Iditarod Trail Invitational 2012

[sean salach]

ITI is coming up in a week and a half. The usual faces at the front of the race should be joined this year by Tim Berntson. The Petervarys are MIA. The foot division looks to be an epic battle, even with Tom Jarding and John Storkamp MIA. Hewitt, Eric Johnson, David Johnson and Geoff Roes are all capable of winning the foot race, even if Roes is pretending that he's going to take it easy. 

Start is Sunday, February 26th, 2pm Alaska Time.

Nome racers are following the Northern route.

Official website:

http://alaskaultrasport.com/alaska_ultra_home_page.html

Facebook, with more frequent updates:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Iditarod-Trail-Invitational/169964759708637

Nome cam should be pointed at the Burled Arch by the time the first racers come through:

http://www.visitnomealaska.com/nome-web-cam.html


Ultraracing in smilies:
 

[bmike-vt]

Ultraracing in smilies:
 

just wanted to repeat that again.

[phil_rad]

I don't know much about winter racing but man I think its awesome what kind of miles you guys (and girls) are doing out there in the frozen Alaska wilderness. I'll be watching. 

Have fun and be safe.

Phil

[sean salach]

Up to 20" of snow expected to fall on the course tonight through tomorrow evening. Race starts at 2pm tomorrow.

[T-Race]

Up to 20" of snow expected to fall on the course tonight through tomorrow evening. Race starts at 2pm tomorrow.

I thought that was you, why do you have this name?

Hope you are enjoying your journey-it's gonna be a long one! go go go!

[elobeck]

I love to snowbike. I own one and ride it 3x a week. The ultrasport has enticed me. But it is curious that the more it snows the less snowbiking works and becomes snow walking. There is an inverse relationship with the amount of snowfall. Just an observation watching the progress in the ultrasport this year. Godspeed ladies and gentlemen!

Now that I think about it-alpine ski racing is the same....they WANT the ice and actually hose down the course with water. Powder days are frowned upon.



Erik

[phil_rad]

That sounds so brutal, I can't even imagine. Hats off to all of the folks out there battling mother nature.

Hopefully the trail will firm up so that the bikes can ride. ;-)

[T-Race]

it's all what you make of it, you get to choose that, you don't get to choose the conditions, part of the race, tough challenge fer shure. I too hope it firms up for all.

[jeremy11]

they really need a postholing smiley

[phil_rad]

Really tough year on the ITI. A bunch of scratches, mostly from the bikers. Hats off to all who entered and gave it a shot. Good luck to all still out there.

[sean salach]

Iditaquitter here. Way too much pushing.

Pete and '10 Nome winner Phil Hofstetter are gaining fast on(or have already passed) runner Geoff Roes on the other side of the Alaska Range. Tim Hewitt was leading, but twisted an ankle and is now limping. That hasn't stopped him before though.

They should have reasonably good trail for a while now, as long as temps don't rise an snow doesn't fall.

It was a really interesting year out there. Several scratches came because people ran out of food. Some were due to injury or bike troubles. Most were due to the complete lack of fun most people find in pushing your bike 12+ hours a day for 100 miles in snow. There was a lot of rationing of food and water between river lodges then stuffing your face at every opportunity in order to try to make your calories last. Very few cyclists start the race with more than 2 days worth of food. It took Pete and Phil 3 days 8 hours to get to their first drop bags at Winterlake Lodge(Finger Lake), 130 miles into the race. Pete finished the entire McGrath race in about that time the previous two years.

[phil_rad]

@ sean salach: I don't think Quitter is an appropriate word to use. Anybody that lines up for this race is a winner! You gave it your best shot and had your reasons for scratching.

[MikeC]

It was a really interesting year out there. Several scratches came because people ran out of food.

Very few cyclists start the race with more than 2 days worth of food.

Credit the last ~5 or 6 years of unrealistic winter conditions for this, along with people planning for best case instead of worst case scenarios.

99, 00, and 01 were very similar to 12 in many ways--mas snow, mas pushing.  But Dan Bull never bothered to send out drop bags back then, so much surviving was done on doritos, snickers, coke from Skwentna.

[sean salach]

Was there ever an investigation into whether hungry, bitter Iditasport racers were responsible for his disappearance?

If Stamstad somehow made it to McGrath in 3 days, 8 hours in conditions like we had out there, that's beyond mind boggling.

[MikeC]

Dan reappeared somewhere in the SE.  Not sure how he hasn't been picked up by the feds yet, but I suspect they'll be more lenient than a posse of former Iditaracers.

Stamstad set that record in 98.  It was a highway that year, with relatively warm (-5 to +25) temps.  We still had the usual pushing from Skwentna to Finger (no one went the Shell Lake route back then) and Puntilla->Rohn.  But the rest of it was hard and fast.

[SteveW]

Credit the last ~5 or 6 years of unrealistic winter conditions for this, along with people planning for best case instead of worst case scenarios.

99, 00, and 01 were very similar to 12 in many ways--mas snow, mas pushing.  But Dan Bull never bothered to send out drop bags back then, so much surviving was done on doritos, snickers, coke from Skwentna.

I have to admit that personally, I just wasn't prepared physically or mentally for so much pushing. 2011 led me to believe it was a race about pedalling, with just a little pushing, so this year I chose not to train on foot, or even consider my foot system for doing so. I didn't find the weather a drama, had packed plenty of food, and had a great time on the trail. However my feet started to fall apart after 100 miles in footware I'd never tested for walking, or even worn since the race last year. And my psoas (I think), that lift my leg, became incredibly sore and movement limited. I couldn't have continued much more and the prospect of still pushing to Rohn and beyond was too much. I chose to fly out cheaply while the weather was good.

In reflection a heap of foolish decisions. I have a much better understanding of the race now, and see you need to be prepared to push all the way to McGrath (or Nome!) if necessary. Roll on 2013.

[elobeck]

Hey Steve thanx for the update. Was wondering what happened. Understandable. 6 miles of pushing a bike through snow is misery to me (which is why I will never find myself taking part). Just out of curiosity (coming from lack of knowledge about the event) do any of the bikers lug snowshoes and a ski onto which the bike can be placed "just in case" or is this impractical ?

Erik

[sean salach]

2 racers with bikes brought snowshoes, and one of those had a foldable sled for his bike. It really didn't seem to offer them any advantage. The guys at the front of the bike division had minimal setups and just worked harder. Last year I brought snowshoes and 1 ski for each wheel. I never needed them, though they work fairly well in testing. The biggest problem with that kind of stuff is the temptation to use it. You're looking at anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour to switch from foot pushing bike mode to the other. Longer if it's -45. Say you take off from a checkpoint looking at possibly good trail. Your bike is intact. You discover that it's really soft. So you go through upwards of an hour to change it over to the other setup. Trudge along for 5 miles or so, and come to rideable trail. You don't know how long it's going to be rideable for, you need to gamble. Spend an hour putting the bike back in ride mode and pedal along for 5 minutes when a group of 6 snowmachines comes ripping past you, rending the trail unrideable. Enjoy the next hour putting your bike back into the other mode. You just lost 3 hours in 6 miles. Even at the low end of 15 minutes per change over, you just lost 45 minutes in 6 miles. There's no way that's going to be faster or more efficient than simply hopping off your bike and pushing along like everyone else.

[THE LONG RANGER]

Totally epic. There's not much more defeating than pushing a bike through something that doesn't like to be pushed through and not knowing when, if ever, things would get better.

Now top that off with the temperature and the distances between resupply. Man, I bet there was even a strategic problem w/food and distance: Bring more food (and fuel), to be able to go a farther distance without resupply,
go even more slower and cover less distance, because of the added weight.

do any of the bikers lug snowshoes and a ski onto which the bike can be placed "just in case" or is this impractical ?

Perchance impractical, due to the more weight = slower to ride formula, that gets pretty bad in deep snow.

[sean salach]

Pete Basinger takes yet another McGrath win in 6d 15h 15m. Phil and rookie Pavel cross the line together just a couple of hours later in 6d 18h 08m. Tim and Geoff are en route from Nikolai to McGrath. Dario and lead foot division female Anne Ver Hoef are in Nikolai as of last report.

Tim and Geoff arrived in Nikolai at exactly the same time, but Tim left about 4 hours ahead of Geoff with minimal rest. McGrath is just another checkpoint to Tim, but it's the finish line for Geoff. Tim will probably walk it. Does Geoff have the legs left to run the last 50? Even if he did, could he catch Tim?