Safety to Nome

When I'm out there, I think

this trail hasn't changed in thousands of years, you know.

I'm sharing that trail with ancestors,

and with people that went out there to find gold,

you know, in the 1890s.

There's nothing that I know of that's like it.

And when you're on the trail, it's you and that trail alone.

The Iditarod trail Invitational, it's a race

of 350 miles to McGrath starting from Anchorage.

For the people who want to keep going,

you can go for 1000 miles to represent the entire Iditarod sled dog race

up to Nome, the Bering Sea.

The race can be done either on foot,

on a bike, or on cross-country ski.

Nothing will challenge you, I think,

quite like the Iditarod trail Invitational would.

It's one of those races where really anything can happen.

This is the epitome of Winter Ultras.

This is the big one. Certainly, going to Nome,

I imagine, has got to be the toughest bicycle race on Earth.

And going to McGrath isn't probably all that far behind.

My history of the Iditarod trail began in 1998.

I heard about a race from Knik to McGrath.

And I was a musher at the time.

So I took the front end of my dog team

and went and did the race to McGrath skijoring.

One year on the trail to McGrath,

and I was addicted.

And I've been back every year since, either as a competitor,

or as race marshal slash trail breaker.

I met Frank when I was planning

to do the 2014 race.

I couldn't have asked for a better partner in this experience.

How far will we be able to go this year?

What kind of decision will I have to take

to bring me to the finish line.

You need to be prepared for

whatever Mother Nature decides to throw at us.

You don't have to take a decision according to someone else,

or following the rules of something. Here there's no rules.

The rules is try to stay alive,

and if something is wrong, you are the only one

responsible for the decision you took.

And that's really exciting.

All right, here we go.

I know Tim Hewitt has walked on a stress fracture for 500 miles.

So he can do it.

He's back for his tenth go

to go to Nome.

What's bringing me back this time is I want to do the bicycle.

The last few times I've had a purpose each time that I've come.

This year I just want to get to Nome on my terms,

and we'll see what happens.

Until I came to Alaska, I didn't really know what wilderness was.

But I was very attracted to it.

When you're in it, there's just no sign that humans have touched it.

Thanks, everyone, for coming.

This is our 16th annual event.

Cut off times is four days to Winter Lake,

five days to Rainy Pass Lodge,

six days to Rohn,

ten days to McGrath, and 30 to Nome.

Evacs are your responsibility.

I'm not going to give you all the pricing

but don't scratch and run.

I'm afraid of a lot of things out there

and that's one of the reasons I do stuff.

I'm actually kind of a fearful person by nature.

I don't like that about myself, so...

my solution it to confront my fears.

You got to go out there and push yourselves and that's my inner calling.

You can't grow by sitting idle.

We don't challenge ourselves anymore.

And I think that's one of the opportunities that this kind of race offers.

There's one saying that Bill has that we all have cracks in ourselves.

And then we come back the next year

to see if we've done something about those cracks.

It's not something to take lightly.

I know that's a concern of Bill's,

is that people don't appreciate

how bad it can be out there.

There are always risks around every corner.

Thin ice across rivers, that's something that you assess,

I guess, minute by minute.

More than having respect for it,

you better be prepared to know what you're going to do when you get into trouble.

As much as those conditions make me nervous,

I kind of like those decisions.

I think it keeps you aware,

keeps you alert, and you better be.

It's all about the risk you want to take.

How willing are you to spend the rest of your life

without your fingers, or your feet?

Or how those that you love

spend the rest of their lives without you?

Because that's the consequences of not being prepared out here.

Feels great.

Feels like how I left it.

I'm anxious because I'm on a bike

and I don't have the same level of confidence

in my abilities on the bike.

Always love these last minute adjustments.

Okay, less than two minutes.

I have never told anybody what they need to survive.

I have let people make their own decisions out here.

And then my responsibility

is to sit here and sweat blood

and hope that I made the right decision

when I told them, "Yes, you can come do this."

So when I make that decision, and I don't have a board.

When I make that decision, it's on me.

And what I'm saying to that person

is, "Okay, you've convinced me

"that you're not going to hurt yourself or die on me out here."

First couple of minutes are always intense.

Everyone's burning off some sugars.

Everyone's pretty excited about the Trail.

In the end, you know, you just got to ride your own line.

Do your best

to stay upright and frosty.

On the Iditarod trail it's going to be my fourth edition.

In 2012 I've done it on foot

and I've done the 350 miles.

I said if we go to Nome then I'm going to go with a fat bike.

So that was in 2014.

And I had a huge meltdown.

And I poorly managed that situation.

Last year I tried to get back to 1000 miles

and I had to stop because I'd been stuck in a blizzard for three days.

So I thought, "Okay, 2017, let's go for it."

So here I am

hoping to be able to go to Nome this time.

You're good. We're good.

Gotta get me looking fast one time.

That'll be much better than this struggling.

Well, it's just become a push-fest on Flathorn Lake.

There's a lot of overflow,

and it's very punchy, the snow is very soft.

Overflow is caused on lakes and rivers.

If we have a lot of heavy snow,

it causes the ice to settle.

The ice has little cracks in it.

And when the ice settles, it puts more pressure on the water below,

and the water comes up through the cracks in the ice

and fills all the low spots.

And I've always told racers,

"If there's water in the trail, cross the water.

"If you step off the trail, you may step into crotch-deep slushy."

Everything okay? Yeah.

Done? Yeah.

It's not pretty. Beginner.

Keep working.

Hi.

Good stuff, guys. Thanks.

How are you feeling?

Hopefully, get some drying going

and probably take off, I don't know...

in half hour or 45 minutes. Maybe an hour.

Mm-hmm. -Something like that.

Hey!

Oh, yeah. Looking good. Old Man Winter.

Yeah. I just saw myself.

-We'll hopefully make it to Finger Lake... Mm-hmm.

...before I fall apart.

I thought with the snow

it was going to be slower but we're still moving pretty good.

So that's awesome.

Not too far back, him and Phil look like they're riding together.

-Where are we? -Right there.

Feels good to be dry.

See you down the trail, eh?

I've lived in Alaska for 15 years.

But there's never a comfort level here.

I can leave my house for a bike ride at night, and I get nervous.

I think that's kind of the draw of Alaska

is there is that challenge

of trying to feel like you've got some sort of control, and you don't.

Man, you guys are out here! Ah.

-What's that? How you doing, buddy?

Oh, hanging in there.

-It's not too bad. How's the trail?

It's been good. Especially since Yentna it's been good.

There's big chunk of overflow for a while.

-That kind of woke me up. Yeah.

Did you go through it all?

Yeah, yeah, I had to put on waders

and went through it and then I went back and found the way around it.

So...

It's good, it wakes you up. You need something a little different out there.

Otherwise nod off.

-Enjoy the evening, man. Yeah, I'll see you later.

Looking forward to some sleep.

We should be there.

-I don't know. I'm not... -

We stopped at Cindy's cabin, slept there for four, five hours.

Had food, night and in the morning.

So we'll just probably pop here for a quick snack

and warm beverage and then carry on for the day.

It was a bit tough yesterday.

Actually today I'm feeling really good.