File photo by
iceman.com Biking season may be over, but one last race celebrates the sport and brings at least three thousand bikers from around the country.
Bikers say the 19th annual 2008 Iceman Cometh race provides a perfect ending to the biking season and it's something they look forward to each year.
And this year's weather conditions may have been rainy instead of snowy, but that didn't seem to dampen the mood.
"The little bit of rain smoothed things out quite a bit, so the sandy spots weren't bad at all this year and it was really, really fast," says biker Mark Jiles from Grand Rapids.
"The temps are fine, my toes are cold, but everything else is perfect. Just a little precipitation, but that's the Iceman. It's got to throw something at us or why come," says biker Shawn Hauser from Green Bay.
The 27 mile long race is a way to end the biking season and in doing so, thousands of bikers from across the country make their way to Traverse City each year.
"This year we've got people from literally Alaska, Hawaii, Florida and Maine so we've got all four corners of the country covered. We've got 31 additional states plus riders from Ontario in Canada," says race director, Steve Brown.
"We came with 16 riders from Green Bay. This is just how we like to end our season, stay out here and just have one last hurrah with the guys," says Hauser.
The bikers start off in Kalkaska and finish up at the Timber Ridge Resort in Traverse City, each year, the crowds continue to grow.
"The first one started with 35 riders and this year we're at three thousand. It's been a crazy ride," says Brown.
"This is I think my 5th or 6th Iceman and it's a must do, you can never just not come to this race," says Hauser.
And it's the ride that not only attracts bikers, but has an effect on the local economy.
"It has a huge impact, and really when we started the whole event the idea was to create an event during an off-season. It wasn't summer season, it's right before deer season. So this has to be a boost for the local economy, says Brown.
Despite previous years with ice and snow, Steve Brown says over the past couple of years, crowds have been in the thousands. This year they even had about 200 kids sign up to race.
2008 ICEMAN COMETH RESULTS