The hay\u2019s in the barn. The base miles are logged. The intervals have been suffered through, maybe even cursed at. You\u2019ve done the work. You\u2019ve shown up on the cold mornings, the soggy evenings, the \u201cwhy am I doing this again\u201d rides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now it\u2019s time to rest. To fuel up. To let your body remember how to feel fresh again. This is the week to trade intensity for excitement, stress for anticipation. The work is behind you\u2026the reward is ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because this Saturday? It\u2019s ICEMAN aka The Catalina Wine Mixer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The single most unpredictable, unforgettable, wonderfully unhinged day of the Michigan bike calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The weather could be anything. Sunshine and hero dirt. Freezing sleet and peanut-butter mud. Or\u2026if we\u2019re lucky, a full-on monsoon just to keep things interesting. (Secretly hoping for it, honestly. At least chaos makes for good stories).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So pack everything. Every glove, layer, sock and jacket you own. The rain jacket that leaks a little. The spare set of dry clothes for the drive home. The emergency Nerd Cluster gummies (these may be the most important thing). Bring it all, because if there\u2019s one thing that\u2019s consistent about Iceman, it\u2019s that you will need something you didn\u2019t think you would.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And when that start gun goes off, remember this\u2026it\u2019s not about watts or segment times or perfect conditions. It\u2019s about the sound of tires on frozen dirt, the smell of pine and campfires, the cheers in the woods from strangers who instantly feel like teammates. It\u2019s about the shared grin you exchange with the rider next to you when your derailleur starts making that \u201cgravel espresso\u201d noise halfway to Timber Ridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ve earned this. You belong here and whatever Mother Nature decides to throw down, you\u2019re ready for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few last tips before you line up:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See you at Timber!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tobi 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":"
The hay\u2019s in the barn. The base miles are logged. The intervals have been suffered through, maybe even cursed at. You\u2019ve done the work. You\u2019ve shown up on the cold mornings, the soggy evenings, the \u201cwhy am I doing this again\u201d rides. Now it\u2019s time to rest. To fuel up. To let your body remember … Continue reading “It’s Iceman Week!”<\/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":[69,165,139,179,141],"class_list":["post-1472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tobis-tips","tag-iceman","tag-iceman-cometh-challenge","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\/1472","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=1472"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1473,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1472\/revisions\/1473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}