Written by:
It’s a long way to Nome
Putting things into perspective…..
Between 26th and 28th February the Met Office have yellow weather warnings in place for the UK and have announced that some rural areas may be cut off by snow. The usual tabloids have named this event “The beast from the east” and if the forecast proves correct there will no doubt be the usual news footage of chaos as Britain struggles to cope with an inch of snow.
So spare a thought then for the competitors taking part in the Iditarod Trail Invitational. Like the UK’s own Snowmageddon the Iditarod is also scheduled to start at 23:00 UK time on Sunday 25th February, but while Britain drops to a low of 0° C, the startline in Alaska will have a high of -3° and a potential low of -14°c!
Riders, runners and skiers will take on the challenge of racing 130 miles to Finger Lake, 350 Miles to McGrath or travel the full 1000 miles of the Iditarod Trail to finish in Nome. Fresh from his win at the recent Arrowhead 135, Salsa team rider Jay Petervary has documented his preparation for the 1000 on Instagram.
Rather than ride the Carbon Beargrease or Mukluk he’s had success with in the past, Petervary will instead use the new Salsa Blackborow fat cargo bike to carry him and his kit to Nome. Of particular interest is his nutritional planning, organising $400 worth of 6,000 calorie days. He’ll be mixing butter into his coffee & cocoa and butter and cheese into most meals! The cold temperatures will also make peanut butter & bacon wrapped in grease proof paper a viable snack that can be snapped off a roll!
For safety and race position monitoring all competitors will have GPS trackers and their positions relayed to a live leaderboard hosted on Trackleaders.com.
So next week, perhaps while having a cuppa, and colleagues are moaning about the weather, think about Jay Petervary and his fellow racers in Alaska. Perhaps tell them they’re lucky they aren’t having butter in their coffee!
Last modified: 25th February 2018
