Rd 7 The Iceman. A rugged and tough event just as advertised. The toughest course to date.  Our catch phrase "Can you survive a Nor’easter" took on a whole new meaning this weekend and right on cue Mother Nature came to pay her respects to us & the Iceman. She figured since the gale force winds, torrential down pours, dust storms, blistering heat and all the other tricks in her apron didn’t hinder our Nor’east winds much  that a couple lightening bolts would & it did! We bowed before her til she saw fit to let us continue. (but we’ll talk about that later) Pretty much the minute you came around the red barn, looked up the road and started the climb, you knew what kind of race you were going to face. The Iceman was held on the Davis Farm which is located on a slate mountain side and has a 100 year history of cows grazing with 14 inches of rain this past month. That combination made a very unique & distinct type of conditions for the trail. There was no question about where you were or what was roaming there before you. No doubt that this was another true survival run.

The Icemen of Davis Farms made sure you would have an event to remember and tell your grandkids about. We thank all of the guys that spent 22 days in the rain this month cutting & laying out trail for the NEOC riders to come and enjoy. You are true to the sport and we are honored by your generosity to us!

High noon on Saturday 5 Tikes on Bikes lined up to be the first to take the green flag for the Iceman. Two of these Tikes were first time racers. 3 year old Grant Davis took his maiden voyage on his very own land. He just happens to be "The Icemans"  little bro, which I guess makes him "The Icicle ". Our other new fella happens to be "The Wildmans" little bro, Drake "Lil Tiger" Thomas. The Tikes had a small loop to conquer but it was no cake walk. It was an off camber, rocky grass section that challenged them but did not defeat them.

1pm 19 4-8 OI headed out to the starting line for their first taste of what many call a mountain mans playground. They didn’t do much playin but they did do a lot of true hard racing. 1.3 miles and none of it was easy. They all did an awesome job navigating through the rocks, woods and grass track. #280 Tom Cat Lloyd took a very earned win over 2^nd #177 N8 Bomb Karl & #529 Judge Tice. I got some great battles and passes on video from these guys.

3pm the day was in full swing when 50 PeeWees took their spots for the holeshot & 2.3 miles of the Iceman Challenge. 7-9 65 winner took his regular spot back and ran the rocks like a frog on the lilly pads. 2^nd was solid for #20 Ryan "Lunch Box" Hall but 3^rd & 4^th went at it like they were playin hot potatoe on the rocks. #64 Neil Enman and then #363 Steven Green is how those potatoes fell. #90 Malcolm "the High Flyer" Hill still wears the crown for the Thumper Class. He picked his lines and kept calm, cool and collective just like an Iceman. 4-8 50 Had a new number take 1^st and it was his first win this year. #136 Colby Davis found out he can ride in extreme conditions. Good win kiddo. 2^nd #38 Brandon Gahm had some bum luck with his bike but rode a strong race as always. 10-12 EL #250 Kyle "The Plow" Riggins took his 3^rd win for the year. He is good in the mud. 2^nd & 3^rd  were solid for #68 Austin Henges and #244 Sam Pettit, best finishes for both. 4-9 EL #618 Cortney Abrams took her crown back with an Icemans vengeance. These PeeWee riders proved they can survive a course that’s tough as an Iceman. We are very Proud of everyone of you Racers!

5pm 41 Adult Pit Bikers went to the line the same time as the sky went black and we knew who was making her regular appearance. It’s just rain, we can handle it! 5 laps was the refs call until mother nature said "Rain my A$$, here’s a couple lightning bolts and a tornado watch, How ya like me now?!" We did 4 laps and called the race. Top 3 were Young Bucks #8 "Noodle", #40 "Thumper" & #393 Factory Phil but pushing the young punks around with 4^th o/a was Big Slam Daddy #720 Scott Grenier! Everyone went into hiding until mother nature was done with her lesson and gave us the sun again so 15 youth pitsters could dice it up for 2 laps. #90 "the High Flyer" took his 5^th win out of 7 for the Spike Bucks. #109 "Slappy" took 1^st & 2^nd o/a in the Button Bucks. Great fun watching these guys, never gets old.

Once the races were over with we started Saturday nights entertainment. NEOCs first Youth Bass Fishing Contest. We thought, well, maybe 12 or 15 will sign up. That was a joke, try 61-yes I said 61 kids signed up. They all lined up on the edge of the pond and it looked like opening day of Trout Season at a freshly stocked stream. We ended up breaking down the fishing to alternating time slots. It worked perfect, no one lost an eye and there were fish caught. Lunker of the night was Eric Mathias with a 2lb large mouth, next was Drew Enman w/a 4oz large mouth & Johnny Manera w/a 3oz calico bass. I finally found a way to bring together my two favorite things to do, Fishin & Racin!

I fell asleep counting flying fish and woke up to the most beautiful race day ever. Sun was out, coffee was brewing, Theresa opened sign ups, Chuckie filled the air waves, 100 youth charged for the start, 8:30am Brian echoed his 10 second count across the field and the race day began. AA Youth was a real firecracker of a race. #504 Tanner "Wildman" Thomas came to the barrels first over #8 Ryan "Noodle" Klair but they had a great battle for position the whole gnarly race. 12-15 100 #564 Robbie Civiletti took his 5^th straight win. 14-15 85 winner was "A Monster going up that hill on HER bike" is what we were told about #56 Megan Horseman. She chose her lines carefully and won her race. One mistake and #322 Greg Wilson would have taken it but Megan made sure that didn’t happen. Great Ride Girl! 12-13 85 #921 Adam Toth took his 2^nd win with a commanding lead over points leader & 2^nd place #36 Chris "Flash" Gordon. The 10-11 85 had a familiar name take the win by storm. #51 Ryder Lafferty came to take on the Iceman. 13-15 150 #488 Pierce Williams took his 3^rd win in a row, looks like he is here to stay. Taking 2^nd place 3x in a row was serious girl power #824 Rylee Devlin and 3^rd #500 Mark Ricker with his best finish ever. #122 Dillan Abrams took off with the lead and never looked back for his 7 straight win in the 10-11 65. Another 7 straight wins in the 10-12 125 was #289 Kevin "Army" Adams. Now once again I get to talk about girl power going up against the Iceman. ELW #629 Samantha Hill took her very first well earned and deserved win in the toughest conditions to date and so did #302 Miranda Kendricks. Awesome Riding Girls, all of you. We know many of the youth got caught up in a tangle on that back hill so we commend all of you for fighting so hard and reaching within to keep going and pushing yourselves further then you thought you could ever go.

11am The C Riders filled the starting lines to take on what the youth just broke in for them. They too got wrangled up on the hill but we were ready for them this time with all the soldiers in place to help pull bikes up that had trouble. C 4 Stroke #126 Jason Dowgiallo took his 6^th win & another overall leaving 2^nd and 3^rd o/a to C Heavys 1^st #910 Darren Huff & #59 Jeremy Jones. There was bar bangin, rock skippin and tank slappers everywhere you looked in this event but the most spectacular thing was when #488 went wide on the course and landed on a boulder that actually snapped his bike in half. (he was fine) The Iceman shows no favorites, not even a KTM!

1:30 it was time for the Main Event and the buzz all morning long finally came into play. Mike Lafferty was on the front line ready to go up against the NEOC Points leader Ryan Rodgers. We were all anticipating this 8+ extreme main event loop that was created by the icemen of Meshoppen. Todd gave the 10 second count down, goose bumps immediately came up, held my breath, the flag dropped and it was on. For two hours we watched some of the fastest riders fight for position and just to survive the event. They had wet slate rocks, boulders, rocky off camber up hills, down hills, roots, crick crossins, road crossins & mud slicker then cat sheet! You had to use your head and every bit of endurance you could find inside yourself to finish the race. After an exhausting fight for the checkered, this is how it played out #356 Ryan Rodgers and then #2 Mike Lafferty. What an awesome treat to see 2 skilled riders take on the iceman. All you A riders are so smooth even in the rocks. It’s incredible. A quick shout out to 13^th overall school boy #37 Dieter Willenbrock who got to big for his youth bike just like 14^th o/a B Heavy #306 Kyle McDonal. Seeing these young names up there with the big dogs is so cool. Hats off to all of you main event icemen! We all survived this Nor’easter together, another one for the books.

Special Thanks to the Davis Family for sharing their piece of heaven with all of us and putting in so much time and hard work to create such a great event.

MOOSE RACING, SCOTT USA, FAIRWAY CYCLE, RIDERS CHOICE, OFFROAD CYCLE, RACER EDGE, SPECTRO OILS, MOTO CLOTH, TD PHOTO IMAGING, WATER GAP COFFEE CO., FLYIN’ FARMERS

We hope everyone has a Great summer break doing what ever makes you happy. Enjoy the down time and see everyone in September. Be safe