Monday, October 08, 2012

Iron Cross 2012

Just wanted to thank MBM for the awesome aid station and the opportunity to ride yesterday. I had a great experience and had an awesome adventure. Bird and Fults were awesome to ride with and with no mechanicals and no major blowups we were able to finish. It was great to meet Hans and see Dr. Dave recover from his mechanicals to finish strong.
Thanks again!!!!

9 comments:

Bird Man said...

Much thanks to everyone who volunteered and for the free entry into an Epic event that I probably would have never done otherwise. Ralph & Brian made what could have been a real sufferfest into pretty enjoyable day where some great memories were made. Seeing Dave with a broken chain twice,and the many racers with flats reminded me the wrath of Michaux was in full affect. We started at the back of the pack and it took us until mile 8 or 9 until we caught up with Hans. We didn't get to ride much with Hans, but we did see him a few times from then until Wigwam, Wilson must have went by in blur!

Memorable moments from ICX

Seeing lots of friends out on course, especially the MBM aide station.

Bunny hopping the bloated dead raccoon on Rte 30 while Ralph cringed in fear of getting splattered with dead animal guts

Ralph having a girl in front of him in the pictures Don was capturing on wigwam

Brian Fults, who just recovered from cancer treatments showing such amazing strength all day long, and not once complaining. All while riding on fat knobby tires on a full suspension mountain bike.

The free Beer @ the top ridge road, which was the only way we could get Ralph off the ground and moving again.

Passing people on cross bikes at warp speed on my mountain bike in the technical sections, jumping, hopping and rolling over things that had them dismounting from their bikes.

And last but not least, seeing my awesome wife out on course volunteering, and the signs she secretly placed to encourage me & other riders when she couldn't be there to do it in person.






I think I'll be back for another round next year if the good lord is willing.




Anonymous said...


Its funny how you left out the part of you walking your bike up Hogshead ;)

I didn't mind the girl on wigwam becuase the view was worth it
and the beer at Larrys Tavern did in deed get my locked quads to loosen up quite nicely. Even PBR tasted good at that point.

Bird Man said...

Ralph, that is not a memory I choose to hold onto! I figured when I was moving slower pedaling then what I could walk, it was time to walk for a little. The important thing is I got back on the bike and I finished!

Anonymous said...

True that. Just had to get a jab in there:)
Great work in deed.

Anonymous said...

True that. Just had to get a jab in there:)
Great work in deed.

H said...

Bird - you walked with mountain bike gearing!? ;) I went through a long phase of "ride, cramp, walk, repeat" and I defintely chose to walk some sections that would take more energy than it was worth to ride. You know it's a tough race when have those kind of decisons to make.

The Wiser Weiser said...

Congrats to all the MBM IC racers!!

drw said...

Big congrats to the crew of RJ, Bird, and Brian. Seeing you guys out there turning the pedals did me good. I must say, everytime I see Brian on his bike I get a little choked up - and I only know 1/1000 of his story. It's cool that you guys all rode together.
My legs had a lot of snap on Sunday - I can only look back on this IC as being a missed opportunity to really surprise myself.
Thanks to that strapping young fellow at CP2 who hooked me up with a new chain. He was a lifesaver!

Bird Man said...

Hans, I certainly did, as I was fighting cramps too, I could not stand up on the bike without my quads seizing up. I'm sure my lack of riding the last 2 months played a huge part in that. Thank goodness for all the miles I logged earlier in the year and the residual fitness left in me to pull me through the entire ride.