Keeping roadies off my tail at the finish. Photo from Superfly.
Having never done the Iceman before I really felt that it was time to give it a shot. The travels from Tucson were long, but time spent with good friends was well worth it. On Friday I opted to do a preride of the full course figuring that it would be better to know what to anticipate on race day. The course was straight-forward and I was thinking optimistically about the forecast. Saturday came quickly and I helped with some shuttling for the early races. Thanks to Jason Lummis of Bells Beer I didn’t have to mess with my bike on race day after cracking the derailleur cage on the Friday preride. With his help I had a loaner installed and ready to go just hours after busting my own. That sort of help really goes a long ways.
I got in a warm up with Iceman veteran Brian and we rode the first couple miles of the trail. His advice that it was all about the first ten minutes proved to right on. The only problem was that I messed up my line about a mile into the race and went from fourth wheel back to twenty-forth wheel in a matter of five seconds. Getting bogged down on a sandy climb before things had stretched out didn’t fit well with the race strategy, but I was determined to keep at it and try to reclaim lost ground. The single file train began to splinter and I wasn’t able to pass guys since I was already at my limit and doing so would have required a big effort.
Eventually I got a rhythm going to finish 17th, but it was a bummer never really being in contention with the leaders. I enjoyed the race and I pushed it 100% so I’m pleased with the result. Next time I’ll come back equally or better prepared and will know just what to expect in those first ten minutes. I can honestly say that it seemed to be the most intense start of any race I’ve done to date. The competition was great.
The ice pellets that fell during the race really completed the Iceman experience. Though it wasn’t a third podium in my third triple crown event of the year, I’ll be able to give it another shot in ‘09. It seems that I brought some (not much really) of the cooler weather back with me. Afternoon highs have been sunny and 70’s since I’ve been back. Change is always appreciated.
I’ll wrap this post up with some pics. -TJ
Superfan!
race-ready. (ok, really it didn’t snow until Sunday)
JB lovin’ the Ice trophy. And for good reason – it’s super cool!
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