Skarda passes Blunk late to win women's title

James Cook, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·3 min read

Nov. 6—ACME — Alexis Skarda was the opening, and took advantage of it.

Three riders took off from the pack fairly early on in the women's Iceman Cometh Challenge at Timber Ridge Resort in Acme, and it came down to only two at the very end.

Savilia Blunk, a 23-year-old from Inverness, California, had the lead, but on the last corner before the bridge into the final sprint, she slowed as she passed a biker from one of the earlier races.

Skarda, a Boulder, Colorado resident, took advantage and was able to slip past Blunk and hold her off by a second for the victory.

"We were just bar to bar on that last climb and I passed her at the top, and then we ran into a lapped rider and there was a little delay and she got around me," Blunk said. "It was just a drag race to the finish line, and she got it at the line. But, boy, that was one of the most exciting finishes I've ever been in."

Last year's champion, 40-year-old Rose Grant, placed third in her final race before retiring.

"Three of us broke away early rather than having a pretty big group of us," Grant said. "So there really was very little recovery, very little letting up."

Grant, who hails from Columbia Falls, Montana, placed in the top three all three years she entered the Iceman, taking second in 2017.

Skarda didn't think she'd be able to pull it out after Blunk passed her on the last ascension.

"There's one final climb before the finish and basically if you can get up the climb first, you're gonna win," Skarda said. "And Savilia got around me on that climb and I was like, 'Crap, I just lost it.'"

Skarda took fourth last year in her first Iceman.

"I didn't feel like I had the legs last year," Skarda said. "This year, just because the racing season was longer, I just was tuned up a little more for it this year."

Paige Onweller of Grand Rapids took fourth, with Arizona's Erin Osborne didth, Julie Medema of Grand Rapids in sixth and Williamsburg's Emma Schwab seventh. Jacqueline Larouche of Ann Arbor, Maria Doering of North Carolina and Grayling's Heather Compton rounded out the top 10.

"It was the three of us for most of the race, Rose, Savilia and I," Skarda said. "It was fun working together with them. It was tactical and it was a really good sprint to the finish, which is always exciting."

Skarda said being in the final push is so much different than just trying to finish well behind the leaders, like her fourth-place finish last year.

"The difference is at the end when you're sprinting up the big punchy climbs, with everybody cheering," she said. "And you have a chance for the win. You just go that much harder. It's almost like your whole body goes numb."

Saturday's races had a combined $71,000 purse. The men's and women's winner each earned $6,000, second was $5,500 and third $4,800 in the women's races.

OTHER ICEMAN RESULTS: Don Fedrigon Jr., the winner of the first Iceman in 1990, won his age group, the Men's 65-69, in 1:53:44. ... Evan Simula of Marquette won the fate bike race in 1:53:09, with Traverse City's Allyson Schultz winning the women's fate tire title in 2:08:47. ... Harrison Ford of Lake Orion won the men's Clydesdales 39 & Under title, with Canadian Sean Thibeault taking the 40-49 group and Mark Brown of Plymouth the 50+ category. ... Traverse City racers won the men's singlespeed crowns, with Alex Primeau claiming the 39 & Under division and Steve Andriese the 40+ group.

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