Saturday was the big mountain bike race from Kalkaska to Traverse City, the biggest one day race in the United States and has drawn close to 4,000 racers for the past couple of years. It has become a huge end of the season event with racers coming as much for the after race parties as they do for the race itself.
I sold my entry earlier in the fall as I did not feel that I would be very competitive this year as I have not done much riding this fall. I thought I would miss not racing but really didn't. After attending the expo all day on Friday I got up race day morning and drove home. I am kind of disappointed I missed doing it though because the race was finally held in winter conditions complete with ice and snow. But after being on my feet all day Friday I would have not been very fast, as evident by my ride I did when I got home yesterday.
The Iceman expo held on Friday is the spot for registration pickup and is also an area for dealers, vendors, and other bike related enterprises to set up and display information and sell merchandise, many at season end clearance prices. It can become a madhouse at times, especially later in the evening . I have set up a Hammer Nutrition tent at several of these and was usually exhausted by the end of the day from talking and selling product.
This year MiSCA shared a booth with the MMBA and we set out material for our organization as well as merchandise for the MMBA. MiSCA had a big banner in the back of the tent and polo shirts to wear with our logo. We drew a lot of attention, both from interested racers and potential schools as well as interested sponsors. Some had heard about us from word of mouth, others had seen the recent article in Cyclingnews. At the end of the day I was again exhausted but I think it was a very productive day for the future of MiSCA.
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