I have looked forward to the WEMS race at Levis for the past three years. I have some friends who always come up from St. Louis for it and the trails there are great. This year was fun because I was able to spend some time with my friends, but that was about it.
There was a 50 percent chance of rain the day of the race but the Levis trails can take rain because they are so rocky and sandy. However, they can't take a Wisconsin monsoon. We had just enough time to set up when we arrived in the mosquito craziness before the showers hit Friday night.
For most of the night is was dry and then we woke up to a storm. There was a 2 cup measuring cup on the picnic table that had a half inch of water in it at 6am, by 10am the cup was full. Yet the race went on, despite the fact that there was lighting, winds, and rain strong enough to destroy my e-z up tent. It was just one thing of many that were destroyed this weekend.
Levis is so sandy though that these puddles disappeared within an hour after the rain stopped. So I was determined to race the 50 mile if the race directors would continue with it. There wasn't much common sense going around.
It was miserable. The low sections of trail were hub deep mud puddles full of ruts and roots. After one lap there were no good lines possible in those sections. And because Levis is so sandy, the mud puddles filled the brakes and chains and cables with sand so that I (and everyone else with disc brakes) was effectively braking the entire time. Not many brake pads made it through the day.
That is Eddie's rear brake after 3 laps.
The bluff sections actually were pretty dry, but the heat and humidity made them far from a respite. In the end, I wish the race director would have taken out the trail that was under water. It would have shortened the laps and made it more climbing over all, but it would have saved people a lot of money on bike parts, saved the trail, and probably would have allowed most people to finish their races.
That's sand stuck to my bike, not mud.
Oh well, it was a crazy experience with some good friends. I'm sure we will be back next year for our annual trip to Levis.
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