Going Long and Hard.

I gave my tracker to Kyle the Race Director in Puntilla and took an Alaskan Uber back into town…

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Benji is approximately 16-hours into his push over the Pass, it was - 25 this morning at the Lodge so with the wind in Ptarmigan Valley, he’s earning his keep 😂

The woods around the Rohn Checkpoint are great to Bivy in and he’ll have Jay Cable as probably the best human to encounter during one of these as a Volunteer. After Rohn the race is pretty much in the bag. The Farewell Burn is fast as are the Farewell Lakes.
 
Benji left Rohn and is heading up into the Farewell Burn, should be a relatively bomber day for him out there today. All the way to Nikolai is fairly rideable with some minor rollers before Bear Creek. 80-Miles is doable but given what his pace has been I’d imagine he’ll stop at the Bear Creek Safety Cabin 40-miles in…Dogs are leaving tomorrow so he’ll get caught by them before McGrath. It’s like 2 days for them 😳
 
Jim I have an honest question:

Instead of scratching, couldn’t you just wait for a prolonged time and wait for the weather to clear? I have to imagine you aren’t the last person on the trail.

Unless they have specific cutoff days/times between the lodges/checkpoints that you aren’t going to make (which I know nothing about) why bail? Why not wait for the weather to clear or be more favorable?

I don’t do anything this long but it would chap my ass for 365 days if I bailed on one of the longer gravel/mtb races if my equipment and/or body wasn’t broken.
 
Pearl said:
Jim I have an honest question:

Instead of scratching, couldn’t you just wait for a prolonged time and wait for the weather to clear? I have to imagine you aren’t the last person on the trail.

Unless they have specific cutoff days/times between the lodges/checkpoints that you aren’t going to make (which I know nothing about) why bail? Why not wait for the weather to clear or be more favorable?

I don’t do anything this long but it would chap my ass for 365 days if I bailed on one of the longer gravel/mtb races if my equipment and/or body wasn’t broken.
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I actually did do this. I sat at Rainy Pass until the time cut-off to see if the weather would clear. I even rode the morning before the cut-off to see if my face could take the temps. Overnight Friday in Rohn it was close to -40 degrees so that’s when the official plug was pulled. I’m not sure if you’ve ever ridden at -25 with 50mph winds without anything on your face but I can assure you it doesn’t feel good.
 
Steve Vai said:
I actually did do this. I sat at Rainy Pass until the time cut-off to see if the weather would clear. I even rode the morning before the cut-off to see if my face could take the temps. Overnight Friday in Rohn it was close to -40 degrees so that’s when the official plug was pulled. I’m not sure if you’ve ever ridden at -25 with 50mph winds without anything on your face but I can assure you it doesn’t feel good.
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This makes more sense, I didn’t know you had cut offs you had to hit! I figured it was just a free for all.
 
Some shots from today by Sean. I cut a Balaclava to make a thing to protect my ears and nose, it looks weird but totally worked. -2 at the ride start but after being in much worse during the week, I only needed an LS base layer and my NanoPuff. Gonna get heat stroke the second I step off the plane 😂

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Steve Vai said:
Some shots from today by Sean. I cut a Balaclava to make a thing to protect my ears and nose, it looks weird but totally worked. -2 at the ride start but after being in much worse during the week, I only needed an LS base layer and my NanoPuff. Gonna get heat stroke the second I step off the plane 😂

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Great idea for a new TV series, 'The Masked Cyclist'...Wow, just wow! Real jelly right now, stuck at my office desk...
 
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Steve Vai said:
Some shots from today by Sean. I cut a Balaclava to make a thing to protect my ears and nose, it looks weird but totally worked. -2 at the ride start but after being in much worse during the week, I only needed an LS base layer and my NanoPuff. Gonna get heat stroke the second I step off the plane 😂

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reminded me of this guy from when I was growing up except this is the riding horses version:

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Steve Vai said:
Some shots from today by Sean. I cut a Balaclava to make a thing to protect my ears and nose, it looks weird but totally worked. -2 at the ride start but after being in much worse during the week, I only needed an LS base layer and my NanoPuff. Gonna get heat stroke the second I step off the plane 😂

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Hmmm, you don't have to race the iti to fat bike Alaska 🤔 Who knew?
Take awesome day rides, get beautiful pix, sleep in hotel. Sign me up!
 
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