An Early Look At 2014

My cycling plans for the rest of 2013 remain on hold due to a broken collarbone, but early this afternoon some of my plans for next year came into sharper focus. Here is the just-released 2014 WORS schedule:

05/04    Iola Bump & Jump @ Iola
05/18    Crystal Lake Classic @ Rhinelander
06/01    Battle of CamRock @ Rockdale
06/15    Red Eye Rendezvous @ Wausau
06/29    Red Flint Firecracker @ Eau Claire
07/12—13 Subaru Cup @ Portage
07/27    Sunburst Showdown @ Kewaskum
08/17    WORS Cup @ Mt. Morris
08/24    Reforestation Ramble @ Suamico
09/07    Treadfest @ Lake Geneva
09/28    Collectivo Coffee Bean Classic @ Franklin
10/12    Wigwam MTB Challenge @ Sheboygan

Those are the same venues from this year’s schedule, but for 2014 the Subaru Cup moves from Mt. Morris to the new trail system at Cascade Mountain in Portage. That probably won’t matter to me. Unless I change my mind over the winter, I won’t be competing for WORS series points next year. I would like to race at Wausau, Kewaskum and Suamico, but the rest of the schedule doesn’t fit my plans. Mix in a couple of WEMS races and I will have enough of a mountain biking schedule even without a full complement of WORS dates.

Cyclocross is probably going to be my No. 1 priority in 2014, especially if this collarbone fracture wipes out the rest of my 2013 season. I also intend to do more time trials. Mountain biking is not the whole enchilada, but today’s announcement from WORS is significant. Knowing that the WORS season will begin on May 4 gives me the likely date of the 2014 Cheesehead Roubaix: Sunday, April 27. That’s not final—mark your calendar with a  pencil, not with a pen—but it is my prefered date. Staying one weekend ahead of the first WORS race allows me to promote Cheesehead Roubaix as a good fitness test for the off-road racer crowd.