N'Iceman Once again

Here's to wrapping of the official mountain bike season and moving onto 'cross. My hubby and I travelled 8 hours north to Traverse City MI for the Iceman Cometh mountain bike race. It's a 30 mile point to point, on very fast flowy trails. Did I mention fast? the pro men- Geoff Kabush leading the way averaged over 19 miles per hour! Again this year, the weather was unseasonable warm for northern Michigan in early November- upper 30's to start. This race has seen a variety of weather over it's 24 year history. Alan and I pre-rode out and back for a total of 12 miles or so on Friday afternoon. The trail tread was in exceptional condition, considering the amount of rain that came through here in the 3 days previous to the race and continued to mist on us as we rode. After two weekends in a row of 6 hour and 43 minute races, I was wondering how much pop I had left in my legs for a 2 hour "sprint" on a more road-like course through the northern sandy pine forests. I was seeded in wave 3 (out of 55 waves) according to previous results on the course. Me... and 181 men. A total of 3 other women were in waves 1 or 2. Although I know for certain, that there's some faster women in waves behind me. An Espresso Hammer Gel topped me off and at 9:06AM I was off, trying to hold my own in this huge pack.

The course is mostly sandy forest paths, logging roads and trails which drain well. Even the single track off camber sections had traction - perhaps even too much traction- the course was sticky. I rode steady, never made any mistakes, and picked off some of the fast starters, at the same time that faster riders in waves behind me were passing me. The courtesy on the course was commendable. I expected Pat Devost, from the wave behind me to catch me. She's in the age group below me and over the years has been faster than me by just a titch. My goal was to hang on to her, but this is where the legs didn't respond. I didn't have the quads to stand up and climb, and watched her gradually disappear ahead. Still, this is a full-on time trial, and I had to keep pressing. Only 3 women passed me but a first time entrant in my age group would be placed further back in the waves and I would never see her, even though she may be speedy. The last 6 miles of the course contained some significant short steep climbs sapping the last out of my legs, but I managed to pass people here, simply as I tried to keep my tempo. I was rasping and heaving the last of my breath as I came over the flyover and battled 2 men to the finish line. I'd finished so early in the waves that I knew it's be a couple of hours until results would be valid so I headed back to the hotel to shower and eat, then be back in time for awards and the finish of the pro men and women's races. While I was hanging out before the awards, I found my way to the Hammer Factory Team tent. I'd spotted it the day before the race and was looking forward to meeting some of the team. (even though my cycling license team is Hammer, I'm not one of the official Factory team) Unfortunately, I learned that the team wasn't there- but did meet and happily spent some time chatting with Bill Sirl. He's come back to the Midwest Saginaw,MI area, as an event/tech clinic coordinator after some time at the Montana HQ. Long story short- I won my age group-of 21 entrants and was 12th of 377 amateur female times overall. 30/412 women. Not a bad way to end my mountain bike season. The Iceman has a really great party atmosphere. It's perfectly planned for everyone to enjoy their accomplishments and watch the pros hauling @$$. The change to the course this year was a bonus as we were able to see the rider positions about 5 minutes before they reappeared dashing for the finish line. It was a great day, great race, and a great dinner at the Red Mesa Grill to wrap it up. They have a tequila menu longer than the food menu. They've put Michigan cherries to a very good use in an out of this world sour cherry margarita!