Icup Race Series: 5 Mile Pass

With SNOW and rain all week, the weather gave no reason to think that the race on Sat would be anything but a muddy mess. Looking out towards 5 Mile Pass on the way to the race there was blackness hovering over the west desert. Driving into the storm it started to rain then sleet then snow. This did not bode well for race conditions or moral.

Then there was a Christmas miracle. One mile from the race site we came out the other side of the darkness and there was a bubble of dry, even sunny conditions surrounding the race course. Bizarre.

The race was long for an Icup race with experts doing 33 miles and pros doing 44. The guy who bested me down at Cholla was in the field so the plan was to race with him and then try to make a move on the final lap. We worked together on the first two laps and as I accelerated on the final lap I started to feel that unwelcome twinging in the legs and knew I was on the verge of cramping up, bad. I went hard for about 15 minutes and built a comfortable gap. I spent the rest of the final lap trying to maintain power while willing away the cramping. I couldn't stand up or my legs would completely seize up. I managed to finish out the lap protecting a two minute gap and finishing first.

Trevor (ol' White Sleeves) had a great race finishing 5th in the pro class. We are now looking forward to next Sat where we will be competing as a duo team in the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde in Colorado. We'll be tag-teaming a 16 mile course for 12 hours. Each lap should take a bit over an hour so we are hoping to rip 5 each and win the duo category.