Midwest MTB Racing Report

With a good portion of the upper Midwest waking up to snow today, the sign is on the door the mountain bike season is near the end. This years final report includes a recap from the Iceman Cometh, an inclusive interview with 80+ National Mountain Bike champ, Frederic Schmid, and a quick look at a few fat bike events this year.

Iceman Cometh

Once again the Iceman Cometh attracted many of the top Pros in the country including this years National Champ Stephen Ettiger. As usual, the racing was tight, in particular the men's race where Canadian Geoff Kabush just nipped Todd Wells at the line. Chloe Woodruff put in a fantastic effort battling with Catherine Pendrel before en route to a second place finish in the women's Pro race and sent in a full report:

Another Iceman in the books! After my third attempt, I still haven't figured out how to win this one but I'm happy with my race nonetheless. The forecast leading into the weekend looked ominous--rain preceding the race, rainy race day and, of course, cold temps. In 2011, my first Iceman, it was so nice out that I raced in shorts and jersey. Last year, we woke up race day to a few inches of snow and I bundled up like I was off to an arctic expedition. Seriously, I'm an Arizona girl and I get cold.

Everything shaped up well for Iceman 3.0. TJ also raced, and having him there for support always makes a difference. Since our move to Prescott, AZ this summer our travel times have stretched a bit since we now have to drive (when there's two of us) or shuttle (when solo) to Phoenix Sky Harbor. For this year's race, I booked our tickets through Detroit since, well, they were cheaper. So our flights were bookend-ed (is that a word?) by a two hour drive in Arizona, a four hour drive in Michigan and with a layover in the middle. Everything went smooth. The easiest part of the travel was not having to lug around, pack, or unpack my bike. Brian and Andrea Matter had kept my Scott Scale 700 parked in Sheboygan, WI since Chequamegon. It was there when I flew back to race the WORS Final. And when I abruptly made some travel changes and had to leave WORS immediately after the race, I left my bike with the Matters covered in muck. Sorry Brian. :( Needless to say, it was race-ready and waiting in my hotel room when TJ and I arrived in Traverse City. Thanks Brian!

So Thursday was our travel day and Friday our day to check out the course and conditions. With the help of Sarah Lukas, we shuttled to the Wiliamsburg Rd crossing, which is around 10 miles out from the finish. Unlike years past, the leaves hadn't completely dropped and it was beautiful on the trail. I'm kicking myself for not stopping for pictures right now but I was concerned about taking my gloves off--you know, cold hands! But here's a snapshot I took while sightseeing on Sunday. Now imagine ski trail with a ribbon of singletrack and undulating terrain. Yes.

My preparation for Iceman was a mixed bag this year. After Boulder Cup, I lost a little spark. The stress of the past couple months had finally caught up and I wasn't sleeping and my motivation started waning. TJ and I shifted course a bit. We focused on a couple interval workouts a week. Asides from those short rides and Arizona Cyclocross, I wasn't pedaling much. Instead, I taught my first cyclocross clinic, planned (with my architect-Mom) a small house remodel and rode with the Prescott High School Team. TJ was diving into his work with Arizona Devo and now I feel vicarious excitement about every little thing moving forward on that front. Through it all I remained confident that I still had plenty of residual fitness and that I was ready to give it all on race day.

This year I felt well prepared on the clothing front. Pactimo equipped the Race Club with thermal cyclocross skinsuits--with pockets!! This meant I had a comfy Euro-onesie to wear and I didn't have to stress about whether to wear leg warmers or not. The field had some tough Canadians and 'locals'--Catharine Pendrel, Emily Batty, Amanda Sin, McKenzie Woodring and Sarah Kylander-Johnson. In fact, these ladies all made the early selection in the race. It was especially fun to have Sarah out there as she's always strong and knows better than anyone (except maybe Jenna Reinhart who should race Iceman next year!) how to race these Midwest style point-to-points. The group established a decent tempo on the ski trails and would separate a bit through singletrack. Catharine was the first to start applying pressure on the punchy climbs and our group slowly whittled away. Eventually I escaped with Catharine through some singletrack and then she attacked. From that point on, I was just hanging on.

Being a wheel sucker usually isn't that much fun but when you're trying to hang onto rainbow stripes, it's not quite as bad. Catharine's pace was insidious. She attacked with 35km to go so I had a long time to suffer on her wheel. I wish I could say that I was waiting to make a move... but that move was only going to be dropped. So I hung on. Each climb hurt more than the last but it was exhilarating because no one was behind us and I knew that Catharine was fast and motivated and I was riding on her wheel. It was somewhere around 5km to go that I cracked. It was pretty unspectacular as Catharine didn't even have to attack--I just kind of petered off her wheel. At that point I was in survival mode. I didn't know how far back 3rd place was but I knew getting to the finish would be a challenge. Sure enough, I fought off twinges in my calves all the way to the line and barely made it. If there was an award for most pitiful finish, I would have won it! You have to be happy when you lay it all out there. And thank you Iceman racers for all the noise at the finish line--you make it worth it.

This race meant a lot for another reason. It was my last as a part of the Crankbrothers Race Club. I feel very grateful for the opportunity I had to race for such a cool company and I want to send off a huge thanks to Tim VanGilder, Amanda Schaper, Tim Young and Judy Freeman--I think we made a pretty great team. I'm not sure what next year will look like for me yet but it will undoubtedly include two things that make me happy: pedaling bikes and sharing that with others.

Sending warm thoughts (I'm still cold from Iceman!)

Results

Interview with Frederic Schmid

When I looked at the results from the USA Cycling National Mountain Bike Championships, it was hard not to notice a winner in the 80+ category and the fact someone raced at that age! It is one thing to ride a bike but on a National caliber course the accomplishment is even more astonishing. I saw Frederic Schmid in Mountain Bike Action magazine a month ago and did some googling to find out more about this special rider. I was able to contact Frederic via Facebook as I was most interested in his cycling endeavors. I was able to conduct a email interview with Frederic and have to say is one of the most inspiring people I have communicated with.For those of us who love to ride, we can only hope we are able to ride as long as we aspire. Here is what Frederic had to say.

• You just completed your last mountain bike race of the season. How did it go?
  Last Race: If you mean Huntsville, TX, it went well. Actually I raced both road and MTB at the Huntsman World Senior Games in early October. First on the Hill Climb, Second on all other road events, but won MTB by default. This is a wind down period for me and I don't always do my best, but it's still fun.
• National championship in the 80+ category. Pretty impressive. Any special preparation or approach for Nationals or do you take it like any other race?
  I do ride more intensely and am willing to take slightly more risks for the National Championships, but training is a year-round thing for me.
  
• How many years have you been mountain bike racing? How did you get in to the sport? What have you done to put yourself in this position, stay healthy and motivated to keep racing?
  I've been racing MTB for 16-17 years. It started with my wife buying me a mountain bike for Christmas when I was 61. I started racing a year later at the suggestion of a friend. I was not an "athlete" in the formal sense, but I'd worked outdoors as a surveyor all my adult life. I made it a point to run everywhere I could and do as much lifting and axe-swinging as possible. I really enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables and I've never been a smoker or drinker. So I guess there's no magic there--just the common sense advice all health gurus give us. I've been fortunate enough to win 2 World and 11 National Championships in various cycling disciplines. People have been kind enough to cheer for me and many say my success inspires them to keep riding or racing. All that is very reinforcing. I know I'll have to quit sometime, but I still need to set new challenges for that phase of life. I'd be afraid to quit before I did that..
• Now that the mountain bike racing season has ended what are your plans? Do you race cross?
  Yes, I do race cross. I just took that up last Fall. It's a lot of fun. I love the heckling. I try to do two races a day on weekends to get all the interval practice I can. I won that Nationals in Wisconsin and would like to repeat in Colorado.
• What is a typical season like for you?
  My 2013 schedule has been: Cyclocross Nationals and Worlds in January and February (Wisconsin, Kentucky) Endurance training and Texas MTB in March through May Longer rides and harder intervals--virtually all on the road in June and July MTB Nationals in July (Pennsylvania) Train in Leadville from mid-July through the LT100 (Colorado) about 2 weeks easy riding at home Masters Road Nationals in September (Oregon) One TMBRA race at home with continued MTB training Huntsman World Senior Games in October (Utah) Cyclecross racing and road training in October through then end of the year Do you have a preference on what cycling discipline ? I like all the cycling disciplines I've tried. I guess I'll always be a mountain biker, at heart, because it's an individual sport and I love being in the woods.
• Where is your favorite place to race? How about training or riding?
  I don't know that I can pick a favorite place to train or ride. Texas has an excellent variety of racing conditions and is good training for MTB. Mountainous western states are better for road as they have the long climbs that are rare at home. There are so many beautiful rides in the country and I want to see more of them when I retire from racing. I've been talking about doing the Continental Divide
• Do you ride for a team or individually? Any special sponsors?
  Thanks for asking about my sponsors. There's no official team, but Bicycles Outback, Hammer Nutrition and Pro Gold have all been wonderful to me. Bicycles Outback ( Waco, TX ) in particular has stuck with me for several years. They have good bikes and good mechanics.
• What is the most interesting thing that has happened to you racing?
  My most interesting racing experience was probably winning the Masters World Championship the first year I attended. I was pretty new to racing and it took me most of the next year to realize what a memorable achievement that was. I still wear the rainbow stripes on color and cuffs whenever appropriate.
  
• Do you do any other type of sport or training in the "off season"?
  As you can see, I train and race year round. We drive everywhere hauling a travel trailer so most of my down time is taken a few days at a time while traveling between sites. I usually just do short leg-limberers on the trainer or hike around with my wife on those days. My CTS coach, Kirk Nordgren, is very flexible about scheduling around our travel. I think he'd like me to race a little less, but I feel my time is short and we enjoy the travel.
• Any final advice for riders maintaining health into the later years?
  1. Pick your parents well for good genetics
  2. Take care of yourself; don't assume you can go back to eating right, etc., at some late date and have the same result.
  3. Stay physically active all through life. Find some activity you really enjoy that you can work into your daily life.
  4. Be happy; it makes you healthy.

Looking Ahead

With the mountain bike season mostly in the books, many riders have already made the transition to the fat bike season. The upper Midwest most likely boasts the largest fat bike scene in the country, evident by the incredible amount of events on the calendar. We will be doing a full fat bike report before the year's end but the Great Lakes Fat Bike series includes most of the big events in the Midwest which includes the World Championships during the Noquemegon weekend.

Final dirt

Thanks again to everyone who helped make it another great season in the dirt. The growth of the high school scene is most encouraging and the overall healthy nature of the sport keeps the motivation factor high. Have a great winter, think snow and...

Keep the wheels moving!

About the author... Jay Richards maintains a very active lifestyle. He somehow finds time between managing a full-time resort (Maplelag) and bringing up a family of four boys with his wife Jonell, to compete in both mountain bike and a few cross-country ski races. Jay rides for Maplelag Resort, manages the Maplelag/Paramount mountain bike team and enters his 23rd year of racing and promoting mountain bike races.