Thursday, November 17, 2011

Iceman

Well another Iceman has cometh and wenteth. This year was a niceman year and the trail was fast… although I wasn’t. I finally snapped out of my funk the weekend before and got out on the bike which was nice. I car pooled up with Jason Weida from the team and we piled our stuff into his Subaru WRX and headed up Friday morning. Having a Subaru at this event has its advantages as it make parking easier because they are a major sponsor and give people with Subaru’s VIP parking. We headed straight to the finish to preride the end of the course. The weather was beautiful and we had a fun ride. We packed up, checked into the hotel, went to Ice Expo to get our numbers and then went to dinner at the Blue Tractor with some guys from the team and headed to bed. It was a little brisk in the AM but not too bad. After modifying my clothing choice a couple times, we headed to the start. It was hard to get the legs warmed up in 34 deg air, but I did my best and lined up at the start. My ass and arms were shaking so bad the guys next to me told me to stop shaking because it was making him cold!! The gun went off and I couldn’t get clipped in, so I had to hammer to catch the group just to have to slow down to make the first corner. It was a little bit of a mess going when we hit the dirt by the water tower, but everyone made it through cleanly. I tried to grab some wheels, but my legs were already feeling flat and heavy. I rode with Ray Dybowski for a while thinking that I could draft in the flats and be able to hang on the hills. It worked for a while, but soon I found myself in no man’s land. In a single track section about a third of the way through the race, I heard some noise behind me and was soon passed by the Tim Finkel/Simon Bailey freight train. Soon after, I was caught by Collin Snyder from my road team who harassed me and then motored by. The rest of the race was pretty uneventful. Some groups from later waves would catch me and I would grab a wheel where I could. I manage to pedal my way up all the hills at the end. Looking at the time, I started to worry that I wouldn’t make it under 2hrs. When I rolled through the campground the first time, I was at 1:52. I knew that the finish would be slow due to the singletrack and wood chip climb at the end, so I pushed a little harder and rolled through with about 30secs to spare. It wasn’t the Iceman that I wanted it to be earlier in the year, but a day in the woods on your bike is always a good day. We headed back to the start of the pro race, picked-up the car and returned to watch the Pro’s finish. It was good to see everyone at the finish. After the race, we went to the Mom and Pop Racing party and then to the Loading Dock for the Bell’s Party. I’d like to thank Jeff for the invite, the food was awesome. Somebody made some pumpkin cheesecake that was incredible… I had way too much. Looking back at this race… the thing that brings me back year after year is the atmosphere. It is the end of the year, everyone is relaxed and just has fun. It also helps that the race is very well organized. Thanks Steve!!

Congrats to Osgood, JMak, Joe Thomas, Adam Naish, Jay Click, Collin Snyder, Jim Bonnell, Jimmie Colflesh, Tony Bastuk, Mark Olin, Finkel, Dybo, Randy Rodd, and Tom Clark for some awesome results!

No comments: