Iditarod Trail Invitational Part 3 of ????

Anchorage Singletrack! Photo Credit Kate Ginsbach

Exciting racing consists of a few principles in my opinion.

• Enough participants with differing approaches and strengths/weaknesses. Some folks ride quickly between checkpoints with longer breaks. Some ride at a more slower pace to ride with shorter breaks. 
• Ebb and flow. This can be described how the race begins to oscillate. This sets the table for things to come, so to speak.
• The timing of movements. IE:  when the participants attack and respond, hang back etc. 

Student:  But teacher, what do you do when you can't ride?

Teacher:  You walk...

I was really enjoying my trip across the flats before the Shell Hills. Hard trails, sun and a slight breeze in my face (hahahahahahahahahahaha.) I've really started to develop my pacing at this point and am feeling really good after my rest in Skwentna! I got to Shell Lake and I realized that the wind was really starting to pick up. I stopped to chat with the volunteers at Shell Lake and they were so friendly! They gave me the news of wind blown trail in the most positive way possible. 😅

I moved out of Shell Lake and started to make my way out of the wooded areas that surround it. I had a feeling that as soon as I hit the first swamp that I was going to have some walking to accomplish.

The green is wooded areas. The lighter color brown is the Skwentna River and the dark colored brown patches/spots are swampy open areas. Satellite image Google

Here's another view of the terrain we're covering. Image from Trackleaders website

The above image shows the area we traverse to get from Shell Lake to Finger Lake on the far left of the image. As you can see, it's not particularly steep or technical. What it is though, is exposed. The winds in the Alaska Range are no joke. Not long after Shell Lake, I found myself occasionally walking on the wind blown Iditarod Trail. I was able to ride occasionally and if there is one thing that I know is that you ride when you can, walk when you can't. That's the only way to approach tougher conditions. Eventually I caught Kurt, and not long after that we caught Tyson. We were basically crawling at this point. The wind was whipping, the trail was gone in spots. Tyson, Kurt and I were not racing at this point. We were working together to find and break trail.

Tyson, Kurt and I on our first date. He went to Jared! Photo Credit:  Kurt Refsnider

Photo Credit:  Kurt Refsnider

It took us over 8 hours to get from Shell Lake to Finger Lake checkpoint. We were now over 30 hours into the race. The great checkpoint worker set us up with our choice of chicken or veggie burritos, donuts, and other baked goods. They also grabbed our drop bags for us. All three of us were a little thrashed from the wind and slow trail at this point. We had our food then headed down to the wall tent on the lake where surprisingly enough it was warm. Might I even say comfortable!

I set my alarm for a couple hours, the guys asked me and I said I was gonna get up in a couple hours. Tyson kind of gave me a look and Kurt straight up said he was going to get a decent nights sleep. Haha I thought to myself Ok, I guess I can put my head down for the night.

Many hours later there was a rustle outside the wall tent and in walks Pete Basinger. He made a comment about how tough the conditions were! Anybody who knows Pete knows he's been through just about every kind of conditions. When he made a comment about the wind I knew that we had been through some tough stuff.

Not much later we started packing up our gear, loaded up our food and supplies from our drop bags and one by one we left the checkpoint. I took a moment to chat with Aaron Thrasher who looked a little thrashed (haha I know I'm funny) and the first place woman competitor KT Coward (holy cow that lady is a bad ass, yet also looked a little thrashed.) They each had quite a night getting to the checkpoint. KT had lost her GPS. Crazy!

The wind had died down and the trail is also mostly protected until you're just outside of Puntilla Lake/Rainy Pass Lodge so I was hopeful that the trail would be in decent condition. I was hopeful that we would find the SnowCat road and sure enough we found it! I started down it and not long after I saw one set of tire tracks continue on the SnowCat trail and one hopped back onto the traditional Iditarod route. I stopped for a moment, and realized I didn't really have anything to lose by going on the SnowCat trail. I had done some homework on that route in it's previous iterations and knew that if popped onto the Skwentna River and would tie into the Gorge on the other side of the Happy River. About 5 or so minutes going down the SnowCat trail I was a little bummed to run into Kurt coming back up the trail. He mentioned that there was some Open water and that the trail went down the Skwentna river versus up. I hit the reset button and headed back to the intersection with the traditional Iditarod Trail.

Happy River Steps! WHOA COWBOY!😲 Photo Credit:  Kurt Refsnider

Starting the Happy River Gorge. This is always a pleasant push.💓Photo Credit:  Kurt Refsnider

Getting to Happy River always feels like a milestone for me. It's like taking the first big step into the Alaska Range. Although we had a good blast of wind the night before, I consider the weather much more intense usually after crossing the Happy River.

I wanted to catch back up to Tyson, giving him any gap is pretty dangerous at this point. When the trail conditions are good you need to cover ground as efficiently as possible. I once again started to gap Kurt while attempting to chase down Tyson.

• Riding loaded fat tired bikes is hard work. It's particularly hard chasing after someone as fast as Tyson. I knew that putting out too much effort would cost me, but I gotta stay close to the leader at this point. This was a goal I aimed to accomplish this year. In prior years, I thought that you could save enough energy to cover gaps later in the race. And perhaps that works in regions of the world where the weather has less of an abrupt impact on trail conditions and speed. In 2018, I gave Neil too large of a gap and got hung up in a couple storms. In 2019 I banked that my speed would get me from Rohn to Nikolai faster than Tyson. I didn't count on freezing my boots. Both of these times it ended up biting me in the rear.

I didn't catch Tyson, and Kurt ended up catching me once we got out into the swamps and open areas just outside of Puntilla Lake. I wasn't so concerned with my speed, but more at the thought that we weren't going to be staying at the next checkpoint for too long. As the wind continued to blow I knew that we were going to be in for a long night with minimal rest. I allowed the sunlight to power my attitude and soul. I let the mild temps keep my mind at ease. I tried to stick with the game plan, eat, drink and conserve energy when possible.

Making our way to Puntilla Lake! Photo Credit:  Kurt Refsnider

There was a lot of this happening. The winds affects are cumulative at times, not bad at a moment but difficult after hours and hours.  Photo Credit:  Kurt Refsnider

My intuition was correct. When Kurt and I rolled into Rainy Pass Lodge, Tyson was hanging out and not sleeping. After competing with folks you start to understand or read their activity levels in checkpoints. I could tell that Tyson wasn't going to stick around for long. I think that Kurt knew this as well. I was mentally prepared for the difficulty of the Pass, but I knew that physically this was going to push me up to my limit.

I stuffed some food in my belly, hung up to dry some of my gear, if not completely at least a little bit. It's at this time that you've gotta put your game face on. The Pass is rarely gentle. I don't know much about the Alaska Range but I believe that it's usually windy. Boy was it ever windy this time. To give you an idea of what the Range can throw at you I suggest this article:  Emotional Atrophy in the Revelation Range

I haven't been pinned down yet in the five times I've left Puntilla Lake. But I've definitely pushed my abilities and my comfort levels. Not long after riding out of the depression that the lake sits in I found myself in a gnarly wind storm again. I got my wind gear on, setup my face system and kept riding. I don't know what the temperature was at this point. It's usually best that I don't know. 

Starting the windy run from Rainy Pass Lodge to Rohn. Photo Credit:  Kurt Refsnider

I met up with Kurt once again, and we played some non competitive leap frog. We would do this a couple of times. I realized that this was not the time to be racing like this. There comes a point in this event where you work together. This became one of those times. We were on and off the bike. When we did ride, it was painstakingly slow. Most of the time I was riding in my easiest gear. The trail was rock hard across the valley floor, heck I could see a Johnny 5 track that Nicholas Carmen left a week prior yet we were still going very slow due to the speed of the wind!

At one point I took my hands out of my pogies. I realized that they were extremely cold after just accomplishing a short task and not long after putting them back in I was met with some Screaming Barfies. I could also tell that there was some wind leakage happening on my face system. I tried to seal up the cracks but there's only so much you can do at this point without causing more harm than good. I made it so I was somewhat comfortable and continued on.

Atop the Pass. Photo Credit:  Kurt Refsnider

Student:  How do you stay awake for so long? Don't you get tired?

Teacher:  Well, it's easy to make the decision to keep going when you don't have a comfortable sleeping system. 

Kurt is tough. Tyson is tough. I can only imagine what was going through Tyson's mind going over the pass on his own. It's a long time to be in one's own mind. I knew that he wasn't going to fly on the way up to the Pass, but I wasn't sure at this point what kind of gap there would be when we descended to the Dazell and Tatina Rivers. I pushed myself up towards the pass. I knew I was getting tired. I worked hard on remembering to eat and drink. But I was beginning to fail. My steps, although strong were unstable at times. I was having difficulty controlling my breathing rate. Occasionally, I would stop and put my head on the handlebars or seat. Getting shelled for days at this point was starting to take it's toll on my body and on my mind. It took Kurt and I almost seven hours to get from the lodge to the Pass.

Being Kurt's first time up the Pass I looked for the sign. Not knowing it was right there off the trail next to where I started my tromping around. I walked about a bit, went back to him after giving up. 😂He took a picture of me, I attempted to put a Fatback sticker on the post and failed cause it was so cold and the sticker part wasn't sticking. Kurt started making his way down from the Pass. I had mentioned to him earlier that there usually isn't much riding down the pass if it's been windy and this time was no different. I was struggling to hang with him now. In a bit of a "drunken" stumble I noticed he had stopped and his body language had changed from pushing a bike to one of heightened awareness. I looked in the general direction his head was pointed and saw a flash of green lasers point back at me. It was a wolf!!

You'd have to check with Kurt but I'm pretty sure this is what it looked like. Haha

This is one of the most super intense moments of my adventure on the Iditarod Trail!!! The wolf had popped out of the den not more than 150 feet away from us! A moment later Kurt started walking again and I followed, we stopped maybe 25 feet from the den and looked towards the entry. There were a couple of small holes and surrounding the den were dark yellow stains were they wolves had marked their territory. How amazing is this!??!?!! For a moment I had forgotten just how tired I was and how windy it had been.

But, even the intensity of being that close to a wolf wore off quickly. Kurt and I started back down the trail and not long after the sleep monster hit me hard. I could tell that Kurt was slowing down as well. In years past I've moved quickly through here when the conditions allowed. Not this time. I was starting to have mental difficulties. Every time I made a turn, every time I pedaled with any authority I felt immediate fatigue throughout my whole body. My core wouldn't stabilize. My breathing out of control, I quit eating and drinking. I felt my eyes crossing what felt like every 5-10 feet.

Student:  What's it feel like? Being that tired?

Teacher:  Imagine losing most of your eyesight, but just a needle of light is all that's let in. The only thing you can do is focus on the little sliver of a vision. That's all you're holding onto. You're soooo tired but you don't dare let go of that hope. 

12 hours total time from Puntilla to Rohn. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bummed when we rolled into Rohn that morning. I thought the gap would be too large to overcome if the conditions were good. (muahahahahaha!!! This is why you gotta keep fightin'! You never know what's coming next!)

Photo Credit:  Mike Morganson (2014 or '15?)

I was pretty beat now. I just wanted to stuff some food in my face and make my way into my sleeping bag. When we made it to the checkpoint I noticed Tyson's highlighter yellow 9:ZERO:7 and when we walked into the tent there he sat, looking just about as dazed and confused as I was.

Well well well, looks like we got a race here boys and girls!!😎

Yay Racing! Photo Credit:  Kate Ginsbach

Iditarod Trail Invitational Part Duex-over

First things first. Thanks to Geri, Dad, Sachi (RIP pup), Revolution Racing, Speedway Cycles, Longevity Lab for helping fix my shoulder, Fatback Bikes and Ariel the Mermaid for all the support. Each of you have been helpful and selfless. I appreciate the heck outta you guys. We really kicked butt this year. 💖

I don't know about you guys but sometimes my mind is racing a thousand miles an hour! One positive of this Coronavirus reality is that I've had time to be mindful. About everything...😏

Blank Stare Really GIF from Blankstare GIFs

I guess I should start the actual race report now. 😜

Imagine, a class room setting.

Teacher:  The Iditarod Trail is.... (what do you think reader? Don't worry, I'll wait.)

Rando student:  It's a route that dog sled teams blah blah blah virus blah blah blah vaccine blah blah blah Nome blah blah blah

Another Rando kid:  Balto is such a cute dog!

Aaron Thrasher and myself at the start. PC Geri Hodges

• Ten years ago today (April 5th, 2010) I bought my first nice bike. Just some useless trivia info that no one will ever ask you or that you will ever need to remember. 😆

Teacher:  Anybody else? 

Whatever you thought about the Iditarod Trail is wrong. But also right. You're probably wondering what the heck I am talking about. It's the reason why we adventure. Whatever your preconceived notions of what this race is, or is going to be, is right and wrong.

• It must have been the toughest year? This was the hardest Iditarod you've done right? How many miles did you guys walk? Sufferfest, slog, frostbite, heartbreaking, windy, snow...... 
• Yes, it was hard. Yes, it was tough. I walked about 35 or so miles. Yes, it was windy sometimes. Yes it was really cold in the interior. 

Switching gears, I felt like the buzz was a little thick at the start this year, amongst racer, organizer and fan alike. I think there was excitement regarding the racer field but this time there was a "weather" buzz that I had not quite experienced in years past. I think many athletes seemed to be ignoring the impending snowfall and began about their usual pre-weekend race prep. But the excitement seemed to be a little less from some. (Nothing personal, just my general observation.)

There's some heavy hitters here. PC Corrie Smith

Starting our adventure across Knik Lake. PC Andy Pohl

Aaron Thrasher on the road to McGrath and fat bike greatness! Haha

More Thrashing about! LOL

I spoke with Aaron Thrasher a little bit on the road. I enjoyed chatting with him, I was a little envious of him as a rookie because I have such fond memories of my first time on the trail. :end proud dad moment:

It's important at this time to just get into your natural position of the race but don't let yourself get bogged down in less than ideal conditions. I don't want to be too far down the field as the trail conditions go from rideable to difficult and you don't want to squander an opportunity either. I noticed Tyson and Kurt were making their way towards Ayeshire in a hurried fashion and moved on my way after them.

 I'm always happy to see a crowd gather along the course. I miss high fives. 😞PC Julie Saddoris

More friends on the trail! PC Sean Grady

Making our way to Flathorn Lake. PC Kurt Refsnider

We made our way into the snow. It became apparent to me quickly that we were gonna have a slow first day. Tyson, Kurt and I were riding but with a decent amount of effort and not very quickly. My attention quickly turned to body temperature. The slower conditions, warmth and snow could cause some issues with sweating my gear out too much. Because of that I decide to just keep those two guys in sight. It sounds like the three of us made it through this first part of the race in much better shape than others.

Teacher:  This is the first opportunity that I invite you to think about what the Iditarod Trail means to you. Are you ready to walk your bike? 

Teacher's Pet to class:  When was the last time you dropped the tire pressure down to "wrinkle?" You ever run out of water on the trail? 

Smart ass at the back of the class under their breathe while putting gum under the desk:  "shut up teacher's pet, bet you brush off teacher's car when it snows..." 😏

In the past four years that I've started this event, the lead pack made it to Yentna Station in anywhere from 630PM in 2016 to 1AM this year! After crossing Flathorn Lake very slowly the three of us found ourselves walking. By the time we hit the Wall of Death we were together in a pack. The three of us wondered if Pete Basinger and the folks that went down another trail were ahead of us. When we hit Susitna Station we saw no visible trail which calmed our nerves and we went back about our business. We traded spots a few times while riding on occasional sprinkles of harder trail but we were mostly walking all the way to Scary Tree (Yentna and Susitna confluence.) I knew that at this point we were going to be turning our lights on, pumping tires back up, dealing with water supplies, and back to riding again. Kurt took some time to boil water while Tyson and I motored on up the river. When we got to Yentna Station, we were drying out, having cheese sandwiches, chicken noodle soup and a couple cokes while chatting nicely. Tyson and I have spent time talking together but this was the first time that the three of us were together in close quarters and we took this time to just talk and enjoy what the trail was at this point. About an hour after showing up we each made our way out the door and back on the trail.

Now I don't want to mis-represent what it means to race. We were evaluating each other, much like a poker game. I think the three of us were comfortable and confident with ourselves and were looking forward to the trail. We were starting to get the "feel" for it and how fast we could do the event in.

In 2016 we arrived at Skewentna at 9PM. We were almost 12 hours behind that time already.

I wasn't trying to reel anyone in but I wanted to just focus on my pace. Thus I caught and passed Kurt and caught Tyson within a few miles of the checkpoint. Together we rode for the remainder of the night until just before the checkpoint with Kurt not far behind us.

• Tyson is somewhat a known quantity to me. I have raced him before and I've seen just how fast he can go. I felt like at this point Kurt had turned on the cruise control and was just managing his energy output. I think I had even told Tyson that I felt Kurt was "throttling back." 

We each had a nice meal and drinks while in Skwentna Roadhouse. (That makes it sound like we had dinner together like it was a date. Haha) It was neat to see the Census workers in the lodge doing their thing. I decided to get a bed at the lodge. I know that my each year my back is really tight after the first 90 miles so I decided to get a nap and to put my legs up on the wall. Those guys kind of gave me a weird look when I said I was going to sleep, but again, I was feeling comfortable and confident and felt like prioritizing my body was the right thing to do at this point for my race.

I didn't need a long sleep, just about 20-30 minutes then about 15 minutes to put my feet up and get some of the kankle action to subside. This felt great! I paid my bill, hopped on the bike and proceeded to make my way towards Finger Lake.

Grizzled ITI competitor. Hahahaha Just outside of Skwentna on the SnowCat track. Notice my legit Bend, OR SingleSpeed World Championship Buff.

The trail was in really good shape outside of Skwentna! I've never seen the Shell Hills in the daylight. There is a contractor that built a snowcat trail that you could probably drive a large tired vehicle on! That's been a common theme this year on the trail from multiple competitors. Seeing sections of the trail in the daylight is one of those side stories that develop each year on the trail. For sure slow conditions are hard, but it comes with its own set of positives. Again, the trail is everything you think it is and not. Thanks Teach.

What was going to happen next was just the beginning of our true adventure. This was just the appetizer...

2019 Iditarod Trail Invitational

Start Selfie with Laura Fox PC Laura

Pre-race doggie walk PC Laura Fox

Wow that was fast!

I want to start this race report on a positive note. I had a great race, I ran into a little bit of bum luck luck but overall I was strong, fast, competed with the top racers and my bike prep was flawless this year. Congrats to Tyson on his win and Jay P for his second place finish.

And we're off! PC Laura Fox

We started off at Knik like many years, lots of communication between racers, me asking them how their summer was, how their winters were going. We discussed out day jobs and family. This is truly an interesting time of the race. We're not going that hard, like we are just trying to keep ahold of the last bit of normalcy before we start sprinting down the gas-line.

I'm pretty lucky to have such great supportive friends. Lots of cool people went out to cheer on all the racers!

Some of my awesome teammates and friends! PC Laura Fox

Flathorn Lake PC Andrew Cunningham

You guys are so awesome! PC Andrew Cunningham

 I had a pretty uneventful trip down the gasline trail, we split the large pack up that was on the road section and started to thin out quickly. Large gaps formed from letting air out, stopping to relieve ourselves etc. I stopped when I saw my friends and may have had a slurp or two of Anchorage Brewing Company's Rondy Brew, one of my fav's. :-)

• I've raced ITI a few times now and I knew that the first night is always tough. It's usually fast and we don't spend much time resting until Skwentna if the trail conditions are good. Think about it, let this sink in, we basically hammer 90+ miles before our first rest. I try not to get too caught up in the frantic starts, but I can't be too far behind either. 

Not long after seeing my friends the trail began to get softer. I heard trail reports that mentioned we might run into some softer conditions through here so it didn't bother me too much. What did bother me was that Tyson and Jay started to gap 3-5th place, Casey, Josh and myself.

I slowly worked my way past Josh, then Casey. I was having difficulty following those two as the trail was getting beat up. I'm glad I did because after passing those two I had to work hard on closing the gap back down to the two leaders. After riding through the Dismal Swamp we dropped down on the river and I proceeded to turn it up. I was slowly getting time back, and by 5 or so miles before Yentna Station checkpoint I had finally hopped back on their wheels.

We got into Yentna, Tyson and I had a coke, Jay was in and out. I was fine with this. No big deal. I had half my coke but then my coat and gear were starting to get defrosted. I knew I needed to get back outside and get a move on. Tyson went with me but not long after we left he fell off my wheel.

Continuing down the river I ran into Nicolas Carmen who is touring the route this year. It was nice to slow down a bit and chat with someone. A few miles after that I ran into the Corvus river trolls: aka Greg, Tim, Kevin, Adam and John. It was really fun seeing those guys with a little bonfire on the river. After enjoying a little bit of whiskey I made my way to Skwentna Roadhouse. And to my surprise Tyson had caught up to me and led me into the roadhouse!

PC Cindy Herman

Lasagna Time! PC Cindy Herman

Skwentna is always a great place to stop and dry gear and enjoy a solid mid-race meal. Cindy always has some great food prepared for us, cokes and various other treats to share. Tyson left before me with little rest and then I left after Casey showed up. The trip up to Finger Lake was pretty uneventful, I felt REALLY good going up the Shell Hills. My training and conditioning were definitely working and I was just having a good time.

I decided to get a nap in Finger Lake. There's a good bit of climbing between here and Puntilla Lake so I wanted to be at my best and have a strong section. After loading up my bike with some of my drop bag goodies and started off up the hill towards Rainy Pass.

• My drop bags include consumables like food, hand/foot/toe warmers, batteries. Usually I don't need much of the food I pack, but if conditions are slow and we are out on trail between checkpoints for a while then I have a decent amount of calories to keep me going.

The trail up to Puntilla Lake was incredible. No Iron Dog whoops/moguls/bumps, solid trail and typical beautiful views. I really worked on minimizing my zero time this year. No wasted breaks, no unnecessary stopping and really keeping on the gas this time.

I pulled into Rainy Pass Lodge and saw my good friend Dan Bailey who is working media for Rebecca Rusch and Outside magazine (I think that's the publication.) I gave him a hug and a quick interview, dealt with a couple things on my bike then went into the cabin to catch some rest and food. I rehydrated a meal, set out some coffee and took a nap. Jay P rolled up not long after and appeared to be on a mission. He left not long after he got there. We both discussed how we felt that Tyson had not stopped for very long at any checkpoints or gotten much sleep at this point. I pondered leaving earlier than I did but decided that passing up a comfortable place to rest was not the best idea. I was comfortable letting Tyson have a gap at this point with the Pass crossing and Rohn to Nikolai still to come...

Rainy Pass in the daylight?!?!?? Yes please!!

Corvus flying high over the pass!

To my surprise after leaving Puntilla Lake, I was riding my bike. It wasn't super hard trail, but it was certainly rideable. This was foreign to me. The Happy River Valley leading up to the pass is usually a windy mess the previous 3 years for me. How awesome is that?!? I basically plunked my butt in the saddle and rode all but the last .33 miles up the pass!!! And, to top that it was still light out!! How lucky was I?

I stopped to take a selfie and enjoy the view of the pass that I had never seen during the day light. I saw the cabin that is up there, the lake and enjoyed dropping down into the gorge with light. I got a little overzealous and went over the bars a few times on wind drifts. No harm, no foul though. 

This is where I made a mistake though. When the trail drops down to the Dazell Creek and we cross a few ribbons of open water I made the assumption that my boots were truly waterproof as they are  advertised. The sun was setting and when I came up on an ankle or less deep crossing I couldn't really make out how deep it was. I decided to just hop across it by foot quickly. I clipped back in and pedaled on into Rohn where the temperature was a balmy 30 degrees.

• Rohn is an incredible checkpoint. In large part because of the volunteers who are up and about at all times of the night and day, respond to any emergency with well thought out approaches and the bratwurst. Yes you read that right, bratwurst. There's something about a couple of bratwurst with mustard when you're 180 miles into a race that really lifts your spirits. Perhaps like my friend Nico says, "it's made with love." 

The checkpoint workers at Rohn told me that Tyson looked exhausted, and that Jay had left just 10 minutes before I arrived. I knew that I had to be strong through this next section of the race. I couldn't get tired and slow down, I couldn't have any mechanicals and I couldn't injure myself on any ice that could be on the trail. I ate my bratwurst,  took a 30 minute nap and drank some coffee. After waking up, I made the final touches on my bike and body before heading out on the trail to chase those two dudes down.

I was ready. I've spent years trying to prepare for this section of trail. It's both mentally and physically tough. It's 70+ miles of possibly bumpy and power sapping trail. I had to dial my effort back a bit through certain sections because I didn't run studded tires this year. There definitely was more ice on the trail this year than last but that was ok. I knew that I needed to really pace myself to push through Nikolai into McGrath. That was my goal, just stop long enough to handle any issues I was having in Nikolai and just motor all the way to the finish.

I made it down to the lakes at the base of the Alaska Range in good shape. I started in on the hills and noticed that the guys in front of me were starting to wonder across the trail occasionally. This was working right into my race plan.

• 45nth Wolfgar boots have changed the game for multi-day endurance winter cycling. They are built like a Sorel boot, with a hard outer shell and a removable felt liner that you can dry when needed. Their pedaling platform is great as well with a carbon sole that is stiff and doesn't sap heat from your feet. One thing they are not is waterproof. More on that another day...

It's always cold in the interior of Alaska. But this year wasn't particularly colder than any day on the trail there. I certainly wasn't surprised when the needle dropped below zero and then made it's way down to about -15.

After riding a bike for a couple of days, your feet and hands get numb/bruised/tingly. It's just part of the race and something you expect. I noticed around the Bison camp that my feet were a little cold and numb but didn't think much of it at the time. 

Things were pretty uneventful for the next section to Bear Creek Cabin turnoff. I for sure kept noticing my feet were a little uncomfortable but I kept pedaling along. I had a fun moment with a Ptarmigan on the trail, I saw this thing and then before I knew it this bird flew directly towards my headlamp! I let out a yelp and ducked as much as I could and just missed the ptarmigan. 

Between Bear Creek and Sullivan Creek bridge about 30-40+ miles from Nikolai I started to get cold feet. I had put on my goretex pants and my second jacket and usually that's enough to keep me warm but my toes were definitely cold now. I started to get off the bike and walk, stomp around and jump up and down to try and get my feet warm. They were cold enough that I was a little concerned now and I was wondering what the temperature was. It didn't feel "that" cold but for sure my feet were beginning to suffer. 

After Sullivan Creek which is about 30 miles out I had to stop again quite a few times to get my feet warmed up. This was beginning to really mess with my pace and my psyche. I was only able to ride a handful of slower miles before I had to get off and warm my feet up. I knew something was wrong at this point. I could tell that Tyson and Jay had to warm their feet but I was stopping way more often then they were. I thought that maybe something was wrong with my body so I put my large puffy coat on thinking that if I super heated my core temp that my extremities would warm up. They did, but as soon as I started to get hot I had to back off the effort so I wouldn't sweat out my puffy jacket and layers. Basically, I spent the rest of the evening doing this over and over. It was really disappointing for me to have to slow down so much but I did not want frostbite on my toes.  

• In 2017 I ended up getting frostbite on my right thumb and index finger. When a doctor tells you that they don't know if you'll lose part of your thumb you take that shit serious. I considered turning around to head back to the Bear Creek cabin to warm up and wait out the coldest part of the night but at this point I was so close to getting to Nikolai so I chanced it and kept chugging along.

Eventually I rounded the corner at Salmon Creek fish camp which is about 11 miles from Nikolai. Even with my best efforts to keep my feet somewhat uncomfortable they started getting really cold. I was down to riding maybe a mile or so before I had to stop and stomp my feet. The sun was starting to rise and that's when the temperatures can be their lowest and sure enough my left foot started to get cold too. I finally decided to take my boots off and check my feet. I went to take off the boot and noticed that it didn't just slip off like usual. I stripped off my insulating sock, my vapor barrier and then my liner sock and found that my feet were fine but very cold. Then I put my hand into my boot and found that they were frozen ice boxes. I checked my insulating sock and found that it had a decent amount of partially frozen moisture on them as well. I thought back where it could have gotten wet and remembered that coming down the Dazell I crossed a small bubbler stream by foot. It was all of maybe a couple inches deep and I was under the impression that my boots were waterproof. 

There wasn't anything I could do about that now. I put my boots back on and decided that I was just going to have to tough it out the final stretch to Nikolai. My feet got super cold in that final 6 or so miles into Nikolai but eventually I rolled into the social hall/community center and got upstairs to start drying my boots and to make some modifications to get me to McGrath.

I tried to take a picture that captures the folks that make great gear and have supported me for many years, Revelate Designs, Fatback Bikes/Speedway Cycles and LongevityLab (thus the Little School Boy cookie. It's a long story, Nico knows what's up. ;-P)

• I'll leave the boot info for another blog post. There are some modifications that can be done to the Wolfgars that can reduce the probability of something like this from happening again. 

I spent 20 or so minutes peeling the liner out from the shell of the boot and got them in front of a small space heater to start drying them off. The wonderful checkpoint worker rounded up a couple of small trash bags that I could put my boot liners in to keep them dry for the remaining 50 miles left to McGrath. He also prepped some Top Ramen which tasted amazing after a night of cold toes. Thanks for the boost guys.

• It was a very emotional time for me. To have such a good race up to this point, to be competitive, confident, well trained and to have a piece of gear knock you out of the race is a really tough pill to swallow. But that's racing. After 28 years of racing one thing I've learned is that sometimes luck is on your side. But I also know that the best prepared racers are the ones that finish well. Looking back at this experience I will always be a little heartbroken, but I'm glad that I didn't get frostbite and that I made it through that night with all my little piggies.

The trail out of Nikolai was a little slow and soft. But it was rideable so that was nice. The temps went up quite a bit, enough that I took my coat off. I spent the next 30 miles after leaving Nikolai having my own little pity party but when I got to the overland route I decided that I needed to quit focussing on the past. I thought about all of my family and friends, all the support that I've received from everyone. It's pretty amazing and so awesome to feel all the love. My pace started to pick back up and I just focused on riding what was ahead. I continued to eat and drink and just kept riding my bike. I got to Vanderpool Rd and took in a nice sunset and spoke out to the large number of moose on the side of the road.

Just finished at the Schneiderheinze house. What a welcoming place! PC Iditarod Trail Invitational

So much food!

Peter's amazing mancakes!

Leaving Puntilla Lake. PC Dan Bailey

Overall I finished with a time of 2 days, 5 hours and 21 seconds. Sure, it was my fastest trip to McGrath. Was it my best effort? Well considering what happened I guess it was. I definitely feel like I left something out there. But don't take this the wrong way. I had such a great race and 90% of it went so well. The volunteers were amazing! The way they stay up at all hours of the night and day and support us is so nice of them. And they do such a great job! And the Schneiderheinze hospitality is top notch. Peter and Tracy welcome us into their home and cater to our every need.

And also, I got to travel on a sweet trail! There weren't very many bumps, there was only a few miles of soft conditions and overall it was the best that I've seen in the years I've done the event. 

I would like to send out a heartfelt thanks and lots of love to my Dad and Geri, Laura Fox my emotional support human, Sachi the dog and all my friends who came out and cheered me and others on. I want to thank my local bike shop Speedway Cycles for their support, LongevityLab for getting me into shape and helping me live a better, more durable life and Revelate Designs for building some damn good bike packing bags (and for the last minute adjustments from the man himself Dusty!)

Till next time. :-)

2019 Iditarod Trail Invitational Ride and Info

Fatback Corvus FLT

I was out riding through the new snow this afternoon and decided that it was a great time to take a couple pictures! I also thought that some folks would like to know what kind of cycling gear a typical athlete brings on the Iditarod Trail Invitational. Now I'm not going to divulge super secret...just kidding. Most of this stuff is just general gear you can go down to your local bike shop and purchase.

Here's the link to the tracking for this years ITI race. It's great to follow!

Iditarod Trail Invitational Tracking

For starters I'll be riding a Fatback Corvus FLT designed by Greg Matyas in Anchorage. This is the second generation of the Corvus and it is also the lightweight version of the bike using a higher grade of carbon fiber. Pretty cool for the bike geek in me! It's a great riding bike and weighs in around 24-25 pounds in a large size.

Fatback Bikes Corvus FLT

I'll be running Hope brakes, 100mm HED Rims, 45NRTH Husker Du tires, Hadley Hubs (AMAZING performance, highly recommended,) Sram XO1 Eagle drivetrain with grip shift and various carbon bits. One carbon bit I've been really happy with is the SQ Labs 16 Degree handlebar. I'm hoping some of the hand numbness I've suffered in the past will be reduced with a handlebar with more sweep than what a typical bar has. I also have Race Face Next SL cranks and absoluteBLACK 30T oval chainring.

If you couldn't tell, I really like Revelate Designs. Eric and the crew build amazing stuff! I'm using their Fatback Corvus fitted frame bag, Viscacha seat bag, Jerry Can, Mag-tank 2000, Mountain Feedbags, Expedition Pogies and finally their Pronghorn harness. This setup carries everything I need to travel to McGrath.

Revelate Designs

A big change for me this year is my pedal choice. Now I haven't had any issues with pedals in the past other than wear and tear but after seeing some crank brother failures I decided that there was no reason to harbor any stress about it and picked up a set of Shimano XT pedals. Reason being (1) they have a stellar reputation for longevity and reliability (2) they have a nice pedaling platform interface between the boot and pedal (3) my friend Nick Blades runs a set and after spinning them while very cold I realized his pedals still spun easily. This is important when the temps drop well below zero.

Hope you all are having nice winter! Get out and ride!

One of my favorite local trails, Bragaw to Blue Booty (doggie paw booty, not that kind of booty ;-P)

2019 Little Su 50k

Wow what a finish!

Congrats to Jason Lamoreaux for winning the 50k. Nice job rebounding from the late ride running sprints!

A couple weeks ago I strained a muscle in my hamstring and decided to see how it was feeling. I started with the lead pack, stayed with the guys on the hills and had some strong pulls on the front. I would say that it's pretty much back to operating strength.

The race was pretty calm through the first 20+ miles. I told myself that I would ride the first 10 miles with the lead pack and re-evaluate how I felt and whether or not I should back off the effort or continue to race. I found I was not suffering on the hills to keep the wheels of Oliver Sternicki, Eric Flanders and Jason so I motored on. We were pretty much on our own until James Stull covered the gap after getting hung up in traffic at the start. Then, Mike Crawford covered 2 or so minutes after the water stop and caught the pack by the power line. Nice job guys!!!

After turning off the power line, I could tell the pace was starting to pick back up. Eric, Jason, Oliver and I were getting strong pulls at the front. No doubt because we didn't have to cross the gap that Mike and James did.

Things got a little interesting after the Gnomes. A few of us developed a little gap which was perfect. I think we knew that it was going to be really difficult to pass someone at this point because the snow was starting to soften the trail conditions.

I was pretty confident in my position and my choice of tires and wheels. I have been using my 4.8" Husker Du's and 100mm HED rims with Hadley hubs for a good part of the year. They roll really well and have lots of air volume.

Jason, Eric and I started to get a little gap and I was thinking that we were going to get a strong pace going. We approached the railroad crossing and to our surprise we dropped down the other side and found ourselves on the wrong trail! Eric, Jason and I ran through knee deep snow back on course and did a cyclocross remount and started to hammer! I felt really good that I could hang with Jason's wheel after that. We quickly caught back up to James, Oliver and Mike.

Bummer, we lost our positioning in the pack. Instead of 1st-3rd we were now 4th-6th. This was going to be challenging. :-P The good part was that the pack had slowed down a bit allowing us to recover a little bit from catching back up.

Now here comes the fun part! Within a mile or so of the finish we caught one of the dog teams taking some visitors from Happy Trail Kennels! That never happens! The pack basically piled up behind the sled. I heard some folks talking back and forth with the musher and all the sudden the team stopped right in the trail! It was a mad house. All the sudden our $$$$ fat bikes were just getting pushed through knee deep snow again and were were in an all out sprint to get around the musher and his team.

This really broke us up this time. Oliver went to the right and was able to re-mount quickly, Jason and I made good time through the snow and remounted quickly. James was right behind me, then Eric and Mike.

James is really good at putting in accelerations and recovering quickly and that is something I'm not trained as well in. I tried as hard as I could to cover the small gap to Jason and Oliver but just couldn't cover it the whole way. I pulled over because I knew James could give those guys a go and I just settled in for a fourth place finish.

In the end, it was Jason, Oliver, James, myself, Eric and then Mike. Boy what a finish! I had a blast and it really pumped up my confidence going into Iditarod Trail Invitational next week.

Iditarod Trail Invitational 2018

Have you ever felt the scales of a salmon? I mean, not just touched but felt individual scales? They serve no purpose when pealed from the skin but no less than hundreds, probably thousands cover a salmon. And those thousands of useless flakes suddenly become something. 

Fucking slippery. That’s what they become. 

That’s a little bit how I feel about the Iditarod Trail this year. Sometimes, you pull in a fish and you eat well that evening. This year I went home having felt the salmon just slip from my hands. 

PC:  Laura Fox!

I left Knik lake this year with great fitness. My strength was there, my knowledge of the trail is good and my food and gear are pretty amazing. I’m not going to bore you all with recalling my trip up to Skwentna. Basically, I pulled over to lower my tire pressure in the first couple miles and lost site of Jay and Neil. I put in a huge effort the first 90 miles. Jay and Neil pulled really hard up the river. I trusted my intuition and pace and kept my head down and after eating some amazing spaghetti at Cindy’s lodge I popped back onto the trail to head up to Shell Hills. 

I felt great heading up the hills. The trail was in decent shape and I figured I just need to keep putting miles in. 

I pulled into Finger Lake and I was glad to see that I had pulled back some time on Neil. This gave me a lot of confidence in my race plan. I decided that this next day I was going to eat well, conserve energy and keep my mind sharp as the race really starts for me after Rainy Pass. 

Neil took a short break at Finger Lake. I decided to get a rest in. I left the checkpoint and headed up towards Puntilla Lake. As I go up the Happy River valley I noticed that there was a good amount of cloud cover. This meant one thing to me, snow. 

• I hung out on the side of the trail enjoying a dehydrated Heather’s Choice lunch. That was really helpful this year. I brought a 26 oz. Yeti Rambler thermos. It has a large mouth and fits in a Revelate Designs Mountain Feedbag. I would just put hot water and food at each checkpoint. Then, when I got hungry I would just pull over and have a bite. Traveling in style baby!

Back to the snow. I figured both Neil and I would hit a wall and the mileage and gap would be a wash till after the Pass. Remember that slippery ass fish...

I got up to Puntilla Lake and sure enough there was snow falling. I noticed that my goofing off and lax pace gave Neil a couple hours head start into the Pass. No big deal. Still sticking with my plan. I felt strong. I hadn’t used much energy headed up the valley and felt like my plan was working well.

Jay rolled in not long after me. He then left before me. Not long after that Jussi and Casey rolled in. I decided that it was time to leave. Can’t get too comfortable. The moment I got onto the lake the wind started picking up. 

There are just some things you can’t control. Weather being one of them. I caught Jay on the plateau of the valley but my heart was broken. We were getting hit with a decent amount of snow and the wind just completely blew the trail in. I could see that the gap I allowed Neil to pull came back and bit me in the ass. Both Jay and I noticed that while we were berm busting and walking across the valley that Neil was able to ride quite a bit more than we did. I figured that we must have lost hours because of that. 

Neil and Jay have a lot of bike packing experience. It shows in their actions. Jay just kept plugging along. This really helped my spirits. He stopped to bivy at the entrance to the Pass and I continued on. My plan was to get over the Pass and into Rohn.

Rainy Pass is tough. There’s videos to watch and pictures to look at if you’re so inclined. I got most of the way down Pass creek and after I dropped down to the creek a bit too soon and having my bike tumble over me while crawling up the cut banks I decided it was time to bivy. I slept for three or four hours. I woke up, saw a headlight and it was Casey. He pushed all the way over the Pass to Rohn with no sleep. Impressive! The ride into Rohn was nice, pretty much right where I stopped to bivy was where the trail was once again ride able. Dazell, Tatina rivers were both in great shape thanks to the ITC workers. 

• Adrian and crew at Rohn are so awesome and amazing. I was surprised to find out that Neil only had a few hours on me. With a renewed heart I headed out the door after getting my bratwurst fill. I thought to myself I could catch him. 

I did some of the best riding I’ve ever done out of Rohn. All eight cylinders were firing and I was on a mission to pull back three hours. 

Mother Nature is a mother fucker sometimes. As soon as I got to Farewell Lakes the winds began-a-whippin’! Damnit we couldn’t get a break! Within minutes the trail was completely gone and within what seemed like half and hour I was stomping through a LOT of snow. 

I’ll be honest. I was mentally spent by then. My strength was fine but I just didn’t see how I was going to catch Neil then. I was falling off the side of the trail, I was spending a bunch of time trying to figure out an easier way to push the bike. I began to think that perhaps I was going to have ration my food and break up this section into a couple of days. That’s how hard it was to push through. We were seriously up to our nutz in snow! Haha

Of course, the trail got better and eventually so did my attitude. 

• Sometimes you just crash while riding on snow. It's kind of fun and entertaining. Sometimes when you crash you twist up your handlebars a bit. Well, I didn’t know it until days after the race but I pulled the derailleur cable housing out of the shifter. When we got to a point on the course where I could ride again my bike with regularity it wasn’t shifting right. It was all over the place, too much tension, too little tension, wouldn’t shift into many of the gears. Also, my rear brake pretty much jammed up and the disk was rubbing really hard. I was also getting tired with darkness rolling back over the interior. I knew that my bike had iced up a bit with all the snow we were pushing through. I have never stopped at Bear Creek cabin but it was looking pretty good at this point and I could do some repairs to the bike. 

But I knew this meant one thing. The gap between Neil and I would get much, much larger. I had to accept this reality. I tried a bunch of things to bike after getting some food and a short nap. Ultimately I got it work well enough to get me to the finish.

I started getting some miles in again and passed Jay while he was sleeping on the side of the trail. He's got a good setup. Quick in and out of the bag. Pretty cool.

I stopped to get some water at Sullivan creek, kept on riding. Then another mechanical started to creep up on me. My rear tire started to lose air. This really sucks. I decided I would try and just pump the tire up and see if it would hold. I tried this three times, during this Jay had caught me and passed me. After pumping the tire up a few times over the course of an hour or two I realized that I was going to have to put a tube in. I believe it was around -15 or -20 around this time and I knew it was going to be a long install so I wouldn't get frostbite again. Looking back, I actually think this was a good experience and I gained a bit of knowledge. I got the tube in, stayed warm enough to not get frostbite and was back on the trail. I think it probably took me about 20-30 minutes to change that tube. Haha

Eventually I got to Nikolai, saw the gaps to Neil and Casey. I dried my gloves and socks in the social hall and checked how much food I had to finish up the event. I was a bit short on hand warmers which was the driving factor behind drying my clothing there. I wanted to be sure that I was starting with warm hands and feet. 

At this point, unless something happened to Neil I wasn't going to catch him. I told myself that I would put in a strong ride to the river and see if he had any problems. When I got to the river I chatted with Billy from Iditasport and that was nice. He mentioned that Jay and Neil looked good. I knew that my race was done then. I wanted just to make it to McGrath and get some rest.

Some of you may know that in December of 2017, our lab Palmer passed on. I carried a picture of him with me and while taking in the sunset I felt a rush of emotion roll over me. I really miss that dog. I decided to take a short break, a remembrance if you will.

Clipping in! PC: Laura Fox

One of the best human beings out there. PC/Selfie Credit: Laura Fox

Mt Susitna PC: Will Ross

The Gorge!

My bike was there too.

I didn't have a Rainy Pass picture yet. Here we go!

Rainy Pass Selfie. The ITI sure has changed in the past few years!

It was really deep. I had just pulled my bike out of a deep hole and needed a little break from the pushing.

Finger Lake checkpoint tent PC: Iditarod Trail Invitational

Farewell Lakes area PC: Gary Baumgartner

ROUGH! PC:  Laura Fox

I'm swole??? PC:  Iditarod Trail Invitational

MANCAKES!!! PC:  Laura Fox

Caution Bikes! PC:  Laura Fox

The finish in McGrath! PC: ITI or Laura Fox

She's such a badass. Thanks for surprising me at the finish. That meant so much to me. <3 PC:  Laura Fox

ABC IPA Beer hand up station with Andy Pohl PC:  Laura Fox

 I want to say great job to Neil! He did a great job. It was great to share the trail with everyone. I've learned some more, and I'm ready to head back to McGrath again this year with a little more knowledge. Thanks to all my friends, family and supporters for cheering and watching their trackers. It really means a lot. 

-Cheers!