By MIKE ECKERT
TRAVERSE CITY -- Jeremiah Bishop had a fight to the finish line. Amanda Carey cruised to the end.
Both came away from their first Iceman Cometh Challenge with a win in the Pro Division.
"This is as sweet as it gets," Bishop said. "To win a classic American mountain bike race, it's a dream come true."
Bishop, 32, of Harrisburg, Va., finished the 27-mile race from Kalkaska to Timber Ridge Campground in 1:28.31 minutes. He was six seconds better than defending champ Brian Matter of Sheboygan, Wis.
"I had read about this race as a kid, but it was too far for me to get to," Bishop said. "Once I turned pro, I thought about it, but the season was too long and I needed to rest. But this year, I said I had to do the Iceman."
A compact track made for quick times and a stacked lead group. The top six finishers all were within 30 seconds of Bishop.
"Usually, you get about halfway through and it's a group of six," said Alpena's Mike Anderson, who finished third. "This year, there were at least eight all the way and you couldn't break it up. It makes it real exciting and a hard race."
Anderson took the lead with about 5 miles to go, but couldn't hold off Bishop and Matter down the stretch.
"I was happy to get second," Matter said. "I got sick last week, so I didn't ride at all. I was coughing during the middle of the race, but I rode a smart race and tried not to do too much work."
Having a fast track actually worked to his advantage.
"For me, faster meant more draft, which helped," Matter said. "I've done this every year since 1993, so I have a lot of experience knowing where to use my energy and where to save it."
For the women's pro race, the fast track meant Carey could run away with the competition. The 28-year-old from Victor, Idaho, finished in 1:45.45. Two minutes later, Susan Stephens from Harrow, Ont., finished second in 1:47.45 while Heather Irmiger from Boulder, Colo., was a second behind for third.
"I can't believe this," Carey said. "I knew Heather was a better climber than me, so I wanted see if I could get ahead before the last section of the course. I attacked at the road crossing and then just time-trialed to the end."
It was the first major win for Carey, who turned professional this year.
"Every time I felt myself falling back, I said nail it, it's almost over," Carey said.
While Carey jumped ahead to take first, Stephens and Irmiger battled to the finish for second place.
"Heather got me by 15 seconds last year, and today we duked it out to the finish," Stephens said. "It always makes you stronger to go against good competition."
The race ended the season for Stephens, a mother of four.
"Towards the end, the pace was kind of crazy," she said. "It was definitely a lung burner."
Irmiger used a different strategy to prepare for Saturday's race.
"Last year, I did it after taking 4-5 weeks off," Irmiger said. "This year, I did a few hours each week to work out before. So, I'm happy."
