The weekend started out great with a neat video article done by the Alaska Dispatch News. Ryan Greeff, The Laura Fox, Nicholas Blades and I discussed some basic fat biking information and rode around with GoPro's. We couldn't ask for better weather! The sun was out, the trees frosted and the trails were amazing. Plus I got to ride around with some great ambassadors, teammates and friends. It doesn't get better than that. Scott with ADN created a great edit here:
Frosty Bottom 50. The first big fatbike race of the year. It's fast and with pack mentality the pace is relentless. It's turned into a road race of sorts with average speeds well over 15 miles per hour for the lead pack. To put that into perspective, the Susitna 100 mile race last year was finished in just under 11 hours, or around 10 miles per hour. We race with little to no baggage and gear. The bikes are as light as we can get them. I was able to get my bike with pedals just under 24 pounds finally.
Laura has really been a positive influence in my life. Ask any friend, family or colleague about my timeliness and one word will be used to explain it. Late. Haha! I am far better at judging the amount of time I need to get to places. Saturday was no different. We got to the race with ample time to park, warmup, pump up tires, use the potty and seed ourselves in a good spot at the starting line. I was feeling good, had a decent breakfast, good cup of coffee and was enjoying chatting with many friends.
Through preparation for the ITI, caring for an upset tummy puppy, working on team sponsorships and preparing for a trip my mind has been a bit all over the place. I had basically given up on racing the Frosty Bottom as the weather had been so amiss the past few weeks and my usual preparation time frame was a bit hurried. This ultimately caused me some problems. I had taken off the Dillinger 5's that were on the bike and mounted my Dillinger 4 tires tubeless the night before. I had plugged in my riding light which is attached to my helmet. I put a few snacks in my feed bag which I've never used for the frosty bottom. Well luck has it that I had a charged helmet light...sitting on my dining room floor at home twenty minutes before the start of the race! I raced home from Kincaid and got my helmet and light. By the time I returned the 50 mile racers had already left. I get my gps turned on and took off down the Chalet Hill. STRIKE 1!!!
I tore down the chalet hill like I've never done before. Leg out, drifting like a dirt track racer. I got to the bottom and just started spinning. I was in a fury! I started catching folks within the first few miles and politely announced which side I was going to pass them on. It was like I was passing hundreds of racers. I felt somewhat bad that perhaps my absent mindedness would hamper their race. When someone just flies by you while you're putting in a decently hard effort that can feel a little discouraging. I hope no one felt that way.
I ran into many fellow racers I know. First, Oscar Lage who had a good pace but was running a bit too warm and not long after I caught him he had to drop off and take a layer off. He's another one of the "Team Green" Corvus folks and has a great looking bike.
Next, I caught up with Jill Semek. She was in fourth place in the race at the moment I caught her. Jill and I rode together for a while and we discussed where Laura and Megan were and the approximate race time. Going off her time and comparing mine I was about five minutes off the start time. We rode together for a bit and after a couple miles I got a gap and pulled away. I continued to pick racers off, small groups of two or three riders at a time. By Tudor pedestrian bridge I caught two riders, the one in front was Brad Manderfeld. He told me that Laura was just in front of us! I took this as a good sign that I had caught a pack, or so I thought.
Sure enough when I rounded the first corner after getting onto the old rondy trail I saw Laura's signature green helmet and green bike. She was riding with one other person and I took off after her with a renewed sense of energy. Not but a few seconds later I went over the North Fork Campbell Creek bridge and proceeded to knock ALL but two fig newmans out of my feed bag. In the excitement of the race I quit closing the bag. It was totally slow motion. The treats made it to eye level and it was like I could have just grabbed them. I figured I could pick them up on the return trip. I rode another quarter mile or so, passed another racers and caught up with her. Her expression told me the race wasn't going as expected for her. She looked sweaty, labored breathing and her pace dropped off when I caught her. I've got a few things I do to help calm myself. Both of us were breathing heavily and so I told her (and myself) to just concentrate on breathing. In through the mouth and nose, out through the mouth. We caught our wind, lowered our heart rates and were ready for the tour/service/abbott road climb. I wanted Laura to do well and we both trudged up, me giving her all the encouragement I could think of. She sure is a tough rider, she hunkered down and put in a good sector after reaching the Hilltop parking area. I rode with her until just before the Rover's Run overflow area and took off on my own. I figured that when I got back to my snacks I would stop to pick them up and ride with her when she caught up.
I started my search when I crested a hump before the bridge. I see a couple of loose gel gummies but ZERO packages. Oh no, STRIKE 2! I'm now going to ride about two hours with no calories except for the little bit my Skratch drink mix has. This is not good!!
I noticed while on the last bit of the tour trail before hitting the MLK BLVD bridge that the front tire felt very plush. Comfy you could say. I decided to push on and try to catch the next group.
Right around the Northern Lights Bridge at Goose Lake I caught a break! A small pack of four working together! They were a quiet bunch, Chris Wood, Doug Schutte and two others I didn't recognize. We took turns pulling, probably a few times each. Eventually this pack fell apart. Chris and I rode a bit together till he fell off my wheel near earthquake park.
If your front tire starts going flat it's tough to stand and put weight on the front tire. I could tell my front tire was really soft and I quit standing worried that it would roll off the bead. I was reeling in Michael Bouwkamp and felt OK other than that.
Anyone that's done the frosty bottom knows that the final 5 miles is where the race is won. The major time gaps are made by the folks who are strong and not those that just held on at the start. If you've followed your race plan you should still finish strong. Out of nowhere, Laura and Chris pop up next to me!! We passed Michael and Chris fell off again. Michael had hopped on our wheel and he seemed to have gotten another wind. Laura was riding strong and I asked if she had any food. She offered some snacks but the trail was getting a bit difficult to ride. I told her that I was bonked, that my tire was going flat and that she should just go. Boy did she ever. With about three miles left she put over three minutes on me. Michael disappeared too up the Chalet Hill. I looked back for Chris and he was nowhere to be found. My tire at this point was dangerously low on pressure and I didn't dare put any weight on the front of the bike. I rolled through the finish, quite unimpressed with my performance. Four minutes slower than last year and a very small amount of time drafting any group. I checked tire pressure in the front and the gauge read 2psi. STRIKE 3!!
After the race Laura and I headed out with Mike Schechter for a beer at Anchorage Brewing Company. Check out their tasting room if you get a chance. Their beer is pretty damn good too.
After the race Laura and I headed out with Mike Schechter for a beer at Anchorage Brewing Company. Check out their tasting room if you get a chance. Their beer is pretty damn good too.
Laura accepting her second place trophy
First, second and third place
Post Frosty Bottom recovery spin! A great group! Thanks Nick!
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