Gabe Niehoff just missed a podium with 4th place in Expert/Elite single speed against 13 other competitors.  He was followed shortly after by Tom Stolz in 5th place.

http://gizmodo.com/how-to-open-24-beer-bottles-at-once-493106776

I will mostly whine about my pathetic Yankee TT results in this blog report but I guess I deserve the dead last result in my class, 50+ Expert. You see there was this race called Barry-Roubaix and I worked hard on it all winter long, then there was the fact that while we had average snowfall for the winter it was never good for cross country skiing locally. XC skiing is my winter drug, like biking is in the summer. The drug keeps you reasonably fit and also helps keep the winter weight manageable. Even riding the 616 Fatbike occasionally didn’t help me much. Then spring comes and delivers record rain, cold and more winter. I know, I know, everyone was in the same boat, I just got lazy because it wasn’t perfect outside.

So why you ask would I sign up for a Fatbike Beach race in Grand Haven the day before the Yankee TT. Good question. I don’t have an answer for that one. Stupid? I didn’t want to be a sandbagger by dropping down to Clydesdale even though I am one and always will be one. So I went for a Sunday drive. At least it was nice out!

Now, about my other teammates, they continue to impress. Tim Curtis was the top old man on this team today, Jeremy is making waves in the Elite class joining Jeff and giving him a run for his money. Then there is Marnie, another podium. I have lost count now. She has a lot of hardware at home.

Here are the numbers:

Jeremy 5th
Jeff 14th
Marnie 2nd
Tim 1st
Matt 13th
Josh 18th
Shawn 23rd
Rick 26th LAST!
Ernie 10th
Paul 17th
Gabe 4th
Rob 19th
Tenner 22nd
Ralf 33rd
Tom 8th

Team Dog

“Let’s fu*cin’ do this sh*t!”  And with that Jeremy was on his way for the 62 mile portion of the fast and icy Barry-Roubaix followed closely by Shawn Crowley, Ralf Scharnowski and Tim Curtis.
I had been out on the course several times in the weeks leading up to this day.  Only once was I actually able to complete it.  Even when the mercury did rise above 32 it was never long enough to completely thaw the roads.  Often leaving a nice blend of glare ice, frozen tire ruts and crispy, crunchy, slippery, peanut buttery mud.  I (like most roubaixers) had gone back forth trying to decide which bike and which tires to run.  I knew that my skinny, super fast, file tread continentals were definitely not up to the icy challenge.  Which had me leaning towards running my single speed MTB again.  But after a brief ride trying to follow a teammate, my 616 had suffered a rear blow out resulting in a damaged rear wheel (lesson 1, when Jeff Jacobi says “no, let’s try going this way instead” take caution).

 So, 36 hours prior to race day I was at Freewheeler Bike Shop purchasing some new and much more aggressive tires for my cross bike.  They had totally renewed my confidence on the ice covered roads.  Enough so, that I decided to tow the line right to the front of my wave with Josh Hogeterp.  I shared with him my game plan.  Take it easy at the start so I don’t ” blow my wad” before we get to the 3 sisters (wow that sounds really dirty).  Then I would grab his rear wheel and hang on for as long as possible.  Simple enough plan, what could go wrong.  A little fist bump and internal barbaric yelp and we were off.  Rolling along on the nice dry pavement at about 21 MPH.  I sat right on Josh’s wheel with about 5 or 6 riders off the front.  As we took the first left turn towards Yeckley a rider went by on the left.  ”Oh no you didn’t”. I left Josh’s wheel (mistake 1) and leapt right to the front of the group (mistake 2).  Feeling strong now.  ”BRING ON YECKLEY!”  Right turn and the road turns to nice dry, hard packed gravel.  Up the first climb and past some riders from the previous wave.  Okay,  maybe I went out a little too strong.  But I can hang.  Up the next “sister” and the first few riders go around me.  By the time I hit sister #3 my legs start reminding me of my limits “DAMN YOU YECKLEY!”…and there goes Josh.  Okay, well….plan B.  What was plan B?  Oh yeah, stay upright and don’t stop pedaling.  Suddenly ICE.  Oh shit!  I thought they said most of this was gone.  But here it was.  Glare ice.  My butt cheeks clench so tight around my saddle that the Fizik logo now looks like it is embroidered on the back of my shorts.  I slow down a bit….a bit more….tire slip, slow even more.  Past the ice and HAMMER, HAMMER, HAMMER.  This becomes my new “pace”.  I pass riders only to have them pass me on the ice.  This happens for about 10 miles and I finally decide enough is enough.  I have ridden this course in these conditions and I have these sweet new, grippy tires.  Time to sack up Meendering.  So as I approach the next stretch of ice I relax my upper body and simply maintain speed.  It works perfectly!  For about 150 yards, and then I get my tires cross-rutted and shoot off to the left shoulder of the road.  Another rider whom had been holding my wheel slammed into the side of me.  Miraculously, we both stopped upright.  ”That was neat”, I said and off I was.  Now riding even more cautiously than before.  Using every bit of dry road and pavement to my advantage.  The temps never did climb as predicted and instead of the expected mudfest the course remained a mix of fast dry gravel and slick ice.
Overall it was a great race.  Especially the after party complete with Founders beer tent and live music compliments of Sweet J.  The Founders Racing Team had some very strong finishes in both the 36 and 62 mile races.  And we finished in 4th place out over 40 in the 36 mile team competition.  Great job everybody.  And special thanks to Rick, Cathy, Tenner and the many volunteers that continue to make this my favorite race of the season.  I can’t wait to see what lies ahead for my first season with you all.

The 2012 Iceman wasn’t nearly as cold as in year’s past, but lake effect snow started falling through the night, so we awoke to our first glimpse of winter on our way to the starting line. Kalkaska was dry, but somewhere in the middle of the race, the snow started falling. This was the heavy, wet stuff. The ground was covered already from the night before and since it wasn’t quite freezing, the heavy clumps of snow kept falling from the trees as well. Some new single track was introduced to the race course this year, which helped it feel a little more like a mountain bike race (wink, wink). The conditions made these sections VERY greasy, so chains and derailleurs picked up some mud paste and glasses got some spattering too. In the last 10K, the conditions got even worse. Anita’s Hill was a special challenge as always, and if you’re anywhere near cramping by then, legs are screaming after. It doesn’t get much better after that… This is where the steepest and most technical single track on the course begins. More new, greasy, single track before you hear the faint sound of cheering fans and the singular unintelligable finish line announcer’s voice over the loudspeaker. This is where you know you can push the last remaining bit of lactic acid out of your legs and leave it all on course. One last hill to climb and I can hear my chain crunching with every link over the teeth. Entering the barriers, adrenaline takes over as you look for that last right hand turn before sprinting over the line. I turn the corner behind two other racers, buzz one of the rear wheels in front of me and hear the announcer… “That’s right, if you’re not rubbin’ you’re not racing!”.

I’ll spare the normal post-race almost puke details, but I will admit I didn’t even want a beer for about 30 minutes (which is pretty good for me). Ernie was our perrennial campsite host for the Founders feast which ensued very shortly after all the teammates finished. Thanks Ernie! Getting this campsite and wood for the fire is what makes the rest of the day so relaxing and fun. Thanks to all who brought food, too! It’s all part of what makes this team work. As far as the rest of the day goes, I remember getting awards, watching the pros come in, standing by a campfire, eating a lot, being in a hotel suite with an extra sofa (what?! I know, ask Jeff), and some dream about being a backwoods bastard dancing with the devil. Yep, the day really ended with a bang.

Everyone competed very hard this year with many finishing in the top 20 in their divisions. Here’s the list of our Iceman podium climbers for 2012:

Earl Hillaker – 1st Place (Tandem)
Jeff Jacobi/Josh Hogeterp – 2nd Place (Tandem)
Gabe Niehof – 2nd Place (35)

Tim Curtis – 2nd Place (53-54)

Jeremy Karel – 3rd Place (28-29)
Ralf Scharnowski – 3rd Place (Clydesdale 40+)
Shawn Crowley – 4th Place (34)
Marnie Tencate – 4th Place (45-49)
Danielle Shaver – 4th Place (Lady Singlespeeds)
Matt Remelts – 5th Place (37)

I thought last year was impressive with 8 podiums, but we set a new standard this year with 11! By my calculations, the team took home $945. We could be our own sponsor with that!

Special recognition goes to:

“Little Tenner” or Max “Headroom” Tencate. He finished his first Iceman in 2:48:53! Good job, Max! Watch out for this guy.

Founders’ friends Jane Vanhof and Matt Hoffman respectively took 2nd and 3rd respectively in their respective divisions. Very respective! You both rocked it this year!

Considering Iceman and the top results from the year long CPS Series which included Jeremey Karel first place Expert Men 29-under,Tom Stolz 3rd place SS, Tim Curtis 2nd Place Expert 50-59, and Marnie Tencate 2nd place Women’s Expert the team had a great season.

We would like to thank each and every sponsor for a great 2012 and we can’t wait to do it again in 2013.

The Team