Iceman: The Catalina Wine Mixer of Mountain Biking

Friday was doing absolutely nothing to help anyone’s pre-race nerves. Rain, a break, more rain, and a whole bunch of mountain bikers refreshing the forecast as though one of us might eventually get a different answer.

Were we getting another Mudman, or was this going to be a Niceman? We had already committed to a weekend of bikes in northern Michigan in November. Apparently that wasn’t enough questionable decision making…now we were discussing tire pressure like it might influence the weather.

Fortunately, it dried up and temperatures stayed above freezing. Although, let’s be honest, a true Iceman with snow would be pretty awesome. The course was freaking dialed, and we all sent it. For once, the forecast drama was considerably worse than the dirt drama. Niceman it was.

The course came in just under 30 miles, and Icebreaker was out this year. Before anyone got too comfortable with that information, Anita’s Hill and her sister returned. Apparently the hills have adopted the buddy system. We appreciate the commitment to family togetherness, but we were hoping to save ours for the campsite.

Then came the Woodchip climb, which still goes by Woodchip despite being mostly dirt and random stone now. Apparently nobody has updated its LinkedIn. The barricades ran all the way to the finish, with one final climb between you and being done. Icebreaker was out, Anita brought her sister, and Woodchip was operating under an assumed identity.

Iceman is the Catalina Wine Mixer of bike events. Everyone talks about it for months, everybody shows up, and a whole weekend somehow gets organized around riding from one place to another while our families figure out how to meet us there with our stuff. Prestige Worldwide should really take a look at the shuttle logistics…and this weekend had some actual finish line suspense.

Reese Drajka finished second among all the junior women, six seconds behind the winner. Their displayed Williamsburg splits matched. At Ice Station Zebra, they were one second apart. After almost 30 miles, there was still barely anything separating them. That is a lot of racing to arrive at a gap shorter than the average dad takes to stand up from a camping chair.

Cruz Woodbury somehow made that look spacious. Three seconds separated Cruz from the boys U15 win. Three seconds. That’s barely enough time to yell “GO!” and then remember you could contribute something more specific. Cruz Control was working overtime, with Sawyer Willink fourth and Max Clemo sixth in the same division. Those boys gave the results refreshing department a full workload.

Easton Roberts finished sixth in the entire junior field. Tristan Hubbard and Camden DeJong joined him in the top 15. Camden’s published ranking moved from 21st at Dockery to 15th at the finish, so his story was still developing well after the first checkpoint. The last part of a race has a way of reminding everyone why we don’t hand out the results in the parking lot beforehand.

We’re still waiting on Matt Hubbard for the video of Tristan finishing, with Jen providing the soundtrack. After her cheering at Heritage, we had high expectations for the Iceman sequel. Matt…Matthew….buddy…please check your camera roll. We’re emotionally invested in this franchise.

Sammy Weaver took third in girls U15, Hadley Ruch fourth, and Lola Clemo seventh. A strong day for all three on a course considerably longer than their usual MiSCA races. The climb at the end was included for everyone, of course. No sibling discount, no youth discount, and nobody accepting a note from your parents excusing you from the last climb.

Jakob Boer’s last MiSCA race ended with a broken wrist. This weekend, he was back out there finishing full Iceman. After that ending to his MiSCA season, it was really good to see him riding with this crew again. That’s a part of his weekend worth knowing that you won’t find by scrolling past his name in the results.

Owen Rookus’s season also included a broken arm, and now it includes a full Iceman finish and a photo of him grinning through a wheelie. Nearly 30 miles available to use both wheels, and he still found an opportunity to save some wear on the front tire. When that bike eventually goes up for sale, “front tire barely used” will be an honest listing.

Ethan and Wyatt Kirsch finished two seconds apart. All those miles, all those trees, all that room to spread out, and the timing sheet still had them practically attached. So much room for activities, apparently very little need for personal space. Whoever was trying to get both finish-line photos was either delighted or has one excellent picture of the back of a helmet.

Ocean Trierweiler and Kaitlyn Tungl both moved forward in the published checkpoint rankings as the race went on. There’s something good in that: the first part of the day doesn’t get to write the whole story. Keep riding, keep making decisions, and see what’s there at the next checkpoint.

Declan Vandewarker, Ryland Modzeleski, and Tyler Veley brought their races home, as did Easton Johnson, Ryder Pankey, and Raylan Hansma. Harper Roberts, Michael Eicher, and Gunnar Larson added their finishes, with Jeannie Reckner and Anneke Willink completing their own long trips through the woods. That is a whole lot of Coyotes taking on the full course. Every one of those kids had to get themselves up that final climb. We were rooting for them, although we should clarify that yelling does not count as trail maintenance.

Slush Cup was busy too. Wyatt Johnson cracked the boys U13 top 10, while Ashton Naum, Nolan Widmayer, and William Bernatche’s finishes fell within 32 seconds of each other. Thirty-two seconds is a tidy little cluster after that much riding. It also gives a parent just enough time to cheer, check whether the phone recorded it, and realize they forgot to watch with their actual eyes.

Aspen Trierweiler landed on the girls U13 podium, and Lucy Clemo finished in the top 10. Lynlee Widmayer, Addiekay Widmayer, and Winnie Richardson brought their races home as well. Between Nolan, Lynlee, and Addiekay, the Widmayers had three Slush Cup finishers. Three kids, three bikes, and a family packing list that probably needs its own table of contents.

The entire Clemo family raced. All the kids. Both parents. Their family tree should absolutely be drawn as a bike rack. Getting that household to Iceman involves more tires than a small trucking company and enough chain lube to warrant a purchasing agreement. Somewhere in there, the parents also had to prepare for their own races. We have questions. Mostly whether their garage has a service department and if Thanksgiving dinner includes a mandatory tire pressure check.

The Sno Cone and Pop Cycle events gave the smallest bikes their piece of the weekend too. A kid’s race can be a very big deal to the kid riding it. Their start line deserves the excitement, their finish deserves the noise, and their bike deserves to be loaded somewhere an adult won’t immediately trip over it. Small wheels, big occasion. Same very important search for a snack afterward.

There was some discussion about the barricades on Woodchip, since that section had been open in years past. We remember when Icebreaker was open too, but we were fine with this year’s setup. It was still a great place to cheer on the pros and watch races get decided. Easy for us to say, of course. We were standing there with fully recovered legs and unsolicited encouragement.

And then Kyan Olshove won the men’s pro race, one second ahead of Alexey Vermeulen, giving us a full Buddy the Elf moment. KYAN! WE KNOW HIM!

Kyan spent a season racing with the Coyotes, which means we are now prepared to mention that connection to absolutely anyone. Friends, relatives, the person beside us, someone who only asked where the bathrooms were. Yes, just over there, and while we have you, the Iceman winner used to race with our team.

Kyan wasn’t the only familiar face in the pro field. Former Coyotes Anabel Miller, Luke Zuelke, Madine Whitmer, and Judah Gustafson were out there too, so we had plenty of people to yell for. Pretty wild to watch kids who used to race with this team lining up with the pros while our current Coyotes cheer them on. Hopefully they could hear us. We certainly weren’t saving our voices for anything.

The Coyotes connections extended to the expo, too. Addison Forrester, another former Coyote, debuted her new women-only cycling apparel brand, Allora Cycling. So now we’re doing “WE KNOW HER!” in the expo as well. At this rate, we’re going to need name tags that simply say “I was a Coyote” to save everyone some time.

What a cool thing to see Addison building, and what a weekend to introduce it. Former Coyotes racing in the pro field, a former Coyote launching her own cycling brand, and our current kids making their own memories all over the event. There are a lot of ways to stay part of this bike community as you grow up. We’re excited to cheer for those chapters too.

Away from the course, we spent time around the fire. Wyatt took a particular interest in a fire stick as a way to pass the time. He was, quite literally, burning through the afternoon. Owen, meanwhile, was hauling a substantial chunk of firewood back on his shoulder with his bike helmet still on. Safety first. The boy will ride around on one wheel, but he is taking absolutely no chances with the lumber. Between Wyatt’s stick and Owen’s bulk delivery, we appeared to have the full range of forestry operations covered. We’re not saying they were gathering materials for bunkbeds, but there would be so much more room for activities.

Those were good parts of the weekend too. Hanging around together. Kids getting more time with their friends. Parents getting to enjoy the families we’ve spent the season driving across Michigan to see. No need to hurry straight from one race to the next thing. For a little while, the next thing was a fire and whatever Wyatt was doing with that stick.

Wait…that’s it? We’re just supposed to unpack the car and go back to being normal people? We just got the fire going.

Thanks for another ridiculously good weekend, Coyotes. Who’s coming back next year? And while we’re all pretending we need a break from bikes…when does Barry training start again? Asking for the same people who said they were ready for the season to be over.

Matt…you’ve got until then to find that video.

Full results below the gallery!

Full Results: