The weekend of the 22nd February was a busy one for all of us up here.
Saturday morning was spent at the Fur Rondy or "Rondy" as it is know locally. The origins of this festival come from when the trappers used to trade furs. It is now self labelled as "North America's biggest winter festival." From reading the paper and what we saw of the festival it seems pretty big,
At the Rondy on Saturday we saw a parade and some sled dog racing prize money for the 3 day event is $70,000 which is not to shabby. On the 2nd March the ultimate dog sled race (Iditarod) will have its ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage.
Here are some pictures of the sled racing from the heart of Anchorage.
Following the Rondy we headed back home to relax a little before Amanda and I got ready to go racing. We had arranged to have a baby sitter so that both of us could race and then out for a meal afterwards. I am sure I speak for both of us when I say we had a great time.
The course we rode is normally unavailable during winter months as it was on ski only trails. Once again Chain Reaction Cycles here in Anchorage came through and put an a superb course, though not all of it was rideable it was fun to race and since it was only a 30min race that meant flat out the whole time, half the course was a run with bike half ridable, guess it's good I have been practicing pushing things while running with Fiona. I managed to get 4th place :) Results
Sunday morning was spent with a nice walk to the local shops to pick up a few essentials for dinner then since Amanda kindly agreed to look after Fiona so that I could go riding again (no if, buts or maybes I have the most amazing wife ever!!!)
The ride on Sunday was on a permissive trail for winter use which the state park is assessing its usage to potentially open it up fully next year. Although part of the route was more hikeyourbike rather than rideyourbike the route was still fun and once again I got to see some trails I wouldn't want to ride first time on my own. Thanks to Paramount Cycles for hosting the ride.
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| Going up looking back to Anchorage |
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| Looking back along the trail |
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| Regroup point after unridable section, me in blue jacket |
Route
Finally today we went to see some of the snow sculptures put on for the Rondy. Link to ADN images
My images, are not quite as good :)
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| The force is strong |
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| Killer Whale |
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| Fiona wouldn't stand near this one or have it behind her for a photo |
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| Hi Mum |
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