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Iditabike
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Sub-zero cycling
Aidan Harding heads to Alaska to learn the vital skills needed to survive the 350 mile Iditarod Trail Invitational

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Good one. I've always been quite interested in the Iditabike since reading a report from a journo (could it have been Brant Richards?) who took part in the early-mid 1990s. Accounts of the earlier races are entertaining:

http://www.sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/iditabike.htm
Edited: 19/12/08 02:59

Now them there are tyres! 

There used to be a programme on TV every Christmas which followed that particular year's Iditarod - captivating stuff - wish they'd show them again.

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I remember an article about that time too MW - mind blowing.  I particularly remember a part about using melted snow to try & remove the contact lenses that had frozen themselves onto the eyeballs of one competitor! 

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Didn't Brant prepare by spending nights in his local supermarket deep freeze? Mental.

All of a sudden the Pugsley makes a LOT of sense. Good luck for March, Aidan!

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The first issue of Sinletrack that I ever bought (2001, I think) had an article about the race and that's what sowed the seed for me. I can't believe I'm actually doing it now

It is true (or at least Brant's word) that he trained in the freezer of his local Iceland. Personally, I'll be doing some more snow riding in Finland during the cold-water swimming champs over there. I'm not committing to actually swimming out there though!

Thanks for the good wishes, I'll be writing something somewhere after the actual event.
Aidan, go boy go!!! you're my hero! If only for a lack of a self centred nagging harpy of a wife I would be right beside you. keep us posted mate.

I love snow riding and stuff like that,  if not for a lack of cash I'd be up for giving that a try to!!

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It wasn't my local Iceland - it was their depot at Deeside, North Wales.
Mike Parsons who used to own Karrimor hooked me up with them. They'd previously had an Everest team in there for a week to see if their gear worked right.
I just slept in there for a night to make sure my bivi worked OK.

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Did any Mums go?
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Best of luck to you Aidan, that's going to be an awesome experiance
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Ever been tempted to do it again Brant? The Iditabike, I mean - not Iceland...
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Yeah - need training time though - maybe for my 40th - in a couple of years.

It does look interesting, I might set my sights on it for a couple of years time.

Keep us informed of your progress Aidan, and good luck.

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I hate to be boring and pragmatic but wouldn't that be a whole lot easier and more fun on back-country skis?
It looks like you can choose your own method of travel, bike, foot or skis.
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John Gourette wrote (see)
I hate to be boring and pragmatic

But you're going to be anyway?

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If you look at the records, they're all held by cyclists not foot or skis. If conditions are good, the bikes go really well. If they're bad, then the bikes aren't so much worse so they tend to do ok overall.

http://www.alaskaultrasport.com/race_stats.html

  
 

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