\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0We\u2019re getting in the heart and the heat of summer! As the weather improves and the miles rack up, we\u2019re deep in the woods looking at ways to create a unique, challenging course that will keep you on your toes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0So, how does a course come together? One of the biggest pieces of the puzzle comes from working with Northern Michigan Mountain Biking Association and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to learn more about logging plans. Each year, the DNR harvests timber from state land, and there are times that their planes involves sections of the Iceman course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0We try to forecast those plans and establish new ways around logging forests, or anticipate clean-up efforts in the event that the logging in finished before race day. One of the important elements of refreshing logged sections of trails is to keep them open not just for the first Saturday in November, but to ensure marked and unmarked trails remain accessible year-round for riders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u00a0 \u00a0 There is one section scheduled to log this year, but no date has been set to work on the Make It Stick area we\u2019ve used the past few editions. On the bright side, we can open up the \u2018old\u2019 route in no time, and that flexibility gives us time to work on Make It Stick if logging operations are finished with a few weeks before November 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0We are also looking at last year\u2019s wave times, average speeds, and other information to inform where and how we can reduce back-ups and open racing. After a tough 30th edition made even more difficult with rain, snow, and mud, 2020 was always planned to be a world apart. Instead of one for the climbers, we\u2019re working on a route suited to the rouleurs, <\/em>the strong riders who put out a lot of power on the flats and can really put the hurt on other riders when the race hits the Vasa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0At this stage in the season, we have a few ideas in mind and have given the proposed, top secret route to just a few locals who will be riding the course to establish some baseline times and give their impressions. With group riding slowly coming back, we will also be able to get a better idea of how the new course breaks up slightly larger groups of, say, ten to fifteen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Once the DNR is open and taking permits, we\u2019ll finalize the route and create some high-quality maps to submit for their approval as a part of our event permit. Once those receive the green light, we\u2019ve got a course!<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Want to be ready? Get riding. Plan on faster, flatter, and a shorter course that puts the emphasis on horsepower over climbing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0We\u2019re getting in the heart and the heat of summer! As the weather improves and the miles rack up, we\u2019re deep in the woods looking at ways to create a unique, challenging course that will keep you on your toes. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0So, how does a course come together? One of the biggest … Continue reading “Heart & Heat of Summer”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"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":[2,18,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-course","category-training","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iceman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}