Most of the snow-bike riders in the Human-Powered Iditarod have trickled into McGrath, the 350-mile checkpoint for those on the way to Nome and the end of the ride for about a dozen.
The latest cyclist to roll into the small town on the banks of the Kuskokwim River Saturday afternoon was Jill Homer, the author of the Up in Alaska blog. She completed the trip in 6 days, 2 hours and 20 minutes.
She recounted some of her experiences on the race message board on Friday. It's difficult to imagine the hardships and exhaustion she and the other cyclists experience. For instance, Jill said at one point she “kept literally falling asleep and falling off my bike.” More:
“I am doing the best that I can. It probably seems that I have slowed way down but that has mostly been my way of dealing with the cold and being out here in Interior Alaska by myself, which is causing some anxiety and has made it hard to sleep even when I am stopped.
“I took a hard fall at the Post River waterfall (the trail actually goes up a waterfall) and pulled my right hip flexer muscle. This has made it really painful to push my bike uphill, and my pace over the millions of small hills before the Farewell Burn was downright glacial … take three laboring steps and stop, repeat. Luckily, it is pretty flat from here on out. Hopefully I can get through this without further injury.”
Leader
The first snow-biker into McGrath was Jay Petervary, who completed the journey in 3 day, 14 hours, and 20 minutes. If that name is familiar, you might now him as the record-setting winner of the 2,490-mile 2007 Great Divide Race.
He's among a group of about 10 who are pushing ahead to Nome, a distance of 1,100 miles from the start in Anchorage. Most left McGrath Friday and are in the midst of a 200-mile slog through the snow enroute to the next checkpoint. The others chose McGrath as their destination.
Trail rescue
One of the most gripping stories in the news updates concerns Nome-bound cyclist, Alessandro Da Lio. He came across one of the McGrath-bound hikers about five miles outside of the 300-mile checkpoint of Nicolai.
The hiker, Anne Ver Hoef, was having trouble seeing. He tried to guide along by pushing his bike and letting her hang onto the rear. That didn't work, however, so he put her in his sleeping bag and rushed ahead to Nicolai, where a snowmachine was sent back for her.
She was transferred to McGrath where she was in good spirits and waiting for a plane.
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