14 hours, 20 below.

The Iditabike (Iditarod Trail Invitational race/ ITI)  is a 1,000 mile race from Anchorage to Nome, akin to the would famous Iditarod dog-sled race.  The ITI also has a "short course" 350 mile route from Anchorage to McGrath.  This is an awe-inspiring endeavor to undertake.

A few weeks back, I got a call late in the day Friday to tag along on an ITI training ride, so I raced home to frantically throw together my winter camping gear that had been packed away since last year.
I was excited to spend the night riding with some of these racers and hear about their past experiences on the Iditarod Trail, and see if I could keep up...

   

My impulsivity got the better of me and I made a game of packing as much gear as possible onto my bike; resulting in a rig weighing somewhere north of 65 pounds (because that's where my scale stops).  But I had an avalanche shovel, two sleeping pads, french press, hatchet, coconut water, spare batteries, extra headlamp, change of clothes, and flask of booze so I was well prepared for any apocalyptic eventuality.

The ride commenced in just after 10:00 PM out my back door onto the Chester Creek trail to rendezvous with the group.  We warmed up around town, following several of Anchorage's urban trails, then worked our way up into Chugach State Park and of the front range.  My riding companions were all on 27 pound Linsky welded titanium Fatbacks with minimalist gear, so I felt a little over prepared for the evening, and was cursing the weight of my hatchet and shovel during the extended climbs out of the Anchorage bowl.  

The lack of recent snowfall and sub-zero temps had left the trail conditions packed, frozen, and fast.  A surface well suited for their Fatbacks with the standard issue fast rolling Surly Larry Tires.  My Surly Moonlander  on the other hand, equipped with the fattest, knobbiest, tires available, had me spinning hard just to keep pace as the others coasted effortlessly through any section of trail with a moderate decline.  I won the prize for most calories burned.

There is something about biking in -20 degree weather that seems to suck the energy right out of you, so we paused frequently to adjust layers, snack, hydrate, and check one-another's faces for frostbite.  

Somewhere around 4:00 AM, we bed down just off the path to take an early morning nap; and after a bite of chocolate and a shot of syrupy vodka to take the edge off the caffeine infuse energy gels, my bivy never felt so inviting.

Emerging from our frozen cocoons a few hours later, we were greeted by first light, warm coffee, and a promise of a fast icy technical single-track decent back to town.  

Home by noon. Dehydrated, exhausted, frosty, happy, and thankful for a wild Friday night.

Covered about 50 miles with a taste of what the race pace for an ITI would be like.

Definitely not going to sign up this year.

 

Ménage à trois

After enduring 2 years ridicule by the "purist" backcountry skiers, my efforts to utilize fatbikes as a method of backcountry transportation have proven successful given the right conditions. 

This is the holy grail of combining the only two winter sports worth leaving the house for.

Transporting a snowboard on a fatbike can be achieved one of three ways in my experience, two of which involve a splitboard.   

As splitboarding is clearly the answer to most of life's woes, the latter two methods offer potential epic trips... biking out a valley or basin, then exploring the surrounding peaks, trees, and couloirs via the splitboard.  Traveling by bike in many instances is faster and more efficient than skinning or hiking depending on the terrain. 

Option one: A snowboard can easily be secured to any standard rear bicycle rack via two attachment points using bungies, webbing straps, or ski straps which work best (like those from Black Diamond or Volie) 

Having a second person hold the board in place, as you secure the straps makes life easier.  

The top strap should be 'woven' through the rack tubing to prevent the straps from slipping down.

The lower strap is best placed below the binding to offer some vertical support

Be mindful of heal strike.  The top of the rack and right side remain open for panniers or other bags.  

Baller. 

 Option 2:

 Step one: Cut your board in half                                                    (or get a splitboard)

Step 2: Attach each half of the board to either side of your racks  at the high and low attachment points as described in Option 1, just do it twice for each half of the board. 

Tie the tips of the boards together to make a big "A" because you are clearly awesome. 

This is a great option for multi-day trips, as you can then attach panniers and other baggage to the racks and a backpack easily attaches to the vertical attachment points created by the splitboard A-frame.  

With all these extra points of attachment, you can loop and strap all kinds of crap to your bike.  

Soon your bike will weigh upwards of 50 or 60 pounds depending on how much whiskey you need  

Option 3 is for all the weight weenies out there and works exclusively with the Revelate Designs Viscacha tail bag , and is really quite simple.  The vertical straps of the Viscacha that suspend it from the saddle rails create  nice little hammocks of reinforced nylon at the bottom edge of the bag, one for each half of your board. 

- All you need is another strap looped around each half of the board, near the junction of the seat tube/ top tube/ seatstay.  Create a sandwich of the board on either side of the bike frame.  Looping the strap through the top tube and pulling it tight as possible.  

This serves three purposes: 1. brings the two halves together a narrow as possible so you can actually peddle, 2. stabilizes the lateral motion and flex of the board for more stable riding, and 3. keeps the board at an upward sloping angle to the rear of the bike.   

 ENJoy. and Remember Avalanches can still get you on a bike.