Nearly 1,600 bicyclists line up in Kalkaska to race, ranging in age from 8 to 79 and coming from 16 states and Canada. Organizers have turned it into more than just a race, scheduling weekend-long festivities, including an expo with new product demonstrations and an awards ceremony with dinner and drinks. The weather is part of Iceman's gamble, perhaps its biggest lure. Racers have faced bitter flurries, inches of snowpack and, recently, the coming of The Rainman. This pack challenge is an MTV-style extreme sport with Wild West attitude and, oddly, a good dose of Family Affair.
Some riders are health nuts.
Many are Lone Ranger types who worship woodsy solitude. Others are thrill-seekers looking to get airborne. Regardless of their demeanor, each racer seems to enter a kind of quiet before the race begins. They stretch limbs and yawn. They open toolboxes and adjust wheels.