Iceman 2007

Yeah. . . . .it wasn't quite what I hoped for.

Overall the weekend was a good one. . . . .nice drive up (LONG, but nice), decent hotel, nice pre-ride, fun time hanging out with peeps, blah, blah, blah. BUT, race results weren't what I was hoping for.

The temperature was about 25 degrees when we started (I checked the thermometer on the truck) and it was in the low 50's when we finished. Tough to dress for. SO, first off, I over dressed. That was ok though, I just unzipped the wind vest and let the air hit my sweat soaked jersey and I cooled quickly.

The Iceman is one of those races that attract a variety of skill levels. Starting behind the sport boys meant I was destined to pass a LOT of people. Boys who's skills were sub par, boys who braked for every downhill, every bump that "looked" intimidating, who wobbled from side to side of the trail, who pedaled so slowly uphill I wasn't sure I'd stay upright. . . . .so I got to practice my passing skills a LOT. But that was ok. Sure, it took a lot more effort to ride OFF the trail in the grass/leaves/crappy line than it did to ride the nice trail. . . .but such is life.

My race time was about 2:24. That's approximately 4 minutes better than last year, but the course was in much better condition than last year so I believe every one's times were better.

We started out relatively hard, and I managed to hang with a small pack of girls who were doing a pretty good pace. My heart rate was a little high, but I was fine with that as it wasn't over the top. We picked off boys right and left and suddenly I came across Clair who looked in distress. She had just been taken out by one of the other girls and ended up face planting - OUCH! But she got back in the mix of things, managed to gain her composure and chase down a number of girls, including me to finish 6th in her age class.

Looking back I know I took a small break in terms of effort in the middle of the race. I lost the pack of girls I was riding with in lap traffic and I wasn't able to catch back up which left me riding alone, as I usually do. At one point I looked down at my heart rate and saw it was in the 160's (that's pretty low for me) so I know there was a point I wasn't giving it what I should/could have been giving it. But other than that, I simply wasn't as fast. I rode clean, I managed to put the hammer down the last 30 minutes or so and with an effort just under LT I managed to catch and pass 4 or 5 girls within that time period.

I think not keeping my high end training up as well as I should have after SheVegas hurt me a bit, but I also think the competition was simply better this year. If the winning girl in my age group this year beat the time I set last year (when I won) by almost 20 minutes, I have to believe the caliber of girls racing this year was simply higher.

Anyway, it was a good time, I didn't fall, I managed to catch girls in the end, and I got to pass a LOT of boys, something I won't get to do much of next year. So all is good.

Watching the pro/semipro finish was fun, Brain Matter took it by leaps and bounds. Ned Overend was there and finished 6th I believe. I was very impressed by that. He's almost 60 I believe?? Whatever his age. . . .he's been around a LONG time. It was pretty cool seeing him SKOOL some of the younger pups. And Frankie Andreau raced as well. CK actually got to race with him, since they're in the same age class. The boys saw him prior to the race, but of course everyone thought he was a "discovery wanna be". They had no CLUE it was him. Sweet. CK said it was neat to ride wheel to wheel with him. I wish I was fast like that. Or fast like the winning woman. . . .holy shit. Those pro/semi-pro gals (and guys) are freakin' fast. Kinda makes me wish I started biking BEFORE I hit 30, instead of after. Oh well. I guess ya gotta work with what you have.