Iceman 2011.............

Friday: Travel day, shopping day, expo day, and a quick end of the course pre-ride day!  I was very excited for this year's Bell's Beer Iceman Cometh.  It's the race that wraps up my season but it also brings out so many talented athletes and fans.  There is so much hype that goes along with it.  This race should be on your to do list.  You have to be there and experience it to fully understand why so many racers are drawn there year after year!!

Saturday:  Race day and Bell's Beer Sunset On the Season Party!!  When the World Champion, Catherine Pendrel (Luna Chix), rolls up to the start line, you know that the race is on!  The pro women's field was so stacked this year, it was probably the strongest group to date!  My race went very smooth.  I held on to the lead group for the first 30 min. and then we hit some climbing and my recovery wasn't as quick as theirs and I fell off the back.  I continued to pedal on my own and then caught some elite men racers and was able to work with them for a while.  I got a second wind just after Williamsburg Road (just over half way) and continued to push.  It's been that way for most of the races this year where it takes me almost half of the race to kick in.  I was able to catch a couple pro women with about 9 km's to go and crossed the finish line in 8th!  I was happy with my race and I had fun out there!  The fans were awesome and so motivating!
Results:
CLASS: Pro Women

Place No.   Name            Town         Sta Teamname             Ice     
===== ===== ============ ============== === ==================== ======= 
 1   231 Heather Irimiger   Boulder       CO SUBARU - TREK       1:46:01 
 2   243 Chloe Woodruff     Tucson        AZ BMC MTN DEVELOPMENT  1:46:13 

 3   232 Catharine Pendrel  Kamloops      BC LUNA CHIX            1:47:03 

 4   225 Amanda Carey       Victor        ID KENDA - FELT         1:48:32 

 5   226 Judy Freeman       Brighton      CO KENDA - FELT         1:48:45 

 6   237 Johanna Schmidt    Traverse City MI EINSTEIN RACING      1:50:43 

 7   224 Kelli Emmett       Manitou Spring CO GIANT               1:50:44 

 8   242 Susan Stephens     Essex         ON QUIRING CYCLES       1:51:50 

 9   240 Erica Tingey       Las Vegas     NV WHITE PINE RACING    1:51:57

10   234 Heather Spencer    Pinckney      MI TEAM FAST            1:54:55

11   238 Susan Vigland      Traverse City MI HAGERTY CYCLING      1:55:25

12   235 Mackenzie Woodring Belmont       MI PRIORITY HEALTH      1:56:37

13   223 Lynn Alfs          Birmingham    MI PAINT CREEK BICYCLES 1:56:38

14   246 Marne Smiley       Chicago       IL BOBS RED MILL        1:57:27

15   221 Jamie Galambos     Sylvania      OH MAUMEE VALLLEY WHEEL 2:00:21

16   239 Amanda Ryan        Wixom         MI TEAM GIANT           2:01:19

17   241 Erin Vicary        Walled Lake   MI QUIRING CYCLES       2:02:04

18   230 Patti Kaufmann     Whitefish Bay WI EXPO RACING          2:09:56

19   228 Michelle Peariso   Amherst       WI ADVENTURE 212/SPECIA 2:14:15

20   227 Dana Baurbenn      Shelby Twp    MI WOLVERINE/ACFSTORES. 2:22:34

Sunday:  Jay and I were told about the Vasa Singletrack in Traverse City.  So we thought before heading home we would take full advantage of the warmer November weather and hit the trails!  So glad we did!

Cheers,
Sue