Celebrating Victory – Melisa Rollins Wins Iceman Cometh! 🚴♀️
We’re thrilled to share some exciting news from the Iceman Cometh Challenge! The race, known for its rugged terrain and competitive field, saw remarkable performances this year. Let’s dive into the highlights and celebrate with our top riders!
🥇 Spotlight on Melisa Rollins – Champion of the Iceman Cometh Melisa Rollins showcased exceptional grit and skill, earning herself the well-deserved first-place title at the Iceman Cometh Challenge! Braving challenging conditions, Melisa powered through punchy trails with unmatched determination. Her impressive victory has cemented her as a standout force in the endurance MTB/Gravel cycling world.
Race Recap Highlights: Course Overview: 30-mile trail through winding paths, with freezing temperatures adding to the challenge. Melisa’s Winning Edge: Strategic pacing and sharp cornering were key to her lead in the final miles.
💪 Alexey Vermeulen’s Strong Finish on Kenda Rush Tires - replay in his own words
The feeling in the air this year in Traverse City was unlike I had seen it in years - maybe I was just in a good mood, but the expo and finish seemed even more alive than years past...maybe it's just Willie's fans?
Going into the race I worked hard on setting up the bike perfectly. I truly believe a hardtail with 2.4 tires is the best setup for the course no matter the year. This year I think I messed up on tire pressure and chainring size, but that's how it goes sometimes. From the gun I planned to try and make the race really hard and to go long. This tactic was quickly mitigated by a super fast course (we averaged 19.4mph) and guys on dropbar gravel bikes, don't worry - flat bar hardtails would prevail. The course was similar to the past years, albeit a bit longer in 2024. 31.5 miles point to point from Kalkaska, MI to Traverse City, MI finishing at Timber Ridge Resort in front of 12,000+ spectators. Yes, you should come to Iceman next year - it's worth it. The final 1.5 miles features two steep loose climbs and about 1 mile of singletrack that winds its way around the resort to the finish. From about 11/12 miles into the race we had whittled the group down to less than 8 guys. From there a couple more climbs made the group 5 riders before Kerry Warner and Brian Matter came riding back from the dead to grow our group to 7. The race ripped on towards Timber, but slowly everyone started focusing on the finish. All day I had felt a bit off, crashed twice and just seemed to not be having the perfect day. I knew my best chance for a result was going to be in GOOD position, so I set my mind on being 1st into both finishing single track sections - although this is easy to say as everyone wants to do this.
As the finale shot off I came into Woodchip (2nd to last climb) in 2nd place and didn't have the pop to get around the eventual winner, Noah Ramsey into the first singletrack with about 1 mile to go. As we dove in, another rider hit my back wheel and opened the gap to Noah further before we raced on to the finish. Leading into the final climb, Icebreaker, the noise was insane! All I could do beyond thinking about not crashing was pushing the pedals. By this point, Noah was away with a gap ready to win and I was leading the group with 5 guys left on my wheel...not a great place to be, but there I was. We started up Icebreaker and just about every rider got past me except one. From there we wound our way the final 1/2 mile to the finish. One rider broke his chain and we all finished in the spot we were in. A somewhat sour tasting 4th for me...I had dreamed of more but expected less at times.
With that, my 2024 season is done. A bit of a spicy lead into an icy finish. Iceman Cometh will always be where I end my season, and I will always think this race is incredibly special. If I never win again, winning in 2019 will still always be my proudest achievement and result of my career.
