Summer training isn\u2019t just about watts and miles. It\u2019s about the long game\u2026the quiet work when no one\u2019s watching, the sweat that sets you up for that Iceman finish line feel months from now. Whether you’re hammering solo rides, corralling kids on a family trail spin, juggling client calls from the road, or sneaking in pre-dawn laps between vacation days, summer builds more than fitness. It builds mindset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because even in the summer, we\u2019ve got Iceman on the mind (well, some of us do!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s talk about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hot summer months don\u2019t mess around. It\u2019s hot. It\u2019s busy. And between late meetings, family trips and lake days, training time feels rare. But this is where the good stuff happens\u2026the mental resilience that Iceman rewards every year when the temperature drops but the effort spikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mantra #1: \u201cEmbrace the burn. Own the trail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That uncomfortable \u201cMake It Stick\u201d climb? You trained for that in July. Every humid morning ride or dusty evening lap was a down payment in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Summer is a juggle. Work ramps up. Weekends fill with weddings, camping trips and everything you promised your family you’d finally do. Riding becomes a negotiation\u2026not with your fitness, but with your schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s okay. Because showing up anyway\u2026even when it\u2019s not perfect, is what actually builds Iceman legs. You don\u2019t need an uninterrupted block of training. You need intention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mantra #2: \u201cSomething > Nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A 45-minute spin between meetings. A trail ride at sunset. An unstructured hour of gravel with no headphones. These aren\u2019t backup rides. They\u2019re part of the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’re a parent, your summer rides probably look a little different. It\u2019s not always about interval sets, it\u2019s about stopping for snacks (we ride for snacks!), building confidence and celebrating the little wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But here\u2019s the thing: those rides still count. They count for connection, for patience, for remembering why we ride in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mantra #3: \u201cFast kids, faster me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether your kid is hitting their first berm or still swerving into your back wheel mid-climb, they\u2019re part of your training. Ride with them. Laugh. Chase. Get dropped and love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m a West Michigan Coyotes coach, and let me tell you, you can\u2019t fake it in front of kids. They sniff out inconsistency faster than a dropped chain. Coaching with the Coyotes means showing up sharp, showing up human, and modeling effort\u2026not perfection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the reps, the questions, the pre-ride banter and post-ride breakdowns that shape us as athletes and leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mantra #4: \u201cTrain together. Thrive together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every time you invest in the group, you raise your own ceiling. The best training sessions aren\u2019t about PRs\u2026they\u2019re about shared momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We all have a line that keeps us going when the trail turns cruel. Here are a few I\u2019ve heard this summer with the Coyotes, and a few I\u2019ve muttered to myself mid-ride:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pick your mantra. Or make one up. Just make it stick (see what I did there LOL).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s what I want you to do this summer\u2026regardless of fitness, FTP, or family calendar:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because when Iceman rolls around, no one cares what your August Strava stats looked like. They\u2019ll care how deep you can dig at mile 26 or when you come around the corner into Icebreaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See you on the trail. Or behind a pack of 12-year-olds dropping the hammer. Either way, we ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tobi Tungl is a passionate mountain biker and ultra endurance gravel cyclist who thrives on pushing his limits in the great outdoors. He has a deep appreciation for nature, savoring the scenic views and challenges of unpaved singletrack trails and long gravel routes. Tobi\u2019s passion for adventure drives him to constantly seek out new ultra endurance gravel races and mountain bike events that take him on new dirt roads. He has participated in the Iceman Cometh Challenge for over a decade. When not hitting the trails or grinding away the miles on gravel, Tobi enjoys camping trips with his family. He is also actively involved with the West Michigan Coyotes youth mountain bike team, where he coaches and rides alongside his daughter, fostering her love for the sport. The solitude of the trails and the invigoration of conquering an ultra-endurance race is what fuels his obsession with mountain biking and gravel cycling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summer training isn\u2019t just about watts and miles. It\u2019s about the long game\u2026the quiet work when no one\u2019s watching, the sweat that sets you up for that Iceman finish line feel months from now. Whether you’re hammering solo rides, corralling kids on a family trail spin, juggling client calls from the road, or sneaking in … Continue reading “Summer legs and Iceman on the mind”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[204],"tags":[69,165,72,139,179,141],"class_list":["post-1326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tobis-tips","tag-iceman","tag-iceman-cometh-challenge","tag-kalkaska","tag-training","tag-training-tips","tag-traverse-city"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1326"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1329,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1326\/revisions\/1329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}