Ironcross 5 !

This is my fourth go at it. The first one I missed due to knee surgery. I just Love this race and each year it gets better. I also love the crew that we bring every year that keeps getting bigger and stronger with each edition. I even made a blog about it 757 goes to Ironcross #5!
We stay at a wonderful Hostel one mile from the course which is a highlight of the weekend!There's nothing like bunking with your fave riding boys and girls who all say that they don't snore but you find out that half of them are lying! Liz , no matter what people (haterz) say, I truly look forward to your oatmeal, and coffee!
Some weird pre-race activities we did the day before consisted of 2 on 2 basketball, volleyball, football, and a ride to spin out the legz which ended up being mostly climbing... I want to do well at this but really, I think most know that i'm here for fun! That's what keeps me in this game for so long...
I rolled up there with Crazy, Art, and Young Mark in the Suburban (thanx Brenna).
We hooked up my dvd player with Mike's computer speakers which were soooo loud it was awesome! We watched so many silly movies, it passed the time so well.
In the Hostel I again hooked the dvd player to they're tv and we watched 300 a great pre epic race epic movie! One by one, people started dipping out for bed, so I followed suit. I wish that people who snored would let us non snorers goto sleep, then turn on the freakin sawmill!!!
At the race start I feel like I dressed perfectly. Speaking of perfect, how bout that weather and trail conditions? No maatter how bad you were suffering, atleast you could fall back on "damn, it's freakin perfect out here"!
There was a fast crew up front this year, and more so than ever... I had good starting position, and improved that on the prologue cx course. I had a good start, and I didn't feel like I was blowing up, and that is a new feeling for me. Usually I blow it in the start and catch a 2cnd and 3rd wind later on when it's like too late. I was constantly in the company of greatness. Really, the people I rode with, and tried to ride with were classy hard working individuals all doing what they could to finish this thing with nothing but a respectable time. A lot of my 757 peeps passed me on some early climbs but I saw them all again after the singletrack, and we worked and joked together till the crawl up. Where Mark C literally walked away from us (very impressive), and I walked away from my crew. I totally didn't expect that. This is usually a place where I fall apart, but I attribute my running to helping me get up the run ups this year, and afterwards, I felt unafected by it, so I blew right through the rest stop at the top and motored on. That's when I felt like I was building on a special ride!
Sidenote----I have done this 4 times and still have no clue of where I am on the course! I'm very impressed by those who know sections by name and what's next... I feel a bit ashamed when newbies ask if i've done ths before, yet I can't tell them where we are and what's next!!! (sorry)
At the top I saw Bill G fixing a flat, little did I know how much of a problem that turned out to be... He blew out the casing, and needed two new tieres to get to the finish. That sucks cuz he was rollin hard.
That's the thing about this race, anything can happen. I saw so many crashes, and more flats, and it just reminded me to be conservative.
Aside from my subpar climbing, I had a flawless ride! The DD-X worked really well! The Carbon front and rear made for quite the supple ride paired with the Maxxis raze tires, carbon bars and seatpost, this was one smokin ride! When I reached the final road section, I knew where I was, And I knew how much was left. I knew that I wasn't getting caught by anyone, and I knew that I was embarking on my dream goal of 4:30 which the announcer let me know that that was coming true! Big smiles were had, and Crazy was waiting for me with Mark C with major congrats. They both kicked ass with a 4:13 each! We welcomed in the others, and hit the general store and bought sodas for everyone.
I got to meet my friend from Slinghot< Jason---who traveled with daniellemusto who did the IC on a DD-X for the first time. They both did well and finished strong. More importantly, they were very friendly. Happy birthday Jason! And thanx for that awesome beer! I hope I can find that stuff down here ( what is it called? Founders IPA).


Good job to everyone!
Let's do it again next year!
Next time we eat dinner at the race venue! The Moose Lodge has run its course, or we've outgrown them...

Next up is Granogue, and Wissahickon. Looking forward to it!