Iceman Cometh. Let's get this over with.

Evidence that I finished...2011

After lots of chilly out and backs to Kalkaska testing the Iceman course, races in cold, wet, and windy weather, and a long season of bike racing, I am ready to call it a season. It's not so much that I am tired of riding my bike, but rather the 30 minutes of deciding what I should wear on each ride to stay warm, or warm but not too warm. It is rare that I get the combination just right. I love the days that I can just put on my jersey and shorts and head out the door. Those days are long gone now, and unless I can find a way to get away this winter, it will be a long time until they are back. I am not a cross country skier, so I am not looking forward to snow in any way this winter.

Iceman is but a few days away, and although the start is always too cold for my blood, once we get going it is a fun race. This will be my third year racing and I am hoping for my best race yet. Last year I had a great race...right up until I crashed and landed on my head. I will try to recall the events the best I can...

I was feeling great, probably the best I had felt in any race all year and was making awesome time, and had but a few miles left to go. I was passing a line of people in a narrow section, and my mistake was not calling out along the way that I was passing. A rider moved out to pass and I saw his handlebars hit mine. The thought "Crap, I'm going down" crossed my mind and that is about all I remember from that point on. I was knocked out cold, and Shane Vandekerkoff stopped to help. I came to, and didn't know where I was. I guess I sat there for about 5 minutes with Shane, then got up and took off on my bike.

There are a few images of events that I remember from this point, and one was that at the time I couldn't remember anything about the race previous to that moment. I have to say I was happy when I got on my bike that I saw I was almost done! Nothing like "waking up" at the end of a race. Another moment was passing someone that I had already passed. That freaked me out and clued me in that something not quite right going on. I remember then crossing the finish line and someone asking me if I was ok. I think I answered that I didn't really know what just happened. I didn't really know how bad it was until Gary Chastain came to me after the race and told me Shane had talked to him and said I had a bad crash. I asked Gary if Shane had seen it. Gary looked at me like I was crazy and told me Shane had stopped to help me. Russ then promptly took me to the hospital, and we found that I had a concussion, (no surprise) but was otherwise ok.

Needless to say, I am hoping for a great, crash free race this year. Iceman is one of the biggest races of the year for me, and it is just awesome that so many Pro's come out to race it.  It's a goal for me to race the pro category next year. This year I'll be starting in wave 10, my best wave yet. Updates on my race will be posted automatically to my facebook page, or you can get them texted to you. Hopefully this Iceman is one that is so boring that I don't know what to write about. Good luck to all racing the Iceman this weekend!

Peak to Peak 2012

There was a time, long ago, when a high school friend of mine, Becky, lived on a dairy farm.  One weekend when I spent the night at her house, she warned me that I probably shouldn't come because they had to "pick up rocks" the next day. She gave me the option of just waiting for her while they worked, but I was desperate for money, and I thought-how hard can it be to pick up rocks out of a field? We headed out early the next morning, and as her dad drove a tractor with a trailer behind it, the kids followed, picking up larger rocks from the field and throwing them in. It was hot and windy (picture a dust storm complete with tumbleweeds), and the field was a lot larger than I imagined. I had pictured a large garden, this was larger than several football fields (that's how I remember it anyway). My shoes filled with dirt and I wasn't sure if it was better to keep wearing them or take them off. I changed my mind several times, thoroughly irritating Becky's dad, since I was slowing down the process by messing around with my shoes. By the end of that eternal day I was covered in dirt from head to toe- even my teeth had dirt in them. I earned $5. Becky's dad called it a "good experience" for me, which, of course is "priceless". I didn't think there was any way I could ever get much dirtier than I did that day.

Then there was the Peak to Peak Mountain Bike Race, 2012. The weather was calling for rain early in the week, and it was the kind of forecast that held little hope for change. Sure enough, day of the race was about 40 degrees and about 12:00 the drizzle turned into a solid rain that downpoured at times. My race began at 12:30. I was about to begin my first Elite/Pro race, making a big jump up from Sport last year. This was my 4th year doing P2P, and I wanted to give the Elite class a good try. We huddled around, waiting impatiently for the race to start in the rain. There were issues with the number plates. They were made of cardboard and were disintegrating and falling off of the bikes, so we were told to remember our numbers and shout them as we crossed the line if they fell off.

Finally, the Elite Men and Women lined up, and we were off! Like a rocket, everyone took off. I was a little stunned at that start. I heard gears grinding next to me, and it kind of snapped me out of it and I kicked in, and tried to catch up to the pack. Heading into the golf course, I heard someone come up next to me and it was Johanna Schmidt. I caught up to Amanda Schaap and passed heading into the course. Rain was pelting down, and the course was very slick. I tried my best to take a good line and keep my speed up. Mud was flying onto my face, and it was so hard to see anything. We caught up to Amanda Ryan a few miles in and we rode together for awhile. I was surprised to not see Johanna with us, and assumed she was having more bike problems.

Thanks to Jody Hofstra for the great pictures!

The first real climb of the day came up, the steep single track that is pretty tricky, and I was able to get some distance from Amanda Schaap here. Heading into the next big climb up the back of the ski hill, I went as hard as I could and got some distance from Amanda Ryan. I spotted Erin Vicary not too far ahead of me. My favorite part of the course is the round of roller coaster single track at the top of the ski hill, and it was a whole new trail with it as slick as it was. My bike was thoroughly covered in mud, brakes making a grinding sound the entire time, each pedal stroke an effort. I made it through the single track, dodging a few who went down, and came out on the ski hill. Heading down as fast I could I came through the start/finish area.

Cody Sovis had caught up to me and I tried to catch his wheel, but I couldn't get my bike to shift back up to the big ring. Heading back into the trail, I was amazed to see how much worse it was this time around. The rain was still falling, the wind was picking up, and I still couldn't see. I took my glasses off because they were so dirty, just to have dirt fly right into my eyes. Blinking it away I would ride a bit longer, before I resorted to putting them back on. They promptly gunked right up again and trying to wipe them clean with an equally dirty, wet glove was not helping. Meanwhile, the trail was completely under water, or rutted out with wet, slick mud. I caught up with Erin, who told me she didn't have any brakes and let me go down a hill before her. My mind had to really just focus on pedaling to be able to keep going. I was steadily getting colder and my bike was getting louder, and I wondered how this could keep going on for another lap. Erin caught up to me and passed me, and I headed into the last single track climb and came again onto the climb up the back of the ski hill. Kim Thomas was out on the hill, and let me know that this was to be our final lap. It was the best news I have ever heard and gave me some spark to finish that last climb. I guess many had dropped out of the first lap because their brakes or bikes were failing. I headed into the finish relieved that it was over and happy to have finished. I came in 4th overall that day. Mackenzie Woodring came in 1st, Sue Stephens 2nd, Erin Vicary 3rd, and Amanda Schaap 5th.


The local ski club offered some help by way of having a hose of warm water there, originally intended for cleaning off bikes as a fundraiser. They ended up also cleaning up riders, and I am grateful that I was able to get hosed off before changing. They also did a fantastic job of cleaning my bike. I was so grateful not to have that chore to take care of when I got home! Dry clothes and some hot chili did a lot to warm me up again. It was quite a race, and I can hear Becky's dad  nodding and telling me that it was a "good experience." At least this time I made more than $5.

As always, it was great to see all the racers out there and to catch up with those from around the state. Thanks to P2P for putting on a great race, and to all of the volunteers and spectators who also endured that weather to support a bike race.

Crybaby Classic 2012

I headed up to Harbor Springs Friday night with my daughter Nora and we stayed with my sis-in-law, Victoria Ryba Holt, who lives just down the road from Nubs Nob. Nora got to hang out with her cousins while I rode my bike, so we were both happy. I registered Friday night and enjoyed the spaghetti dinner, which had some really good veggie lasagna and chocolate chip cookies. I could go for some of that lasagna right now....Anyway, Saturday morning I still got up before the sun to start the pre-race rituals. The race had a pretty early start at 9:10. I slipped away before anyone was even awake. Such slackers. :)

It was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining, it was cool but not too cold. There were lots of people from Traverse City racing that day so it was fun to see everyone in the parking lot getting ready for the race. I put my headphones on and warmed up, trying to get rid of some the jitters. Before I knew it, it was time to line up. We had 7 women in the Expert field, and all of them are great riders. I was so nervous to compete against them! No matter what though, racing 3 laps with about 1200 feet of climbing per lap was going to be good for me, right? I also was a part of the team competition, the Kolo TC Gentlemen's Club (I didn't pick the name) so I knew I had to try as hard as I could to at least dominate on one lap. The competition took the best lap time of all the riders on the team. 

The gun went off, and I went as fast as I could out of the gate. I hit the trail and attacked on the first climb, and when I looked back I didn't see anyone. Not quite believing that this could be true, I kept going as hard as I could, sure that the whole group would over take me at any minute. Kati Krikke did find me pretty quickly, and we rode together for awhile. When the Crybaby Climb came up, I knuckled down and made it up, losing Kati for awhile. I got to the single track first, but not before too long I heard Kati behind me. Not too much longer after that I heard the sound of another rider joining us. Whenever we came out into the open, I would go as hard as I could. I was completely freaking out, and in unfamiliar territory to actually be out in front! I was sure that Kati would fly by me at any minute and leave me in the dust. At the top of the hill, right before the chute (a fast, steep downhill singletrack that spills out onto the ski hill), Patty Devost, our third rider, tried to pass. I attacked again and made it to the chute first, which is such a blast to go down. I cruised as fast as I could go through the start/finish area and hit the trail again. I was alone for a minute or two and then Patty caught back up with me. We were together until the Crybaby Climb, where she passed me. My legs couldn't grind up the hill again so she gained some time there and she is also pretty fast on the singletrack. 

I kept up a good pace, but slowed down a lot from the first lap. After I lost sight of Patty I occasionally saw some of the women elite riders going past, but other than that it was the men racing. Knowing I was in a solid second, I just tried to maintain my pace. Knowing that there was another lap ahead was very intimidating at times, and I tried hard to keep focusing on that moment, and not get worked up about what was ahead. 

Going into the third lap, my legs were getting tired, but I told myself that I only had four more miles of climbing, and then it would just be single track after that. Once I got to the single track I told myself I just needed to get to the chute. The closer I got to the chute, the faster I started racing again, happy to know that I had made it and it would soon be over!

I went through the chute one more time, and it was all just down hill from there. At the top of the ski hill I noticed my vision was getting blurry, which kind of freaked me out, but luckily there weren't any obstacles I needed to go around. I made it through the finish and had to stand there a minute and recover before I went anywhere else. 

I finished 2nd in women's Expert, with a time of 2 hours 34 minutes and Kolo TC Gent's Club also won the team competition. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and I enjoyed a beer while soaking up the sun and the satisfaction that I had a great ride that day. Thanks again to Vicky Holt who watched Nora and kept her well entertained while I was pushing the pedals.