Illinois Coast 2 Coast - Written Review!!

Never in a million years (I'm only 27), did I think that I would be doing a race from one side of a state...to the other. Sure enough though, there I was, with my hand in the Mississippi River, getting ready to start a 179mi race across Illinois and ending on the north side of Chicago at Lake Michigan. The race was plotted to cover 103mi on bike, 29 by kayak/canoe (caw-new...heyo!), 15 on rollerblades and about 16 running/trekking...but due to a raging thunderstorm and potential injury (death by lightningcould count), we decided to stop with a little over 60mi to go. 

When you train for a race like this, you're expecting it to be difficult. You condition yourself to bike, paddle, rollerblade and run...literally for hours on end so that you can make a quick transition at the checkpoint. What is extremely hard to condition yourself for is nasty weather. It's takes a sick mind (and I'm getting there) to see a storm roll in and say, "Hey I think I'll go run, bike and blade with my rain gear on!!!" That's when Angie looks at me like my head is falling off, and to her credit, it usually is. 

Kristen Karnowski, Heather Kluch and I were the racers, and Angie Wing (my lovely wife) and Tim Wing (my...burly(?) father) took care of all our support needs, suchas moving gear from one checkpoint to another, laying out fresh (Smartwool) socks and food at each of the legs, etc...They performed marvelously despite never having done anything like this before, so a huge thank you was/is/always in order for them. 

We started on our bikes and headed for the Slurp N' Burp in Loran, IL...a short 25mi bike ride...and I'm not kidding...all uphill. 

There may have been a downhill somewhere in that journey, but it felt like were climbing uphill for the entire section. Quick check-in and a reload on energy bars and we were back pedaling to Freeport, IL where we'd start the paddling section. 

To our utter (otter?) surprise, this 20mi leg started with a huge hill! Luckily we were able to get over it and were treated to some flat(ter) roads where we could stay in a faster gear and pick up some time. Wrong turn set us back a couple of minutes, but since it was my fault, I'll blame Heather...

Once in downtown Freeport, we asked some locals coming out of a bar where Tutty's Landing was and shockingly, those locals coming out of the bar actually gave us the correct directions. Mental note though, liquored up locals may actually give incorrect directions to dudes in spandex. Should file that somewhere. Batting a thousand for now though...

The paddle was pretty uneventful. Imagine, well, sitting in a canoe for three hours and doing nothing but paddling. It was on the Pecatonica River that we discovered a few things:

1. Milan Kratka has superhuman speed in a kayak (see related article)
2. Milan Kratka infringed on Fred Flinstones copyrighted vehicle (see above note)
3. There are a lot of poo-ticles floating around in the air near farmland
4. Gallagher (the guy with the mallet and watermelons) drinks beer along the river

We also learned that we should have adjusted Heather's sling-seat before we got into the canoe. We needed to tighten it and move Heather forward so Kristen could stop hitting her, in the head, with her double bladed kayak paddle. That and since Heather was in the middle of the boat and low riding, it made it next to impossible for her reach over the gunwale and paddle, she wasn't able to do much except laugh at my constant witty banter and singing. Heather also suffers from Rhodes Scholar Disease (see Raynaud's Disease) where the blood vessels in her fingers restrict/contract, not letting any blood flow to that extremity. This happens anytime she gets a chill and she's cold...so naturally adventure racing in cold climates is the best option for her. Oh I'm supposed to be being serious? 

After we landed 8mi west of Sumner, IL, we changed clothes, had a quick cup of coffee, threw Heather in the Civic to warm up...we were off to run down those 8mi to Sumner where we'd check in and hop back on the bikes for a quick (notice how I keep saying 'quick') 25mi ride to Rock Cut State Park. Uneventful run, except Kristen was in writhing pain, but pulled through and covered those 8mi in unbelievable time. She's had five knee surgeries and somehow manages to lead us on every bike section of the race! 

Those last 25mi to Rock Cut were by far the hardest. This is where all the exhaustion, fatigue and self-doubt starts to creep in. It's getting dark so navigating is harder because you have to slow down to see the county road signs. You get hypnotized by the red, blinking tail light you're staring at on the back of your teammate's bike...all these things add up for one heck of a craving to stop. Those miles weren't necessarily the hilliest (word?), but it'sopen farmland and you're not able to hide between the trees and dodge the wind. We were battling all the things I mentioned, plus a 20mph headwind (you'd THINK the wind would be at our back travelling W to E) and light rain/hail. It's funny how your body works though. I can remember three separate times at where I wanted to launch myself off the bike, and make the dull, aching pain go away, but you...just...keep...going. 

I've pin-pointed it down to knowing that no matter what happens, that next checkpoint is coming, that there will be a smiling support crew willing to offer you words of encouragement to keep going...sounds small, but it REALLY does make a difference knowing that there will be an end to the misery! Yes, I just plugged our team's motto, for the LOVE of MISERY!

We decided not to continue when we came into the rollerblading transition area. We'd just spent 15min collecting ourselves at the I-173 & I-90 underpass when the rain really started coming down. Kristen had taken a tumble on her bike when she was drafting me and I shifted down too quickly so her shoulder was geeked. It was violently lightning...ing out and the two other teams that had rollerbladed had taken a couple of spills...safety always being number one. The IL Coast 2 Coast race for us...was over! 

Not a single thing to regret though. We covered our ground exceptionally fast and were behind two very experienced 2-person teams and a 3-person relay team (only team to complete moving Coast to Coast!). It wouldn't be an Otter race without worst case scenario weather, so I'm proud of what we did! Can't wait to do it again next year!