Getting ready for the Iceman
Posted: March 2nd, 2010 | Author: admin | Filed under: gfurry | CommentsSo yesterday I signed up for the Iceman Cometh Challenge. November 6th in Northern Michigan. The race starts in Kalkaska, Michigan and finishes twenty eight miles later at Timber in Traverse City, Michigan. The course consists primarily of dirt roads, two-tracks, abandoned railroad beds, and the world famous Vasa Nordic ski trail. It crosses only one paved road as it winds through the breathtaking terrain of the Pere Marquette State Forest. In 2009, Iceman attracted 4,586 competitive cyclists from 38 states.
Doesn’t that sound fun? I was intrigued by the race after getting back into cycling last summer and mountain biking last fall. After watching Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France and the Leadville 100 in Race Across the sky I was ready. I wasn’t quite ready for the Leadville 100, maybe in a couple years. But 28 miles is doable and should be fun. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. Last year it was in the 60’s while I was in Mexico freezing in cold rain with colder temperatures than northern Michigan at the time.
Training begins now. I went for my first real outside ride today. Apparently upgrading your bike with various parts and pieces throughout the winter and thinking about riding doesn’t keep you in shape? Who knew? Anyway I wanted to get out in colder temps to see if I had the right gear for the challenge. The gear was fine, I was not. Even with the addition of a new saddle, carbon bars, grips with bar ends and a fancy cycling computer I still had to pedal my bike. I guess I should have spent more time on the trainer and less time scouring eBay for new bike parts.
Actually the ride wasn’t that hard. I just went for a quick 10 mile loop consisting paved and dirt roads. The temp was in the 30’s but it was sunny and not very windy. I wanted to start out small and have something to use as a benchmark so I can track my progress. The computer tracks all kinds of things including my heart rate. This should be good to test my fitness level as spring and summer progress. I figure I will come up with a 20 and 30 mile loops later to better prepare for the Iceman. Today I rode my mountain bike, normally I would ride my road bike. 30 miles on the road bike is a piece of cake. I will need to get used to the mountain bike for that long. Normally the longest I go is about 14 miles which is two laps of Potato Creek single track mountain bike course. A good fitness challenge but completely different riding style than the IceMan. Usually the trail dictates my speed more than anything. Too fast and you hit a tree. During the Iceman most of the time I will be the limiting factor of my speed. More like road racing.
The bike worked great. Not sure about the new saddle though. It felt just fine at the start but not so much at the end and afterwards. Seems a little wide. Other than that and maybe some different tires I should be good to go equipment wise and I am not even running my new wheels yet.
Here is my info from my computer today. I will compare this with the same course in about a month and see if I have improved. Pretty slow to start but I haven’t really ridden since November so I am not too concerned yet.
