How this Mann-ly bike race will grind out of Swiss Valley
On a day when cyclists will climb over a mix of dirt and paved back roads, the Melting Mann bike race’s most exciting part on March 25 will be its start.
Racers will perch at a new start this year — Swiss Valley Ski & Snowboard Area in Jones, rather than a park in Vandalia. They’ll pedal down the resort’s paved drive, going downhill all the way until they cross Patterson Hill Road and enter the sandy dirt uphill on the race’s namesake: Mann Road.
That initial climb on soft soil always claims riders whose wheels get stuck, lose traction or topple. The smart ones know how to pick their line and roll into it. Once over that hill, there are more hills. Mann is a scenic undulating ribbon through woods, and it takes a dip near a wetland, which has swelled and caused mud puddles in prior races, until it crosses Michigan 40.
But organizers know that the new start will bring cyclists eager to bolt — and speed — that could make for a messy, bottlenecked entrance onto Mann. So, co-organizer Mark Wright says, racers will launch in waves of no more than 80 at a time. They’ll start down the Swiss entrance with a pace car to keep the speed at about 15 mph. Then the car will turn off onto Patterson Hill and let the racing begin.
“The race could be lost near the beginning but not won,” he says of Mann, where he wants to avoid crashes and injuries.
Racers range from serious trophy seekers to everyday blokes on bikes, willing to give the scenic/funky dirt-loving ride a go.
Waves will be split based on the racers’ expected speeds. With roughly 700 racers in an average Melting Mann, give or take, they typically have split into five waves: all of the 60-mile racers together, then the 35- and 24-mile races each divided into men and a group of women, co-ed, tandem and fat bikes. Expect those to divide even more. But remember that it’s a timed race.
So will begin the first of 17 races in the Michigan Gravel Race Series across the state, which run through late October. E-bikes aren’t permitted on Melting Mann, by the way. Mountain, gravel and fat bikes work the best.
This also will mark the first time Melting Mann has come to Swiss Valley, which organizers with Heart Smart Events have wanted to do since it started in 2014.
Parking will be easier to find in Swiss’ huge lot. Registration will be indoors, where bathrooms offer changing stations in addition to the portable potties. Ron’s Beans coffee, chocolate chip cookies, snacks, lunch and Goshen Brewing Co. beer and ceremonies will still be staged outdoors, situated on the gravel and grass between the main lodge, rental building and chalet. Festivities could duck indoors if it’s stormy, Wright says.
The routes themselves have changed only slightly. No longer passing through Vandalia, he says, they added a few miles to the north so the route distances could stick within the gravel series’ guidelines.
Cash and other prizes will go to winners. Cost is $65 through March 7, then $80 after that. Details are at meltingmann.com.
Dunes Birding Festival
Early-bird registration begins March 3 for the ninth annual Indiana Dunes Birding Festival, which returns May 11-14. Sure, it’s two months away, but signing up early helps you to secure the spots you want on more than 150 field trips throughout the region, workshops and other programs led by experts. This popular fest, organized by Indiana Audubon, is timed for the peak of spring bird migration.
Author Jennifer Ackerman will give the keynote speech at 5:30 p.m. CDT May 13 on new understandings of birds’ intelligence. Among other “headliner” talks, there’s a bird explorer’s trek through Colombia and a Cornell Lab researcher.
Also in this column:Events here to find green outdoors or golden maple syrup
Evening events include excursions for owls and whippoorwills and a family-friendly “birds and brews” outdoors event.
Early bird rates, good until March 31, range from $20 to $65, depending on the number of days and whether youth or adult. Register and find the full schedule at indunesbirdingfestival.com. Or inquire at the Dunes Visitor Center, 1215 N. Indiana 49, Porter (219-395-1882) or Indiana Audubon at 765-205-1255.
More skiing, skating?
Swiss Valley Ski & Snowboard Area in Jones, with nine of its 12 slopes open, plans to close today (March 1), open 5 to 9 p.m. March 2 and then open for regular season hours this weekend, March 3-5. And Swiss hopes to pull off its Slush Cup at 2 p.m. March 5, a contest to see if you can ski over a pool of water. Held near the season’s end, the stunt hasn’t been possible every year because of snow depths and fickle weather, like what we're seeing this week. Note, Swiss Valley just moved the date from March 4 to March 5, same time. Stay tuned to their social media for updates.
Last year’s more generous winter had us skiing at Swiss a week later. What happens after this weekend "is up to Mother Nature," Assistant General Manager Mike Panich says. If you want to get in another run, do it this week.
Mishawaka’s new Ironworks Ice Rink in downtown will stay open throughout March as long as the weather allows, Superintendent Phil Blasko says.
The goal for Howard Park’s ice path and pond is to stay open at least until St. Patrick’s Day on March 17 or longer, Macey Hanna, director of recreational experiences, says. If conditions permit, she says the rink will close down from March 6 to 9 so that the ice can be turned green, then reopen March 10 — in time for the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 11.
Even with modern refrigeration at both ice parks, decisions to stay open depend on more than just temperature. Sun, wind and rain all play roles in whittling away the ice.
Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Melting Mann bike race moves to Swiss Valley on Michigan gravel roads
