Double glacier tour

As spring marches into Alaska the longer days and warmer weather give opportunity for some spectacular riding. Visiting a glacier is always a cool experience and seeing reports online of trips people were making fuelled my interest to get out for myself.

Amanda has had a busy work schedule and it seems if she isn't working has been sick with whatever plague Fiona brought home from school. I haven't been hit nearly as badly so I seized my opportunity on Sunday while Amanda and Fiona rested. 

Skookum Glacier

The plan was to head out early and visit Skookum Glacier, this tends to be a lot quieter than Spencer which is in the next valley over. The main reason for this as far as I can tell is it's not as spectacular. 

It was a last minute decision to take this trip and many of my friends had been out on the Saturday to see the glaciers but I did manage to convince Ryan and Oscar to join me. 

We arrived at the Placer river parking pullout around 08:15 and by 08:25 we were rolling out to head for the Glacier.

It was a pretty cold start at around 8F and got colder as we pedalled out along the river.

Heading out towards the river. 

After around 30min of riding we turned left on a snow machine trail to head out towards Skookum Glacier. We followed the trail all the way to the glacier and arrived around 1hr 20min after setting out.

The first part of Skookum we arrived at. 

At the face of the glacier we rode around until we found some interesting features. We were not disappointed. 

Ice cave

I see Ryan

Cool ice feature

my bike leaning

Ryan again. 

Ryan got some great photos of Oscar and I, see all his photos here

Silhouettes 

riding into the massive cave

Look at us we are so insignificant

After exploring here for a little while we headed up for a little riding on top of the glacier. The sun was just coming over the mountains and it had warmed up significantly. It is still a little early for crust riding but there was a little bit to be had. Oscar and I rode around whilst Ryan got some snaps.

heading up on snow machine trails

the ever amazing crust riding

Having a wheelie good time. 

My photos of the same area

Ryan heading up

Up we go

Oscars on crust you can see where we are
punching through in the background. 

Crusty

The crust was a little punchy so we called it a day and headed back towards the vehicles.

Back down the valley

All smiles

On the way we passed some of Oscars neighbors and as we hit the Placier river we stopped to talk  with some people to give directions. It was still early and Oscar and I hadn't been out to Spencer. Ryan suggested that Oscar and I head out and check it out. Oscar and I decided that it was a great idea. Although neither of us had been there before we had directions from Ryan and a great highway of bike tracks to follow. 

Spencer Glacier

Spencer sign, at least we know we are going the right way. 

There she is... 

crossing the lake

still crossing the lake

Airplane

The thing with riding in Alaska is, everything is big and further away than you think. Riding across the lake took around 10min. 

Spencer Glacier really took my breath away. We didn't explore as much as some others have done. Here are some shots of what we saw. 

I believe this is called the Cathedral

It's pretty big

Blue ice

more blue ice

the face of the glacier

carefully leaning bikes

so blue

Silhouette 

blue crack and blue sky

more of that blue ice

and again

more cave

more blue ice

another silhouette

The two of us

After looking around we headed back a slightly different way which took us under two bridges and thus no crossing of the railway tracks. 

Bye Spencer Glacier you were fun

Bridges

Catching up with friends on the way out

The last section from the river to the road. 

It took Oscar and I around 1 hour to ride back from the glacier. Last weekend the trails were fast, who knows how they will be this week. 

All in all doubling up on the glacier trip was a blast. If you can only go to one I would recommend Spencer however if you have the chance Skookum is well worth a visit. 

GPS track of our trip

Susitna 100 - 2018 edition

Short version 

I got 6th Place! Go me :D

Longer version

Another year another Susitna 100 in the books. See my previous versions here (2015 Su100, 2016 Su100) This was a good one for me. 

When I signed up for the race I set myself some goals. 

• Have fun
• Finish strong
• Keep moving
• 115% of winner time wise
• Race own race don't get sucked into other people's strategies.

I have been training hard for this year's event however, unlike previous years where my only training has been cycling. This year I have been going to a gym (Elite Sports Performance) to work on my core strength. I have also been riding a trainer to try and increase my power for when the trail gets soft. All of this extra training seemed to work for me as I had my best performance at this event ever.

The race

As seems to be the way with this race it started off relatively quickly. Josh (1st Place) and Tim (2nd Place) had set off at a good pace and slowly increased their gap on all who followed along.

Josh and Tim in the distance, following Tom and Nico 

Looking back before saying bye to Megan

Frosty selfie

Around 25min into the race Megan passed me and jumped up towards Nico and another rider. I didn't have that pace in me so maintained my pace and rode mostly with Tom though to check point 1, Laura Fox had caught back up along with Mike Estes. We arrived arrived at checkpoint 1 around 3 min after Megan and 9 min after the leaders.

After checkpoint 1 we get on some really straight trails through to checkpoint 2 at Flat horn.

Chasing 

Smiling

Still straight 

We all arrived at Flathorn around 10 min behind Megan and 18min behind the leaders. Tom took his bike up to the checkpoint (I didn't know you could do that) and that was the last I saw of him.

After leaving Flat Horn whilst trying to eat a burrito I almost crashed on some overflow on the lake. As I rode through the Dismal swamp Laura caught back up to me she had stopped to get water at the checkpoint. The trail was getting pretty soft as we approached the river. Once on the Su the trail was a lot firmer although bumpy. Laura and I set about trying to catch the people in front of us. We passed scary tree and the non racer in me stopped to get a photo.

Scary Tree

Selfie ;-)

As we got into 5*tent camp on the Deshka river we had caught up with Dusty Eroh. He was about to leave before we were ready however, when asked if he wanted to ride with us he said yes.

finally off the river and onto the swamps

Now the three of us started working together to try and catch those ahead/maintain our position in the race. We were sitting 6th through 9th at this point.

We rolled into Eagle Quest having passed another racer (not sure on their name) who was dealing with cramping on the river.

At Eagle Quest we were still around 9 min back on the group in front of us, another quick stop and we were off to Cow Lake.

This is us rolling out of Eagle Quest, thanks for the support Clint!

Swamp miles

Sunset is aproaching

This is fun with only 30 miles to go. 

A reroute this year took us on a trail called Stevies trail, no pictures but It was steep. We dropped onto Red shirt lake then took a right and before we knew it we popped out at Cow Lake. We were now 20min back on the group in front of us.

A little longer stop here to get water and hope that the trail to the finish was solid. We were chugging along pretty well and dealing with the mechanical issue that Laura's bike seemed to have developed. I stopped to put on my light and looked back and a guy called David Berg had caught up with me. I followed him and let him do the work until we caught up with Dusty and Laura. We rode well as a group of 4 when we came across Andy Duenow on the course who was out taking photos.

I stopped to chat with Andy and he asked where Megan and Tom were? I said "ahead of us". He said "nope, I have only seen Josh and Tim riding the course and I have been riding the course in reverse." I quickly started back after the group to tell them we were now chasing 3rd place and really we should get a move on in case the group we had been chasing caught back on. It seems that Megan, Nico and Tom took a wrong turn on the course which is really sad, but it is also part of this race.

We worked well together though the last checkpoint and carried on taking 0.5 mile pulls through the finish to maintain our pace. At mile 98 I was done and could no longer hold the wheel of the riders in front of me, I also really needed to pee. I let my fellow racers battle it out and I pushed on after a short pee break. This years edition was definitely tougher than the 2016 edition though not as bad as my first year.

All done and a little shell shocked - PC Clint

But happy I have finished 

Results vs goals

I achieved all of my goals with the exception of the 115% one. I was 116% of the winning time.

I am so stoked, even if Megan, Nico and Tom hadn't gotten lost I would still have been top 10 which is way better than I expected when I initially signed up. Go me :D

Full results should be at the following link

Holy crap 6th Place

What wilI I do differently next time?

The burritos I took were to big, though super tasty next time I will take smaller ones. My food seemed to work well. I would take more mix for the bottle though and fill it more frequently. My hydration pack worked well but I want a Wampack from Revelate Designs. It was to much of an issue to get the hose out as it is behind a couple of zips.

And finally

A huge thanks to all who put this event on, it is a blast and really well organised. I really couldn't do this type of event without the support of friends and more importantly family. Amanda once again I am eternally grateful for all that you do.

Strava file

Celebrating another successful orbit of the sun

For my birthday I once again got to go riding. This would not have been possible without the simply amazing Amanda who puts up with my cycling obsession. 

This year, I hatched a plan to ride around town at a mellow pace hitting up singletrack, multiuse and the beach if the riding was suitable. I invited a bunch of people along, some of whom are racing/riding the Susitna 100 others who just like to ride. Given this was also billed as a training ride I and some others chose to ride with some of our gear that we will have to carry on the Susitna 100. I should also add this, it was for many of the group, the day after the Frosty Bottom. See my post about that race here. 

We were 7 strong from the house then gained a few on the ride. The riding was a blast, all who had raced the Frosty Bottom were suffering from tired legs but with the warm temperatures, sunshine and smooth trails we had a blast. 

The full crew - Photo Credit Josh Chelf

We rode through Bicentennial park then made our way over to the APU singletrack. 

At the top of the unrideable hill... unless you are Josh. 

Winding our way through the APU singletrack.
- PC - Josh Chelf 

After passing through APU it was onto the singletrack sections along Chester Creek Trail. 

Before we knew it we were at Earthquake park for a beer and food break. 

Lunch stop - PC Oscar

Soon after getting going again we hit up the mandatory I'm a kid Uranus stop. 

This is funny whatever your age right?

Before long we were cruising the beach which was perfect. 

Getting artsy 

Perfect light

Andrew playing around - PC Josh Chelf

The beach was great until it wasn't.... perhaps we should have exited at the bottom of the Kincaid Hill. Oh well what's an epic ride without a little pushing. 

Yer it's kind of rideable.

New trail day  

So that is where they used to dump the cars. 

Pushing bikes is never fun, at least the view is good. - PC Josh Chelf

After pushing up the dune past the old mostly buried cars we were back on familiar trails and soon cruising a short road section before hitting up the frozen swamps between  Sand lake and Jewel Lake. 

Between the two lakes. 

 Another short road section and then it was onto Campbell Creek Trail. 

Riding Campbell Creek Trail. 

From the end of Campbell Creek trail we hit up a little more singletrack, tried to connect via swamps back to blue dot, which is currently a no go. Then it was back over to Ruth Arcand park for a little more singletrack with a view before heading home. 

Sunset with a view

We knocked out the final 1mile back to my house bringing our ride distance up to 45miles. Not a bad effort given the previous days exertion. 

Thanks to Andrew, Andy, James, Jeanette, Josh, Megan, Nico, Oscar  and Tom for joining me on the ride it meant a lot to me and I had a blast.

The cherry on top for this day though was returning home to have a home made cake. Baked by the love of my life, Amanda. Whilst getting to enjoy it with a great group of friends. 

As has been pointed out that is a lot of candles
and probably a fire hazard - PC Amanda

Our route. 

2018 Frosty Bottom

This weekend of the 13th and 14th January 2018 was the Frosty Bottom, a race I've previously ridden 3 times. The first time I rode it didn't go so well, the second time I rode it went pretty well but I wasn't really racing it as I used it as a training ride. 2016 I had been doing a lot of training rides with friends targeting the Frosty, it snowed a bunch before the race and I suffered mostly due to thinking I was stronger than I actually was, note everyone else suffered too.

This year I have pretty much not done any focused training for the race however I have been riding a reasonable amount and having a lot of fun whilst doing it. I have also started going to a gym to work on my core strength, of which I had none, I now have some. All of this took me into the race with zero expectations. The lack of snow in Anchorage again, meant that the conditions were going to be really fast.

As we set off down the hill and along the coastal trail the pace was manageable for me, following a couple of people I was able to draft a little. As we turned by the sewage works there was a gap between the guy I was following and the front group. I passed the person and bridged back onto the lead peloton. We are around 20min and 4.5 miles into the race by this point. At roughly 5 miles there was is a short climb, I knew what was going to happen, the pace was going to go up.... as the pace went up, I got spit out of the back of the group and that was the last I saw of pretty much everyone for the rest of the ride. Once again I was going to suffer through the race on a solo effort. 

Around 14miles into the race I was caught by two guys Daniel and John. I chatted briefly but they were riding at a faster pace than I was able to maintain. I followed them all the way to where the climbing starts after antenna hill. I reeled them in during the climb and then as we hit the abbott road trail I took the lead, expecting them to draft me, that was the last I saw of them until the finish.

At the 1/2 ish way point my friend Greg was cheering people on and taking photos, and a little further on another friend Andrew was cheering people on too. It was great to have some support out on the trail.

The halfway point is the high point of the course, I arrived there at 1:31:23 this put me in for a tough return to try and make a sub 3 hour time. As I was riding back to the chalet I was doing the maths in my head and pushing as hard as I could to make sub 3 hours, I needed to average around 15mph.

I know I have gotten stronger over the last few years and comparing times on different segments in strava post race has confirmed this.

The last 1 mile of the frosty course is a climb up to the chalet. This year the trail was solid but my legs were destroyed after trying to maintain a 15mph average. It took me 6:10 to do, the leaders this year did it in 4:10ish. However it was the fastest I have ever climbed it in the Frosty.

I crossed the line in 3:03:25 which is a PR by over 25min, and managed 17th place over all. Clearly my not frosty focussed training paid off.

As ever post race there are always some what if's however I can honestly say I rode the smartest and hardest I could once I was dropped off the front group, not getting dropped again is the key to me getting a faster time.

I definitely had the most fun I have had during that race, I fuelled well and I set a PR all in all its a win win win situation for me.

Me just after the 1/2 way point.
Photo credit Greg Martin

Post race with some great friends.

Full results can be found here

Strava data 

Arctic Cross Race 1 - 2017

The season opener for Arctic Cross was 9th September 2017. It was a new location for the cross crew to race at. The course was fast.

Course description 

The start was on ski trails with a downhill section into a fast right hand turn, followed by a short climb into a section of singletrack before returning to ski trails. Due to moose on the course during the womens race the course was shortened to avoid interactions with the moose. The course then had another fast downhill section into a slippery right hand hairpin turn before a long straight into barriers. This was fun as normally we don't approach barriers flat out, this time we did and they were scary. After the barriers it was a hairpin left then back onto a little singletrack before crossing a road and dropping onto second breakfast for a short section.  Second breakfast is a fun trail on a mountain bike but riding on a cross bike makes you realise how bumpy the trail is. Turning off second breakfast there was a ride/run up then a short gravel road section into a singletrack descent then a steep uphill run up. After the run up we rejoined the ski trails to cross over the start finish line and complete the lap.

How did my race go?

It went really well, just like last season myself, Clint, Chris and Jared were all battling it out for the first few laps, we also had the addition of Brad who got a cross bike this year. The race started off really fast and basically continued like this throughout the race. I spent a couple of laps being chased down by Chris and Brad then we worked hard to chase down Jack during the final four laps. 

Towards the end of the race we also started to catch up with Jamie who had a mechanical during the race. It was interesting to see how close we were to his speed. If the season continues like the first race it's going to be a lot of fun.   

Will won the race, he lapped me most of the rest of the field, he once again crushed us all of as he has been doing all season. I was fortunate that Josh who took second didn't pass me also at the then of the race. 

I finished in 9th Place which is a great way to start the season off and I also realised how close a season it is going to be when I look at the lap times. 

Race 1 results

Race 1 lap times

Lap analysis 

Lap Number	Race lap time	Strava Lap Times	Strava Back half of lap
1	4:40	4:38	2:50
2	4:50	4:50	3:01
3	4:53	4:50	3:02
4	4:53	4:51	2:59
5	4:57	4:56	2:33
6	4:58	4:55	3:08
7	4:53	4:51	2:59
8	4:52	4:51	2:30
9	4:54	4:52	2:31
10	4:49	4:47	2:31
11	4:38	4:37	2:50

A few things I take from my lap times. My laps were fairly consistent and I actually managed my fastest lap at the end of the race which is really unusual for me. 

The back half of the lap contained the barriers and two run ups. I think laps 8 - 10 were where Brad, Chris and I were chasing down Jack. As such we were really pushing the pace and had our lines figured out compared to earlier in the race. 

I really should have practiced lines a little more before I raced especially the first run/ride up off of second breakfast. 

Photos from the race

Photos were taken by Jana, Amber and Megan, thanks for capturing the mens race and all the heckling was fantastic too. 

Mens Start

Myself, Brad and Chris mid race

Water splash. 

Short run up

Top of the run up 

Fiona's race

 Arctic Cross does a great job of getting kids racing, they have a Junior race where the kids race the full course but for a shorter time and a kiddo race where younger kids race on a shortened course for 1 lap. All under 18 year olds race for free too, in whatever category they want! 

Fiona took part in the kiddo race and did amazing. She pedalled really strongly to finish in 3rd place overall and 1st girl. To say I am proud is an understatement. 

Kiddo start 

Kiddo race

Fiona finishing