…for “This Year’s Adventure I Envy Most”: Nabesna to McCarthy bikepackraft
Archive for the ‘Bike’ Category
Early leader in the clubhouse…
Friday, July 3rd, 2009Pete’s Great Divide Race Ends Early
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009I’ve been following the two Continental Divide mountain bike races that are currently taking place in the Rocky Mountains between the Canadian and Mexican border. The races (I’m not going to get into why there are two separate races, its a rat’s nest) caught my attention because a few Iditarod Trail Invitational racers (Pete Basinger, Jay & Tracey Petervary, Jill Homer) were competing. Jay & Tracey just finished the race on a tandem, which is just insane. Pete wasn’t so lucky.
About a year ago at this time, Pete basically saved a girl’s life after her now-infamous bear attack in Anchorage. This year, Pete was on the other end of a nasty mountain bike accident. He was descending a pass in southern Colorado when he was hit by a truck towing a horse trailer. Luckly, it sounds like he escaped with only a broken clavicle. That’s good news, but a broken clavicle is still a bummer unless you’ve got Lance Armstrong’s medical team.
Before the crash, Pete was absolutely crushing it in BOTH divide races. In typical Pete fashion, one 2,500 mile race wasn’t enough, so he worked some logistical magic in order to do both at the same time. He started in Banff (the start of the Tour Divide race) by himself and then managed to make it to the Montana border in time to offically start the Great Divide Race as well. He was possibly setting course records along the way, but it was hard to tell because he was in stealth mode. It took days before people even figured out he was on the course. It was a really cool feat and was the most interesting story line of this year’s race. It’s a shame he didn’t get to finish it off.
Pete is a remarkable athlete and a great guy. I feel very lucky that got to ski near him for this year’s Iditarod Invitational. Get well soon, Pete!
Adventures in Commuting, part 3
Friday, June 19th, 2009My wife and I both wish we could commute to work by bike everyday. But because of our daycare arrangement and that pesky “You must work 8 hours a day” rule, it simply isn’t possible.
So instead we’ve worked out a complicated compromise. I bike to work early in the morning. She drives in later after dropping the kiddo off at daycare. In the afternoon, I bike over to her office and get the car. I go pick up the kiddo, and she bikes home later. So we each get to bike one way. It works out pretty well, except for one hitch: there is no good route to get from my office to her office on a bike. Its only about a mile, but I have to take my life into my hands and cross the worst of midtown traffic.
I am constantly looking for a new route that is safer, more scenic, or at least shorter. This past winter I heard about a new path being built in a lesser-known park in midtown. Could this be a missing link I needed? Earlier this week I decided to give it a try. I found the park easy enough, but I couldn’t find any trails. So I started busting through the tall grass, carying my bike.
Midtown Anchorage - Anyone know where this is?
The bad news was that in a matter of minutes, I was up to calves in muck and it was getting deeper. The good news was at least this covered up my fashion faux-pas of wearing argyle dress socks with cycling shoes. Turn around? Are you kidding? I was not about to accept defeat from a tiny park in midtown. I pushed on.
I felt bad that I was probably disturbing the wetland habitat, but I have to admit that I was loving it. The best summer adventures usually involve some degree of bushwhacking or mud-slogging, but since I’ve been injured I’ve been missing out on all that fun. I desperately needed up up my slog quotient.
It only took a few minutes to cross the bog and I found the trail (still a work in progress) on the other side. I didn’t find a magical corridor through midtown, but I did find a nice little slice of the outdoors hidden in the middle of the city. I like living in a pace where my commute from work can turn into a mud-filled adventure. And besides, its not really summer in Alaska until you’ve bushwhacked through a mud bog.
Packrafting Montana Creek
Monday, June 1st, 2009One way that I have consoled myself during my healing process has been to think about packrafting. Of all my favorite activities, its the only one I figured I could do while injured. Well, maybe not the “packing” part, but definitely the “rafting” part. I’ve been scouting road-accessible floats that don’t require any hiking. And now that I am starting to bike again, that will open up a few more options. With my leg on the mend, I am ready to jump into the boat again.
Linda’s parents are currently visiting us for two weeks. We took them to a cabin on Benka Lake near Talkeetna this past weekend. One of the things we give up by living in Alaska is having grandparents (aka free babysitters) nearby. So when they come to visit, we generally exploit them so that Linda and I can have some play time, sans toddler. This time, Linda and I were able to sneak away during the little one’s nap for a short packraft/bike ride loop near the cabin.
Linda on Montana Creek
We put in on Montana Creek at the Yoder Road bridge and floated eight miles down to the Parks Highway. It was a decent float at the 6.13 foot water level, but lots of strainers and sweepers in the river kept it from being truly fun rafting. Without the wood, it would be a leisurely class I-II float. As is, the obstacles make it a solid class II that requires attention to each bend in the stream. There were about 5 places we had to get out and bushwhack around trees that had fallen across the entire creek. It was similar to the lower part of Willow Creek just before the Parks Highway. The photo is from one of the rare sections without any strainers when I had enough time to get out the camera.
The most excitement came when we spooked a mother moose with calf. She darted across the creek in front of us and up onto the opposite bank. Baby followed, but couldn’t lift himself out of the water. As baby struggled with front legs on the bank, hind legs in the 3-foot deep water, momma moose charged towards me as I tried to float by. When I became convinced she was about to jump into the water and stomp on me, I bailed onto a gravel bar on the opposite bank and ran back upstream. Momma continued to parallel me, but thankfully she stayed on her side of the creek. Baby eventually got up onto the bank after a couple minutes of trying, and they both quickly disappeared into the woods.
When we reached the Park Highway, we grabbed our previously-stashed bikes and rode 8 miles back up to the cabin off Yoder Road. It was a fun little nap-time outing. A perfect warm-up run, since we hadn’t been in our boats since last summer. Two hours of rafting, half an hour of biking.
I was glad to finally be doing an activity where I didn’t need to worry about my leg. I wore my leg brace so I’d be prepared for those times when I needed to jump out of the boat, and it was fine the whole time.
Even better, I was glad to be able to have an outing with Linda. Its a rare treat when we get to packraft together these days. Biking and hiking are easy to do with a two-year old. Packrafting, not so much - he really hates it when I bungee-cord him to the bow.
2009 Iditarod Trail Invitational Scrapbook
Friday, March 20th, 2009It seemed like there was a lot more awareness of the Iditarod Trail Invitational this year. I’ve followed the race for the past few years and I don’t remember seeing nearly as many newspaper articles as there were this year. I wanted to make sure I had a copy of this stuff for future reference. So here is my scrapbook of this year’s race.
Race News and Discussion
ITI message board comments for me: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3
Photos and Video
YouTube video of Bill Merchant’s pass ordeal
Racer Reports
Jay & Tracey P: Tidbits | Full Report
Phil Hofstetter: Recap 1 | Recap 2 | Recap 3 | Tim’s Nome finish
Lou Kobin: Recap 1 | Recap 2 | Recap 3 Lou has some of the best ‘in-race’ photos I’ve seen
Yair Kellner: Rumors of my demise…
Geoff Roes: Interview with Jeff Oatley
Jill Homer: All of her February and March posts
Press
Athletes max out Trail Invitational field
Anchorage Daily News 01/03/09 23:58:40
Considering the Alaska Trail Invitational, the 350-mile race from Knik to McGrath along the Iditarod Trail that begins March 1? Forget it. Fifty hardy bikers, runners and skiers from Alaska, the Lower 48 and overseas have already filled out the 50-racer field. And what a loaded field it is.
Iditarod Trail Invitational Ready To Roll
Anchorage Daily News 01/19/09 22:53:01
While the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Invitational slog to Nome which begins March 1, a week before the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race,remains the domain of just a few endurance studs, the shorter 350-mile race to McGrath features a stellar field littered with former champs.
The loneliness of the long-distance winter race
Anchorage Daily News 02/23/09 21:32:10
The hardest race to run is the one waged in your mind, and it is for this reason the Iditarod Trail Invitational is the hardest race in the world. Forget the distance of hundreds of miles, the brutal Alaska winds, the subzero cold, the bad trail, and the danger of avalanche and overflow. Those are the smallest of the challenges to be met.
Basinger swaps bike for skis in race to Nome
Anchorage Daily News February 27th, 2009 12:21 AM
The rare endurance animals who finish the Iditarod Trail Invitational to McGrath or Nome can count themselves among the toughest bikers, skiers or runners in the world. And at least one aims to show he’s pretty flexible too. Anchorage bicyclist extraordinaire Peter Basinger, who owns the Invitational record to McGrath — a stunning 3 days, 5 hours, 40 minutes — will slip out of the pedals and strap on the skis Sunday when Alaska’s longest human- powered race begins at 2 p.m. on Knik Lake.
Oatley plows through snow for race lead
Anchorage Daily News 03/02/09 22:34:19
Picking his way through deep snow, Fairbanks cyclist Jeff Oatley is dominating the field in the early stages of the Iditarod Trail Invitational.
Oatley rolling rapidly in Iditarod Invitational
Anchorage Daily News 03/03/09 23:01:35
Fairbanks bicyclist Jeff Oatley extended his ridiculous lead in the Iditarod Trail Invitational to more than 11 hours on Tuesday as he headed into the treacherous Dalzell Gorge reported to be blanketed with deep snow.
Iditarod Trail missing under deep snow
Anchorage Daily News 03/04/09 22:10:14
Kathi Merchant with the Iditarod Trail Invitational reported heavy snow falling in McGrath on the north side of the Alaska Range late Wednesday afternoon. Merchant was reached by telephone as she waited to greet mountain bikers, skiers and runners coming north on the historic Iditarod route from Knik. She was starting to get a little worried.
Storm traps wilderness racers on Iditarod Trail
Anchorage Daily News 03/05/09 11:03:48
Along the Iditarod Trail, a race was on today to reach mountain bikers, skiers and runners trapped by snows high in the Alaska Range as the notorious Rainy Pass winds began to blow. Kathi Merchant with the Iditarod Trail Invitational said none of the 20 or so people on the trail appeared to be in imminent danger, but they were all stuck. The invitational, in cooperation with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, was trying to get to them to provide a trail over the pass and down to a one-room log cabin on the Tatina River at Rohn. Jeff Oatley from Fairbanks, a mountain biker who led the race to Rainy Pass Lodge on Puntilla Lake near the south end of the pass, left that checkpoint at 3 a.m. Tuesday. By this morning, he’d been on the trail more than 48 hours.
Wilderness racer gets through Rainy Pass
Anchorage Daily News 03/05/09 21:39:25
An effort to reach mountain bikers, skiers and runners trapped by deep snow along the Iditarod Trail high in the Alaska Range appeared to have succeeded Thursday, but the only one known for sure to be through treacherous Rainy Pass was a hedge-fund trader from the Boston area.
Wilderness race leaders power through pass
Anchorage Daily News 03/06/09 11:24:21
The storm that stranded racers in the Iditarod Trail Invitational high in the Alaska Range on Thursday was easing today, but the race lead that Fairbanks cyclist Jeff Oatley sweated so hard to obtain in the 350-mile, human-powered wilderness epic appeared gone, swallowed up by the deep snow that stalled the race.
Iditarod Trail Invitational cyclist has been missing since Tuesday
Anchorage Daily News 03/07/09 00:02:06
Nineteen competitors in the 350-mile Iditarod Trail Invitational race from Knik to McGrath were on the trail out of Rohn on the north side of the Alaska Range on Friday afternoon, but one competitor was notably missing. Australian cyclist Yair Kellner hasn’t been seen by anyone since he left the community of Skwentna, about 100 miles north of Anchorage, at 1 a.m. Tuesday. He is now almost 100 miles behind the tail-end Invitational walkers and concern for his welfare is growing.
Missing endurance racer rescued
Anchorage Daily News 03/08/09 22:36:32
After spending a couple days shivering in his sleeping bag and building snow caves to block the chilling wind, Australian Yair Kellner was rescued near the historic Iditarod Trail on Saturday morning.
Oatley wins ’short’ Iditarod Invitational race
Anchorage Daily News 03/10/09 21:57:50
Fairbanks cyclist fastest to Mcgrath; 600 miles more for some. Oatley, who led by as much as 11 hours in the first portion of the race, persevered to win in five days, 19 hours and 34 minutes despite being bogged down for days by winter storms that all but obliterated the Iditarod Trail between Rainy Pass and Rohn.
From a racer’s perspective
Jill Homer, Juneau Empire Friday, March 13, 2009
A rookie no more, Juneau biker felt ready for all 350 miles of the 2009 Iditarod Trail Invitational. “When I finally worked the boot open, my foot wouldn’t budge. As I worked my wet sock down and wiggled and yanked my foot, nothing happened. My socks were frozen to the inside of my boot. And my foot, I realized with sinking dread, was frozen to the inside of my socks.”
Invitational cyclist rescued
Anchorage Daily News 03/14/09 03:21:23
Cyclist Billy Koitzsch was limping along the most desolate stretch of the Iditraod Trail in one of the most desolate corners of Alaska on Thursday when rescue arrived in the guise of a film crew on a snowmachine.
No cause for alarm on Iditarod Invitational
Anchorage Daily News March 30th, 2009 08:39 PM
As nasty and perilous as portions of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race were this year, consider this: The Iditarod Trail Invitational was far worse. “For racers who feel the world needs to know where they are in real time, there are other races out there for them,” said Invitational co-director Bill Merchant, who plans to ban satellite signalling and tracking devices from the race next year because of problems they caused this year. The devices have uneven performance in Alaska, he said, and can cause all sorts of confusion when people use devices like the SPOT personal tracker to signal for help only to have the signal subsequently blink in and out.
Snow machine: Jeff Oatley’s Rig for the Iditarod Trail Invitational
Just another daily commute in Anchorage
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008Today I was biking home from work on the bike path next to the Chuck Albrecht fields (near the police station). I was surprised and disappointed to see another huge swath of trees chopped down in preparation for a new road. All the trees on the north side of the bike path are gone.
Just as I was looking at the clear-cut and bemoaning the loss of more woodlands, out of the corner of my eye I saw a creature next to the ballfield fence on the south side of the path. I only caught a glimpse of it before trees blocked my view. At first I thought it was a dog. But it was being very still, just sitting there watching me bike by. And very quiet. Very un-dog-like. And there wasn’t any dog owner within sight. I turned around and went back to get a better look. Could it be…
Sure enough it was. A wolf. And there was another. And another. Three wolves sitting there watching my every move. I suppose I should have been a bit nervous, like seeing a bear up close. But I wasn’t. I was thinking about how one second I had been lamenting the loss of more ‘wild lands’ in the city, and the next second I was looking at the animal that symbolizes wild Alaska. All within several hundred yards of the Police Station, a hospital, and a Quiznos.
In the time it took me to get out my cell phone camera, the closest wolf had ducked back into the woods. So I didn’t get him in my picture. But if you zoom in (click on it) you can see one blurry wolf next to the fence, and the rough outline of another halfway around the far side of the fence in the background. Damn, I wish I’d had a real camera.
The encounter was a nice little reward for ridding my bike to work in dark 8 degree weather this morning.
How To Make Cyclocross Even Better
Sunday, October 5th, 2008Our cyclocross series wrapped up on Saturday, Oct 4 with a great race at Goose Lake. This course was the best one of the season. It combined pavement, trail, and even sand to make what I considered a true cyclocross challenge. This race was worth double points, so everyone showed up. I finished 13th, and also finished 13th for the season, though I only did four of the six races.
Results | Photos | Photos below by Peter Lekisch
I really enjoyed the cyclocross races, but I can’t help but think that the current cyclocross format is handcuffing the sport. In an article earlier this year, I discussed the similarities between cyclocross and cross country ski racing. In my opinion, cyclocross also suffers from an unfortunate similarity: the over-use of multi-lap courses.
I absolutely hate this trend in skiing. It makes the races boring and repetitive for the racers. Its called cross-country skiing, not gerbil-loop skiing. Let’s cross some country. I long for the days when I could do a 15K or 30K race without having to count laps on my fingers and toes. And the tiny loops necessary for these courses degrade our trail systems. Instead of long, winding, scenic trails through the woods that everyone can use, ski racing now demands extremely short loops which are of little use to non-racers. Case in point: the “new and improved” Kincaid Park. Whoops, sorry for the rant, let me reel it back in here…
I understand that there are many good reasons for using short loops for cyclocross. Its a lot easier on the organizers, it impacts less land, and it is easier for the spectators to see the racers (though it can be impossible to figure out how they are doing - just ask my wife).
But why pigeon-hole cyclocross into this format? In many ways, cyclocross is the purest form of cycling. The bikes are pared-down. No suspension, no disc brakes. The objective is to cover all kinds of terrain in order to get from point A to point B. So why add in all the contrived stuff like a one hour time limit, multiple loops and man-made barriers?
While skiing has moved to this rat-in-a-cage environment (I’m going to see how many rodent analogies I can squeeze in here), fortunately there are still some ski races that don’t conform to the new standards. Likewise, we need some cyclocross races that break the mold. Let’s have a good old-fashioned bike race from point A to point B over lots of different terrain.
Think about the races we could have near Anchorage:
1) Start at Hilltop, go down the Seward Highway to Indian, up and over Powerline Pass and back to Hillside. Or the same route in the other direction.
2) Start at Kincaid and make your way to Glen Alps or the Dome, using the Coastal Trail, Chester Creek trail, and various dirt trails in between.
3) Start at Moose Run golf course, go up Arctic Valley road, and up the ski area to the ridge, along the ridge and drop down to the South Fork of Eagle River trailhead and back to Moose Run on the road.
4) Start at the Hatcher Pass Lodge, go up and over Hatcher Pass, then climb up Craigie Creek Rd. Then drag your bike up and over a couple of passes to get to the Fern Mine area off Archangel Rd. Ouch. Then back to the Lodge on the road. Is it even reasonable to hoof it up and over while carrying a bike? Probably not, but it would definitely be interesting to try.
Each of these routes offers plenty of the elements that define cyclocross (pavement, trail, bike carrying) and it would be a hell of a lot more interesting that going in circles. I know all of these examples would have issues that could prevent a race from happening, but the point is that there are other options out there.
In no way do I mean to criticize the organizers of our great Arctic Cross series. They do an outstanding job, and it is important to have a series that conforms with international standards. But this is Alaska, where we have the potential to do things bigger and better. Maybe we need to branch out and make this its own sport with a catchy name (Cyclocross Extreme!!) and sign Red Bull up as a sponsor. So who’s in? And more importantly, who wants to organize it? After all, I want to DO these races, not organize them. 
Confirmation Dust
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008Its funny that just last week I made this statement about my results in local fun races:
I could have a great race and finish 15th, and I could just as easily have a bad race and finish 4th, if no one shows up.
Well, in this week’s Tuesday Night Race, none of the fast guys showed up. And I finished 4th. It wasn’t a bad race by any means, but maybe it was a self-fulfilling prophesy. For most of the race, I was in the top three, but faded to fourth with a half-mile to go. I guess I should have written that I could win if no one showed up! Nonetheless, it was fun to run with the leaders and entertain thoughts of victory. Even if those dreams were shattered when the top two guys picked up the pace with two miles to go. TNR Results
After two weeks of finishing the same place in both TNR and cyclocross, I knew I had my work cut out for me going into Saturday’s cyclocross race. If I was going to keep the streak alive, I had a long way to go to reach fourth place. The course was rooty, muddy and very challenging on skinny tires. The course had very little running, so it felt like an ordinary mountain bike race, exept I was on the wrong bike. So I was not surprised when the eventual winner blew past me on a hardtail mountain bike. But it was still fun. I managed to get a good workout and finish 10th. ArcticCross results
And finally the highlight of the week was a spectacular weekend. The kind of crystal clear weekend we’ve been waiting for all summer. I didn’t get away for any adventures, but I did manage to kick-off the weekend with a spectacular run around the Williwaw Lakes - Ballfield loop from Glen Alps with Rob and Chrissy. The evening light lit up the fall colors and contrasted well with the confirmation dust on the peaks.
Normally, the first snow on the mountains is called termination dust because it signals the termination of summer. But this year I’ve dubbed it “confirmation dust,” because it confirmed that the summer of ‘08 is never going to happen.
Anyway, a few photos from our run, courtesy of Chrissy…
Dropping Dimes (and dropping places)
Thursday, September 18th, 2008Well, last week was an eighth-place week. It appears that this week’s number is ten. I guess I’m slowing down. The truth is that with these local races, it all depends on who shows up. I could have a great race and finish 15th, and I could just as easily have a bad race and finish 4th, if no one shows up. That said, it might also be true that I’m getting slower.
Tuesday Night Running Race: 10th place
Wednesday evening Cyclocross: 10th place
I was just happy that I got to do the ‘cross race. My bike broke while I was warming up. The chain got snagged on the derailleur and snapped the hanger. I walked back to the start, very dejected. The race organizers, Bruce Ross and Patrick McGownd, saw my situation and jumped into action. First they tried to find parts to fix my bike. When that was hopeless, Patrick loaned me his bike and they found tools so I could swap the pedals. They did all this WHILE they were also running the pre-race meeting, five minutes before the start. They certainly went above and beyond, and I really appreciated it.
The bike was small (52 cm, whereas mine is 58cm), but I was just glad to be riding rather than driving home early. And I’ll leave you with a great photo. I think the caption should be “I just realized I’m going too fast down a muddy, rooty, narrow trail on a bike that I’ve never ridden before.” either that, or simply, “Uh oh.”
Photo: George Stransky. Here’s more.
An 8th Place Week - First Cyclocross of the season
Sunday, September 14th, 2008This week I did two races. A Tuesday Night Running race and a cyclocross race. With all of these fall races, I try to emphasize the training benefit rather than the result. Often, this means not red-lining the whole way, but instead starting conservatively (under aerobic threshold pace) then getting faster if I feel good. I did a good job of that in the Tuesday race, and I finished 8th.
In the cyclocross race, I probably started too conservatively. I got intimidated by all the fancy bikes at the start, and the fact that there was a nasty hairpin turn 200 meters into the race. So I seeded myself way in the back, even behind most of the juniors and women. I realized after about 30 seconds of the race that this was a mistake. I spent the rest of the race playing catch-up, which admittedly was a lot of fun. Much better to be the pursuer, than the pursuee. By the last lap, I had moved into the top ten and, with a devastating sprint at the end, was able to nail down my second 8th place finish of the week.
Photos by George Stransky . A ton of great photos can be found here.
