Ice Man Commeth Bike Race Canceled in Northern Michigan

An annual point-to-point mountain bike race usually the first Saturday in November has been canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It would have been the 31st year for the Ice Man Commeth Challenge, which starts in downtown Kalkaska, Michigan and finishes 30 miles later at Timber Ridge Resort just outside Traverse City.

Organizers shared to Facebook that in the interest of the health and safety of the riders, the race will not take place this year.

They say all all registered riders will receive an email with information regarding the registration. They ask that riders defer registration to 2021 or donate the fee to the Iceman Cometh Challenge so they can continue to not only host events, but also give back to the community in which they operate:

In 2019, Bell’s Iceman Cometh Challenge was transferred to a charitable organization, The Festival Foundation. The Festival Foundation is preserving your traditions by hosting four major events in the Traverse City Area including summer family fun, riding through the woods in the fall, a St. Paddy’s run and a New Year’s Eve celebration. The Festival Foundation cancelled all of its events for 2020, due to COVID-19, leaving the organization with little to no income to support its day to day operating cost or secure the funds needed to plan for 2021.

Over the last five years Iceman Cometh Challenge has given to many area organizations and funded many projects. With this in mind, we are asking you to defer registration to 2021 or donate the fee to the Iceman Cometh Challenge so we can continue to not only host events, but also give back to the community in which we operate. Any donated registration fee will be 100% tax deductible, we will hold your spot for 2021 (you’d still have to pay the fee) AND you will be entered in to a drawing for some cool swag.

There is no getting around what we already know, 2020 has been a difficult year for everyone. The Iceman Crew spent...
Posted by Iceman Cometh Challenge on Thursday, August 20, 2020

Race Director Cody Sovis talks about the tough, but right call they had to make to cancel the race this year:

There were many reasons to cancel the event and very few feasible ways to put on anything that resembled the quality race that’s become such an institution in bike racing. First, I think it’s important to say that even if we could have put on the race, bringing over 4,000 people to our region during a pandemic would have been dangerous.

You can read his full statement here.

Anyone who would like to donate to the Iceman Cometh Challenge/ Festival Foundation can do so here.