TRAVERSE CITY -- Don Fedrigon was one of 35 riders to compete in the inaugural Iceman Cometh mountain bike race 20 years ago.
He'll have lots of company Saturday.
A record 4,400 riders -- 4,100 in the 28-mile Iceman and eight-mile Slush Cup, and another 300 in the Sno-Cone -- are registered, making it the largest single-day mountain bike event in the country, according to organizers.
Iceman cyclists should enjoy a fast track through the Pere Marquette Forest from Kalkaska to Traverse City. Saturday's forecast calls for partly sunny skies with a high in the mid-50s.
"It's always interesting to see what the weather throws at you the first weekend in November," said Fedrigon, one of six riders to participate in all 19 of the previous races. "We've raced in everything from six inches of snow, to frost, to rain, to dry and sunny."
The increased numbers -- about 1,500 more riders than last year when the field was capped -- are due to a "registration glitch," race director Steve Brown said.
"We tried to do it electronically and our system was not prepared for the tidal wave (of entries)," he said. "It was crazy. Our computers shut down."
Brown said officials had to revert to paper entries -- and then set a deadline.
Saturday's field will include the defending champions in the professional divisions -- Virginia's Jeremiah Bishop and Idaho's Amanda Carey. In addition, five-time women's winner Kelli Emmett, who missed last year's event, will return.
"It's a deep field," Brown said. "It's going to be a matter who has the most left at the end."
Races will begin in downtown Kalkaska, starting at 9 a.m. The pro races get underway at 2:30 p.m. The finish line is at Timber Ride Resort, just outside Traverse City.
The downtown start is new and adds about a mile to the course, Brown said. It should allow racers to spread out some before reaching the forest, he added.
Cyclists will encounter various types of terrain -- dirt roads, two-tracks, abandoned railroad beds -- on the trek to Traverse City.
"I've ridden the trail five times this fall," Fedrigon said. "It seems to be great shape."
Racers will see some hills on the Vasa ski trail near the end.
"Even though it's fast I consider it a technical course," Fedrigon said.
Maybe moreso this year.
"With 1,500 additional riders that adds to the challenge," he said. "You've got people riding at varying speeds. The single-track parts of the course can get pretty narrow, so if you get behind somebody you'll have to figure out a way to get around them."
A year ago, the race attracted riders from 36 states, plus Ontario.
Fedrigon is not surprised by that.
"I'm not sure I envisioned it the way it is today," he said, "but I knew it was going to be something special. Anytime you have a mountain bike race that's point to point it's always a lot of fun. Most mountain bike races are multiple laps around a course. They doesn't attract the same type of riders because it's so repetitive. It's not as interesting."
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