One of the big epic mtn bike races of 2009 is the Ore to Shore race in Marquette, MI. This was my 7th or 8th oretoshore.I started friday off by convincing Camilla to meet me at Butter. I slammed down the fruit yogurt and scrambled egg tofu and was out the door. She gave me some mojo. Thanks cam!Jeff Weyruns, Adam Staufenberg and I got into Marquette in time for the pre-race pasta feed and registration. A full belly of spaghetti and a bunch of useless promotional garbage in our registration packet was what we brought back to our hotel room. I scored the hide-a-bed, watched tv and fell asleep.Race time was 9:45. Early morning drizzle and cloud cover is not unusual in this region. We expected the heat and humidity to rise and create problems. It did. No arm warmers or base layer was needed.A 48 mile point to point race from Negaunee(Ore) to Marquette(Shore) draws over a 1000 racers. There is a shorter version of 24 miles called the Soft Rock.My normal start for the first few miles was to stay top 40 for sure. The string of racers forms once the field approaches the dirt, after a 3 mile pavement start. I kept'er steady for many miles. Catching trains of racers and working with groups. Small groups forms in this race and you have to know what effort will work for you. I pulled hard in the middle pavement section. Felt good. But the next 10 miles I suffered a bit. Not passing many people. The last 10 was better. Much more scattered and finding yourself alone more often, you get motivated just knowing that the end is nearing. I out-sprinted a couple at the end for a 27th(29) divisional placing. Not the top 20($) I was shooting for. My time was a little faster than previous years. 2:42Should have pics coming soon. www.itiming.com results
Check out
Doug Swanson BLOG or
KYIA for their RECAP.
I think Dougs group missed a turn(
again!)
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