Dan and I left Friday morning Nov. 6th at 5:15 a.m. for the 9 hour drive to Traverse City, MI. which is located almost straight east of Wausau in lower Michigan. Since Lake Michigan is in the way you have to drive either around the top or bottom of the lake. The route around the top is shorter but still a long drive (approx. 445 miles). The highways we took almost all follow along the lakeshore so it is a scenic drive and I had never been this way before. When you head along MI 35 you can actually see Washington Island and most of Door County which was neat. Once you hit Gladstone, MI you merge onto US 2 which has some very boring stretches of woods, woods, woods, house, woods, tiny town and back to lakeshore. There is a section that is like driving in a desert. There are sand dunes on both sides of the highway. Very different from anything else we saw. Then in the distance you can see the Mackinac Bridge when you are almost to St. Ignace. I've never seen the bridge before but it was very cool to see. BTW....it was the only picture I took on the trip.
After you cross the bridge you are in lower Michigan and we took MI 31 instead of Interstate 75 since it saved some distance and followed the lakeshore. We had to go through some towns which wasn't that bad and we got to see some towns similar to Minocqua or towns in Door County here. It was a very touristy, summer home type area. Especially, Petoskey, where there were a lot of old architecture homes that had all the windows and porches covered because people only use them in the summer and we saw the occasion sign "Condos starting at $499,000." From there it was into orchard country. Apples, cherries and we saw some grapes also. It is a pretty area.
Once we got to the Acme, Traverse City area we started to see more bikes and then the hotel where we could pick up our race packets. Then we drove up the road and checked into our hotel, unpacked and headed out to see the finish line area, and eat some dinner. We opted for the typical AYCE spaghetti feed that a lot of the bike races hold. This one used the money to benefit needy familes so they can get out and enjoy winter sports. Then it was off to bed to get ready for the race.
On Saturday morning we got up and got ready to drive to Kalkaska which is about 17 miles from Traverse City. The race starts there and ends in Traverse City. We got there just before the first wave of riders took off and got to see the Coast Guard helicopter fly over the start. The start order was Expert, Sport, Beginner and then Pro later in the afternoon. There were multiple age groups in each class. There were starts for over two hours spaced 5 minutes apart to get the almost 4000 racers onto the course. My start was at 10:20 a.m.
I was a little nervous having to start in a group of 150 riders. I have seen big groups crash. There are a lot of spinning pedals, riders switching spots trying to improve position, all of which is foolish because you can't win the race in the first two miles.
We got the start and the pace right off the line was a little more than I wanted it to be but I dealt with it the best I could. When we made the first turn and hit the headwind, I got in behind some guys and drafted toward the woods at the edge of town. There were riders of varying ability in all classes since it was up to you to pick what class you raced in. I picked Sport because that is the class I typically race in. It wasn't long and we were cathing Expert riders who had apparently entered well above their ability. When we hit the first section of singletrack it was easy to see that there were plenty in my class who were in above their ability or were "roadies". I could have walked faster. Once we got to the next gravel road section the pace picked up again. I have no idea where I was for most of the race but there were always at least a few spectators it seemed like. When we crossed roads there were usually big groups. There were mile markers every so often so even though I could tell my mileage on my computer it was easy to see upcoming signs. My problems started when there was about 8 miles to go. My legs started to cramp up and my knee really started to hurt. Also to make it worse it was 30 degrees in the morning but the day warmed up into the middle 50's so I was sweating out a lot of fluid. My Under Armor, jersey combo was a little on the warm side by the time I got to 5 miles to go and I had run out of water. Nothing to do but keep pushing. No time for quitting. All the steep heels are within the last 10 miles of the race so I had to walk up several of them along with many others. I got tied up with slow riders in a couple sections of singletrack near the end. When the 1km to go banner showed up it felt really good and it was cool to see my name on the big digital scoreboard when I finished. 123rd out of 150.
123 Steve Strobel Mosinee WI 2:56:55
When I got off my bike my knee hurt so bad it was all I could do to walk. I headed off to find the first aid tent to get an ice pack. The funny thing was I couldn't find it and all the volunteers I asked didn't know either. Something they should work on for next year. I finally found it after walking around in severe pain for quite a while. I tucked the ice into my shorts against my knee and waited for Dan to finish. Then I got on the bus and rode it back to Kalkaska to get my vehicle. The race didn't end up the way I wanted it to so the plan is to head back next year and finish in the time I think I should finish.
We were up early Sunday for the 9 hour trip back. The trip home is always longer than the trip there. I was glad to get home and relax before heading back to work.
NOW WHAT?? The season is over.
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