Ice Man

So friday we Cathy, Larry, and Christina stopped by work to pick me up. The truck was loaded to the max and we were off for a 7 hour drive around the big lake. We got into Traverse City and got checked into registration. On the way up we talked about going for a ride to stretch out the legs but it was cold and raining so we decided to sleep instead.
Saturday morning we got up and went for a 50 minute warm-up before breakfast. We got back to the hotel ate the complementary breakfast of waffles, orange juice, and muffins. I went out and rode for another 20 minutes to let that all settle into place. Then it was off to the races. We got to the starting area about just after 9am. This race is different from other point to point races, like Chequamegon, in that they start in waves. I was in the first wave at 9:30am. We took off and I moved to the front. The course was super sandy. Because of the rain and early morning dew the sand was really sticky and would fly off everyone's tires and into my eyes. A couple miles in Cole and two other guys went off the front. I was sitting in the chase group trying to keep them in check. Then I found a sweet line down and hill and attacked. I chased for over a mile and was closing the gap. The two guys seen me coming and attacked, I could tell I was going to blow up if I kept chasing so I sat up and let the chase group pick me up. I was really feeling good then out of no where at mile 11 my stomach starts turning. I sat up again and dropped to the back of the pack. I got my heart rate down and tried to work through this with out having to stop. About a half mile later my body had enough. I was getting sick before I could even stop. I pulled over and unloaded my guts for just over 5 minutes! When that was over I got on the bike and tried to bring it back to speed. I was able to get on with a group and just had to ride it in. I tried going hard but I must have left my legs in that pile of breakfast on the side of the trail. I knew that I would be in trouble if I didn't have some food in me. Clif to the rescue! They came out with this new Clif Bloks these things are incredible!!! You just open the packet and stick the bag in your jersey. I was able to nibble on them throughout the race. These definitely saved me and allowed me to finish!
So yeah, I made it in 7th in my age, 139 overall. I was hopping and felt like I could have done a lot better, but it was fun anyway. Cathy ripped through the course and got to stand 2nd spot at the awards ceremony. She got a sweet Rock Shox Jersey. Larry also rode to a 2nd place finish and Christina turned an impressive 8th in the Pro/Expert women!
It was a lot of fun, first time Michaels Cycles was at the Ice Man and I think we represented pretty well, all four of us on the stage! All the final results are posted here.