Author Mark Gronewald has been a wildland firefighter, trail builder, and bike shop owner. Between 1999 and 2011, he designed, built, and sold his Wildfire FatBikes out of his Palmer shop, Wildfire Designs Bicycles. Iditarod Improbable, his debut novel, is loosely based on his experiences racing in winter endurance events from 1996 through 2006. He was inducted into the Northern Innovators Hall of Fame in 2015.