Tag: racing

Little Apple Gravel Race 50K – Race Report

August 3, 2025 – Manhattan, IL – 50K Open Division

Results: 50K Open – Male: 24th out of 40, no official time listed

Watch data: 30.68 miles – 1:53:20 – 16.2 mph/ave.

I completed my first bike race today! Well, kinda sorta. Although I’ve raced my bike in numerous triathlons, this was my first cycling-only race, a 50K gravel race on a great day. There were 48 registrants in my division – the Open 50K, with many others doing longer distances, some requiring a license that I lack, and after today, have no desire to obtain one. Those people are in a different league.

I arrived early enough to find a good parking spot under a shady tree and picked up my number placard, which goes on the front of your bike. There was a table next to the pick-up area that had some fun trinkets and a sign near some stickers that said something like Team Dog or Team Cat – Choose wisely. I chose Team Dog and stuck the sticker on my number.

Even the dog thinks this might not be a good idea.

Looking fairly fresh just before the start of the race. Somehow, I missed my friend Jim’s call for a pre-ride group photo, but I still had a chance to get in a shot or two with people I had no idea who they were.

The course is billed as 88% gravel and runs through the farm areas of the southern Chicago area. The start is a neutral roll-out, where there’s no racing and is designed to get the group going without any incidents. A little after a mile, the race is on. I saw Jim and another friend, Dan, just before they started their 100K ride. Dan wished me luck and advised me to “stay between the ditches.” As we got rolling and started racing, we came to the first turn and the first section of gravel, and that is when I saw my first crash. The guy went into the turn a little too hot and wiped out. I was surprised to see him at the finish later on, looking good and in one piece. It looked to be a bad wipeout.

The gravel section is hard enough, but the course started heading uphill and into a headwind. It was at this point that I realized the packs of riders ahead would be tough to catch, and I found myself riding pretty much on my own, which I didn’t mind. This section was about five miles long, and I just kept focused on keeping a good cadence and finding the best line, usually the car tire-packed-down area of the gravel road. There were plenty of bike tire tracks to use as a guide as well.

I was finally catching up with some other riders and caught my friends Chris and Kristin, who had started strong, but I was finally able to pull them in. Chris rode on my wheel for a while, but then I pulled away. We were three Chris’s for a mile or two.

I had ridden the course a little over a week ago and remembered which areas to be cautious in. Someone nicknamed a section of very soft gravel the “Devil’s Gravel,” and that section had some white knuckle moments. Around 23 miles into it, I saw a second rider who had just passed me and another rider go down around a corner. His helmeted head hit the ground hard enough for me to gasp, but the gravel was so soft there that it didn’t seem to phase him. I saw him later on as well, and he advised that he was fine.

Right after the guy went down, I chatted up “Matt” and we started working together to get to the finish, and by together I mean, I got on his wheel and tried to hold on. When we finally got to a paved road again, it was I who took the lead and let him hang on for a while, but he was a little faster going up the hills. As we turned onto the final straight to the finish, we both pushed pretty hard, trying to catch the guy ahead of us. Somehow, I finished ahead of Matt, but I’m not sure if he was happy to let me go, knowing that there really wasn’t anyone challenging us from behind, or was out of gas and had no sprint finish left. Well, I gave it my best effort regardless.

Pretty dirty at the finish.

In all, it was a day of riding hard, being cautious, and enjoying a great race for the first time. I may have to do this one again!

2021 Chasing the Sun 5K Race Report

When:  06/03/2021

Where:  New Lenox, Illinois

Distance:  5K

Results:  22:20 – 19th Overall – 12/124 Place Male Overall – 3rd Place M56-60 Age Group

Racing is back!  Not sure I am though.  After a year plus hiatus from racing due to the pandemic, I decided to join three of my coworkers and jump back into racing.  I felt some anxiety about participating in this race, which is the norm for me for any race, but it was mostly due to not really being prepared to race a 5K having done nothing but long and slow distance training for most of this year and last.  But I figured why not jump in and test my fitness a little, so I did.

I had checked the race results from 2019 and saw that I had a pretty good chance to possibly crack the top ten in this little local race, but when I got to the race I could clearly see that the competition was going to be strong.  People want to get back to racing I guess.  When I noticed that Tinley Track & Trail was well represented, I knew that a top ten finish was going to be a challenge.

I arrived and did my usual warm-up, and it didn’t take too long as the temps were in the low 80’s for this Thursday evening in June.  About five minutes prior to the start I took my place in the start area and waited for the gun.  Instead of a gun though, the girl starting the race gave some unclear message about starting the race when she starts the music.  Well, the music started and we where all like “do we go now?”  Someone took off, and the rest of us followed.

My plan was to try to stick with a guy named Rich from the Tinley T&T squad, as he is a little faster than me and would help me pace to my best effort.  Rich has become my main competitor (arch enemy) lately, as he is in my age group and I see him at most of the local races.

The race starts with a little uphill and then flattens off for a while.  When I noticed that I was running at 6:50 pace I tried to dial it back and settle in and also realized that I was once again hitting it too hard out of the gate.  That wasn’t my game plan, but I seem to always go out too fast for the first mile.  I clocked a 6:54 first mile and just shook my head.  Rich was still ahead of me but he was starting to build a little bit of a gap.

I used to have some dumb rules for myself about who not to let beat me in a race.  I need to add mom’s pushing baby strollers to the list, as two of them passed me in the second mile.  To their credit they were fit, but it sucks to get passed by anyone pushing a baby stroller!

The second mile came 7:19 and although that was a decent pace that should have been comfortable, it wasn’t because I had already burned all my matches in that first mile and that pace was being forced upon me.  I had driven the course earlier in the day because I was unfamiliar with it and saw that the last mile had a good drop but the last half-mile would be a climb uphill to the finish.  Once I made the turn onto that hilly portion I was maxed out.  I retook one of the stroller pushing moms but knew others were chasing me down.  I gave it my all but got passed by another runner named Kelly, who I know from the local running club.  But I was just glad to be finishing the last mile in 7:22 and coming in at 22:16, according to my watch.

The awards were quickly posted online and I could see that being third in my age group would not get me a medal for this race that only went two deep for the awards. Rich finished a half-minute ahead of me and I couldn’t quite match the pace at the end of another guy, who beat me by about ten seconds. Oh well, I need to be a little more prepared for next time and just be happy that racing has returned.  19th place out of 281 finishers isn’t so bad.

Summary:  Chasing the Sun 5K is a tough little course with lots of turns and challenging hills at the start and end.  I may keep this one on the calendar.  I kind of like races on weekday evenings.

Chasing the Sun 5K Results