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28th January 2018 / Comments (0)

Arrowhead 135 – Spot watching opportunity

Written by:Nigel Leech

Arrowhead 135 bikepacking event

Arrowhead 135 2018: Race starts 1PM UK time (7AM CST) Monday 29/01/2018

Sadly, or perhaps mercifully, it’s way too late for you to enter the Arrowhead 135 Winter Ultra Marathon. You can however follow the race progress over on Trackleaders (GPS Race live tracking page).

The next best thing to live footage will be to follow our friend in the Midwest, David Markman on his @bikepackingdavid Instagram account as he photographs the event.

If you’re unfamiliar with the event it’s a 135 mile race across Northern Minnesota from Frostbite Falls* (International Falls) to the rather friendlier sounding Fortune Bay Casino in Tower. As well as Fatbikers, there will also be runners and XC skiers lining up to race.

With these sorts of terrain and conditions on their doorstep, it’s clear to see why local bike companies Surly Bikes, Salsa Cycles, and 45NRTH are Fatbike and winter riding pioneers.

Click the map to visit our Komoot page to see the route in more detail

No chance of heat stroke

As I type, the temperature is a frosty -18°c with an expected low of -24°c! This shouldn’t faze the competitors, they will have already completed a Winter Ultra to qualify and many will want to use their Arrowhead 135 finish as a qualifier for the only North American race with colder temperatures; the Alaskan based Iditasport.

One of the quirks of the race is that all competitors must finish with 3,000 calories of food aboard their bike, a large tub of peanut butter is the favoured option!

Spot-watching starts on Trackleaders at 7a.m. local time, 1:00p.m. here in the UK.

Frost covered racers on a snowy forestrail

Typical conditions for the Arrowhead 135

*The real name is International Falls, Bullwinkle Moose, of Rocky & Bullwinkle Fame comes from Frostbite Falls, inspired by the real location!

Last modified: 28th January 2018

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We started with the inner loop and the track down into a Glen Derry was a little rough for a fully laden gravel bike, especially if you fancied actually riding the thing 😂. I enjoyed it, I had a little more tyre so it was passible.

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Tell everyone what your GOTY is. Rather than the usual gear of the year thing, we want to know what you rate instead. Share in the comments what you've enjoyed using this year and recommend to other riders. If there are groups or events you want to recognise too, please fire them in as well.

#advntr #goty #gravel #bikepacking

Tell everyone what your GOTY is. Rather than the usual gear of the year thing, we want to know what you rate instead. Share in the comments what you've enjoyed using this year and recommend to other riders. If there are groups or events you want to recognise too, please fire them in as well.

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