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 '20 Part 1

Early season Autocross 2010 PC Matthew Milenkovic?

I've been contemplating in my mind what I want to write for my race report. Of course, there's the typical approach of the start, all the stuff that happened along the way, and then the finish with some pretty pictures. And that may seem like the race report but it doesn't cover my journey. Not even close. I've been thinking about what it means to me to compete. What is my timeline? Where did I start? How did I get to where I am now?

My mind and conscience, how have they grown? How have they not? Racing up to this point in my life has, not to sound super dorky, been my life's work. Some folks look to art. Some to their profession. Some, even the way they live their life. My story has always been racing.

The sensation of speed as I remember it, came rather subconsciously. As a young child growing up on West 27th Avenue between Minnesota and Spenard, I would develop these complex tracks and cities that I would push my little hotwheels around on in the dirt. I would imagine the sensation of speed and drifting around corners.

Some of my favorite tv shows were Knight Rider, Transformers and MacGyver. I remember when my dad got his first serious remote control car, a 12th Scale Kyosho Plazma pan car. He had a beautiful Harley Davidson 1200cc Sportster that I absolutely loved to ride on the back with him. Hell, I used to fall asleep on it. Haha

One summer afternoon I was playing in the street with my friend Skippy, and he told me about BMX Racing. We used to race up and down the street and I was one of the faster kids, but I think what really hooked me was the rush of adrenaline from competing.

More BMX Racing. This is a better representation of what I was doing.

We raced behind the YMCA on what was actually a really nice track. I really like BMX racing and picked it up quickly. My dad built me up a sweet GT Mach 1 (from Paramount Cycles when it was on Northern Lights.)

I was 9 years old I think. 1989/1990. Yes, that's a sweet mullet.

I enjoyed BMX but the YMCA felt differently about the BMX crowd. I guess we were just a little too Bad Boy for them.

It didn't take long for me to pick up another competitive hobby. This time it was Remote Control cars. Some folks may think they are toys, but there is a legit, serious crowd and market for them.

It was R/C cars were I started to learn the intricacies of racing. Thousands of setup options are available on competitive style R/C cars. Roll centers, toe, bump steer, ride height, spring weight, anti-roll bars, electric motors, battery matching, tire compounds are all common words thrown around the world of R/C car racing. There were many different classes of racing, 4wd touring cars, Pan cars (Prototype bodied, light, quick and high grip) for indoor/outdoor racing and 2WD/4WD offroad classes! During the summer, I would play baseball (another story, another day) but as soon as the temperatures started to drop I would turn the heat up and charge the batteries on the R/C's!

Eventually the R/C club started to peter out. It's enjoyed a resurgence a various times in Anchorage. When I got into high school I started to follow motorsports. My friend who I met through a church youth group had a Honda XR100.

A Honda XR100 that I learned to ride around my friends house. We used to jump it into snow berms in the winter!

Ohhhhh man! My mind was blown!

My first opportunity to borrow money from the bank! 1995 Suzuki RM125

I really enjoyed riding dirt bikes. I pleaded with my father to let me get a motocross bike. He made some deals with me, I had to work for it. I learned how to perform the maintenance, upgrades and taking care of the other responsibilities that came with owning a motocross bike. I got my first job and the payments were made by me. I remember riding the bus to work, going to the bank to make a payment. I even did a couple of motocross races. They were really tough. I wasn't that strong when I was younger and continued to try and ride often to get better and stronger. Not long after, I was 16 years old. You know what that means, getting your license! I was already looking at pickup trucks to carry my dirt bike.

My dad helped me buy a 1992 Nissan Hardbody P/U for my first vehicle. Man, I used to look forward to washing my truck and bike. I was hooked. I loved driving. It gave me a sense of freedom, independence and need to explore. Not long after that, I absorbed my dad's 1988 GMC Sportside P/U. We lowered it, put some cool tires and wheels on it and a nice exhaust. I was so cool ;-P

Here's an example, mine was black and the exhaust exited in the rear.

The next part of my life is a bit of a blur. I was grappling with growing up, rebelling against anyone who knew better then I, and experiencing difficulties dealing with my feelings. I didn't take very good care of myself, emotionally and physically. I ended up getting a DUI, lost my job, got removed from my Associates program with only one semester left to finish. It was a dark moment in my life. I felt pretty lost. I felt like that wasn't what I wanted in my life. After some stellar parenting by my dad, I got a job at Young's Gear building driveshafts and doing bench repairs. I got back on track making by car payments. My dad continued to let me stay with him (like any good millennial right?) I doubled down on car racing. I found something that I wanted to be great at. Racing.

One of my best friends and I decided to build a race car. We had grand visions of road racing and ultimately racing the Fur Rondy Grand Prix (RIP.) I won't go into it as that's another story but I had found my calling. I had something in life to be passionate about again. It was all I ever thought about. I traveled to the 12 Hours of Sebring, Petit LeMans many times. I worked, daydreamed, raced and built cars. I always thought about how I could better my skills. I thought of ways to make the 1986 Mazda RX7 handle better. I thought about how I could adjust my 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution to get a little closer to what was at the time the quickest car up here, the Nissan GT-R. I spent two winters in Laguna Seca at Skip Barber learning the in's and out's of race car driving. It was there that I learned I was out of shape. I was trying to compete with younger, smaller versions of humans. I knew that if I wanted to go faster, I had to lose some weight.

There was a really adorable blonde that came into our lives. Palmer the Lab I didn't care for being outside, the darkness and snow. I had never really understood what it meant to go for a hike, or a bike ride on trails. But Palmer helped me discover my love for exploring again. Just like getting my license, or when my dad would let me ride my bike farther and farther from the house in 3rd grade, I felt a need to go farther and farther.

In 2011 I bought my first fat bike, nicknamed the HULK. A Green, 170mm spaced 9:ZERO:7. I started to look into racing fat bikes and one day stumbled over the Susitna 100 and the Iditarod Trail Invitational. Guys like Tim Berntson, Jeff Oatley, Kevin Breitenbach, Pete Basinger, Jay Petervary, John Lackey all seemed like rockstars to me! (Don't tell them I said that.) Like many others I watched in awe. I knew that I one day wanted to take this event on. And so I developed a plan.

Some of you may have seen or remember my emo Susitna 100 videos. They're rather comical to watch now. I finished in 8 something hours. The stretch from Rohn to Nikolai this year took over 20. Hahahaha

I decided to try the Iditasport 225 in 2015. Man that race really showed me a new world. Sleep deprivation, cold weather, general route finding, gear setups. Not long after that while in Boston to watch my then girlfriend Laura run the Boston Marathon, I sent off my application to participate in the 2016 Iditarod Trail Invitational.

I remember this day very well. It was a sunny day in downtown Boston.

What a year to sign up! John Lackey had just set the record to McGrath, faster than the dogs! The year prior Jeff Oatley hauled butt all the way to Nome in 10 days! It was a time of growth for the race for sure. Trackleaders website was really starting to catch on for all the different bikepacking events including the ITI. The professional "dot watchers" were born.

My first finish. 2016 PC ITI

Ooof. I was really cold and got some frostbite. My second finish in 2017. PC ITI

My third finish in 2018. PC Laura Fox

My fourth finish and fastest time. PC ITI

Just before we got on the plane 2020. PC Corrie Smith

So here we are now. I've had an incredible time getting here and I wouldn't change a damn thing. My dad, family and friends have always and continue to support me. I've met amazing people, seen amazing things and experienced parts of myself that I don't think I would've found had I not been daydreaming as a little kid on W. 27th Avenue. I feel like now I'm ready to give a race report.