This is by far one of my most favorite races of the year. One of the most challenging too. The challenge is not the nature of the course but instead the late season training, competitive field, and aggressive start. When your season starts in February the months of October and November can be come mentally challenging. Especially when the UP turns to rain and 30's. The Iceman has become a National level race with some of our top riders in the Midwest, America, and in the past the world. The start! Most way say, "You can't win the race in the start but you can loose it." This doesn't stand more true than in this race.
I got to Traverse City early this year. I arrived on the Tuesday prior to the race. I wanted the the week to be a full time bike racer. Train, eat, and rest. I wanted to give myself no excuses when my season ended Saturday afternoon. All planned perfectly but sometimes things you just cannot control. Tuesday I arrived at my condo and unpacked in just enough time to stock up on food and supplies. When I rested my head that night I felt the first sign of the common cold, a soar throat. I woke up Wednesday dry and stuffed. The plan was to do course recon and intervals on Wednesday but between the sideways rain outside and the start of the my cold I made the decision to ride the trainer indoors to help along the recovery process. For the whole day I consumed water, vitaman C, Zicam, and cough drops as if if were my dietary plan. On Thursday the weather got a bit better but the cold did not. I needed to ride and needed recon so I rode from Williamsburg Road to the finish. The course was packed and fast but the better part is felt open on the bike. Friday I woke up more dry and stuff than the day before but the body wasn't too bad. I did my traditional out to 7K and back openers and then it was back to the condo for rest.
The Race
Temps were cool but not too bad. The worse part was the start line waiting for the gun as the chill ate to the bone. As USA cycling does it, the gun went off in an anticlimactic way. Within 30 seconds I had made my way to the front. The very front. Iceman is one of the most aggressive starts I have every taken part in. The battle at the front is ruthless and the first couple of turns and bottlenecks will make or break your race. So I found myself leading it out into the first corner and I was fine with that effort. Down the straight stretch I stayed in front until a few moved around. This happened to be right before the bottleneck and I got shuffled into the middle. The challenge of riding at the front is fighting off the surges you can't see coming from behind. Just as we reached the dirt I was farther back than I fought to be and wanted to be. I had to be 25-30 back. With the single track coming earlier this year I was not in good position.
Into the first critical single track the race was one very large line. I got stuck behind 2 riders that allowed that line to get away and I could not find a free and open spot to make a move to join it. On the first set of two track and I was now digging to attach to the group. I bridged up to the back of the group but had noticed that their was a front group already starting to form and to get away. I missed it! This was about the time I knew my legs were good, my body was fine despite my cold, and my mind was in gear. So to miss my opportunity in the first 10 min of the race was a huge let down. I jumped to the front of the chase group and worked with a few to bring back the lead group but we never could catch them. 2 groups were formed which made the rest of the race quite predictable The front guys were 10-11 strong so they rotated and kept the pace high. We were also 10-11 strong but only a few did the work.
Eventually our group was whittled down a bit as the course had a lot more single track than years prior. This pushed the true roadies out the back. Skill was more important this year. With about 10k remaining I was still feeling good and had high hopes of finishing at the front of the group. The problem was so were the other guys I was with. Tristan made a pretty good move up the final hill before the single track and I went into last in my group. It spit us out into another hill and before I knew it I was disconnected. I pounded each of the last hills dropping 1 guy along the way and finished on my own in 19th.
I had a good day. I couldn't use my cold as excuse. My legs were strong, my body was good, my bike perfect, and my mind in line. In a race that you need a good start I did not have one. Despite my finish outside my race goal I was pleased with my performance. Sometimes we have to look at the overall picture rather than the finish #. The season is long and the effort is hard to dwell on a number. The race is incredibly fun and the atmosphere is like no other. It is tough to be disappointed when you are involved in such an great event.
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