Wisconsin Off Road Series

Important Update for 2012 Learn to Race Clinics

Claire — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:55:19 +0000

All Clinic participants must register for that Sunday’s race, sign their waiver, and affix their bicycle number plate before attending the Learn to Race Clinic, with the exception of parents accompanying a Junior racer. All Juniors 12 and under must be accompanied by a parent. Clinic start times have been moved back to 3:30 PM to accommodate this. The Clinic will gather and leave from the WORS Registration tent on the Saturday before each race at 3:30 PM.

Iola Bump & Jump Photo Contest Finalists

Claire — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:54:06 +0000

We will continue adding photos to the 2012 Iola Bump & Jump photo contest all week. Have photos or video clips? Learn more about the WORS Photo and Video contest.

Below, you will find up to 75 semi-finalists. To see all photos submitted, visit the TeamWORS Flickr

WORS Photo Contest Finalist - 2012 Iola Bump & Jump - Photo by Loren Beyer

WORS Photo Contest Finalist - 2012 Iola Bump & Jump - Photo by Dave Reich

WORS Photo Contest Finalist - 2012 Iola Bump & Jump - Photo by Tom Marty

WORS Photo Contest Finalist - 2012 Iola Bump & Jump - Photo by Rochelle Eggebrecht

WORS Photo Contest Finalist - 2012 Iola Bump & Jump - Photo by Niki Frazier

WORS Photo Contest Finalist - 2012 Iola Bump & Jump - Photo by Mandi Tauferner

TeamWORS Flickr

Iola Bump & Jump BelGioioso Elite post race interviews

Claire — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:03:00 +0000

Post race interviews with BelGioioso Elite podium finishers after the muddy season opener at the 2012 Iola Bump & Jump. This week, we asked each of the finishers if they had a question for WORS Series Director Don Edberg. Don’s answers are at the end.

Want more?

Check the race reports: b-matter, Mark Lalonde.

WORS Media roundup for Iola:

Strigel and Matter win 2012 WORS season opener in Iola.

Race report by Claire Cannon

Abby Strigel (HoneyStinger / Bontrager) and Brian Matter (GearGrinder / Trek) won the first race of the Wisconsin Off Road Series, in Iola, WI on Sunday. Heavy rains left the usually sandy course water-logged and muddy, giving extra incentive for a fast leadout over Iola’s start climbs into the first sections of singletrack. In the women’s race, Strigel was already alone and working her way through the tail end of the men’s Elite field before she hit singletrack.

“I was going to stick with everyone, and see how it went, but I felt OK and just decided to go,” said Strigel. “Sometimes it’s harder in singletrack when there are more people around and it’s that muddy. So I thought it would be easier if I just got away. And I ran into a lot of Elite men. There was a lot of running. But, that was OK because I just ran straight through the puddles that other people were trying to go around.”

At the front of the men’s race, the field was spread out early by Strigel’s teammate Matt Shriver, who set a blistering pace over the initial climbs.

“I can start pretty hard and definitely went a little too far into the red today,” said Shriver. “I like to get out in front and not have to bump bars with anybody or get gapped out at the front because there’s always a selection. If you’re too far back, you’re going to miss the group so it’s nice to get out front and stay out of trouble.”

The mud at Iola derailed his game plan as the entire field hit an extremely steep climb out of the ski jump bowl, and everyone was forced to dismount and run through the mud. Brian Matter, Mark Lalonde (T6/Lalonde Brothers) and Issac Neff (Williamson Bike Works) moved into the lead. Also making the initial selection were Shriver, Nathan Guerra (Wheel & Sprocket / Vision) and Kevin McConnell (Mercy-Specialized). By the middle of the second lap, Matter and Lalonde had opened a 30-second gap, and then Matter broke away for a solo effort.

“I just kind of wanted to go to the front,” said Matter. “I just let the skills take over and started having fun. Too much fun, maybe, because I burped a tire in the second lap and had to be careful after that.”

Matter was riding a Trek Top Fuel as usual, but not his own bike. In fact, he borrowed his wife Andrea’s bike for the race at Iola.

“I’m riding the boss’s bike,” joked Matter. “I had to change my tires Friday because they were worn from Arizona, and on race day I was a little nervous about them holding pressure. So, I figured this bike was ready to go, and the small size was good for handling skills.”

Matter cruised in for the win at 1:35:36. Behind him, Shriver was chasing hard and overtook Lalonde for 2nd in 1:36:29. Lalonde (1:36:59), who took third in his return to WORS after a break from competition of nearly two years, held off relative newcomer Isaac Neff (1:37:52). Nathan Guerra (1:38:17) rounded out the podium in fifth place by edging out Mike Phillips (1:38:26) in the final stretch.
In the women’s race, Strigel was untouchable at 1:29:52. Adventure 212 teammates Lisa Krayer (1:33:37), Diana McFadden (1:35:07), Michelle Peariso (1:37:23) and Sarah Agena-Wright (1:38:10) rounded out the women’s podium in 2nd through 5th place.

Despite the downpour, the Iola Bump & Jump was well-attended by WORS Series racers. WORS has declared 2012 “The Year of the Junior” in support of youth competition in the Upper Midwest, and welcomed a large starting field of younger racers of all ability levels at Iola. A new women’s Open was also well attended, with some competitors new to the Series riding well within the Elite field. The Series will race again in two weeks outside Rhinelander at the Crystal Lake Classic, where Brian Matter, a coach with MomentumEndurance LLC, will be leading a special Expert level Learn to Race Clinic.

Please share your opinion of the 2012 Iola Bump & Jump

Claire — Sun, 06 May 2012 15:30:57 +0000

Thank you for helping us to make WORS events even better. This survey will probably take around 5 minutes of your time.

Every WORS event is run in partnership with a local organizing committee. The Iola Bump & Jump is organized by the Iola Winter Sports Club to benefit the trails and ski jump facility. Thank you for your support! We hope that you had an outstanding experience at this WORS race venue. At the end of this survey, we have included a place to share comments for those who volunteered, and organizers who helped to make the event possible.

Thank you!

WORS Photo and Video Contest 2012

Claire — Sat, 05 May 2012 04:42:40 +0000

The WORS Photo and Video contest will begin again at the 2012 Iola Bump & Jump!

Free “Bike Stuff Exchange” at Iola Bump & Jump

Claire — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:07:22 +0000

Bring it!

At the Season Finale of WORS 2011 in Sheboygan, WORS Women hosted a free bike stuff exchange. We thought the event was a success, with a many happy donations and appreciated finds. We’ll be doing it again at Iola! We’ve got a winter’s worth of new (gently used) gear to bring – including awesome Bontrager, Craft and Patagonia apparel, helmets, shoes, and more. Most of the donations we’ve received to date will be appreciated by Women and Juniors – and everyone is welcome. Bring your own donations and stop by if you’re in need of something.

At Iola, WORS Women and TeamWORS will be setting up a free bike-stuff exchange table at the WORS Registration tent.

If you love bikes as much as we do, you have extra bike stuff. If you have extra bike stuff that someone else could use – bring it. It’s liberating to get rid of that extra stuff and especially when you know it’s going to be appreciated! Add to the pile at any time.
If you are a beginning rider or starving college student in need of a few gently used jerseys, or some clip-less pedals, or maybe a helmet… stop by!
Once set-up, the table will be first-come, first-served all weekend, starting after the Learn to Race Clinic is over on Saturday and (approximately) after the Sport race on Sunday.
Experienced riders, it’s A-OK to stop by and find something for yourself – as long as you bring something to give!

Ladies, bring your friends who bike. Guys and gals who race, it’s OK to come by with your girlfriend, boyfriend, wife, husband, mom, dad, daughter or son. Parents, stop by and see if someone whose kids are a little older has gifted you. We want to encourage people to enjoy their ride – even if they don’t race WORS.

Update

Thanks to Don Edberg and TeamWORS we’ll also have a blue collection barrel at this and every WORS event to collect donations of bicycle parts and useful accessories for DreamBikes. A bicycle drive is being planned for a WORS event this season. And remember that you can pick up a WORS Racer Handbook anytime if you stop off to donate – or shop – at either DreamBikes location. Thanks to Don Edberg and DreamBikes Milwaukee Manager Russell Jobs!

Special Expert Race Clinic to be led by Brian Matter at Crystal Lake Classic

Claire — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:01:56 +0000

Small-group, on-course instruction with multi-time WORS BelGioioso Elite Overall Champion Brian Matter. In addition to being one of the most dominant male XC racers in the Midwest Region, Brian Matter is a coach with Momentum Endurance LLC.

Brian will lead a clinic focused specifically on improving expert-level race skills and results at WORS. Male and female racers competitive at the Elite, Comp and high-Sport level who are looking to improve their racing results and skills are encouraged to register now. The clinic will be limited to only 10 registrants.

The clinic will consist of 2-3 hour pre-ride with instruction from Brian Matter and assistance from WORS Expert racer Matt Gehling. Expert or advanced-racer-specific skills such as technical skills, race preparation, tactics, and training will be covered depending on group interest. Small group and one-on-one focus. Clinic will be held on Saturday May 19 and specifics (time and meeting place) will be mailed to registrants prior to the event.

New Women’s Open Racing Category

Claire — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:45:33 +0000

The numbers of women racing at WORS are among the largest in the nation and WORS continues to strongly support women’s participation and competition at every level. We’re pleased to offer a new competitive category in 2012 – Women’s Open.

Women’s Open is a category specifically created to:

Address the needs of the female racer who may find herself “in-between” existing categories.
Encourage women who are competitive in Sport to try racing in the Expert field without the necessity of an immediate and permanent upgrade to a Cat 1 license.
Retain female racers who have expert-level technical skills but reduced training time.
Continue to grow the competition for our highest level of Elite women, and Cat 1 Juniors.

Women’s Open will line-up behind, and start with, the existing WORS BelGioioso Elite and Cat 1 Junior women. The Women’s Open field will race on the same course as the Expert race, but Open racers will complete a shorter distance. For example:

At the Iola Bump & Jump, Elite Women will complete 4 laps. Open and Cat 1 Junior Women will complete 3 laps.
At the Crystal Lake Classic, Elite Women will complete 3 laps. Open and Cat 1 Junior Women will complete 2 laps of the Expert Course.
A complete list of Expert Open laps by event will be published after Iola’s race, based on racer feedback.

Who should race Open?

Racers who are able to keep pace with the Elite Women’s field for a shorter distance, but may not have the fitness for an additional lap.
Racers considering moving from Cat 2 to Cat 1.
Cat 1 racers with unanticipated or unavoidable decrease in training volume or fitness.
Racers wishing to participate in the Women’s Open field must hold a Cat 1 or Cat 2 license.

Who should not race Open?

Beginning racers.
Racers without the ability to keep pace with the Elite Women’s field for the shorter distance. Racers who are regularly caught by the leading Expert men despite the shorter race distance should race in the Cat 2 Sport field.

Based on feedback from those who plan to compete in this category, as well as those who currently race in the Elite Women’s field, WORS believes the new Open field will bring several important benefits to women’s competition at WORS:

Larger field sizes. The primary goals of the Expert Open field is to grow the competition for all women. By allowing highly-competitive Cat 2 women to race with the Expert field, we believe both the Expert field and the Sport races will become more competitive and appropriate to their intended level of competition for female participants.
More competitive racing among women. In addition to a larger field size, we believe the shorter distance of the Expert Open category will enhance competition for all Expert Women. By reducing the distance requirement for Open racers, we anticipate that a larger, faster field of women will leave the Expert Start line and race together for the opening laps.
Greater retention of women racers. Because of the large “gap” between Pro / Cat 1 competition and Cat 2 Sport competition, some women who have successfully raced at a Cat 1 level may not find an appropriate level of competition available if their ability to train outside of racing is reduced. We believe the Women’s Open Category will provide an appropriate level of competition for those who have raced as a successful Cat 1, but cannot or no longer wish to compete and train at that level.
Better passing and less congestion in both Sport and Expert races. At this time, each of the most competitive female racers in the Cat 2 Sport field will pass over 100 male racers during every race. By allowing these women to race in the expert field, less passing will be required by all. In addition, the shorter duration of the Open Women’s race should reduce traffic between the women’s field and the leading Expert men in the final laps of the Elite races.

As always, WORS encourages those interested in participating in this racing category to contact us with any feedback or concerns. At this time, we open this plan to public comment here. We also encourage direct comments emailed to wors@wors.org and worswomen@gmail.com. We invite all those interested in discussing the successes and challenges of the first Open Women’s race to meet at the WORS Registration tent after the Expert Race at Iola at 3:45 PM. Because WORS is committed to understanding and meeting the needs of our racers, the format of the Open Women’s races may change based on feedback.

Join Team WORS

Claire — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 23:56:37 +0000

Series Registration and Mandatory Move-Ups

Claire — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:35:11 +0000

As registration for the 2012 series is in full swing, we remind racers to check that they are registering for the appropriate category of competition. In January of 2011 WORS Guidelines changed, moving away from top age class finishes to overall placing. If you place well within your category overall last year please check to see if you are required to advance.

The overall placing for Citizen or Sport can be viewed on the website by clicking on either the men’s or women’s series results and replacing the “m” or “f” at the end of the url with an “o”. Fifth place is 177 points and tenth place is 157.

We believe this is the best criteria currently available for assessing a racers readiness and need to advance, however there may still be a number of racers that have good rational for remaining in their previous ability category. These riders need to submit a written statement to WORS justifying staying in their current category. WORS will have these statements on file at the WORS tent for public viewing.

There may also be some conflict with USA Cycling rules that could curtail a racer from advancing to the next category. If you have any questions, please email Don at don@wors.org, and include your name and series number from 2011.