Palos

Helge e-mailed me earlier this week and said that due to a knee injury he wasn't going to take part in the Palos Meltdown mountain bike race held yesterday in beautiful Willow Springs. Said "Yeah, you can use my bike – jack that seatpost up to accommodate those spiderlegs of yours and see what happens." I was planning on going out anyway to support my friends on the team, so I said sure. Thing is, I've never raced offroad before besides cyclocross, and I sure as hell have never ridden fast through singletrack or on big scary rocks, waiting for me to fall and rip my skin to shreds.

I once owned a Specialized HR Pro mountain bike, but I used that thing as a commuter and I'd only taken it off road a handful of times. I sold it back in 2005 back when I was really into the roadie thing. However, as of late, racing off road has taken on a sort of allure - the scene's a bit more low key, most of my friends do it, and I've always lusted after some purple ano.

Yesterday, I woke up at 4:45 AM, got ready and got Allison to drive me over to Helge's place in Humboldt Park. We loaded up his bikes: he was bringing along his Voodoo Limba to ride with the HACT guys in the beginner's race, and his Jamis, which I was riding. A couple cases of the brew came along for the ride, too.

We got to the park, unloaded and we all hung out to watch our guys in the beginner's race. They tore it up – beating out a bunch of dudes on full-suspension MTB and other kinda inappropriate rides, the HACT smoked it on their 'cross bikes. Dave and Naz both took first in their age group, Adrian 2nd, same with Amanda. An awesome showing for the blue and white. Dan got lost and crashed, but was none the worse for wear, albeit coming in a bit later.

After a bit, I was up for my race: two laps of eight miles apiece, all over some serious terrain that I'd never seen before. I was a bit nervous only because I was going in completely blind – not only haven't I ever rolled fast over steep downhill rock patches, but I knew none of the corners or trouble spots. My plan was to follow someone and do what they did, just so long as it didn't involve crashing. That's how I roll, generally, but y'know, the best laid plans don't always come out as intended.

As we took off in the grassy, slow and hilly staging area, I hung out midpack, passing some riders but mostly looking ahead and waiting. We got into the woods and onto the dirt, and once the trail tilted upward, I started really passing riders and got more confident with each pedal stroke. I started bombing some corners, attacked on the uphills and just tried to stay smooth and upright. When I came upon the first of the three ravines, I practiced my dismount skills and ran it, same with any big logs I came across.

As I came around for the second lap, I put in some serious efforts and became a bit braver in the corners and on the rocks. Helge's bike was capable of so much, time for the rider to take advantage. The ravines I ran? I bombed them at speed. Logs? Ran a few, but mostly hopped over without bobbling. Near the end I passed a group of about four riders and worked with a guy from ECM to finish strong. Results were posted and I got a solid 6th (maybe 10th? huh?) in my age group, 31 overall, out of 225. Yeah, I was surprised, too. My first lap was taken in 45 minutes, the second in 40, so my confidence showed.

Is it necessary to say that I'm on the hunt for a mountain bike of my own now?