I headed up to Denali this weekend for the Denali Classic race put on by the AEA (http://aksoggybottom.com/aea.html). It was my first time on the actual Denali Highway.
I left town in the late afternoon under a beautiful sky. Much to my chagrin, the drive lasted way too long. (How could I forget about Memorial Day weekend camping traffic?) Consequently I arrived about 11pm at the Brushkana Campground. A quick tune up on the bike (which was caked in dirt from the drive) and I was good to go.
I hit the hay in my bike packing racing set up. A quick word about custom/self made gear. While it is light and fast (My gear is waterproof and I can sleep down to ~30 degrees quite nicely, all while weighing under two pounds.), it is only functional when one is TIRED from RIDING like a BUFFOON all day. Therefore, my sleep was not very ummm, sleep like.
I woke up after only about two hours of sleep. I decide, since the race was more of an individual effort/time trial, that I would leave the race director (Carlos) a note and head out for the pass. After packing my gear, (I was racing fully loaded with six liters of water and all my camping gear) I hit it.
The scenery in the early morning light was INCREDIBLE. I felt selfish for having the sunrise all to myself but I didn't complain...
The road was nice but there was a bit more climbing than I was expecting, 9000 feet for the day. And, the ride alone was really pretty lonely. Except, there were some nice porcupines that I had made lovely small talk with.
About seven miles from the turn around there is the Mclaren Lodge. I stopped in, ordered a burger, and said, "I'll be right back!" Then I hit up the climb to the pass, put on some more bootie lube (Too much info??), and rocketed back down the descent to the lodge. The nice chef lady had a burger waiting for me. I then plowed through the burger, went potty, and re-upped my snack supply in less than ten minutes. It's true, I check my gps log!
After this point the sun was out in full force, I would venture to guess it was in the 80's. Well, at least it was still in the 70's at 9pm. I decided that it was time to conserve a bit or I was going to be in trouble (turns out I was right). I slowed up my pace and enjoyed the scenery, and the heat, AND the climbing.
I realized at about half way back to the finish that I was running lowish on water. I decided that it was time to start conserving. I learned that conserving water meant less calorie consumption, I guess it's just harder to eat with a dry mouth. As a result I BONKED HARDCORE as I neared 15 miles to go. And, when I say hardcore, I mean walking even the slightest of climbs.
I forced my self to eat a few seriously old poptarts that were in my Revelate Gas Tank (revelatedesigns.com) and then I rewarded myself with a few extra swigs of water. With that bit of calorie lovin', I was feeling large and in charge. The last couple of miles went by and there I was at the finish.
What a day, another day in paradise so to speak.
Here is a self portrait for your viewing pleasure.
