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Help send Brian Matter To EURO CROSS CAMP

THE ONLY MIDWEST TRIPLE CROWN WINNER !

Please help send Brian Matter to Euro cross camp for the CX World Championships trainning and qualifying. http://www.b-matter.blogspot.com/ . Brian has a Paypal account link set up on his blogger to help fund his CX racing journey to Europe (brimatter@hotmail.com ). Brian grew up here in MI (Pinckney) and cut his cycling teeth at the Poto. Brian has finished at all the USPG and UCI races here in the states and wants to take his form to Europe.

Brian at the recent Jingle cross in Iowa (check out Brians Blog for race reports and happenings)

Brian at the line of The Boyne Fall race 1999 (Nice stacked field for the Elite start)

ICEMAN 2008 Jason Lummis edition

Lummis report:

The 2008 Iceman was another great event. The weather was perfect and the course fast. The competition was fierce and strong.
I came into this race ready to have fun and ride strong. My parents, brother/sister inlaw and wife/son all came up for the BIG race. Kathy, Zack and I drove up Friday afternoon to meet up with the Simonster, Stewy, Doyle, Randy and Cruise for a preride of the course. It was a really nice and the course was fast. A good relaxing preride was done and off to check into the hotel, then dinner and then a quick Iceman # pickup and back to the hotel for a early night.

Race day : My son Zack likes to get up early, try 5:30am, while my race was at 2:30pm. Z and I hung around till the Omellete Shoppe opened at 7:30 am. We then hung out around the hotel pool till about noon and headed out to Kalkaska so Zack would nap in the van as we drove around for awhile.

Kalkaska--- We parked at the school around 1pm, I dressed and used my steel bike for a warm up bike as it was still sleeting on and off. Stewy calls me as I am heading out (SS)"My FS Anthem shock isn't holding air", (JL) " Man I told you not to bring that FS bike back to MICHIGAN", (SS) " Can I ride your steel Quiring", (JL) " Yeah sure, 1 gear 34/15, and you will be spun out and 23 mph on the flats, Oh yeah and your like 7" shorter than me"........ And then I just kept riding the course backwards to get a warm up. Check the clock ooops, I am going to cut this close. I got back with about 25 minutes to start (sorry Stewy), Scott had to remove the fenders on the bike and adjust the seat height. A quick change into my race gear and to the line in about 3rd or 4th row. I had set my STANS Crow and Raven on my 355 ZTR rims to 25 psi which was perfect for the pre ride and the cousre at hand. I notice the large selection of Road Pro's and Cat 1/2 guys in the field, this is going to be a hard start. GOOOOOOOOO and the choas begins. I get pinched in in the middle, literally fight my way to the outside and start moving up. Since the course is very OPEN, the the use of the weeds and straightening out corners is the best way to get around racers. The fact that if your not moving forward, you WILL be going backwards, is a struggle for most and a battle for all. If the racer if front of you is pedaling then stay on his wheel if he stops for a second and you don't pass him you will be passed by others quickly. In the first 10 minutes there is no sitting in, just to the wall speed, energy and aggression. I hooked onto Joberon as he was blasting thru the field, I bounced a few guys as they tried to get on Joe's wheel but I was there. We came to the single track connector between to sections of 2 track. Problem 1 a rider over extended his abilities and now was gaping us from the lead group. The trail opened up and we where around the slower racer chasing some very fast guys ahead. A few hard pulls by a couple guys (notably Joe's buddy Sven putting a huge pull to bring us back in the race), as we catch the group we hit a sandy uphill where I choose the wrong line and was off the bike chasing again. A few guys came off the lead group as they where 25-30 secs up the trail. John Doyle, Jake R. and I seem to be at the front of the second group most the time, with Doyle animating the pace consistently. I put a few hard efforts in to try and shake things up some, especially on the 2 track to dirt road transitions (WWMSD?). We had a group 0f 6 or so at Williamsburg and we picked up Stu from Canada shortly after the crossing. Stu would get to the front and we would slow down, Doyle would go around him and then repeat. The canadian was thinking he was the strongest, but he was not. The race was coming to an end quickly, I was feeling great. I was at the front as we caught Travis Brown and as we hit the hill with about 6 to go. Chris Peasario put a little effort to pick it up, as he was being annoyed by the canadian. Back together we rolled towards the finish with Doyle at point. I was staying in the front 3 at all times as we hit the final single track and the short steep climb, Sam Shultz was at the top trying to get his chain on. I knew we had been racing for 9th, but now 8th opened up. Doyle stayed on the front and I was on his wheel as the group started to splinter. We filed thru the last single track then up a hill, Doyle in front, me then Chris P., just hanging on. And that was how we finished, we all kicked to the line at 1:30. For my fastest Iceman and another 9th place. The field keeps getting stronger and my placing stays the same. Great Job to My teammates, Anderson rocked it, Erin rocked, JM won it, Joberon worked it, JAJ survived it and Q built it. Big thanks to our sponsors BELLS BREWERY, QUIRING CYCLES, STANS NO TUBES, CRANKBROTHERS, OAKLEY, ABERDEEN BIKE for all the support in our racing en devours.

---JL

Video of the 2nd group rolling towards the front group (Sven is on the front)

Hitting Williamsburg with Doyle and Jack

My son zack and I

( is that Uncle Fester in the background?)

Nana, Zack and Papa (aka Superfans)

ICEMAN 08 Mike Anderson edition 3rd place overall

The Anderson report:

Finish video:



After a lot of anticipation the 2008 iceman is in the books. This race has always been one of my favorites, and I look forward to it every year. I decided to drive over Saturday morning, being our start was at 2:30 in the afternoon. After a solid warmup and a few sprints with the Simonster, i was ready to go. The start was a little chaotic, with the underpowered roadies diving for the front line. I was about 3rd row right next to Sam Shultz. After a couple inside lines on the first couple turns I'm sitting top 5 and feeling comfortable. B-matter said you know your feeling good when the start of Iceman feels slow, I was ready for battle. I continued to follow wheels for the first 5 miles, the lead group was way bigger than last year and had me questioning if we were going fast. After Smith Lake road I took a little dig to test the waters, Bishop reels it back in. Back to following wheels, the group started to shrink one rider at a time. A few miles before Willamsburg Rd. Andy Shultz puts in a little move. The gap got pretty big, about 30 seconds. Simonster didn't like it and called B-matter and me out to chase. No Response. Right before a little technical downhill, I put in a acceleration and string out the group through Willamsburg Rd. Andy came back pretty fast and I was waiting for the counter attack. Nothing. Bishop pulls through and kept it pretty fast, I take a look behind me and see Sam Shultz and the Simonster gaped off, but they clawed back on. Weaknesses are starting to show. We hit the hills, and the legs still fell good. On the climb before Anitas hill, Bishop, Matter, and Marko roll away from the group. I wait for Andy and Colin Cares to jump across, but they do nothing. I jump across and tell Bishop we need to jam on it, we needed to accelerate hard to split the train, but we didn't go hard enough. When I pull through I some how ended up getting a good gap, and come to my first regret of the 2008 Iceman. I had the gap and didn't put in the effort to make it stick, I needed to fly up Anitas Hill, but I stayed within myself and B-matter closed the gap. Back to following wheels. Some how the group is still together, as we come into the last woodchip hill Bishop and B-matter jam on it. Andy Shultz and Colin Cares seperate me from the front of the race, I try to make a pass before the single track, but Colin shuts the door. My second regret of the 2008 Iceman, poor positioning on the last hill. Colin and Andy let the race roll away. When we spill out onto a open section, I make the pass and put down whats left. Round the last turn to see Bishop take the win and B-matter close behind. 3rd place.
Oh so close, this was one of the better races this year and I was happy with how I road, the power was there, the experience was not. Congrats to Brian, he always rides the smartest race, follow his wheel and your guaranteed to be in for a good finish. This was great way to start off with BELLS, I look forward to next season. Thanks everyone at BELLS for accepting me to the BELLs squad.
thanks
Mike

Mike hitting Williamsburg rd.

ICEMAN 08 John Meyers Edition

Iceman 08' Race report.

1st place Expert Men 40-45

This year was my 15th time racing the iceman! Were have all the years gone? The first year was clear back in 92' when Kinetics Systems racer Peter Noverr won.This years race I had hoped to repeat with a win but was feeling a little tired and weak? I was able to get a great start fast thru the first few miles until my front tire slid out on a simple lightly twisty flat section? I remember rolling thru in my warm-up and sliding a little but did not think anything of it. I hit really hard...bike and body! When I got up I could feel my right side but not thinking about anything else but getting back on to start the chase. When I got back to my bike I found that my stem had twisted which required a couple minutes to re-align. It took about 12 miles to pass hundreds of riders and bridge back to the leaders...somehow I was able to keep track of how many had gone by. The last 10 miles or so consisted of the three of us working and trading pulls. When we reached the last mile or so things were slowing down a bit so I decided that remaining in the front and controlling a higher speed was my best option and also not knowing how the new changed finish was going to play out. With about 1k. to go there was on attack by 2nd. place finisher Jeff Wittbrodt. I chased and tagged his rear wheel. He and I surged back and forth thru the sections of single track and I finally was able to punch it past him in the last section of the single track to get back to the front for the win. Just as so as I finished and gave a congrats to Jeff I felt the pain on my right side surging. The evening at the awards and the Sunset party was over the top.... The best part of the weekend was finishing and winning the prized jersey for my son Jozef so he could wear to school on monday for show and tell. He really wanted me to win so he could show off to the class....a very big deal! As I found out later that day from his teacher at confrences that Joe was the hit of the Day. Monday I also went in for X-rays and found out that I have three cracked ribs! Ouch! Was hoping to return to Waterford for the State Cx race in December but that may have to wait a year. A big thank you to Larry Bell, Scott Quiring, Jim Parks ( great time hanging after the race), Kelley Kronberg (Oakley rep.), Robert Kennedy (#1 mechanic), Clif Bar, Stans and all of my Teammates you guys Rock and Roll!.....It's been an awesome year!!!! How many wins? How many podium finishes? How many National titles? I lost track! Looking forward to even bigger things in 09'John.