Metamora

For some reason that city name reminds me of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.
As if my nerdiness needed to be further confirmed...
Anyway, WORS #2 was this weekend, Rhinelander. As cool as that place is, it's Canada really and Canada is a long way away from a south suburb of Chicago.
Luckily we had an alternative, The Illinois Homegrown Series. Today's race was in Metamora and put on by PAMBA. This was just over a 2 hour drive for us.
We arrived in plenty of time for John to pre-ride. I didn't want to do a whole lap, just get a feel for the entrance/exit really.
So John got back and pretty much told me what I expected. It was 90% singletrack.
Sweet.
First was Zoe's race. Turns out it was a grass race and she was riding her small wheels. John and I had to push her the majority of the race, but that was fine. She still had fun. Even though she did cry.


For finishing she received a water bottle with a full size Snickers bar! Um, jealous!
John and I started at noon. Shortly after Zoe's race I lined up. Women's Open started with the sport men. This made me very anxious. I was relieved when the women asked to start after them.
I was second into the singletrack. I was able to get by the lead girl when she bobbled after the creek crossing. So it was me and Betsy cruising through the singletrack. I know she's a stronger rider than I am, but I also know I'm a good singletrack rider. Still though, I was breathing hard and she wasn't. My hip and back were already starting to hurt, not to mention I had numbness in my leg starting (I'm beginning to think I have some kind of sciatica going on).
The course was awesome. Bench cut singletrack, whoops, bridges, multiple creek crossings, log overs, ravines. GAH! SO.RAD. Betsy got by me when we were spit out on essentially one of the only places on the course not singletrack (there and the start/finish). It was about a mile long and perfect to get some food and drink in ya.
I would say all the sport men we came upon let us by right away, barely having to ask.
I only had one problem with one dude. I'll get to him later.
Moving into the second lap Beverly creeped up on me on the switchback climbs. She is such a strong rider. So is Betsy for that matter. I had settled on my 2nd lap riding my own race, however the hip/back/leg thing was very discouraging. I don't think my result would have changed, but not having any power and just being uncomfortable sort of sucks. To add to that, I had issues with my 2nd gel. It just didn't want to settle in my stomach. Yuck.
My favorite part of the course was the beginning singletrack (all benchcut and downhill and then there was a section with a few log overs. I just love that shit.
I finished 3rd. Beverly had actually passed Betsy to take the win! WOW. How cool to come from that far back and win. Good stuff.
I sat around waiting for John to come in and trying to stretch out when I saw John come in all by himself. I knew he had won! How very cool for him. I think I was more excited than he was.
Afterwards we cleaned up and headed for awards. Ryan was 3rd age, I finished 3rd in women's open and of course John won expert. Cash payouts for both of us. After race entries paid and gas money and food, we were still up over $50.
I hit a tree once while racing. Doris took the brunt of it. Her glass dome and fist are a bit bruised.


I was going to dedicate a paragraph to the sport racer dude I mentioned above- who is the reason I'm sitting here drugged on ibuprofen and an ice pack, but I'm not. I'm super annoyed at his lack of understanding what racing is about, but, I guess, that's racing.

There's a pretty cool photo sequence of John entering one of the creek crossings.
Start here and hit the arrow forward. I'm amused easily, but it is cool.





Next up: WORS #3. Wausau.