12 Years of Iceman Cometh | Mark’s Perspective

12 hours of rain before the race made for an interesting mindset. We love camping at Timber Ridge RV & Recreation Resort for the race, you are right in the action! But in your RV hearing every drop of rain for 8 hours was a little disturbing. LOL That was the first win, I waited to the last minute to decide to still race. “Amy, is it pride if don’t race or pride if I do?” Also, thank you Jon Howell for needing a ride to the start, this was the final straw, need to race!

Typical butterflies on the 40 minute drive to the start. In the rain… Once on the bike to the start line, smiles ear to ear, lets go! Made the rounds saying hi to all the teammates and friends, as we all waited for our wave start. I started in the back of my wave of 100 riders with Jeff Vander Maas. This was new to me and something I wanted to try. I normally like to start near the front. I have been known to hammer too hard in the first 10 miles and thought I would try this… the “ease into it” idea. LOL! The first part of the race was easy and felt pretty good actually. At about 1/3 into the race, I found myself struggling to push. A couple side notes, I haven’t been wearing a heart rate monitor much this year, still not one on in the race. Was my heart rate high, low? I also normally warm up before races and spike the heart a little to let it know its race time. Not this time. I was in better shape then to start feeling fatigue 1/3 in, but I was for sure OFF. I actually started to contemplate pulling the plug if Amy was at the next road crossings. Thankfully, she wasn’t. LOL! I gave pretty a good speech earlier in the year to a rider saying, NEVER QUIT! You will regret it for a long time. I found enough in me to keep peddling as dozens of friends and teammates passed me. I think a few of them enjoyed seeing me at half speed a little too much!! LOL! As I got closer to the finish and the crowds got louder, I couldn’t do anything but smile. This sport and particularly this event is AMAZING! Even the bad days are good if you start and finish!

Changes for 2023: Heart rate strap all year to know how my motor is running. Start near the front- I need the push to hold on. Back to watching the scale, I was going to say closer, but AT ALL! Back to interval training, not just rides. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it regardless, but like anything, it’s better with extra effort!