Another race I forgot to post ... and my last race before COVID-World took hold.
Artic Fever Fat Bike Race: the 2020 race was delayed until Feb because of a blizzard on the original date. This created a massive change in conditions from the last time I raced it in 2018 (temps around 0F) - this year was a high around 45F. The temps created a slush feast and left a lot of riders falling into the sloppy slush. The snow was mostly mashed potatoes snow, with just narrow track to follow from the riders in front .... Like a 8-mile long log ride. I lost count on the number of times I hit the slush. The mass start was interesting for me, I put in a good effort for the 'hole shot' without any real expectations, but found myself in the top 10-15 riders. The first few miles, I was on a rider's wheel that had massive tires that left a nice track to follow. But as the miles of narrow track started tiring me out, I was hitting the slush too often and a lot of riders got ahead of me. We finished by walking the last bay, the snow was too deep and slushy for anybody to ride, then 2-3 miles of a slushy/peanut butter limestone trail, so messy and just got drenched in freezing melt water. I finished the 13-mile course in 22nd place of 119 finishers, for just showing up to have fun, I'm really happy with this result!
Adding to the fun, I like to ride to/from these events. The ride to the race was great, the limestone rail-trail that runs outta my backyard to the race start was still frozen and rode great. But after the last miles on the race course, I knew the trail had gone to sloppy peanut butter with massive puddles of ice cold water. I rode the roads home and had to ride full-gas because I was soaked to the bone and the sun was setting with temps dipping.
All-in-all, it was a fun day and like most winter racing, full of unique challenges!
This finish line face says it all: