Jay Yost and team Wild Card

The Metamora 4x50 is a 200-mile race through the cornfields around Metamora, IL. On August 9, the third running of this event was held and what a ride it was! The course is a 50-mile loop with a noticeable descent and climb at the outset followed by a few rollers and then a fairly flat 35 miles. To complete the 200 each rider must do four laps — although quite a few participants choose a 100- or 150-mile option. This year the 4x50 had a few surprises in store!

On Friday afternoon the organizers and Jim Hanson, our faithful volunteer, started to lay down the navigational arrows only to learn that within a mile of the start a construction crew has just finished resurfacing Coal Bank Road! "Don't worry", they assured us, "we're all done." So, we had to drive here and there on the outskirts of town re-routing the ride! Luckily, the new route, though much hillier, only added about two miles to the total, so we were still reasonably close to the advertised distance. Then, as we approached Roanoke — more resurfacing...

Randy Johnson on his recumbent waiting for the start

At any rate, we were able to avoid the gravelly stretches and made it back to Metamora in time to join the riders for a pasta dinner before spending the evening signing up walk-ins.

The next morning at 5 a.m. at Black Partridge Park the racers began to line up. There were riders from California, Florida, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee and Virginia — and, of course Iowa and Illinois. Three recumbents and two HPVs started along with about 50 road bikes.

Almost as soon as the race started, Bryce Walsh and Larry Ide went down, but the lead group waited for them to get untangled and they all proceeded as a group. I'm not sure who crossed whose wheel, but I heard that Larry had tire tracks up the back of his jersey!

The pack passed the 25-mile checkpoint in a shade over an hour — following Dennis Grelk in his white and green machine, just as we began feeling the first drops of a light rain. Luckily, the rain did not present much of a problem, it increased to a steady drizzle, then let up and by noon it was over and the sky began to clear.

Midwestern scenery

The rest of the day was perfect! The temps stayed in the low 80's and although the wind came up a little after the rain it was not a significant factor. The tall corn and the fact that the course is generally rectangular minimized its effects.

Grelk and his HPV finished well ahead of the field riding the 200 miles in 8 hours and 29 minutes, average speed was 24.75 mph; Ide, Walsh, Larry Fitz, Brian McEwen and recumbent rider John Schlitter had the fastest time for non-HPVs averaging 22.22 and finishing in 9 hours and 27 minutes. Four women finished the 200 this year — a first — with Nancy Guth and Stephanie McCreary riding the course in 11 hours 4 minutes at 18.98 mph. In fact, with the exception of men in the 60-69 age group, all previous records were broken!

Complete results

UltraMidwest thanks all those participants who showed up, we hope you had a good ride and we invite you all to the 24-Hour Challenge over Labor Day!