Iceman Cometh Challenge News

The Love Hate relationship with Rest Days

We’ve all seen or heard the phrase, “you’ll never regret a workout.” When I hear that from someone, I wonder if they have ever had an overuse injury. I’ve had far too many injuries to find truth in that phrase. From multiple stress fractures, to low back pain, to the multiple orthopedic surgeries I’ve gone through for both my hips, knees, and one of my ankles, I have surely suffered the consequences of overworking my body. I can also assume that if you decided to read this blog after seeing the title, you probably know that feeling too.

I used to be a “no days off” type of person. I would have anxiety over scheduled rest days or sometimes even easy ride days. I blew through recovery weeks in fear of losing fitness and thought I was invincible – until I wasn’t. Hard workout days would become forced rest weeks or months on end due to major injuries. We live in a society that makes us feel bad for not doing enough in all aspects and it can sometimes be hard to look past that. If you truly put in some HARD work, we can make our largest gains in fitness during recovery days or weeks to allow our bodies to heal and recover from the repetitive microtrauma we have subjected ourselves to during grueling rides and workouts. If you’re smart, you’ll learn to love those recovery and rest days. And if you already love recovery days, KUDOS (I’ll give you kudos on STRAVA for that embarrassingly slow paced recovery ride every time) to you!

Thank you to our 2024 Iceman Ambassador Allyson Klug @allysonklug

New Year New Info

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Happy New Year!

A Note from your Race Director, Cody Sovis:
For the Bell’s Iceman Cometh Challenge crew, there’s a lot of excitement in flipping the page to a new year, and we’re deep into planning the 31st edition of this legendary race. November 7 is going to be here in a flash. We’ve put together a few important dates to circle on your calendar, plus a couple of tidbits to chew on.

Registration
Details
You have to train for the after party somehow, so why not right when you sign up? On-site registration takes place on Friday, March 6, 2020 at Bell’s Eccentric Café in Kalamazoo and at 7 Monks in Traverse City (times to be announced). New and returning riders can register for the 31^st Iceman Cometh Challenge while enjoying some Light-Hearted fun and comradery. Keep an eye on your inbox for additional information.

On-line registration for returning riders opens Friday, March 6^th at 9:00 am; if you raced last year, you’ve got all weekend to jump into the race of your choice. For those who didn’t race in 2019, registration opens Monday, March 9^th at 9:00am. Get signed up, get committed, and get your riding buddy to register, too!

Registration costs for 2020:
Bell’s Iceman Cometh Challenge: $110
               Junior Riders:     $70
Meijer Slush Cup: $80
               Junior Riders: $50
Meijer Sno-Cone: $5

Website & Registration Platform Overhaul

Coming in late February 2020, we’ll unveil a new website and registration platform! If that sounds scary, don’t worry; it’s all good stuff. What’s different? Here are some FAQs to let you know about what we have going on.

Where will my past results be held? All known past results will be uploaded to the new registration platform. You’ll have to “claim” your information which can be done with your email and other identifying information. In order to make this process smooth, please update your Ice Society Account on the current website (www.iceman.com) before March 1 so we have your correct information when everything migrates over.

Will there still be an Ice Society? Yes…in our hearts. There will always be an Ice Society, just not a digital one on the Internet. Instead, we’ll be focusing our updates and information using the Iceman Strava Club, on our social channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), and on the trails.

What about Strava Training Points?   You might have noticed the Training Leaderboard isn’t updating. Due to new Strava API settings and costs, we won’t be syncing data from Strava anymore. You can still see how you stack up against other Iceman athletes using the Iceman Strava Club.

How will waves be determined? Waves will continue to be determined by your top three Iceman Cometh Races out of the last 5 years. We’ve thought a lot about the best way to place riders, and while there were a lot of perks to using the Strava algorithm, it did have some drawbacks. As a result, we’re taking out the other variables. Think you’re Wave One? Prove it; by taking times on the course, riders face the same hills, same mud, same traffic, and the same roll of the dice. First-time riders will be placed in waves based on age or race category.

What else will be new? New this year, friends and family will be able to track you on Race Joy. With Race Joy, you can transmit your location and current speed in real-time to friends and family. Race Joy will also help search and rescue better located you in an emergency situation. Your spectators will be able to track you from home or from the finish line. This does require an app download and racers will be required to carry their phones.

Also, there will be some newly designed Light Hearted Ale merch and new merchandise items!

Along the way, we hope you’ll stay tuned to news and updates from of the woods, and enjoy every pedal stroke of training, racing, and riding between now and race day.

See you in the woods,

Cody Sovis

Favorite Segments: Rally Round The Rock

It’s not the hardest, most selective, or most brutal part of the Bell’s Iceman Cometh Challenge. In fact, it’s one most riders look forward to.

There are many, many tough segments on the Iceman Cometh Challenge course that feature every single year. They might be steep hills like Anita’s, challenging descents like the Water Bottle Hill By-Pass, or just really, really fast like Sand Lakes Road. But the one I’ve always focused on and looked forward to is RallyRoundTheRock.

Since GPS head units starting offering Live Segments, we’ve all probably starred a few segments to chase. In a race, the Live Segment feature is almost more useful in simply reminding yourself when the next climb or choke point might be. For me, Rally Round The Rock was always a bright, loud ‘ding’ that not only was I past Williamsburg Road, but I was also nearing home turf and the Vasa Pathway proper.

The segment is fast, and that’s definitely reflected in some of the top times posted over the years. Alexey Vermeulen set the KOM time by in 2016 at 2:51, a single second ahead of Alex Vanias on the very same day. Last year, Christy Keely took the QOM at 3:02, with a lot of riders coming in around that three-minute mark for the early waves and pro races.

That means hitting the 1.1 mile section at twenty miles per hour! The segment includes a long straight section of quasi-singletrack that parallels Sand Lakes Road. It’s a slight descent that’s punctuated near halfway with a sharp, sandy right that shoots you across the road to the north. It’s another straight stretch before another right turn onto the gravel two-track. For locals, that two-track is the final few hundred meters of the Power Section, and the return home to the Pathway.

For a lot of racers, hitting RallyRoundTheRock, whether they know they’re on it or not, mean you’re almost done with another edition of Iceman and another season of mountain bike racing. It’s often fueled by loud cheering at Williamsburg Road, and you’re often spurred on again at the Rock, where Sand Lakes hits the Vasa.

If you need a little something to look forward to on race day, make sure you’ve got this queued up and remember, when you hit this segment, there’s no point saving anything; you’re almost done!