WORS #1: Iola

Well the race season officially begun this weekend for the Adventure 212/Specialized team, and all I can say is....it's going to be a good, good year! It's always nerve-racking to get to the first race to see how your off-season of training stacks up...and it was certainly evident this weekend that the 212 team trained really, really hard!

So how well did the race go for Adventure 212/Specialized...for the girls this photo tells it all!



The race started fast (the course was very dry despite all the rain and snow lately...great job Iola race directors and crew!), despite the very chilly 40 degree weather...with Kim Eppen and Abby Strigel (two incredibly strong women who we can only admire) leading the way with the 212 girls and Robin Williams (Kim's teamate from Mercy-Speciliazed). Abby unfortunatly barely even began the race and broke her chain and was out, leaving Kim to continue her moster pace while the 212 girls and Robin came around after the first lap as one unit (despite Di dropping her chain and coming back from DFL)...something we've never, ever been able to do before due to all of our fitness/tech skill differences. It was quite a site and took the onlooking crowd by surprise!!! And we had quite a gap (couple minutes already) on any girls behind us. All in all the girls did amazing and we ended up taking the 2-5th Pro/Elite podium spots. (5th just by 2 seconds as Michelle was able to grab the sprint from another really strong rider Robin Williams). The girls couldn't stop smiling...this is what team racing is all about...the guys have had years of feeling this way and had talked about it often but for the girls it was a dream come true yesterday!

Not to be outdone...the Adventure 212/Specialized men also all took Pro/Elite podium spots:



The men's race was extremly fast with Tristan Schoutan and Brian Matter leading the way and creating a gap early on, followed by another group of Brian Eppen and Michal Anderson, and then Adventure 212's own Mike Phillips and Darrin Braun. Ryan Krayer and Todd McFadden ended up rounding out the elite podium taking 12th and 13th respectively. It was a great day!


In the junior race, despite leg cramps all race Myles Beach was able to pull-out a sixth place finish. I know he's a bit disappointed in that...but it's a long season and he'll be back up top soon no doubt!

One thing the whole team can agree on...the 2011 Specialized bikes are FAST, FAST, FAST!!!! All of us are just raving about how well they handle, especially cornering and their responsiveness is amazing!!! We thought they couldn't get better from last year, but we were definitly wrong!!! THANK YOU SPECIALIZED!!!!


The team would also like to give a special thanks to our support crew this weekend who braved the cold temps and harsh winds to make sure we were well fed and hydrated! Thanks Tim, Lynn, Jaime, Nicky, Kylie, Kelsey and the Beach family! Couldn't have done it without you!


What's next for the team....Sarah, Michelle, Chris, Ryan, Mark and Scott will be racing the NUE Arkansas race on the 14th followed by the team regrouping less Mike, Di and Todd for WORS#2 at Rhinelander!