Adrenaline

The Iceman Use fall for winter fun plan

Nov. 15, 2014

The Iceman Cometh Challenge is large beyond the numbers. It’s impossible to quantify the race’s effect on its host town of Traverse City, but to qualify it, simply talk to nearly any mountain biker in the Midwest. The 25th edition of North America’s largest point-to-point mountain bike race saw over 5,000 racers make the thirty mile pilgrimage from Kalkaska to Traverse City, and this time, it was in brutally muddy conditions. Often raced under a blanket of snow, this year’s course was a morass for mile after mile. Chains broke, derailleurs snapped and patience ran out for all too many entrants. Pros Brian Matter and Georgia Gould took the victories, but glories were won by those simply hoping to survive and finish.

What lives beyond the race are the stories from it, and Saturday night in downtown Traverse City was an evening of those stories turning to tales, then legends in the course of a few local microbrews. The stories, like the race, seem to get a little bigger and a little better with each retelling. Perhaps that is the most exciting measure of another Iceman Cometh Challenge.

Cody Sovis is an avid cyclist, writer and Nutella consumer from Traverse City.