3 hours east on I-90/94 and south on  I-57 and then a little east on I-74 brings Helge, Leyla and myself to Danville, Illinois for the Kickapoo Bash.  Now I have spent my fair share of time in small town America over the past summer but this was a treat.  We were rolling in at breakfast time, so the preferred food choice was not open yet, so the only other place it was. McDonalds, Yum!  I am secretly living off the stuff, so I should not knock it too hard.  Once we walked in we realized the food was not the only treat we had instore for us.  Across from the registers there is a series of shelves that have trophies on them.  Thank you's from the teams they have sponsored and prizes the teams have won.  But there were also trophies there for awards they have won.  Like "Best french fries of Danville 2002."  Seriously?  I mean, at least give it to Miss Hatchet who cooks up fries at the town fair every year of something.  Also, there was the guy who had a sock tan above his calves just below the knee.  Then, not to be racist, and just an observation, but this McDonalds was the first fast food establishment I have been at in years where the entire staff was white.  Also, the walls were adorned with autographed Darrin Fletcher memorabilia.  He played pony league ball at Champaign Urbana and as a 6th round draft pick went and played with the Toronto Blue Jays.  Pretty sweet.  I would be afraid to see how hopping the McDonalds in Danville is on a Friday Night.  Sing it with me, Middle America! Middle America!

 

We get to the race really early.  Which is good.  Allows me to get dressed, poop, register, prep the bike, warm up, sit around and chat all at a leisurely pace.  Talked with Rachel for a while, embarrassedly asked what MARS is and now know that it is just SRAM backwards.  Their jerseys are hot, Twin 6 hooked them up.  They are a great bunch of people, their juniors rocked the Wisconsin road racing business.  Anyway, we get called to the line and I knew I did not want the loose gravel on the left side of the start gate and that it was either the center or the right side.  Someone was already sitting on the center line so I took the right side.  I was up against 12 other guys, this being my first expert/elite race I decided that my goal was top 10.  John Gatto was racing with me on his single speed, I wanted to keep up with him.

 

 

 

On the Gooooooooo, I got the whole shot!  Who would have guessed, definitely not me.  I sat out front through the prairie start section to my amazement.  Then in the single track I let one guy go around and held his wheel.  He was not going as fast as I expected him to through the single track.  He stumbled in one of the open sections and the guy who was riding my tire shouted that he was passing on the right.  So I grabbed his wheel and went around as well.  Through some more single track and I could literally feel the guy behind me.  I wasn't riding any slower than the guy in front of me, but the guy in 3rd was just pushing.  We came up on a water crossing right before a pretty steep rocky and soon wet hill.  The guy in first wasn't paying attention and did not make it far up the hill, and I ran right into him as he got off his bike.  The guy behind me managed to sneak around the mess and we chased him up the hill.  I was sitting in 3rd after that with 4th probably about 45 seconds back.  And that is where I stayed.

 

I rode by myself pretty much the entire time.  At the end of my first lap Leyla was doing the water hand up for Helge and I.  Well, in my fire road sprint, any sort of rational thought process I had was being used towards pushing my bike forward.  Coming up on the line I did not see Layla, but I did see a red and white cooler with a grey Twin Six bottle sitting on top of it, so I threw my bottle and grabbed that one.  Put my head down and pushed the pedals as hard as I could, not hearing Leyla yelling to me about the bottle I grabbed.  All my brain could think about is I was using grey T6 bottles and Helge has a red and white cooler.  It was not until I was half way into my second lap when I took a big gulp of plain water and not a water, hammer gel mix that I realized that I had grabbed the wrong bottle.  I spent the rest of the lap worrying whose bottle I took, then realizing it was one of the Gattos bottles and then hoping Layla put one of mine back in place of it.  It all worked out fine in the end.

 

Generally the race itself was uneventful.  I rode by myself for most of it.  After a while I dropped the guy sitting behind me.  So I started playing catch the ghost.  It is hard to chase down someone you never see.  I did not how fast or hard he was riding, but it was all I had to strive for.  So I raced at a sort of interval pace.  Push it as hard as I could for a while and then hit one of the climbs that I had to walk because they were crazy steep.  Then take a breather after running up the hill, talk about cyclocross practice.  I would come within five minute of second place and 10 minutes from first.  Not too bad.  Generally I spent most of my time just enjoying being on my bike on a perfect day.  There were parts of the trail where you would come around a turn and be riding a ridge right over a lake with a sheer drop to one side.  Or other downhill sections along a ravine that were just twisty enough that made it so you needed to stay on top of your game.  I only made one mistake somewhere in here where i was going down hill and into a quick left turn.  I low sided and ended up with my bike on top of me still clipped in.  I flopped around on the ground like a fish for a little while trying to unclip.  it would have been funny to watch.  With about a quarter lap to go on one of the switchback I noticed someone catching me.  So I got out of the saddle and turned up the throttle.  I knew from ogling his bike that he was running a single speed and so if I pushed it on the flat straight sections he would not have much of a chance.   And so I did and held onto 3rd place.  Not without cramping up right at the end.  And I mean right at the end, standing at the finish line asking Rachel to hold my bike because I was about to fall over.  And I knew that the expert class had a 100% payout, but I had no idea what that meant.  What it meant for me was $65.  That paid my race entry, my fair share of gas and a little food.

 

Course Notes:   The climbs were impossible.  Super super steep.  Running them hurt.  Going in and out of some of the ravines was scary the first time.  But most of them were easy and super fast to pump through.  I did not realize I was going to get practice for 4 cross and downhill racing at a cross country race.  There was this section that was slightly downhill with three sets of jumps.  My BMX days came back, jumping them and pumping down the backside.  It was super fast and super fun.  On my last lap I over shot the second jump of the three and did a nose wheelie for about ten feet.  It was scary.  I have enough time to think to myself; "There it is Ben, here go all your front teeth."  Somehow I rode out of it.  The swooping downhill banked turn section were also amazing.  Overall it was such a fun course. 

 

Such a good time.  Congrats to Helge for taking 4th place in his sport race, besting himself.  Thank you Helge for driving, Leyla for helping me with water, Twin Six for storing my water and Sam for getting the bike ready to race.  It was a dream.   Thanks to Rachel and Leyla for the pictures!