Wisp XC

....and with a WISP of dust, Richy was GONE...!

--------------------------
Story by Kirk Morrison:

This past Sunday, Rich Allen and I met at the Wisp Resort in McHenry, MD (near Deep Creek Lake) for JR’s series opening, ABRA Wisp XC Challenge Mtb race. The weather was great with sunny skies, a light breeze and temperatures in the low 80’s.

The race started (and ended) from the top of the mountain, near the ski lift. The course was great with nice a mix of loose rocky down hills, challenging rock gardens, flowing single track and lengthy double track climbs (which resulted in a relatively high # of DNF’s)

The Sport Class race was almost 18 miles (two – 9 mile loops) with a total of almost 2,500 feet of climbing. I was happy about the “loop” format since it gave me a chance to pick up a few full water bottles in between laps (Unfortunately, I ejected one of my water bottles during a tumble on lap 2).

In spite of any mishaps, we were both able to finish with podium positions:

Rich – 2nd place in the Sports Masters 55+

Kirk – 5th place in the Sports Masters 45+ (1st Cat 3)

This is a great venue with a coffee shop (including espresso shots) and (real) hot showers near the start/finish line. The organization was fantastic with quick registration, on-time start, quick posting of results and an early podium.

Attached are a few pics that I was able to gather (sorry, couldn’t find any of Richy). Unfortunately, Rich also missed his podium since he needed to leave quickly to pick his wife up at the airport (?!).

The results link is: https://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?permit=2012-690