Willits at the Excruciation Exam
Ah, only in Texas would a group of individuals go out the first weekend after the holidays and subject themselves to a 6+ hour race through the Lost Pines area east of Austin in weather that can’t be determined until the gun goes off. The race consists of a full lap at the Warda race course (a favorite NORBA XC course), an hour or so on some seriously hilly roads, a long lap at Rocky Hill Ranch (the other favorite NORBA XC course), back on those very same roads, and then guess what, another lap at the Warda course. This is 87 miles of pain even on a nice day.
In the true spirit of the race formerly titled the Torture Test, the weather was cold and rainy. Despite the fact that the race was renamed the Excruciation Exam this year, the racers riding Willits Brand bikes killed it, like they always do. Congratulations to Stewart Stafford, Shontelle Gauthier and Sandra Musgrave for their fine results (2nd, 2nd and 4th respectively). Nice work. I bet the titanium cleaned up nice!