The Last IL Homegrown Race

I was sick. So sick leading up to the last race. I had such mixed feelings on racing.
I just had to show up and finish to keep my 2nd overall in the series. At first I thought we had to do 3 laps for 24 miles. That's a bit rough being sick, but then I found out us ladies were doing 2 laps. I could totally do 2 laps for 16 miles. All I had to do was finish.

So we drove down to the Farmdale Reservoir to finish out the series. For the first time racing in near Peoria all year there were a couple unfamiliar faces at the start line. Which is great, but figures it would be the race where I wasn't going to be that competitive. It was a struggle with myself to hold myself back.

I love the atmosphere at these races. It's just so laid back. It's perfect for me actually. People just wanting to go ride their mountain bikes fast on single track.

We were off. It was a fairly slow start which surprised me. I thought they'd be giving it a little go. I was third on my way into the singletrack when second place ended up dumping it on the sharp left hand turn. I actually rode over both her wheels, though I did choose the wheels over her. She was fine and I hoped her bike was too. I was in second for a bit watching 1st place walk away. I hoped Betsy would come around me and give her a run for her money. I wanted to so bad, but knew it wasn't a good idea knowing how I felt. In hindsight I may have been too cautious, but if you've ever had an asthma attack, it's not worth the risk.

Betsy ended up going around me as we rode over the reservoir/dam thing. I stayed on her wheel for a bit. She opened it up as we got further into the trail and I never saw them again. I passed a few guys, nobody caught me, so it was good.

I forgot just how fun Farmdale is. The trails down there are definitely worth the drive. Not to mention there are multiple trails systems within a short drive of each otehr. I ended up coming in 3rd place. I actually wasn't more than a minute behind Betsy and first place was only a couple minutes ahead. The girl who won, Cat? or Kat? was actually from Utah, very cool to have her racing there.



So, I was 3rd overall in the race, 2nd overall for USA Cycling IL Cat 1 for the year and 2nd overall in the IHGRS. Good times.

Next up is Sheboygan, last official race of the season which happens to be pretty much be my all-time favorite race even though I usually have my worst results there.