Working, Racing & Race Planning

On Sunday, I did the Wildlife Wild Mountain Bike Race put on by Betsy and the rest of the PAMBA crew at Wildlife Prairie State Park near Peoria. I probably should have taken a weekend off from racing but I really liked the trails the last time I raced there; I knew they had practically doubled the amount of single track; and, I wanted to support Betsy and PAMBA by going to the race.

On Saturday, I helped out with a Bike & Dine in Lockport. I really wanted to just lay around. It's been hectic and I could kind of feel a cold coming on. But, it is hard to turn down an opportunity to get paid to ride my bike.

I had about two hours of pedaling time at an easy enough pace that I took a heck of a lot of photos, rode parts of the I & M Canal Trail that I had not previously rode, found out where the Isle a la Cache Museum is and taught a lady how to shift her bike. So, a tiring day; but, all in all, a good day. While I was pedaling around Lockport, Joliet and Romeoville, Tom & Christopher went on a hike at Teason's Woods, near Palos -- which is what the photo on top is from. I got home before them and chilled out on the couch a bit before getting my stuff ready for the race.

I woke up early and headed down to Peoria. I got there earlier than I expected which let me get in a leisurely lap, finishing right after the beginners started. The trails were fun to ride although I was feeling a little crappy. The course was broken into two parts -- one section of single-track with lots of twisty single-track and lots of fun; although, one or two parts I knew I may have trouble with during the race. Then, out in the open and over to the other sections of single-track that were a little more technical but that I had less issues with. Then, back to the start/finish section and out to the first section of single track again. A lap was somewhere between 7-8 miles. We would be doing three laps so it would be a slightly longer race than usual.

I didn't have any goals really for the race. I wanted to do well but knew that my body was probably more in need of a rest than a race. I started off okay, although not great. I did too many stupid little mistakes during the first lap. I had a sport woman right on my tail and Bev behind her and I have a tendency to ride like an idiot when I know people are right behind me. Bev passed me probably about half-way into the first lap. So, that meant I was dead last again. Very frustrating but oh well. I wanted to, at least, keep the sport lady behind me. I knew the second part of the lap was a little more technical and by the end of the lap I was feeling a little better.

The second lap I came across Rachael sitting on the side of the trail. I asked if she needed me to stop and she said no. I felt bad since she looked miserable. However, I then cleaned one little technical section which was a small victory and the volunteer said another woman was right ahead of me. I knew she was in the sport race and not mine but set a goal to catch her anyway. I passed her during the second part of the lap, a little before the Edge of the World trail.

Third lap, my legs kept feeling like they were going to cramp up. It held off until I crossed the finish line and stopped. Fifth place. I actually got a medal & $15. I also scored a pair of socks. I was definitely glad I went but am so glad and happy (yes, I know that is redundant) that I am not racing this weekend. However, I am taking Christopher on a mini-trip with us spending all day Saturday at Great America so I'm not sure how relaxing that will be.

I'm hoping things will calm down a bit in the immediate future. We had our final 2012 Palos Meltdown meeting yesterday evening. I'm going to try to get a media release done in the near future with some photos, talk about the equipment for trail building/maintenance that CAMBr will be able to get with the funds raised, the tentative 2013 date, etc. (Psst, you may want to keep July 21, 2013 open.) I have a project I have to finish up for LIB and then I'm just hoping to go a little time without any crises.

Race successes & missed goals

This Sunday was the sixth annual Palos Meltdown. I was so tired and out of it for most of the day on Monday. The race, itself, was an absolute huge success. The race has grown steadily most years. In 2010, we had nearly 500 racers. Last year, with rain a good chunk of the day before and a small amount of rain the day of the race, we had almost the exact same number. This year, we had more that actually pre-registered. Both race director Ben Jenkins and CAMBr-Palos president Burak Balkuv mentioned we were going to max out. The first few years of the race, we did actually have a maximum amount of allowed racers per the Cook County Forest Preserve District, so that is what I kept thinking they were referring to. Nope. We had 800 number plates and were terrifyingly close to running out of numbers. More than 750 racers. 750+ racers!!! That means we grew by 50 frigging percent. 

I took the top photo while Cook County president Toni Preckwinkle was speaking, right before the start of the novice race. I found out Friday afternoon she would be attending when Ben asked me to do a press release. I revised the initial release I did and sent it out to more than 180 newspaper, TV and radio media contacts. To tell the truth, I figured it wouldn't get much notice since it was going out on a Friday afternoon. Then, I heard that we had a bunch of TV crews there. = )

(Christopher rockin' the finish of the kids' race)

Saturday morning, I led a small group of ladies on a lap of the race course. I stopped several times to point out things such as keeping your butt back and braking steadily on Bad Ass Hill, etc. We stopped at the first two ravines to scope out lines, get tips and practice going through the ravines. I was beat after the ride but several of the ladies rode the ravines for the first time, which was very cool. Even cooler was when Sandra Samman came over to the LIB tent after her race. She was one of those that rode the ravines for the first time on Saturday morning. She had won the women's novice race. = )

Jacquelyn Felt won the women's sport overall -- after taking a multi-hour licensing exam that morning. She was also at the women's ride -- She is a good rider and already knew how to ride the ravines but I'm hoping the pre-ride helped a little. = ) Annette Stahelin finished 9th overall in sport!!! And, Laurie Chipps was only a few spots behind in 13th.

After the ride, I met up with Anna -- who had gotten lost and missed the start of the ride. I got her pedals on my Ferrous, adjusted the seat height and filled up her water bottle before she went out with Jacquelyn for a ride. Thanks, Jacquelyn!

I grabbed lunch at Tastee-Freez and then helped out with race set up. You can see some of my work with the fencing to the right of the starters. = ) I left right before the rain started coming down.

Sunday morning, I was out of the house at 7 a.m. I got to the race and saw my tent was already set up. = ) I set up my tables, LIB banner, got out brochures, etc. There was food for volunteers. I saw donuts and had a total craving for vegan donuts. I improvised with a pita, grape jelly and sugar. Not a good substitute. I also chowed down on some PB&J's. A little too much chowing down.

I spoke to people about the race, the League of Illinois Bicyclists, mountain biking, ladies rides, etc. I had a some people sign up for LIB's e-newsletter/alerts but no memberships. I changed and thought that I was really tired already. I started warming up and thought that my legs were sore. But, as I finished warming up my legs started coming around. I knew there would be a lot of fast ladies out there and was setting my goal as trying to stay as close to Rachael as possible.

The kids race saw something around 70 kids line up. It was crazy. We should have probably been prepared for that, considering the huge amount of racers. They'll be some changes for next year -- possibly bringing back the shorter lap race to give another option besides the free kids race or the much, much longer novice race. We'll also likely have some way for people to pre-register their kids for the race. I helped cheer Christopher on and then downed a chocolate gel and headed on down to my race. As I rolled down, the expert guys were going off. Crap.

We started and it was bad but I was not last. I even moved up a couple of spots by the end of Turf. But, the food and gel were not sitting great with me and I could tell the long days were not helping my racing ability. On One Day, Betsy was right behind me -- talking to me in a conversational voice while I was breathing heavy. Crap. Betsy and another rider passed me at the start of the climbing at Gravity Cavity. Patty passed me right after climbing up the grass hill. 

(Photo credit: Northwest Mountain Bike)

I realized that now put me in last place. Ugh. And, unfortunately, that is how I finished. I felt like I rode really good technically, for the most part -- including not breaking for the ravines. = ) And, I felt like I rode stronger than I had the year before. But, DFL. Tom came up to me right after the finish and I told him to go away. I soft pedaled a little bit, to lick my wounds and tell myself to HTFU. It kind of worked. I came back, apologized to Tom and heard from Christopher "Mommy, there are people over there that know you." Yep, there were a lot of people there that knew his mommy. It was so great to have people cheering me on throughout the course. = )

I socialized a bit and actually got a medal for third place in my age group. I definitely didn't feel worthy of a medal but it was still great to stand on the podium for my local race and a race I worked hard to help be successful. 

Christopher did more riding that day than he may ever have. He kept wanting to ride down the grass hill, which does not look nearly as steep in this photo.

Final numbers are not in for what CAMBr raised from the event. There were a record number of entries as well as some raffle ticket sales and shirt sales but there were also county permit fees, porta potties, number plates, timing chips, food for volunteers, official fees, etc. Stan said funds will likely be used to buy equipment for trail building and maintenance, such as another motorized wheel barrow and something for berming the trails (I can't remember the exact wording as I spoke with him right before heading out for a ride). Some will also likely be used for lunches for volunteers during trail days.

This Saturday, I'll be leading a Bike & Dine in Lockport, which should be fun. On Sunday, I'll be heading to the Peoria area to race at Wildlife Prairie State Park. Eight-mile loops of mostly single-track, which should also be fun. The best part, though, will likely be the ability to just show up, ride some of the course, warm up and race and let someone else worry about all the other stuff. = )