The Wisconsin Off-Road Series announced its 2017 schedule today, surprising much of the state’s mountain biking community with the news that the long-running season finale in Sheboygan is gone. (The host club for that race dropped the news on Monday.) Removing Sheboygan from the schedule means the entire 10-race season will run in just 4 months, May through August. That leaves September and October free for Wisconsin’s fledgling high school league, which has close ties to WORS.
As I write this, the biggest mystery is where the season will begin on May 7. Based on the map above, I think the first race will be the Englewood Opener in Fall River. That was a new, non-series event this year. But there’s also uncertainty surrounding the WORS Cup. That used to be a 3-day event called the Subaru Cup. This year it was called the Midwest MTB Championships. As a 3-day event, it featured not just a cross-country race, but also short track cross-country and Super D. As a 1-day event, there won’t be enough time or resources to do anything except the cross-country race.
My own plans for 2017 took a hit today. This year I did Race The Lake and my favorite WORS race, the Reforestation Ramble. They were on consecutive Sundays. Next year, they both fall on August 20. I would have liked to do both again. If I had to decide right now, then I would choose the WORS race. I might have series ambitions. The condensed WORS schedule appeals to me, and the Cat 2 (Sport) 50-54 classification is going to be very competitive.
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