This was a fun event, I chose the “open” 50 miler rather than the pro class 25 miler. Title was “open” due to no points were recieved while racing this one as it was a “once only” in the series. Funny, there were a few other pro riders in it who also wanted to do the extended version of a great course.

Age groups were 12-34 and 35-99, I did the younger figuring it would have the most guys that I usally race with in our local pro class. Funny thing at the start was promoters trying trying to stick me in the 35-99 due to my age. (43)

Start was crazy, Chris Gagnon along with Thom Parson(singlespeed) and others just hammered out and after a few minutes we all broke up into a few groups, I followed Thom for while then we relaxed a bit. Two-three minutes later Mark McCormack caught us and it was another all out “keep up” trial for a bit until we let him go, different class along with too early to go crazy.

Thom and i rode together all of first lap and I did not drink even with the camelback on me, started to pay going into lap two so GU 2/0 was consumed to bring back legs. Thom had slowly been riding away when my legs came back and the chase was on, it was at that point also his front sprocket got a little bent. Too bad as he was riding great, the new strength may not have been enough without his mechanical. Took off hard as I knew how fast he can go after a repair, watched McCormack cross the line approaching the finish area.

It was a great win but hope to have a non-mechanichal with Thom in ‘09.

Iceman came & went with little ice or snow dealt out for the racers. It did however offer up a great course especially for the 29er platform. Rolling into Traverse City on Thursday gave us the time to pre-ride and stretch the legs after an 8+ hour drive so we pulled out the Lycra, did some Inchworms & helicopters in the parking lot before hitting the trail in reverse. JB (jeremiah bishop- trek vw) had made the trip with us and quickly made reference to the rolling advantage of the 29er wheels on the course during our ride. The weather was chilly and a bit damp but nothing horrible. Dinners and conversation came and went until we found ourselves at the high school ready to race. Call ups were made which of course got JB a spot up front, but they must have forgotten that the Stork was there because I hung near the back waiting to here my name but it never happened. No big deal they must have known I was there just to have a good time. The count down came and we were off. I couldn’t help but to notice there seemed to be 29ers everywhere especially Superflies & Paragons! (more…)

Iceman is by far my favorite race.  It is the “world championships of the midwest”, the course seems to get faster every year, and the social happenings after the race are second to none.  That being said I was a bit nervous when I headed up north the Thursday before the race.  My legs had felt good and I finally seemed to be putting the pieces together and wanted a good result in the singlespeed class.  I had the rig dialed with a switchblade fork, XDX rear and a shaved down ACX on the front it was fast!  I pre rode most of the course Thursday and Friday, and woke up nice and rested at a very early hour on Saturday.  I rolled into Kalkaska to chilly but not cold temps and a little off and on snow and drizzle, great weather for this sandy course.  I had a decent warm up and got lined up super early to ensure a front row spot.  A little standing around, a little goofing around and the next thing you know we were off.  From the word gooooooo we were flying, Mark Olson took the holeshot and three of us, Brad White, Chad Salla, and myself, got organized and started working to quickly catch him and leave everyone in our wake.  We worked together a bit on one of the hills we ran into traffic and got a gapped Chad.  Since about mile maker 1 I had a bad feeling about the rider doing the lions share of the work, super fit looking and wearing a Successful Living skinsuit I had a sinking feeling it was Brad White who had family close by and was known to show up to Michigan races now and again.  Sure enough it was Brad and I was in trouble.  He got a gap on a short steep hill that we both decided to run and I kept him in sight for a few miles until I popped on a big hill and fell into survival/recovery mode.  I got caught by Chad and we ended up battling almost the entire rest of the race.  I was able to get away on almost every hill but his slightly bigger gear and the motivation of the chase brought him back on the fast flats.  Going up the one of the last big hills I started to cramp let Chad around and let him ride away to a 30 second gap and 2nd place.  I fought my way up the hill managed to get the cramps to go away by riding a bit tentatively before hammered the wood chip hill and the icebreaker in fear of being caught in the last kilometer like last year.  Fortunately no more cramps and a big gap to the fourth placed rider allowed me to sneak across the line in third just in time to get heckled by the world famous Jamie Smith, who happened to be doing the finish line announcing.  I came in under my goal of 1:45 and was happy with my time but really want to come back next year and try to climb a little higher on the podium.  The rest of the day was a ton of fun.  Cheering for the pros, awards ceremony, and of course the Bells after party.  Thank you to everyone for making this a great year and for all the sweet bike stuff!

GBK