Left Friday morning at 7am with Brian to make the trip around the top of the lake. Arrived in Traverse City with plenty of time to get a good warm up ride in. Saw quite a few familiar faces, one being TJ. He was rocking the pink Ferrous showing that it's OK to wear and or ride pink. Busted out a quick ride with Brian who was hacking and sniffling the entire drive. I was just hoping he didn't get me sick. Dinner was pretty good at Traviso's which has turned out to be the annual pre-dinner spot for half the racers! The place was packed and the wait was long but the food was worth the wait. Finished up some accounting homework before heading to bed for the early start.
Rolled out a little late with Mikey and Heidi leaving little time for a warm up. I had enough time to suite up and spin around the lot a few times before having to jump in the start shoot. My start wasn't the greatest getting caught behind a few people leaving me to chase. Sitting in the 20's was too far back on the first sandy downhill. Of course someone stacks it and causes the first major pileup of the day. I had no where to go but on top of the pile which happened to be a really soft landing. Jump off the pile, run up the hill while trying to pedal the bike to get the chain back on is easier said than done. I didn't loose too much time but enough that left me chasing the front group the rest of the race. Never feeling too good at any particular point in the race left the perception of never really moving fast. Breakfast was a little to much and was sitting like a rock in my stomach. My goal was to finish in under 1:50 and I was watching my watch pretty close to try to stay on track. With 3 miles to go I had about 11 minutes to make my goal so I was freaking a little but still determined. The watch showed 7 minutes with 2 miles to go and a little over 3 minutes with 1 to go. I don't know how I did it but I finished in 1:49:45 just making it!
My race was over but Brian's was still to come as we drove back to Kalkaska for the pro start and met up with Dallas and Sarah to complete the team for the weekend. Brian got a good start grabbing JB's wheel right from the line. After a quick drive back to the finish we waited patiently for them to finish. The crowd's noise signalled us they were close and we watched intently from the finish as Bishop sprinted around the corner for the win. Brian was just off his wheel finishing 6 or so seconds back. Not bad for sounding like he was about to hack up a lung at the start.
Grabbed dinner with some friends after the awards ceremony before heading to the all famous party bus. Brian was pretty close to right when he said you needed a pro license to get on the bus. The who's who of biking was there ripping it up. Not one but both ice trophies ended up on the bus being used as the sweetest shot glass know to man. JHK was playing bartender for a little bit pouring the shots of Jack into the trophy.
The music was bumping and the people were dancing so hard the bus was lucky not to fall over or apart! Brian even did a shot out of the trophy after a little coaxing from the crowd. We bailed before 1 so we could get some sleep before omelets in the morning.
The snow started to fly in the morning leaving us the decision of driving around the top and risking the bridge being closed or driving around the bottom and risking Chicago traffic and a longer drive. We flipped a coin and heading north. White out conditions almost had a turn around but it cleared up and left smooth sailing for the rest of the trip putting us back in Sheboygan in a little over 7 hours. Another Iceman in the books with everyone coming home happy.
I'm leaving tomorrow for the long drive to Jersey in the team car!! USGP should prove to be another great mental and physical test racing the best of the best. The goal is to make it to 2 laps to go before getting pulled which could be hard starting in the back.
1 comment:
good luck!!
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