3 Favorite Races for 2012

I thought I would talk about my 3 favorite races for 2013, they are in not particular order because all of them made the list for entirely different reasons.

24 Hours of Hanson Hills

(Grayling, MI)

I did this as a 4 person team with Tom Stoner, Bob Stoner, and Aaron Barto.  We competed in the Veteran Mens category for the race in which there where 4 other teams.  I have never done a 24 hour race before so I wasn't sure what I was in for.

The coarse was just a little over 10 miles long per lap made up mostly of single track with some good climbs thrown in.  I used my full suspension Cannondale Scalpel 29er for the race, while everyone else on are team had hardtails.  

We decided to switch riders after every lap and we had are order lined up, it was Aaron, Bob, me then Tom.  The goal for us was to consistently turn in lap times under 1 hour each.  In the beginning of the race Aaron and I average about 46 minute lap times and Tom and Bob around 49-50 minute lap times.  My fastest was my 2nd time our with 44 minutes.  I tried the next 2 times to beat that but I couldn't pull it off.  We had approximately 3 hours of rest between lap times.

Between laps we would talk about our bikes, work on our bikes, eat, talk about life and just hang out.  I was very relaxing and just a lot of fun.  All of us got along really well and were very encouraging of each other.  We kept tabs on the other teams in our group and for the first 6 hours we were all pretty close.  In the 7th hour when the results were posted we were shown to be 1 lap up on the field.

We had an easy up and a tent set up.  All of us had some type of air mattress and sleeping bag in the tent.  The easy up had all of our other supplies that we needed.

As the night approached we got our lights on our bikes and put on a little more clothing than earlier in the day.  At one point during the day I was able to wear a sleeve less jersey, but at night I was wearing long sleeves and a vest.  I did one lap at about 9:30 pm but I was able to get away without really  turning on my lights.  I decided to lay down for a little nap after this lap, I remember being really cold, but I did fall asleep, in fact I couldn't believe that when I did wake up it was almost time for me to get on the bike again.  

My first real night lap came at about 1:16 in the morning.   I remember being cold, so I told Bob that I would probably stay out for 2 laps just to keep warm.  As I came closer to finishing that lap I was thinking to myself that maybe doing 2 laps was not such a good idea.  Well getting back to the staging area after that lap my relief person Tom was still asleep.  Bob told me he didn't bother waking him because he though I was going to do 2 laps.  No problem I just headed out and did the 2nd lap that I intended to do anyway.

After 20 hours we were still in first place by only 1 lap.  We couldn't let up though because the team behind us wasn't letting up either.  It looked like at one point the winner in our division was going to come down to who got the 30th lap in the quickest.  

In the end we ended up squeezing in 31 laps for the win to edge out the 2nd place team with 30.

This race made my top 3 because it was so much fun, the camaraderie was incredible, the promoter, Fun Promotions did an excellent job (free breakfast in the morning and great swag), the coarse was fun, the Scalpel was just a hoot to ride on this coarse, the competition was great and we won!

Potato Creek XC by NIMBA

(North Liberty, IN)

This one made my list for a few reasons.  I just love it when the family comes to my races and we spend time together.  I also like the fact that my 16 year old daughter did this race too and she had a blast doing it.  

Potato Creek is a State Park in Northern Indiana and it's pretty much all twisty flowing single track.  For me the race was 4 laps and about 30 miles.  I raced the Expert Men 40+ Category.

What made this race fun for me was the competition and how I kept by head in the race.  I got caught in a group of 3 riders from the start of the race.  Unfortunately we were the 3rd, 4th, and 5th place riders and I was the fifth place one.  

As we proceeded I could see the 1st and 2nd place guys pulling farther and farther ahead.  The guy leading our pack of 3 was letting them get away.  I was really getting antsy sitting there in 5th place with really no way to pass in the tight single track.  The 4th place guy made an aggressive move and was able to get around the 3rd place guy.  Me, I was not so lucky, I had to buy my time and my opportunity finally came... He fell in a turn and I was able to get around him.

This was short lived though as one of the turns for the coarse was not marked correctly and I went the wrong way, he followed me, but when we turned around he was now in front.  Together we only lost about 20 seconds though.  I was finally able to get around him again as he fell one more time.

I was now in 4th place and for the rest of the race I concentrated on putting more space between me and 5th place and hunting down the leaders.  

I kept a good pace and worked hard for the all of the laps and towards the end of the 4th and final lap my persistence paid off.  I caught the 3rd place rider and past him.

So, this race makes the cut because my family was there, the coarse again was just a lot of fun to ride, the promoter, NIMBA does an excellent job, and because it was my first podium finish as an Expert rider.

Iceman

(Traverse City, MI)

What can I say about the Iceman that I haven't already said (See My Iceman Post).  This made the list because my family makes a mini-vacation out of it and we spend some really good time together.  We stay at Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City and we just have a really fun weekend.

I love this race for the good time we have together as a family and because of how well and how big this race is.  It is just a blast to hit the trails with 4000 other mountain bikers.

2012 Iceman

The 2012 Iceman Cometh Mountain Bike Race in Traverse City Michigan was just a blast.  I had been watching the weather for a couple of weeks and as the event drew closer the weather forecast got worse and worse.  What started out as a race that was going to be in the 50's ended up being a race in the 30's with snow.  That's why they call it the Iceman.

I started in the 7th wave this year due to my time from last year.  My goal was a sub 2 hour Iceman and of coarse to beat my friend Mark Boese.  Mark was coming off his broken elbow injury from earlier this year, and he was coming on strong and getting stronger every day as he trained like a madman with a cause.

Unlike last year, when I couldn't find the keys to my car to drive to Kalkaska to the start, this year went pretty off pretty much without a hitch.

I love this event because my whole family comes with me and we make a long weekend out of it.  We stay at Great Wold Lodge in Traverse City, which the kids love and they actually look forward to the Iceman every year.  I enjoy it because they actually come and cheer Dad on.

My wife drove to Kalkaska (where the race starts) so I could make some last minute preparations and just relax in the car.

The ride from Traverse City to Kalkaska, yes it was snowing.

When we got to Kalkaska it was like in a different climate zone, the sun was out and the skies were blue.  I got ready, aired up the tires on my bike and took a quick spin around the parking lot.  The brakes where squeaking really bad, so I cleaned the rotors with some alcohol and headed to the start line.

The race is very well organized and the start is well planned out in waves.  I had a teammate with me in my wave, Aaron Barto and we had talked about working together as much as we could to help each other with our sub 2 hour goals.  I wasn't able to get as close to the front as I would have liked to but I was dealing with it.

As the race started, we where off through a few roads in downtown Kalkaska until we got to the trail head.  I tried to make my way up through the pack on the roads as best I could to be near the front when we hit the trail.  I actually had a guy yell at me to hold my line on the roads as I tried to jockey to the front.  Really, hold my line in a mountain bike race?  I actually think guys like hearing themselves say that because they believe they are in the movie "American Flyers".

End of the roads just before you hit the trails (That's me with the red vest and white sleeves).

As we proceeded through the roads I looked at Aaron and said lets go, I wanted to be closer to the front as we hit the trail.  I wasn't quite where I wanted to be, but I was ok with it.  Things seem to be moving very well.  Every once in awhile I would glance down at my bike computer and it would say we were going 17 to 20 mph as we hit the first 2 track section.  In my mind I thought this is great if we can keep up this pace a sub 2 hour time is possible.

Somewhere along the line I lost Aaron,  speaking to him later at the finish he said he was starting to feel a little sick at about 20 minutes in.

We hit the first hill on the 2 track and it seem to break up the pack a little bit.  Then came the first section of single track and everyone seem to handle that pretty good, I wasn't really slowed down here.

The real problem came at the new section of single track to by-pass the logging roads that were in terrible shape.  The train actually came to a stand still, my estimate is that I lost about 3 minutes due to this.  I would have thought that with starting in wave 7 I shouldn't have encountered a single track stand still, but I guess there are some fast roadies that have very limited single track skills.  This section of single track is not that tough and it wouldn't have held up any mountain biker that I raced against all season long.

Good thing I pre-rode the coarse the week before with Mark Boese and his son Evan, because a really sandy section of logging road was coming up and I knew if I stayed to the left side, there was this little single track section you could ride and not get caught up in the sand.  I must have passed 15 people here... wahooo!

The rest of the race proceeded well.  I was able to set my own pace, I climbed through Williamsburg Road Hill with out any problems.  Typically my family is here to cheer me on, but not this year.  Over the years I have become to fast for them to catch me at the finish.  So, this year they went right to the finish line at Timber Ridge Resort.

My split time at Williamsburg Road was 1:17:32, not what I had hoped for.  I was hoping for a time closer to 1:05.  Boy, the time flies by quick, and Williamsburg Road is 17 miles in.  I knew that it was going to be tough to go sub 2 hours at this point.  I would have to cover the next 12 miles in less than 43 minutes.  The next 12 miles is also where all the hills are.

Williamsburg Road - 1:17:32

I got to Annita's Hill and couldn't climb it all the way, it was just to soft and congested.  I tried to make up some time after the hill by really jamming on the 2 tracks, but I was running out of real estate.

The last climb before the the finish I ran into another snag, the guy I was right behind was having a hard time with the hill and his chain was skipping, I just knew he was going to stop in front of me and he did.  I didn't have time to change my line so I ended up off the bike too.  I ran to the top of the hill the best I could and jumped back on the bike, time was ticking.

The last bit of single new single track was coming up before the finish and a tandem was just ahead of me.  The though in my head was I needed to be ahead of them before the single track.  I tried to get

New Single Track just before the finish.

there before them but I couldn't pull it off.  To my surprise they handled the tight twisty single track perfectly and didn't hold me up at all.  I passed them in the next little climb and it was clear sailing to the finish.

That's me, just under the Finish Banner.

In the end, I did not meat my sub 2 hour goal, I ended up 2:09:59, not bad considering the coarse was about 2 to 3 miles longer and a lot softer than last year.  I came in 6th place in my division (Men 49), just missing the podium by one place.  The good news is that in the end, I did beat my friend Mark, but not by much, he came in at 2:10:26.

Already thinking about what I could do different in 2013.

I can't say enough about how well this race is run.  If you've never done this race you need too (http://www.iceman.com/), it's the largest single day mountain bike race in the country.  Add it to your bucket list, you won't regret it.