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Wednesday, February 04, 2009
This past Monday morning I started my third Arrowhead Ultra 135 experience up near International Falls. I had high hopes for a second successful finish in the event, but it wasn't to be. Right now, one word sums it all up for me: Disappointment. The week before the Arrowhead, I chaperoned 6th grade environmental camp and picked up some kind of bug. It had me down and out 36 hours before the start but I hoped that it would pass. Most of the sick sort of feelings had left me but I guess it took it out of my body. I just didn't have any energy on the bike. When I made it to the Gateway Store checkpoint and mile 38 I decided to pull the plug. It took me an hour longer to get there this year. I was in my granny ring for about 4/5ths of those 7 hours, whereas last year I was never in my granny the entire first day. My legs didn't feel tired at the gas station. In fact, they felt better than last year. No cramping. No dehydration. But I'd been yawning since mile 20 and thinking about stopping to sleep in a nice sunny place. Thinking of sleeping when you've only gone 20 miles wasn't a great sign. The Arrowhead course ramps up in difficulty tremendously when you leave the Gateway Store. After suffering through a frighteningly cold experience two years ago on that stretch I had no desire to repeat it feeling as tired as I did. Like I said: Disappointment. Here are my random observations on the 5th running of the Arrowhead Ultra 135. The Arrowhead Ultra is a special event and we are lucky to have it. This year there were close to 60 starters, which is the highest ever. If this event interests you and you want to experience a good old fashioned physical and mental challenge, you should give it a try. Do your homework. Do you prep work. Come with a humble mindset. The Surly Pugsley (or another snow bike like the Fatback) is the only true weapon of choice. Don't waste your time bringing up an extra bike with regular size mountain bike tires. You'll be glad to have the extra floatation regardless of conditions. If it happens to be rock hard, packed snow (which I've never known it to be), you can always run your tires hard and you'll roll along just fine. Speaking of conditions, this year's trail looked to be hard packed 12 hours before the event. I thought a new course record would be set. Then it started to snow. We got between 3 to 4 inches of fresh powder during the night. That didn't make it any easier. I broke trail for about 3 miles and it was really taking it out of me. Luckily I stopped to pee and some folks behind me took over the trail breaking work. The fast guys (of which I will never be one) are brutally fast. Dave Pramann, Charlie Farrow, Lance Andre, and Terry Brannick went past me like I was standing still. Of course I probably was almost standing still at the rate I was moving. Dave Pramann was the true hard man of the event. He broke trail all the way to the MelGeorge's midway checkpoint. Then he continued to break trail enroute to the tipi on top of Wake Em Up hill. Dave Pramann got played. He made a terrible strategic error by starting the event as early as he did. It put him in the position of needing to do the work, while other fast riders could start later and make use of his efforts. Then he was left with no way to make up time on the riders who had gained time on him...thanks to his own efforts. Terry Brannick ran the most strategic race. Terry waited until the last possible start time and took advantage of everyone that was breaking trail for him. Perfectly legal. Very smart. Mike Curiak put on a short slideshow at the pre-race meeting showing some of this images from Alaska and telling a few of his tales from the Iditarod trail. Mike...you need to write a book about this stuff. You've got too many great stories and great images. It would be a shame not to share them. I'm available to help edit and photo edit if you like. Mike Curiak looks smooth as ice riding the snow bike. Controlled and effortless...that's how he looked. Dave Gray put in an impressive effort in just reaching the event midpoint and MelGeorge's. He had a flu bug and was riding on pretty much fumes as he couldn't take in food. Dave made the decision to drop. That decision impressed me more than anything he could've done if he'd continued on the bike. He made the safe and smart choice. Pogies with no gloves worked great at 10 below zero. I did start to feel some bruising of my hands though because I had no gloves on. In the future I would pad my grips and bar ends in some way to take some of that discomfort away. The Arrowhead trail is a real treat to ride on on a beautiful cold sunny day. This year it was so pretty as the sun came up through the spruce trees. Last year I came home and didn't want to spend any time on my snow bike. This year I come home wishing I could've ridden through more of that beautiful landscape. I don't regret making the decision to drop out at the Gateway. I sure wish I hadn't felt so damned tired though. I want to do the event one more time, but it won't be in 2010. My wife wants me to take a year off from it and I understand that. It is a huge commitment spread between dollars, time, and effort. I am planning on finishing it one more time...in 2011. As Dave Pramann said, 'You have to finish on a good note.' My top three foods for the Arrowhead are: 1. Beef sticks: salty goodness that stands up well to freezing 2. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups: They almost dissolve in your mouth at 10 below 3. Pop Tarts: Blueberry and Cherry flavors please Pierre and Cheryl Ostor deserve a round of applause for organizing the event. All the volunteers deserve some spirited high fives for all they do to help out. Props and a shout out to all the fine folks that gave it their best this year. It was great seeing you and I look forward to our paths crossing again. -Kid Posted by Kid Riemer : 2/04/2009 03:32:00 PM 5 comments | permalink 
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