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Emmett and Simonson tops at Michigan's Iceman

By Kip Mikler, VeloNews editor
Published: Nov. 4, 2006
Racers wind their way through Michgan's northwoods during the 2006 Iceman Cometh mountain bike race Saturday N
Racers wind their way through Michgan's northwoods during the 2006 Iceman Cometh mountain bike race Saturday N
Photo: Bryan Mitchell

Michigan’s favorite fat-tire export Kelli Emmett (Ford Cycling) stormed to a second consecutive win at the Iceman Cometh Challenge, a popular mountain-bike season closer in frigid northern Michigan on Sunday. Making it an all-Michigan affair was pro men’s winner Mike Simonson (Bell’s Brewery-Quiring Cycles), a 26-year-old from Oxford, a suburb of Detroit, who held off two former winners from Wisconsin: Tristan Schouten (Trek-Volkswagen) and Brian Matter (PCW-Hyundai), who finished second and third respectively.

Snow flurries fell throughout the morning’s amateur races, but by the time the men set off on the 27.5-mile course at 2:30 p.m., the dark clouds blowing in from Lake Michigan, just a few miles from the start, had cleared. Temperatures were in the upper 30s, and the course was in prime condition — clear of snow and ice, but just wet enough to tame Iceman’s infamous, wheel-sucking sand pits.

Now in its 17th year, the Iceman Cometh Challenge, held annually on the first Saturday of November, is a point-to-point race from Kalkaska to Traverse City, Michigan. A favorite in the burgeoning Midwest mountain-bike scene, the event sells out early each year. This year more than 2500 racers competed.

Ford Cycling racer Kelli Emmett celebrates on the podium after winning the 2006 Iceman Cometh
Ford Cycling racer Kelli Emmett celebrates on the podium after winning the 2006 Iceman Cometh
Photo: Bryan Mitchell

Since its debut in 1990, the Iceman has experienced all types of weather. Last year Adam Craig (Giant) won wearing shorts, with temperatures approaching 60 degrees. Three years ago, heavy snow at the start in Kalkaska caused multiple car accidents and traffic jams on Route 72 between Traverse City and Kalkaska. Many entrants abandoned their cars and rode their bikes to the start, which was delayed by over an hour when the timing crew was held up by the weather.

Emmett won that memorable edition of the Iceman in 2003, but she was happy on Sunday to have a course that, while perhaps not living up to its name, was close to perfect for racing mountain bikes. “The course was so wet and tacky, it’s probably the fastest I’ve ever ridden it,” said Emmett, who jetted away from her rivals early and beat runner-up Sara Kylander-Johnson (Trek-Volkswagen) by more than seven minutes. “It was nice because the sand was packed down a bit.”

With a winning time of 1:47:21, Emmett caught and passed many of the pro men who started 30 seconds ahead of her. Now with three Iceman wins to her name, Emmett is tied with Elise Harrington (winner in 1992, ’93, ’94) at second on the career wins list. The only woman more prolific at winning the Iceman was former world junior cross-country champion Cecilia Potts, who won four straight from 1995 to 1998.

While Emmett flourished on the fast course, Kylander-Johnson, who earlier this year won the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival, a similar point-to-point race in Wisconsin, said she might have preferred a more forceful showing by Mother Nature. “I was kind of hoping for snow,” said the Duluth, Minnesota, resident. “I ride all winter long in the snow, so that would have been fine.”

Kylander-Johnson held off Jessica Woodard (Custer Cyclery), who finished third, but said she didn’t have the strength to give Emmett a good battle. “I just didn’t have it today,” Kylander-Johnson said. “I didn’t have the turnover I needed, didn’t have the power. But that’s okay, that’s racing.”

Emmett was clearly in a league of her own in the women’s field. By the 16-mile mark, where the course crosses Williamsburg Road near the town of the same name, she had a lead of 3:57. Emmett continued to pull away from there, when the race heads into several climbing sections including “Cassle Cliffs” and the “Ice Breaker,” the final grind up to the finish line at Timber Ridge, just outside of Traverse City.

“It’s always so good to be home,” said Emmett, a clear crowd favorite among the throngs lining the course near the finish. “I’ve been doing ’cross racing this year, so that’s helped me keep some form.”

Also keeping good form this late in the season was Simonson, one of Michigan’s top cross-country men who said he had been focusing on Iceman all season long. “This was the first bike race I ever did, back when I was 19 years old,” he said. “So I’ve been trying to win it for seven years. This is a big one.”

The expert class starts
The expert class starts
Photo: Bryan Mitchell

Simonson also won this year’s Ore to Shore race in Marquette, Michigan, another mass-start, point-to-point race that, along with Iceman and Chequamegon, makes up the unofficial “triple crown” that’s coveted by Midwest mountain bikers. In the absence of big-name pros such as last year’s winner Craig (who was in Costa Rica for the La Ruta de los Conquistadores stage race), Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski and Travis Brown — all of whom competed last year — Simonson knew Schouten (2003 Iceman champion) and Matter (2004 Iceman champion) were the ones to watch.

The 26-year-old Simonson, an engineer by trade, went hard from the start. “I took the holeshot, and when we got into the two-track I punched it a couple of times,” he said. “They covered it both times, but then we got into that singletrack, and there was a stump. I think Brian clipped it with his pedal and then I was free. I opened it up pretty quick and got 40 seconds, then a minute, and just kind of held it.”

Schouten was right behind Matter when he crashed less than a mile into the race. “He hit a root or something with his pedal when he was on Simonson’s wheel,” Schouten said. “He just cart-wheeled it in the air. I went around him, but Simonson put 50 feet on us. He’s so powerful, I can’t close the gap on him once he’s got it — especially on a high-speed course like this.”

Recognizing the opportunity, Simonson powered through the first half of the course, which features an abundance of big-ring rolling hills, punctuated by tricky sand sections. “If it’s flat, I can open it up pretty fast,” Simonson said.

When he went through Williamsburg with just under 12 miles to go, Simonson had a gap of 1:12 on Schouten and Matter. The two training partners from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, worked together to try and chase down Simonson until Matter finally began to fade in the closing miles. Schouten continued to close in on Simonson, but couldn’t get any closer than about 40 seconds.

“Near the finish, I could see the lead moto, and I thought I was closer than I was, but [Simonson] had a little too much time,” Schouten said.

After the two Michigan natives collected their winners’ bouquets and checks ($2000 each), and the sun began to set on a frigid day in the north, each turned their attention to the future. Simonson said he’d like to try racing at the Sea Otter next year. Emmett, a pro on the national circuit who now lives in Colorado Springs, said it had been a long season, and it was time for a beer. There were plenty of cold ones around.

17TH ICEMAN COMETH CHALLENGE
KALKASKA TO TRAVERSE CITY, MI. NOVEMBER 4PRO MEN
1. Mike Simonson, Bell’s-Quiring, 27.5mi in 1:36:57
2. Tristan Schouten, Trek-Volkswagen, at 0:29
3. Brian Matter, PCW-Hyundai, at 1:05
4. Randy Laprairie, Macomb Bike and Fitness, at 4:40
5. Jesse Lalonde, Gary Fisher, at 4:47PRO WOMEN
1. Kelli Emmett, Ford, 27.5mi in 1:47:21
2. Sara Kylander-Johnson, Trek-Volkswagen, at 7:41
3. Jessica Woodard, Custer Cyclery, at 9:41
4. Heather Holmes, Ford Cycling, at 11:45
5. Laura Webb, Priority Health, at 16:03,br>

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