Race Report: REI Palos Meltdown meets Mexican Transplant

Enrico Fermi developed the world’s first nuclear reactor back in 1942 and recently I got to do my very first mountain bike race of the year on top of its buried remains near Red Gate Woods.


As a transplant to this city from Mexico, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the mountain bike community in the geographically flat Chicago. The REI Palos Meltdown has been the culmination of my positive experience with the area’s organized mountain bike collective.

The Meltdown is a premier mountain bike event organized by the local chapter of the International Mountain Bike Association (“IMBA”), Chicago Area Mountain Bikers (“CAMBr”), which serves as a fundraiser to help build and maintain mountain bike trails in Chicago. The event is catered to all levels of expertise and welcomed more than 600 racers on its 10th edition this past August 7th.


Sine I am considered an advocate for anything that promotes or aids mountain biking in anyway, anywhere in the world, this event was a must for me. It also takes place in my sanctuary for everything mountain biking since my arrival to this part of the world, the Palos Hills Forest Preserve.


In order to make the trip out to the suburbs from the city, I teamed up with my fellow city mountain biker Clayton Van Ekeren.


I happen to be an experienced rider that gravitates towards the more technical and freeride aspect of the sport (with a 40lbs bike to prove it pictured below), while Clayton is a road cyclist turned Mountain Biker who’s first race ever was the Palos Meltdown. The Meltdown proved to be a great time for both of us.


The event activities started on August 6th with a festival in the race grownds that included music, food and high-end mountain bike demos. Lured by the prospect of riding brand new bikes for free, we headed out to test some of the newest and priciest offerings from Specialized and Giant. The day proved like a great way to do a course recon while realizing how much better the newer bikes are over our old clunkers.


Race day was quite the experience. This was by far the biggest start I’ve ever had in my mountain bike career. The course, although I nicknamed it "every good section backwards”, proved to be fun and challenging. The fact that the course was counterclockwise to how the trails are usually ridden, slightly worked in favor of nulling the home field advantage. Regardless, it was great to find new lines in the reverse direction of the familiar trails.


At the finish line we were greeted with free beers and pizza that made my cramped legs feel slightly better. In the end, I was delighted to be able to ride the Palos Hills trails uninterrupted for two hours and to get an awesome picture taken by local rock star photographer Matt Slager. Can’t wait for the 11th edition next year.