground pretty hard and it took me a little while to gather myself and find my sunglasses.  I got going again but something didn’t seem right about my helmet straps.  I pushed on anyways and managed a pretty sad 9th place.  At the finish I took off my helmet and found that it was broken.  Turned out to be a pretty expensive race.  It wasn’t until the next day that I really felt the effects of the crash.  It’s three days later and I’m still pretty sore.  Hopefully I can put this one behind me and get ready for the next one.