House wins again in Wisconsin Off Road Series

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After a short hiatus from cross country racing, the Wisconsin Off Road Series (WORS) returned with back-to-back race weeks. Last week, in Mount Morris Wisconsin, Cole House (Intelligentsia Coffee/ Broken Spoke) dominated the course for the men’s race while Amber Markey (5 Nines/ Motorless Motion) chased down Abigail Strigel (Honey Stinger/Bontrager) to finish second. This week they both House and Markey came back to win.

Just outside of Green Bay, the "Reforestation Ramble" in Suamico has traditionally been a prep race for riders competing in the Chequamegon 40. With its similar terrain and longer distance than most WORS races, it gives competitors a chance to get familiar with a point to point feel while still doing a multi-lap race. Flatter than most WORS events and with more doubletrack, the Reforestation Ramble is a big ring, high fuel race that pushes competitors to their limits.
Pro mountain and road racer House has been on a hot streak in the past few weeks since winning at Ore to Shore and the previous WORS race, The Scarlet Knights Scramble. It also doesn’t hurt that the Reforestation Ramble happens to be a home course for House.

In his typical style, House sprinted off the line to push for an early break away. KS Energy Services/Team Wisconsin pro, Joe Maloney is one of few that can answer the call to take an early sprint. Knowledge of every turn of the course allowed House to create a gap on Maloney, who did not have the opportunity for a pre-ride of the course. The chase came from current WORS overall points leader, Nathan Guerra (Vision Cycling/ Attitude Sports) and Tyler Gauthier (Bike Marquette/ Quick Stop) who worked together to try to reel in the two young pros.

Although they were, as Guerra put it "the best of the rest," they were not able to close the gap on Maloney and House. Maloney, however, was able to catch House at one point. Knowing that the gap was closing, an out of breath Maloney told House to go faster. He may have regretted the suggestion, not know how many matches House still had. But in the end, Maloney grabbed a very satisfying second place with Guerra taking the lead over Gauthier for third. Gauthier finished 4th.

Gauthier’s teammate, Cooper Dendel (Quick Stop Bike Shop) has proven herself many times over this season. She was met with friend and rival, Amber Markey, who made only her third appearance with WORS this weekend, fitting it into her busy schedule of road racing. The prior weekend, she was narrowly beat by Abby Strigel (Honey Stinger/ Bontrager) at the Scarlet Knights Scramble.

This week, in Strigel’s absence, Markey decided to take the lead and push the other ladies into a world of pain. Markey used her road racing fitness to her advantage, since the course is compiled of a plethora of road-like doubletrack. At the previous race, Markey commented that she lost time on Strigel in tight doubletrack and made up in the open areas. The course in Suamico played to her strengths.

Cooper Dendel has a similar racing style to Strigel and is very fast in tight and technical sections. She had less of an opportunity on this course to make up time in single track. She did, however, put up a great performance with Markey as they battled for the lead through the first lap or two.

In the end, Markey was able to grab the win over Dendel. Last year’s winner, Lisa Krayer (Adventure 212/ Specialized) finished third. Recently returning from Colorado where she raced in the Breck Epic, Krayer was pleased with third since she has not had a full recovery from her multi-stage epic.

WORS continues on September 7, in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for Treadfest.

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