The winter extremely racing neighborhood has by no means been a very massive one, and it most likely by no means can be, however for the oldsters who problem themselves to cowl lengthy distances in doubtlessly bitterly chilly situations, being an integral a part of that small neighborhood is a giant draw.
Since the early 2000s, I’ve adopted the Iditarod Trail Invitational (ITI) with fascination as individuals on bike, foot, and ski traversed 350 or 1000 miles throughout Alaska on the famed Iditarod Trail. I by no means might see myself as a participant in such an occasion, however it positive was spectacular to listen to tales of riders endeavoring via the depths of winter for days on finish irrespective of the situations.
Gradually, extra winter ultras started to appear within the greater latitudes of North America – the Arrowhead 135 in northern Minnesota, the Tuscobia Winter Ultra in Wisconsin, the Fat Pursuit in Idaho, the Montane Yukon Ultra in Canada, and extra.
Over the years that the winter extremely scene has expanded, my very own fascination with mountain bike ultraendurance and bikepacking challenges has develop into deeply rooted. I managed to win fairly just a few occasions, realized a outstanding quantity, and fell in love with long-distance bike journey, each in racing and touring modes.
But nonetheless, I regarded on the seemingly loopy winter-loving of us within the winter occasions with a mixture of awe and admiration. There appeared to be a rising variety of cyclists, runners, and skiers completely in love with the winter extremely scene. Some of those of us had been centered on going quick and inserting nicely, however most had been in it for the private problem and satisfaction of thriving (or striving to thrive) within the snow and chilly.
Suddenly, my very own place watching from the sidelines of the winter extremely world modified just a few years in the past when my teammate and longtime pal Kait Boyle was in a nasty automobile wreck in Idaho on Christmas Eve. I drove north from my dwelling within the much-warmer state of Arizona to assist out within the aftermath of the accident.
Upon arriving to Kait’s room within the ICU, the very first thing she requested me was if I used to be going to stay round for Fat Pursuit. I didn’t even know when the occasion was, I hadn’t ridden a fats bike in years, and I hadn’t packed a lot of any winter gear or clothes.
It turned out Fat Pursuit was only a week away, and the Teton Valley fats bike fans banded collectively to persuade me to affix within the enjoyable, acquired me on a borrowed Pivot Les Fat bike, and race organizer Jay Petervary invited me over to his home to outfit me with every little thing else I would want. Winter driving recommendation poured in from buddies new and outdated, and that whirlwind of generosity plopped me proper down on the beginning line for a 200-mile-long winter extremely with a bunch of different grinning, nervous crazies.
That was 2018. Fast ahead to January of 2022, and I unexpectedly discovered myself again on the Fat Pursuit startline for a 3rd time – a bit peculiar for a man from Arizona, eh?
Jay named the occasion “Fat Pursuit” as a result of in his eyes, it’s not a race. He didn’t got down to create a contest, however moderately a chance. A pursuit is a ardour and one thing you labor to get higher at. I pursued my very own new-found and considerably perplexing love for this kind of winter journey to Alaska in 2020, profitable the ITI350 race after which touring on the Iditarod Trail for an additional 5 days earlier than the Covid pandemic discovered its approach to the distant Interior.
This 12 months, I made a moderately last-minute choice to move again to the Fat Pursuit largely due to what number of buddies had been going to be there. I hadn’t seen some since Alaska, and the infinite enthusiasm of different buddies for this occasion was a powerful pull to return. That robust and welcoming sense of neighborhood isn’t one I’ve felt in lots of different locations across the biking world, and it’s fairly a particular one.
At this 12 months’s version of the occasion, I spent a variety of time trying round to strive to determine simply what creates that sense of neighborhood. There’s no single supply, although, nor does it come from only one or two people – it’s numerous small contributions from so many various individuals.
It’s the emphasis on the you a part of the Pursuit. It’s the volunteer groomers driving snowmachines round all night time lengthy to make the course as agency as they will; these of us are all previous individuals. It’s the unimaginable checkpoint volunteers doing every little thing they will to assist individuals preserve transferring ahead. It’s the volunteers able to go choose up a stranded participant ought to issues go south. It’s Jay and Tracey Petervary placing on “Fat Camps” earlier than the occasion to assist of us be taught extra about winter backcountry journey and security to construct confidence and abilities. It’s all of the individuals, in addition to Jay and Tracey, hanging out on the end line to cheer everybody in. It’s the skilled and newbie athletes studying and struggling and discovering success, aspect by aspect. It’s seeing individuals, like myself, coming again 12 months after 12 months to construct on classes realized in prior editions of the occasion.
And it’s all the oldsters out heading in the right direction who find yourself working collectively to maneuver via no matter situations the path and sky delivers on that exact weekend.
The spotlight this 12 months for me was being on the end line when fellow Arizonans Jennifer and Jason Hanson got here throughout the end line of the 200 km occasion. Lovers of the nice and cozy Sonoran Desert, this pair of skilled bikepackers aren’t who one may anticipate to see in a winter extremely. Last winter, Jason participated in one of many Fat Camps, completed Fat Pursuit, and went on to complete the ITI350 in Alaska, all in his first few months of driving on snow.
This winter, Jennifer is following the very same development, and the pair accomplished Fat Pursuit collectively, grinning and as proud as will be. Conditions on the path had been among the slowest and most difficult I’ve skilled. At the end, Jennifer thanked Jay for telling her to cease after one checkpoints, bivy for just a few hours, after which push on; she had been able to throw within the towel, however Jay’s insistence that she simply cease for a brief relaxation was all she wanted to be able to proceed to the top.
To me, the fantastic thing about occasions like these are that they assist individuals uncover what they’re able to in an encouraging and supportive environment. The heat of this winter extremely neighborhood is particularly highly effective as everybody roots for everybody else.
Photos courtesy of the writer.