While many cyclist have been following the thrills and spills of the Tour of California road race, I have been turning my attention to the north, to the land of winter endurance mountain bike racing. In Minnesota, The Arrowhead 135 has been a hot topic due to terrible conditions. Most people dropped out of that one and some ended up with severe frostbite. minus 35 degrees is serious stuff. In Alaska the Susitna 100 had better conditions and Pete Bassinger blazed the course in 19 hours. This was a warm up race for him. He will be defending his title at the Iditarod Invitational. The Iditarod Invitational has the normal (?) 350 mile race to McGrath and the full length mega-super-extreme 1100 mile jaunt to Nome. Mike Curiak holds the record on the Nome route. Moots produced a special winter bike for Mike. The feature that stands out more than the super volume tires is the integrated fuel storage. His stove fuel is stored in the frame tubes. He can hook his stove right up to the bike. Sweet.
For a taste of winter cycling in Alaska check out Jill's blog about the Su 100. Also Seattle long range biker Kent Peterson has announced that he will return to his home state and take on the Arrowhead 135 next year. Good Luck Kent I can't wait to read your report.
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