The dust (ice crystals) has settled and the woods are quiet again, but man that was one Iceman for the books. All of the nerves, all of the cheers; what an amazing atmosphere and event to be a part of. I’m still not sure I’ve fully been able to unpack everything from raceday, and I’m sure I will miss a few things that will pop into mind later, but I’m just going to send it. This may be my longest blog post yet, so I hope you stick around for the whole thing!
It’s safe to say from the Iceman Facebook group, everyone was like me and constantly watching what the weather was going to do come race day. I had friends down state asking me if I thought the forecast would hold for the race, which merited a quick reply from me saying “I’m not betting on anything until 36 hours out!” Because that’s how it’s been up here in terms of forecasts this year. The truth of the matter was, Sunday’s snow had just as much potential to come early as the warmth on Thursday and Friday had to carry longer into race day. Either way, it was bound to be a great day with the rain on Friday being a very welcomed arrival along with the cold overnight temps to firm the course up. We did our annual family pasta dinner Friday night, early bedtime, 6am wake up to smash the pre-race meal (Kodiak oatmeal to get those carbs and a little protein, 30oz water with SiS hydration tab + another 30oz of water leading up to race start). I felt good, I felt nervous, and I felt prepared. The perfect concoction of emotions for a good day.
A race recap for me.
I lined up in Wave 2 this year with a temp of 30 degrees and a “real feel” of 24 degrees. The choice of attire is always something I grapple with when it’s cold out; too many layers and I feel heavy and sluggish (2024), or keep it light and suffer for a bit because hell… it’s hopefully only about two hours right? I opted to wear shorts on the day, which seemed crazy at the time, but when the gun went off I didn’t even notice. We ripped out of Kalkaska on a flier. I kept looking down at my power meter and seeing ~450 watts and thought “what the heck are we doing?” and finally just decided to back off the gas once we hit the dirt two-track at the end of the runway and settle in (which was about 15th in the wave). This is always an interesting part of the race because so many folks slam up to the front, then come way off the gas when we hit the first single track on the left. This year, I just went with the flow. We definitely didn’t move as quickly as I like to through that single track, but the pace was still fast and the lead group hadn’t gotten too far away – there’s a LOT of racing to go at this point and plenty of opportunities to make up time. As things shook out, the main thing I knew I wanted was to be one of the first into the new single track (Sow’s Ear), especially with some super-fast tandem fellas (who won OA tandem I believe) right along with me… as fast in the flats and early single track as they were, I knew it’d be a lot trickier for them in the new stuff. I lit a match to get into the single track first, and actually managed to bridge back with the wave 2 lead group that got ahead.
Once we hit Brown Fire road, the pace kicked up and the group was off to the races. I looked down at my computer and knew I couldn’t hold what these guys were pushing despite getting a GREAT pull. I let off the gas a tad and watched them slowly pull away, thinking to myself “stick to your pace, you may see them later.” From there I honestly rode most of the course solo until the Sand Lakes Quiet area; I made up some time in the single track and managed to bridge some guys who (I think) were from wave 1. As we cranked up the first climb in SLQA I realized just myself and one other guy snapped the elastic with our group of about six and sent it. From there he and I worked together all the way back to the 25k (Vasa), caught and passed a few of the guys who went out real hard in Wave 2, and bridged up with a fast group of Wave 1 guys. I led us through the Intermingling single track off to the left on the first part of the 25k, then flicked an elbow once we got back to the 25k to keep us all moving. As we worked through 10k and started to get closer to the Ice Crusher segment, I was on the pull and felt the legs wanting to back off some. The group started to go past when a friend and TC legend Steve Andriese (“Dr. Pain”) flying per usual on his single speed said to me as they were going by “come on Mark, keep going you got this.” It was one of those little moments I wrote about in a previous blog post – sometimes all you need are some words from someone out there to get you going. And for me, it’s what I needed to hear from Dr. Pain at the perfect time. I jumped on his wheel to stay with the group. If you’re reading this, Steve, thank you for the words out there… It was perfect timing right when I needed it!
We all hit Ice Crusher, which is the beginning of the final climbs on the course, consisting of climbs known to locals as “CC Climb,” “The Bench,” and what have you, and I think my caffeine gel was timed perfectly because I had a bit of gas left to hang with the group. We hit Icebreaker with seven of us still in the group, and I knew my family was somewhere in the crowd. Even knowing Woodchip was after Icebreaker this year, I knew I wanted to get to the top and into the single track after the big U-turn ahead of everyone in the group, so I made a push and went for it. I went second into the single track, wound on down through the new single track cut leading to Woodchip, and up we started. To my surprise, the legs still had some fight left and managed to break away from the group there. We caught and passed two more guys that were ahead of us, ripped through the pump track with a little steez over the double, and hammered through the crowds to the finish. It was loud, it was electric, it was the atmosphere that makes Iceman so special. What a day. I finished 2nd in my age group and 58th overall, which would warrant my best Iceman finish to date.
Overall Course Feelings.
I suppose I have to touch quickly on the subject and popular theme of many post-race conversations this year, and I suppose every year: The course and the new single track. We have to remember two main things about Iceman: 1) The course always changes. And 2) Iceman is fast! Those two things alone are what make Iceman… Iceman. Even as someone who rides single track 95% of my free time, I sign up for Iceman knowing that it’s an all out drag race from Kalkaska to Timber Ridge on two tracks, fire roads, and some fast winding single track! I was part of quite a few conversations with people bummed and feeling defeated that they were further away from their finish time goal this year despite working hard and shaving minutes from the last two years, so I do think it’s important to recognize that there are many people chasing those coveted sub 2 hour and sub 3 hour finish goals. If the “goal post” keeps moving back, we might be taking something away from folks that isn’t just the finish time on the clock. But all in all, I thought the course conditions couldn’t have been better and made for a much faster race than anticipated with the new additions. The local trail legends pump their heart and soul into trying to get us the best possible day out there, and it’s important to remember that these folks put in countless (unpaid) hours to make the best race in the country happen for us all. A massive shoutout is beyond warranted to them. This event (along with the Iceman staff) is not possible without all the hard work you guys put in to give everyone such a special day in the woods. You guys are seen and you are appreciated more than words.
Wrapping Up Trailblazing!
Being a Trailblazer this year has been one of, if not my most favorite experiences of all things Iceman. I’ve always loved expressing myself through writing, and what better to do so writing on topics I’m so passionate about: health, community, family, and bikes! You all put yourselves out there and pushed yourselves to the finish line in whatever way that looked like for you, and you should be proud of yourselves. Your families are proud of you. Your friends are proud of you. Your community(s) is/are proud of you. The stranger writing this blog post is proud of you. Some races may have gone to plan, some races may have gone better than the plan, and some races may have not gone to plan at all – but that’s racing. We get to choose now what we do with that as we head into 2026 and start prepping for next year. And that, my friends, is also life. If there’s anything I’ve learned this year, what matters is the journey to the starting line. Not the finish. No matter what your training looked like, you made it to that starting line and left it all out there. And every time you get to that starting line, there’s someone out there either saying or thinking to themselves “I can’t believe they’re going to do this.” That’s more powerful than it sounds. When we believe in ourselves and do hard things, it radiates to others; it helps them see what’s possible. I hope that in turn it gets someone thinking “maybe I could do that.” So here’s to you doing the hard things. No matter how your day went out there, you showed up. And that’s worth celebrating every single time.
Special thanks!
First and foremost I have to recognize and say thank you to my wife, Erin. This sport and passion comes with a cost, and that cost is time. Not only has she been the real MVP of our home, she’s been my biggest supporter making it to every race and making sure Marcus is there as well. We took on some massive challenges this year including Leadville 100, and she stayed home to hold down the fort for 2.5 weeks while I went out early to acclimate. None of this happens without her! I have to thank my parents as well, as they’ve supported me every step of the way and make it to just about every race – including the one that was 1400 miles away, along with my sister Nicole and brother-in-law Andy!
And lastly, thank you to the team at Iceman! Kat, Lindsay, Mandy, and the rest of your teams – you guys are amazing. The Trailblazer ambassadorship has been such a positive experience and so much fun. I haven’t seen anywhere near what all goes into putting on such a large event that is always such a huge success, but the little bits I have seen and learned along the way this year… just wow. You guys work your tails off so we all can just show up and ride our bikes for a few hours then hang with our friends. Thank you for having me be a slightly larger part of the Iceman family this year as an ambassador and letting me have an opportunity to share my passion with the people you’ve built this legendary event around. It’s been such an honor, and something that has brought me so much joy and fulfillment.
As for everyone else, thank you all for following along this year. I’ll see you out in the woods!
A HUGE thank you to Mark Daisy @markdaisymusic for being our 2025 Iceman Trailablazer