2013 Illinois Venus de Miles Ride Recap

I've had a truly blissful weekend. Shall we pick up where I left off?

Last night, Jenny came over and we went bike shopping before meeting Alyssa for Pho in Schaumburg. We went to a new place and it was fabulous. We tried spring rolls and I had beef ball and sliced beef loin pho. It was the perfect pre-ride food.

Next, Jenny brought me this shadowbox for my 70.3 Ironman Racine mementos. I think it turned out really nice! I'm going to eventually buy all the official photos, too, but that will be a battle for another day.

Jenny bunked at my house and we got up at 4:45 a.m. to leave the house by 5:15. We made the hour-long drive to Lake Forest and had no issue snagging a great spot. We racked the bikes, picked up our packets and shirts without incident and met up with the Chicago Running Bloggers for a photo.

I also met with my fellow Venus de Miles ambassadors. While I received a comped entry for my involvement with the ride, the opinions are 100 percent all this kid. I did the inaugural Illinois Venus de Miles ride last year and loved it so much that I started working with the organizers to improve upon the event.

Jess, Erin, Alyssa, me, Lauren and Amanda

After photos, we had breakfast at the event - mini muffins, peanut butter, chashew butter, coffee and fruit. If you leave this ride hungry, you did something wrong. We also hit up the bathrooms - this ride has the cleanest port-o-potties you'll find at an event. They're also fully stocked with odds and ends you end up needing at these types of events.

The ride started a few minutes late because Trek was negotiating a trailer near the start line. No biggie, it's a ride, not a race, so I was raring to go. Jenny, Lauren, Erin and I set out for our 60-mile jaunt and found ourselves at the first of four rest stops. The rest stops were catered by Whole Foods and had amazing food. I actually overheard a woman say, "I actually gained weight on this ride last year." True, true. We had a few snacks and hit the road again.

There were a few bumpy patches and certainly a few hills. My Garmin told me I hit 29.4 miles per hour, but the bike computer topped off at more than 30! I didn't even crash ... except for at one of the aid stations. A rider stopped suddenly and I veered off, righted myself, then fell on the other side. Sigh. It's not a ride without a new bruise, I suppose. We also got yelled and honked at near Lake Zurich, which was annoying. I wore my hydration pack, which was nice to have water on demand, as well as a place to stash all the goodies I collected on my ride.

We made it back into Lake Forest College just after 1 p.m. for a total ride time of 4:30. The morning was chilly and I was glad I had arm warmers, but when we got back, it was quite toasty. The finish line this year was a bit strange - we looped around past the bathrooms and there wasn't any fanfair, which is fine, but a bit anticlimactic after 64 miles of pedaling.

However, the post-ride party delivered again this year. We had adult beverages, a catered lunch and ice cream. I had a blueberry basil lemonade that was lovely, along with a lunch of pesto smoked turkey on ciabatta with a side of house-made parmesan potato chips. It hit the spot. We also got facials from beauty school students, which was lovely. I hear there were massages, too, but that they left at 1 p.m., so we just missed out. I was disappointed and drown my sorrows in Luna bars and salty caramel ice cream.

We actually spent a great deal of time visiting vendors, snacking and chatting. Again this year, we were the last people to leave, which was fine by us.

In all, we had a lovely ride even in unseasonably cold weather. We had great food again this year and made the most of the pre- and post-race party and enjoyed every minute. If you're in Illinois, I highly recommend this ladies-only race, which raises money for the Greenhouse Scholars. This fab program sends talented but underprivileged kids to college. Riders have a fundraising minimum and can keep collecting donations until Aug. 31. Come hungry and enjoy the ride!


Time: 4:30:59 for 64 miles

Cost: $79 for early registration with a $75 fundraising minimum (free for me)

Pros: Fully supported ladies-only ride with clean and plentiful bathrooms, great food at the aid stations, fun post-ride party with a catered lunch and cocktails

Cons: Massage people cut out early, there is a fundraising component to entry, it's not timed, if you're into that sort of thing, I liked last year's shirt better

Would I do this again? Yes! I hope to do it every year.