Ah the midwest.

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So the mountain bike season has been off to a VERY slow start here in Missouri/Kansas so I haven’t had a whole lot to say about it…but hopefully it will pick up some steam and not be deterred by the weather from here on out. This weekend Heartland Sports Promotions will be hosting Roubidoux Roundup at Corby Park in St. Joseph, MO. From what it says on the website, it will be a fun and fast course with lots of tight, twisting singletrack…so if you’re in the area, come on out! How bout you Savery?Last weekend we trekked out to Wilson Lake, KS for the Midwest Fat Tire Festival that Doug Chambers of Golden Belt Bicycle (Great Bend, KS) hosts every year. The Saturday races included a hill climb in the morning and a short track race in the evening, with a XC course preview group ride in between. I was the only expert gal who showed up for the weekend, so I started the short track on the line with the expert guys with the sport guys lined up behind us. The expert guys quickly left me in their dust, along with a few sport guys, but I was able to make my way back up past those sport guys before they finished their laps and I rolled in last of the expert folks. That night we had a big barbecue dinner and roasted smores and camped out together like it was a collegiate race without the random aggro dude who always showed up. Sunday we had a big breakfast at a cute local joint in Wilson and headed back to the lake for the XC race. Again, no other gals showed up so I was mixed in amongst the guys. The race was pretty uneventful for me…I just cruised along, trying to stay at a race pace even though I wasn’t racing against anyone, and I just enjoyed the trails. Wilson Lake is a really awesome set of trails. I think if you do all the trails it’s about 15 miles. There’s lots of fairly short climbs, fast descents, rocks, sand, grass, trails running right alongside a 50ft dropoff into the lake…really, it has it all. AND there are no trees so you can work on your tan lines. Doug does a fantastic job putting on this race each year-so if you’re a midwesterner, put it on your 2009 race schedule.