End of year/CX season report

The past month has been kind of crazy. After the Afterglow, was all the craziness of Christmas. Christopher got way too many toys, I was able to go ride singletrack on Christmas Eve -- so mainly good stuff but very busy.

New Year's Eve & New Year's Day I did the CX races at Indian Lakes Resort. I was able to get out and preride on that Friday. A course that helps if you have a lot of power, which is something I do not have a lot of. On Saturday, the 3/4 race could have gone better. But, it could have gone worse as well. I was 9th out of 23. I then volunteered at a course crossing. I looked ridiculous but I mainly stayed warm and I got to watch the women's and men's elite races at the same time. = )

After I was done volunteering, I got ready to do the Women's 2/3 race. There were seven starters with two breaking derailleurs. I finished 4th and was happy with my racing. After crossing the line, I grabbed my pit bike and immediately hopped in the car to go celebrate Christmas with my mom's side of the family. I arrived late and muddy but was happy to see everyone and eat way too much food.

On New Year's Day, we had a much smaller turnout. There were only 12 starters for the Women's 3/4. I raced really well and took 4th. The only bad part was I mistakenly thought I was in 3rd so it was a bit disappointing to realize I missed the last podium step. However, I got another upgrade point!!! Woo hoo! Granted, not that I think I'm Cat. 2 caliber yet but I'm still pretty excited that I now have 2 points.

Tom & Christopher showed up after my race. I was able to see them, volunteer and watch some of the men's & women's elite races. Only Ellie and I were signed up for the Women's 2/3 race. We were able to just do a parade lap and she was nice enough to let me win. That was very fun. = )

Then, it was off to Madison for Nats. We got there Tuesday. I prerode the course and was in an excellent mood. The morning of the race was just too hectic -- as things can get when you have a five-year-old and spouse with you. I did a lot of stupid things -- such as forgetting to change shoes, or at least clean out my cleats, before the start. I kept unclipping at the start and was almost dead last by the time we hit dirt. I would gain some spots and then either slide out or have a mechanical. I ended up 12th out of 19 finishers/23 starters. Bleah. Since that was the B race, I had hoped to do better.

Friday (Jan. 7) was the 35-39 Nats race. There were some Cat. 3's but an awful lot of Cat. 1 and 2's so I was hoping to race well for me but not expecting to place well. I was 12th out of 16 finishers/18 starters and was mainly pleased with how it went. I seemed to keep being attracted to poles/stakes however and felt a lot like a pinball bouncing around the course. It took me forever to track down the gloves I tossed during the race but I then scored a six-pack of beer. It would have been better if I actually drank beer but that's okay.

Not quite a full week later and we were trekking down to Kentucky for Worlds. I was excited for the opportunity but also not very optimistic. There were barely any other Cat. 3's registered and I came down with some type of stomach bug Wednesday night, spent all day Thursday in bed and went 24 hours without eating. Luckily, I was almost back to 100% by Saturday morning. Since you had to pick up your number the day before your race, I had the opportunity to preride the course on Friday. Lots of frozen ruts in what would have otherwise been a power course. The officials did, unfortunately, take out a technical section that I could ride.

The course stayed frozen for my race. I went back and forth with a couple of girls for most of the race. One got past me but I held the other one off. I did slip on the ice going over the barrier and went down hard on my left knee. Lots of blood on my skin suit and it is still actually sore. I ended up a lap down but was still very happy with how I did. I was 14th out of 17 out of a field filled with pros, speedy girls and an Olympian. A huge thanks to Tom who took off work Friday so we could go and who made sure that I could warm up and get ready for my race. = ) Another huge thanks to Rob Curtis who was in the pit for me in case I needed to switch bikes, cheered and, of course, gave me some awesome wheels to race on.

On the way home we stopped at the "Midwest's Largest McDonald's" which had an indoor tree-house playground. Christopher was a happy boy. We then stopped at another eating establishment before getting back on the highway so I could get a veggie burger and fries.

Last week was spent trying to catch up on various work projects. Sunday, I was able to try out a fat bike at 2Bici. My first time out I couldn't understand what all the hoopla was about. I came back tried the same section on my 29er and realized there were some perks. I went back out on the 15 Salsa Mukluk with the seat dropped more and forward and some air out of the tires. I liked it a lot more the second time around. I think I would definitely need a 13 or, more than likely, the XS 9:Zero:7. Unfortunately, a fat bike is not in the budget. I'm still trying to catch up on work stuff and have barely given much thought to 2012 except for realizing that my CX age will be 40.

Plowing Snow from Trails

 

Photo credit: Tom Cherry, Normal Parks Maintenance Supervisor

Does your community remove the snow from your trails? If so, you are in a lucky minority. Many cyclists who use paved paths will be waiting for the warm weather to thaw the mixture of snow and trampled down ice.

The town of Normal decided, in September, to begin removing the snow from some of the area trails. “We have been receiving a lot of requests from trail users who use the trails in the winter months,” said Garry Little, director of parks and recreation.

Normal has about 13 miles of trail and just began clearing the snow from approximately five miles of the Constitution Trail, Little said. “We did trail counts at various locations to find out which segments of the trails were the most used for recreation and for access to schools,” he said. “Some portions of the trail are used as sidewalks to get to schools – elementary, high school and also Illinois State University – and, also, for people getting to places of employment, either uptown Normal or the University.”

The snow will not be removed from the trails until plowing of the streets has been completed and only during regular work hours, Little said. With a small amount of snow, a sweeper will usually be used. “We already sweep the trail a couple times a week,” he said.

Some other communities that remove snow from all or some of the trails include Cary, Chicago, Decatur, Oswego, Springfield and Urbana. The University of Illinois also removes snow from its paths. Madison County Transit will remove snow from trails in rare instances. “MCT does not remove snow from its bikeways, unless the bikeways are in the immediate area of the Park and Ride lots. Although most of our urban trails are asphalt, some of the rural trails are limestone screenings. Plowing limestone trails would damage or remove the surface of the trails,” managing director Jerry Kane said.

“Residents in the community use the trails for winter recreation and enjoyment that may include walking, running, and cross country skiing. It is important to us to maintain these resources for our residents,” said Katie Hughes of the Cary Park District, which removes the snow on the entire 5.5 miles of trails it maintains. “The type of equipment we use depends on how much is accumulated during a snowfall event. The vehicles and equipment in our fleet that are used to plow include a tractor with a snow blower, a John Deere gator with a plow, a skid steer with a plow, and a truck with a v-plow,” she said.

The Springfield Park District removes the snow from all of the district’s trails “because we still have people that walk on them and ride their bikes on them,” said Jason Graham, assistant superintendent of park maintenance for the Springfield Park District. The trails are wide enough to use a truck with a plow attached and the snow is removed from the trails once the park district in finished removing snow from the district’s parking lots, Graham said.

The Chicago Park District removes snow on trails they manage, such as the Major Taylor Trail and the Lakefront Trail, spokesperson Zvez Kubat said. “We remove the snow as often as possible just because there are so many people that use the Lakefront Trail and other trails,” she said. “We have a lot of runners and cyclists that use that trail year round.” Like many of the other communities that remove snow from trails, how Chicago removes the snow depends on how much snow there is. “For light snow, we attach a broom to one of our lawn mowers,” Kubat said. “If there are a couple of inches, a plow is attached to a smaller truck.”

In 2005, the Northeast Regional office of the Rails to Trails Conservancy did a survey of 100 rail-trails from across the country. Almost half of the trails were asphalt and, of those, only about one-third did snow removal.

Some communities may believe that the cost of removing the snow from trails would be too expensive. But, the cost may not be as prohibitive as you would think, particularly if no additional staff is needed.

Gary Little estimates that it will cost Normal an additional $3,500 a year for the trail snow removal, which includes the “cost for fuel, supplies, maintenance and repair of equipment.” The Friends of the Constitution Trail donated $8,500 for a snow blower attachment for the city’s Bobcat.

LIB urges trail-maintaining agencies to plow at least half of their trails’ width, benefiting both those who want a clear surface and those who prefer the snow (e.g., cross-country skiers). Priority should be given to the most popular trails and to trails lacking bike-friendly road alternatives for transportation.

This article was originally published in the quarterly Winter 2012 issue of  Illinois Bicyclist.