Thursday, August 28, 2008 9:48 PM CDT
Mountain bikers test skill, stamina on Lake Shelbyville trail
By TONY REID, Staff Writer
SULLIVAN -- Blood-crazed horse flies patrolling rugged trails that twist, plunge and climb sounds likes a passport to a nightmare.
Unless you’re on a mountain bike.
The men and women of the Central Illinois Mountain Bike Association, or CIMBA, are the first to admit they often have just cause to fall down, but they always get up again.
They also occasionally get perforated by bugs and pick up unexpected passengers like spiders whose webs they just blew through, but in the great scheme of things, what matters all this when set against the prospect of transcendent joy?
“A good day mountain biking is a kind of high,” explains association member and costing engineer John Johnson. He stands 6-foot-3, and his 255-pound frame looks like it was sculpted out of Kevlar. He’s also yet to encounter the fly or spider capable of seriously denting his afternoon.
“I would say my best epic trip would be out in Colorado,” says Johnson, 38. “You’re gone on a like a 30-mile trail, and your adrenaline is flowing because it’s downhill and steep, and then there’s that sense of accomplishment climbing a 6 percent grade for 12 miles.”
Central Illinois consistently comes up short in the mountain department, but it does have Camp Camfield, a hilly Army Corps of Engineers “environmental study area” three miles south of Sullivan, fronting the northeast corner of Lake Shelbyville. The association struck a deal with the engineers whereby, in return for careful maintenance on the trails, their membership — and any other mountain bike lover — can ride them.
Here you pedal past swaying prairie grasses and flowers tall enough to hide a Conestoga wagon alongside magnificent stands of old-growth timber. Not all of the insects are obsessed with tapping your plasma, either, as colorful butterflies the size of small birds flap leisurely by under an intense canopy of interwoven leaves. Suddenly, the trail crests a rise and the timber parts like a stage curtain to reveal splendid views of the sun-dappled lake.
Eric Harris, the association president, says mountain biking combines the pleasure of being out in the fresh air on a bicycle along with a healthy dose of adrenaline, depending on how hard you want to push yourself.
“You have better scenery than you would on the open road,” explains Harris, 43. “And you have more of a sensation of speed because the trees and bushes are right there next to you. It’s a lot of fun.”
You can find out any time by riding the trail yourself and those with a little competitive fire burning in their belly might try churning their pedals in an actual race. The association’s Agri-Fab Rough Cut Classic is coming up Sept. 21 with trophies, cash prizes and classes ranging from Sport, the toughest, down to Novice and even one for youth ages 10 to 15 on a special course tailored just for them.
Triumphing in the Sport class will involve hammering through four laps of the 4.2 miles of Camfield trail, a feat designed to have most people’s cardiac systems revving into the red zone. Harris says the more you ride, the more you learn and the better you get. “I know it’s kind of cliched and stupid-sounding, but you really do become kind of one with the bike,” he says. “And then handling it just becomes natural.”
Just what you handle does make a difference, however, and the kind of machines sold as mountain bikes in discount stores won’t last very long out here. A good machine will set you back about $800 to $1,000, and prices rise in a steep grade from there.
Sullivan enthusiast Sally Risley was slicing through Camfield recently on a bike labeled “Top Fuel” (which must be a reference to her) that boasts a carbon fiber frame, disc brakes, full suspension system, 27 speeds and a price tag of $3,500.
She says the bike is a pleasure to ride but, sometimes, the best cycling accessory is good timing.
“I tell beginners to always let other people go before you on the trail,” explains Risley, 32. “Because, if there are spider webs, they are going to clean them out for you.”
Contact Tony Reid at treid@herald-review.com or 421-7977.
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