The Iceman Cometh 2019 – West Michigan Coyotes

It’s the biggest race in Michigan. It’s famously popular and more famously crowded. We love it, but complain about its imperfections. It’s a party in the woods with 5,500 of your best cycling friends, sometimes in the middle of the race. There are people handing out bacon, bananas, and beverages. Iceman 2019 was a race against the conditions as much as anything. It’s different every year but it’s never boring.

Some snow.
Mud for miles.

This year it rained, snowed, hailed, froze and thawed before, during and after the race. We had 4″ of snow, all of which melted. Then, during the Juniors and Pros it snowed and hailed a bit for good measure. There were miles of peanut butter mud, and miles of beautiful hard packed VASA XC Ski trail. Hills (full of walkers to dodge), a start venue that included an airport runway, the famous paved road crossing at Williamsburg Rd., and in the midst of it all, a dozen Coyotes finished the Iceman Cometh Challenge in 2019.

Before the race. Before the mud.
Coyotes warmed up on the airport runway in Kalkaska.
Left to Right: Madine Whitmer, Anabel Miller, Haydon Frehr, Luke Zuelke, David Brower (friend-of-the-team), Drake Marine, Nicholas Budden, Addison Forrester, Gage Bouwman.

12 Coyotes Finished the Iceman!
We got 9 of them to pose for a post-race picture.
Back Row: Eli Zuelke, Judah Gustafson
Front Row (L-R): Olivia Miller, Madine Whitmer, Anabel Miller,
Addison Forrester, Haydon Frehr, Easton Foster, Luke Zuelke

This year’s challenging course pushed everyone to the brink both mentally and physically. It also brought out their best and allowed the team to cap their race season successfully on the biggest stage Michigan has to offer. Coyotes – If I missed you on the racer list below, drop us an email and we’ll get it rectified quickly!