On January 23, Ben Shillington and myself left our hometown of Beachburg, ON and began our westward journey towards International Falls, MN. Google maps estimates 17hours via Sault Sainte Marie. It took us roughly 21 hours to reach our destination, as poor road conditions in and around the Marquette, MI area slowed progress to a halt on day two of travel, rendering us to surrender in Duluth for the night. The following day, from Duluth to I-Falls, the roads were smeared with the most dangerous layer of black ice I've ever encountered. What was to be a short 3 hour drive, took almost 6 hours!
This brings us to Saturday, January 25th, where we arrived at the TeePee Motel (clean/$60night), in I-Falls. We unpacked our gear, Ben did a quick wax job to his xc classic skis, using the table in our room. I set up my bike with all the required gear and we would venture out to the race start zone to check out conditions. The TeePee motel is only 500m from the race start zone. Though the conditions were firm, particularly along the sides of the skidoo track, they did not feel particularly fast, especially for Ben on his classic skis! His words used to describe the glide, or lack thereof, where: "This is F*&$ing horrible!" Even when using the hardest of waxes and cold temp powder waxes, he received nothing in return from the razor blade-like snow crystals. As for my Salsa Mukluk with 45NRTH studded Dillinger's (14PSI), I was rolling on top but not feeling the smoothness I thought these hard conditions would bring.
 |
| Cam Dube |
On Sunday we feasted on Big Breakfasts from McRonchy's and endless coffees. In the afternoon we headed to the mandatory check-in and all went smoothly. This was a great time to meet some fellow competitors and see what 'systems' others were packing. Every little bit helps! The evening lead to double checking our gear and triple checking the weather forecast, in hopes that the predicted forecast was either wrong or taking a change for the warmer temps....
Race morning could not have arrived quickly enough. Both of us were sick of waiting and wanted to get this started. At 5am we woke to the predicted cold temps that were forecast. I headed to McRonchy's for some grub and javas to bring back to our room as Ben filled up our water bottles and bladder's with hot water. At 6:40am we left the room, the truck (TeePee allows racers to leave vehicle there!) and made our way to the start zone for a last check-in. The scene at the arena was that of red blinky lights and bodies covered up in multiple layers, with only eyeballs showing. It was clear that all racers had the same idea, that is, to show up at the last minute in order to stave off the cold from setting in any earlier than needed. Many racers seemed to have their bib numbers on incorrectly, which seemed to hold things up a little. I checked in hassle free and as I walked out of the arena to gather my bike I heard; "3....2.....1....GO!!!!" Well, I guess it was 7am and from here myself, along with 80% of the other bikers, ran furiously to the group leaving us behind. I quickly established a place in the lead pack of 20 or so riders, getting in behind the biggest guy I could find. Ben would be starting a few minutes behind the riders and the only one of two skiers actually starting the AH for 2014.
I could see the leaders up ahead, about 700m or so, their red blinky lights slowly but surely stretching away from the pack. Our pack had a solid pace, moving at roughly 14kph. Within the first hour, it was evident that the conditions would remain firm, yet not as fast as one would expect, Perhaps due to the extreme cold and sharpness of the snow crystal digging into the rubber tires... There were many many riders pulling off to the side to add some air into the tires in hopes of getting a bit more rolling speed. As the sun rose, a beautiful day took hold of the surrounding landscape. Bright oranges ensued by golden rays of the sun peeked their way into our eyes, brightening the track enough to remove the headlamp and keep it warm to conserve the batteries.
As the packed thinned out, for various reasons (people dropping, slowing, speeding up, stopping to eat/drink, etc...) I pressed on, slowing a little but still feeling solid, with lots of push in the legs. At around the 4 hour mark, I started to feel the cold settle into my fingers and toes. This is a problem I struggle with on a regular basis, where even at -10C I can feel the cold settle in after a few hours pedaling. I pressed on to the CP1, the Gateway gas station and took refuge inside. Once checked in, I peeled off my 45NRTH Wolfhammer boots, vapour barrier liners and then mid-weight merino socks to reveal a layer of ice that had formed on the toe box of my socks thus rendering my toes to that of piece of wood. I wasn't too surprised that they were once again 'wooded' but the fact that ice had formed on the outside of my socks was a bit disconcerting...something that had to be dealt with. After two hours at Gateway, eating and rewarming, I was set to leave CP1 for CP2, another 50km away. To help alleviate seriously frozen toes, I packed two chemical warmers in each toe box, inside my VB liners, which was now all nice and dry thanks to the Gateway staff who offer clothes driers to the competitors. My intended time of arrival for CP2/MelGeorges was another 5 to 6 hours.
 |
| 3 weeks after event |
At CP2 I was welcomed to delicious grilled cheese sandwiches and apple cider, M&M's, chips and a warm floor to lay down and thaw out my frozen parts. For those of you who have had to thaw out, you know how it feels. I stayed there until 6am, where I was offered a ride to retrieve my truck and start to follow Ben's progress.
Side note: I was told by race officials at CP2 that all skiers had dropped at CP1. This lead me to grab Ben's food bag from CP2, as we had agreed that we wanted these bags of food to not go to waste. Low and behold, Ben was not out, he was still skiing and would continue to do so to the finish, some 54 hours worth of skiing would see me meeting him at the finish of the AH135. He was the only skier to finish for the AH135 in 2014. I had never seen him or anyone so destroyed by exhaustion. His feet so badly blistered (not from the cold but friction) he could not walk without using his ski poles as his crutches.
That afternoon we delicately removed his boots, socks and layers of duct tape from his feet, only to reveal a pair of feet that resembled someone who had had a sledgehammer smashed against them and then a meat grinder taken to them to finish them off. His legs went into chattering convulsions, his ankles and feet swollen twice their normal size, he had torn something in his left shin, frost nip on his finger tips and bridge of nose too. He was so exhausted he could not stand up but fell asleep while on two feet. He laid down on his bed and was instantly out. The recovery would be slow. He woke after a three hour sleep to eat some pizza. Still, he could not stay awake, as he tried to recount some of his hilarious stories to me, the hallucinations he experienced, falling into the deep snow and not being able to get up, screaming a few kms before the finish because he thought the race course had lead him off trail, as a sort of sick joke. Despite his injuries, Ben had pressed on, in search of victory, leaving pain and suffering in his wake until he crossed the finish line. Proud of him I was. I had never doubted his ability to finish this race.
Quick summary of learnings for myself:
1. need to purchase pogies (I know...stupid not have had them)
2. figure out my frozen feet situation...acupuncture? boot covers? use flats and huge winter boots?
3. mount two insulated 1L Nalgene bottles to headset with a long straw in each hands free drinking (thanks Jason Husveth!)
4. use a non-inflatable sleep pad as I would have had trouble blowing up my thermarest should I have needed it.
No comments:
Post a Comment