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And we agree, you will have the option to drop your time from 2019 when calculating your average time for your wave placement.  We have had a few other really great questions come across email and social media over the last few years, here are the answers. 

Can you give us a few examples of how to average our results?  

Sure! In fact, we made a calculator to help out as well. You can download it here.  

If you only raced one year since 2017 2016, you can use that time to calculate your wave place. If that one year is 2019, we can’t change that. So if your time is greater than 2:59:47 and that is your only year, then you can enter any wave after wave 28.  

If you have three times and one of them is 2019 and it is dragging down your average (because it was a very muddy year with long waits and longer times), average together your other two times.  

Are you really double checking this information?  

Yes. You will be asked a series of questions during registration (we will send these out to you head of time). These numbers will be compared with our list and we will verify your average calculation before placing you in your wave.  Last year our information from the two different platforms and two different timers didn’t gel and led to many wave place errors.  We are hope that this new method will fix past errors plus provide you your wave placement sooner.  

What if I qualify for wave 3, but its full so I’m placed in wave 5. Is there any hope of moving up?  

Yes. As people vacate their spaces during the transfer out period, those that are already register will be moved as space allows before the people that are transferring in are placed. This is also done on a first registered first placed basis so sign up early.   

I was in wave 8 last year; this year it looks like I will be in wave 10. Why?  

If it appears you are dropping in waves from 2021, we have a reasonable explanation. First, we raced 1500 few riders in 2021 which allowed some people to ride in an early wave placement and second, when we had the wave issues in 2021 we didn’t move anyone backwards. You kept the wave you were in even though through the recalculations we did it may have scooted you back a few waves.   

Why aren’t you using overall place instead of time?  

Unfortunately, there is no perfect world and place can be just as flawed as time. For example, in 2021, with 1500 fewer riders, which means places could vary greatly over a full race year (like 2022). 

What do I need to have ready for registration?  

Just be sure to look up your times here a head of time.   You’ll need those and your average.  Sign in to your bikesignup account early. If you have issues getting signed in follow the instructions to reset your password.  

Have additional questions?  

Please email icemaninfo@iceman.com.  

What an amazing year Iceman has had and it is all owed to the Iceman Community. It’s hard to put in to words the impact that this group of 5000+ riders means to the Iceman Cometh organization, but we will try our best. Together, registered riders donated enough sno-cone registrations to ensure that the race for our littlest mountain bikers will be complimentary for at least the next three years. THREE YEARS!

Riders also donated over $24,000 during the registration process to fund a donation to Grand Traverse Land Conservancy District for all the work they do preserving our trails and natural lands so we can continue to use them for years to come. Since this dollar amount exceeded our initial ask by over 100%, we are able to use additional funds to support the biking community through donations to other nonprofits and area programs. We are so thankful that you stepped up to help us out, not only in 2020 but also this year as we recover from the pandemic.

Thank you for the memories and we can’t wait to make more with you in 2022. Full onsite registration will open March 4, 2022. Next year’s Ice Cycle Expo is scheduled for November 4, 2022 with the Bell’s Iceman Cometh Challenge taking to the trails on November 5, 2022.

Thank you again!

The Iceman Staff & Crew

The Iceman Cometh Challenge is for everyone. We want to do more to increase the diversity of our field, and this year, we’re taking the first step to get more women racing. 

Women have played a part of this race since its very beginning. For more than thirty years, the race day experienced has been enriched by female athletes at every level and in every age group. Behind the scenes, women are our most valuable volunteers, our smartest committee members, and the real reason we have a race that’s turned into one of the largest in the country. 

Still, we need to more to get them involved not just in the Bell’s Iceman Cometh Challenge but into our sport as a whole. As of right now, 13% of our field are women, and we want to do better. We’re looking at long-term solution to meet a goal I set back in 2018; I want to have 100 women in the Pro field. 

It’s not just about being fast. Women do a far better job in building community and connections that support and empower. By getting more women from this level of the sport in Traverse City and connected to our event year-round, we hope to foster those same connections, that same camaraderie, and that same inspiration riders like Katherine Nash, Chloe Woodruff, and others have offered in years past. 

That’s why this year, women can race in our Pro event for free. There are some caveats; the offer is open only to those who would be making their first start in the Pro category; if you’ve raced with us before at that level, you know it’s a great experience and we hope we can get you back even if you need to pay. You also must have a valid annual Pro/Cat 1 USA Cycling license, which is a requirement for all our Pro athletes. 

We hope this might encourage more women to make the trip to Traverse City and join us on November 6, 2021 for the first time. Additionally, we also hope this might lure some of our strong and consistent age group winners to step up to the Pro race, which will in turn open up new competition and podium spots for other women. That’s always encouraging! 

Our hope is that the best and fastest from both the men’s and women’s fields will slowly make the move to the Pro races; it should be a point of pride to be one of the top hundred fastest riders and to storm into the finish at Timber Ridge Resort the shouts and applause of 10,000 spectators! 
If you’re a Pro woman ready to take the start line with us, please contact icemaninfo@iceman.com or csovis@iceman.com.

With a long three-day weekend,plenty of Iceman athletes were in the woods to enjoy some sun, warm temperatures, and a nice reprieve from being indoors. Spring is slowly turning into something like summer, and that means plenty of chances to rack up long days in the saddle and explore new places to ride. 

It’s also brought some changes to how we ride and who we ride with. Last week, northern Michigan and all of the Upper Peninsula were given the green light to slowly re-open, and that prompted the League of Michigan Bicyclists to update their guidelines. In these areas,they advise:

– Group rides should be 10 people or less

– Practice social distancing when stopped; give at least 30 feet (10 yards) of space when riding in a line

– Don’t share water bottles or snacks – bring your own

– No snot rockets! If you have to blow your nose, use a disposable tissue and throw it in the trash

– Ride two abreast only with other members of your household

– Wear a mask whenever there’s a chance you’ll come into close contact with others, because masks are the best way to protect them if you have the

If you do choose to ride with a few friends, consider keeping it the same crew to prevent further spreading. 

So, what sort of training should you be focused on? With so many races kicked back to August or September, many riders have essentially restarted their base mile phase, opting for longer,less intense rides to rebuild a solid aerobic base. The key is to work backward from your first event and incorporate something like three weeks of base, a rest week, three weeks of longer tempo intervals (think 10-15 minutes at this point in the season), and then shorter, race-intensity efforts leading into the target event. 

It’s also not a bad idea to use the first race or two of the year as a way to experiment with how hard or much you ride going into a race, making small tweaks to your nutrition, and even with how aggressive you are early on in the race, just to see where you’re at physically. “Training through” some events can have a big impact on your overall fitness and set you up to hit your bigger targets in prime conditions. 

Of course, some folks are already firing on all cylinders. If that’s where you find yourself heading into June,work in some race-type efforts a day or two per week to stay sharp. Focus on certain Strava segments that might give you something to really work for a mimic that race-intensity that is so hard to duplicate out of competition. In Traverse City, we’ve seen riders hitting the Speed of Light route, an 11 mile lap on the Vasa Pathway, at full tilt, mimicking a 35-40 minute race effort on their own, using Strava Live Segments to chase their best time or even the KOM. 

Whatever you’re doing on the bike right now, the most important thing is to enjoy it. Go fast, go slow, ride long, ride short. We’re incredibly lucky to have a tool that keeps us fit and healthy at a time when health is newly appreciated. Make sure you make the right decision on riding solo or group rides based on local guidelines and what’s safest for you. As long as you’re pedaling, you’ll be happy you’re out there!

Without spring races, it’s been a prolonged season of base miles. So, when is it time to sharpen things up?

With many races now scheduled for August, we’ve finally got a target to work backward from. A lot of our Iceman riders put their training on a bit of a pause the past month or two, pulling back from their normal efforts and going for big, fun rides when the weather allowed or, every now and again, getting their competitive blood flowing virtually on Zwift. 

We checked in with some locals and pros on how the pause changed their training, and how they’re looking to restart. TC rider and single track legend Dan Ellis, for one, let himself come off the gas and simply enjoyed as many miles as possible with his son, Grady. Grady is making the jump from Slush Cup to the full dance this fall, and has been chomping at the bit to get riding as the weather improves. “I think being able to just spend time with him in the woods has been really good for us. I don’t need to worry about fitness now, and that will sort of come as we get closer to normal, safe riding conditions,” Dan explained. 

For pros like last year’s winner,Alexey Vermeulen, there’s a bit of a different perspective. Alexey races for a living, and that means he needs to be in race-ready shape whenever someone says, “Go!”. He’s been balancing big base mile rides, Zwift races, and plenty of quality time with his dog, Willy, in his backpack. “Since corona has taken hold, my coach and I have taken a more flexible view on training which has allowed more adventure rides and Strava hunts,” he let us know. He’s looking to make his first start of the season at the rescheduled Dirty Kanza, currently slated for September 12. 

As spring weather finally arrives,it’s going to be easier to get back to more normality on the bike, offering a chance to check out our favorite trails and explore some new stuff, too. We’ve already been out in the Pere Marquette Forest looking at your course for 2020,and in just a few rides have unearthed a few neat ideas that may or may not seethe light of day. The intel we can share is that while 2019 was all about the climbers, this one is for the rouleurs. Less climbing, more speed, and one of the fastest finishes yet! 

With fat bike races wrapping up and some big gravel events just around the corner, March seems like the perfect start line for cyclists in the Midwest. That’s why we are showing off a fresh website,opening registration, and hitting the road to get the world ready for another year of bikes, buds, and beer in the months leading up to the Bell’s Iceman Cometh Challenge.

The site upgrade is designed to make your iceman.com experience easier to navigate, offer more information, and make race day less stressful by putting everything you need to know in a tidy digital package. You’ll find information about the SRAM Ice Cycle Expo, the start line in Kalkaska, and how to get that beer once you’re in the BISSELL Celebration Zone after the race.

Our new website is just one of many tweaks we’re working on to make 2020 the best edition of the race yet. We’ve made some big changes to the traffic and parking plans at the Kalkaska Airport, plus already have tweaks in the works to the course, the finish venue, waves, and more. You’ll probably notice that much of the information on the site is from last year. Much of what you see still applies to this year, but we’ll make changes to the site as the information changes. As always, you’ll get even more Iceman goodness delivered to your door around Labor Day with this year’s edition of the Glacier Gazette.

Online registration for 2019 racers opens Friday, March 6; for the rest of the world, they’ll have access to open spots on Monday, March 9. Of course, everyone is welcome to celebrate the start of the new season over a pint of Two-Hearted on Friday at 7 Monks in Traverse City(2-6 pm), or the Bell’s Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo (2-5:30 pm). Swing by and kick off your weekend while you kick off your season.

Need a little motivation this spring? Make sure you’re following us on Facebook, Twitter,and Instagram, and join our Strava Club and see how you stack up against your pals.