WORS#11 Wolf River - Juniors

White Lake, WI
WORS #11 Wolf River Rendezvous Sunday September 27, 2009
by: Andrew Schirpke

Finally an out of town race. I’ve been riding with the Waukesha crew on Wednesdays but I’ve been itching for another WORS race.

My weekend started with a half day of school on Friday which meant we could head up north early. My dad picked me up and we finished loading the Jeep. A stop at Held’s for some beef jerky and I was promptly napping a short time later. My dad said he tried waking me in Shawano for ice cream, but zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Pulled into Bear Paw about 4 and it just kept raining. No pre-pre-ride today. Checked in and got our keys. A nice cabin with heat,lights,water and spark! Unloaded everything up to the 2nd story and decided to find a place to eat. Went into town and found the grocery/gas station/bait shop etc.. you get the idea. This place is out there. Headed south just a short ride to a supper club for a Friday fish fry then back to the cabin for an early night.

Woke up Saturday late and went out for a ride. Half way through my dad went down on a rock…hard. It took a while for us to get moving again and when we finished he said he was done. My cousin showed up and I took a lap with him and Aiden. Good thing because Travis ditched Aiden and me. Finished and felt good, people were starting to pile in. Russ, Chris, Richard and Mud(Greg). Greg had snuggies for sale so we got 2. I still like the name Cyclo-Cross-Dresser. My dad noticed a spot on his knee warmer. Pulled it up and he had a nice cut 1/4” deep and 3 inches long just below his knee. Thank God for Super Glue.

Our friends Jeff and Danielle showed up and they unloaded into our cabin. We also ran into Maciej before his pre-ride. Invited him to hang which filled up the cabin to the brim. The crew headed into the big town(Shawano) and did some shopping. Burgers for tonight, bacon and eggs for the morning and chicken for post race protein. Got to bed by ten and don’t remember any snoring.

Alarm off at 7 and we started the assembly line for showers. Pinned on my number and headed towards the start line. You could see it from our balcony..cool. Got warmed up but it was cold and everything was damp. Everyone was there except Fletcher who moved up. Talked to all my competition(friends) and then got on the line.

I got the Hole Shot and was first off the corner. The first hill is a killer and I lost ground to Jeff,Riley and someone I didn’t recognize. Massive climb and then some killer downhill switchback. I was on Riley’s tail through the switchback and then passed him and the other guy on the first section of doubletrack. Then it was time to get Jeff.

The course is super technical and has boulders everywhere. Twists and turns with wet rocks and puddles. I saw Jeff on one hill but that was all. He finished 40 seconds ahead of me but I’ll take second. That locked up third for the season and I am officially retiring from Juniors. I’m moving up at SheVegas.

Didn’t get any podium time because they messed up awards but I still got my METAL. All that and I missed my dads first hand-up, tried to get someone to do it but…Got up on the hill for the last one though. Then we did bottles for Wally and Maciej. Lots of yelling from our blind. Congrats to Cole for killing the course.

Hung out with Shane,Riley,Aiden,Jeff and Collin. Rowdy Fussball while my dad fired up the grill again. Unloaded a lot of chicken and a few beers too. After all the awards were done we packed up and I handed back the key. Stopped in Shawano for that ice cream I slept through on the way up. Unpacked by 8 and we were done.

I’ll see everyone at Sheboygan/WigWam. Don’t forget the Cross race in Grafton on Saturday. They’re going to have an Irish punk rock band. Ride safe and have fun!

- Andy