The Grand National Ice Race in Michigan is one of the American Motorcyclist Association’s stand-alone events that tests rider and rig on the frozen surface of Lake Pontiac. Basic premise: take a dirt bike or quad onto a frozen lake circuit and haul tail without falling on your ass on the ice. Sounds sketchy, doesn’t it? Well, it is, but if you watch a rider who knows what they are doing, it becomes an art form as they balance speed and traction. Get it right, and you look like a hero. Get it wrong, and before your brain can think, “This is gonna hurt…”, you’ll be skipping across the frozen lake like a rock.

This footage, from last year’s event, is courtesy of Trey Johnson, though we don’t know for sure if that is the rider or not. Whoever the rider is, they deserve a medal of some type just for being able to ride at those speeds! If this kind of racing interests you, the 2016 AMA Ice Race Championship is tentatively scheduled for the weekend of February 20th-21st in Pontiac Township, Michigan, so long as conditions are favorable for racing.