Here are the placings for the spring CMO opener in the IN/IL chapter. We are celebrating our 30th year! With the wind blowing and rain threatening, 20 hardy CMOers took on the challenge of a 10 plate long course ride on Friday afternoon/evening with the added fun of no numbers on the clues! So you ride to a circle (they had numbers so you could talk about them with your teammates!) and look at all 10 sets of clues to figure out which set applied to that circle – not as tough as it sounds. Some were obvious rule-outs – if you were on a N/S trail and the clues called for a landmark on the N or S side of the trail that couldn’t be there, and some clues jumped out at you. Stacey & Anthony Mason, and Beth Jerman (Keep Calm & Ride On), figured it all out in just 1:35:55 and found all 10 for first place. In second were Pam Martin and rookie friend Linda Fish in 1:51:33. 3rd were Linda Byer and sister Laura VanMeter (Ichiban Tai) in 2:20:28. Any and Vera Betzelberger (Quest) were 4th in 2:47:24 and Roxie Bank and Danielle Popovich came rolling in with 8 plates, finishing as darkness threatened. Also with 8 plates new individual rider, Tammy Pairitz was 6th. The Martin family (Pterodactyls) and 4 newbies (Allison Wheaton, Nicholas Allphin, James Shull & Elyse Hardin) who tried out this more challenging version of our sport for their first try, were 7th and 8th with 8 and 5 plates respectively. All had fun and enjoyed having the additional “brain” work.
On Saturday, 31 total riders took on a more traditional CMO – with Long and short courses with all the numbers on both sides of the map. First again were Stacey, Anthony, and Beth in 1:30:19, 2nd were Danielle, Svenja Chesna & Roxie (Gypsy Travelers) in 1:45:30. In 3rd place (2:41:18) were Babes of the Woods, Sara Dick & Barb Brettnacher. 4th were the Yoder clan, Denise, Peter, Kimmy Wagoner, Megan, and Aaron Lucas in 2:43:40 – just 2 minutes difference! And just a few minutes more saw John and Kathy Haas (Haas Farm) in 2:48:56 for 5th. Following them in 6th were Ichiban Tai in 3:00:32, and in 3:01:40 were Quest for 7th. Hot on their heels were 8th place Jennifer & Leah Martin plus Alyssa Antisdel (the Pterodactyls) in 3:09:28 and Pam and Heather Goodman in 3:15:35. Newbie Tammy who introduced CMO to Susan and Ella Bannwart found them all in 3:18:07. It should be noted that Pam and Heather started their ride out toting along a baby who they dropped off part way through the ride! The Gunter/Volk Clan, Linda, Karleen, Kaylie and Kyle completed the short course in 1:58:40 to claim 1st Place.
We had a wonderful potluck supper (as usual) and some spirited bidding on items brought for our silent auction. As this was the first ride of the 30th year of CMO in IN and IL we had a presentation of a beautiful cake brought by Sara Dick and some commemorative license plates for original riders, Roxie Bank, Cecelia Wozniak, and John and Kathy Haas who were all at our original ride in 1992 at Kankakee River State Park in IL 30 years ago and who are still active, managing rides and riding today. Cecelia wasn’t able to be here, but will get her plate later this season.
On Sunday 28 riders competed, with 2 Short course teams and 8 Long. Long course riders Pam and Linda blew away the competition and took first in1:16:41, followed closely by Stacey, Anthony and Beth in 1:19:35. Third were the Yoder clan in 1:20:58, proving once again the importance of the second hand on the time clock! 4th were Quest, Vera and Amy, in 1:39:00, 5th were the Babes, Sara and Barb in 1:54:25, and Linda and Laura were 6th in 2:09:50. Haasfarm, with Kristin and Daniella Price joining Kristin’s folks, were 7th in 2:15:48, and another team of newbies Charity and Sarah Hackett plus Heather Morse found 8 plates and got to enjoy the course a little longer! Short course Gunter/Volk clan found all 5 in 1:10:42 and Roxie riding alone found 4 for second place.
If anyone has any special thoughts or memories to share – here’s the place! Thanks to all who came out in less than wonderful weather to get our 30th season off to a good start!