Tuesday, February 27, 2007

What a race!

This is better than Le' Tour by a longshot. If you haven't been following the Iditarod Trail Invitational its not too late. Jump onto the race website and read through the latest news page and then jump onto MTBR and read the ongoing thread about the race. Between the two sources you can quickly form a snapshot of the race to this point.

Pic of the trail heading into Rainy Pass on a good snow year - taken by Mike Curiak and borrowed from MTBR.

The suspense is killing me right now. Peter hasn't checked into Nikolai and the three chasers weren't giving an inch as of the Rohn checkpoint. Have they caught Peter? Did Peter sleep too long along the trail? Did the chasers' calculated rest stop at Puntilla pay off?

The magnitude of this effort hits home when I think about what has transpired since Saturday afternoon at 2pm. I went skiing, I showered, I slept in warm bed...three nights, I rode my FataBike a little, I grocery shopped, I ate, and I worked all day. This entire time our heroes have been pushing themselves non-stop and are still riding their bikes. Holy Sh!t.

I want details. I want to know how the leaders decided to take the trail through Hells Gate instead of Rainy Pass. Was the overflow an issue on the Tatina River? How are they dealing with the cold? For now I am happy to have any info and it is incredible that we can follow the race at all. Great job Kathi!

Lastly, JayP, I am sending some go-fast vibes your way my brotha'! Its not over til' its over and I know that you know this.

5 comments:

Simmons said...

I can't imagine what these guys and gals are going through. Very impressive efforts by all.

Are you gonna head up north next year Dave?

Dave said...

Hey Dave,
I am definitely going to race in Alaska next February. I just need to decide which race I will do. I will probably do the Su100 but the 350 is taunting me.

Jill Homer said...

Hey Dave ...

Just do it. :-)

Reports of overflow were intense, but I think even more daunting are the trail conditions between Rohn and Nikolai. I bet the leaders all went through having been told that they would be assuredly great. When they weren't, and when the night was at its darkest and coldest, I can't even imagine how frustrating and disheartening that would be.

Jay P. is on fire, and really smart to stick with Rocky and Jeff. Can't wait to hear more reports about where the three of them are.

Dave said...

It is killing me not to have heard any updates on Jay since last night at 8:01pm.
I agree that it was really smart of Jay to hang with Rocky & Jeff through the trickiest part of the course. Knowing Jay, I would be surprised if those two can hang with him when he decides to move on. He's a bad motha'! :)

Doug said...

Exciting stuff!!!