Metro 12 Recap

Throughout the week I kept getting email from WEMS saying that the race may be canceled or postponed, but I wasnt listening. The wife made me go to the Shrine Circus Friday morning and then we were off to Franklin, Wi. We stopped in Wisconsin Dells for gas, food, etc. at 6pm and I called the race hotline to see what the status was. I was informed that the race was postponed until Sunday. So after mulling it over a bit we deceided to head to the Holiday Inn Express in West Bend. The wife said I could race but only til 1:00 because I had to open the store at 5am Monday and our daughter had school. I fought back but in the end lost. I was still pumped about riding on a new track for 5hrs. The turnout for the 12hr was poor due to the fact we were racing on a Sunday and it was the rain-out of a rain-out. I was one of two entrants in the 12hr singlespeed class. It was hard to get motivated to go really hard knowing I could only race for 5hrs. The le Mans starts was up the ski hill an we were off. The loops were 5 miles with probably 3-4 miles of singletrack and only 2 big climbs. The other SS rider was faster than me through the singletrack but had to walk the big climbs while I rode them. I followed him for 7 laps before stopping. I took small breaks between laps although the breaks between laps 5 and 6 and 6 and 7 were longer because my brother-in-law Wade and his family drove down from Madison to say hi. I got a cool award for 2nd place - they printed up a personalized label for a bottle of Sprecher Pale Ale with my name, event, etc. Sarah (wife) managed to run down the battery in the mini-van listening to the radio all day so I had to get a jump from some guy so we could leave. All in all it was a fun family weekend and I will post a few pictures later.