Arrowhead Ultra 135 Report: Fears, Doubts, Hallucinations, and Success--Part One

As the fog in my head slowly clears I can attempt to write this race report of an incredible experience I had doing the Arrowhead 135 Winter Ultra Marathon. Where do I begin? I can start by thanking all involved, including Pierre and Cheryl for putting on a great event. All the volunteers, many of whom were as sleep deprived as the racers. The businesses and resorts that were part of the race and all the racers themselves. The family and friends, and fellow bloggers, cheering us on at home. All these people together make this race what it is. And it is something!!

For me I had to face a lot of fears. This race can put a lot of fear into you (except for maybe Dave Pramann!). This year I had to face the fear of many unknowns. Having never completed a race of this kind, you are never sure how your body and mind will handle it. For me, I also had to face the fear of failing a second time. Until last years first attempt at the AH 135, I had never DNF'd anything in my life. I had to face that fear and risk a lot by going back to take another run at it. For me the pre-race jitters start at least a week out. The whole week leading up to the race I had trouble sleeping, concentrating on things, and felt like I was coming down with the latest cold virus making the rounds.

By coming to compete in this race I had some things to prove. I had to prove to myself I could face my own demons and come out ahead. I also wanted to show people that an "Average Joe", like my self, can rise to the occasion, step away from an ordinary life to do something extraordinary. This blog is called Mn Bicycle Commuter, not Mn Endurance Racer, or Mn Tough-as-nails Mountain Biker. I'm not a racer or an ultra athlete. I'm a guy who sold his car and rides a bike year round for transportation. The whole purpose of this blog is to say, "Hey, if I can do it, anybody can do it".

I arrived in International Falls, Minnesota confident I could do this, but with some doubts. Doubts about my preparation. For six weeks back in November and December a mysterious problem kept me from doing the training I needed to be doing. I could not recover from even the shortest rides. I had daily fatigue and logged very low miles, instead of the big miles I should have been doing to build up my endurance. Most likely the problem was in my diet. A source of gluten may have been getting into my otherwise gluten free diet I eat. I have Celiac disease and cannot ingest wheat or wheat gluten. Matters were so bad in early December I came very close to withdrawing my name from the race roster. I had major doubts about my ability to properly prepare for this event. In late December and early January, the fatigue began to subside and I started feeling much stronger. I decided I had to give the race a try. I couldn't put it off for another year.

Susan and I arrived two days early in International Falls. I made the early gear check and race check-in on Saturday. Being there early, before the big crowd of entrants arrived on Sunday, seemed to keep the stress level down for me. Above, Don Clark weighs my mandatory gear. I came in about a pound under the required 15 pounds. I had to throw in a few items to meet the minimum 15 lbs. I started out light, but added in a few too many extra pounds in extra clothing. I probably had one of the heavier loads of all the contestants. It was embarrassing. You'd think an experienced long distance backpacker like myself would know how to pack ultra-lite. I can't and I don't know why.
Gear checked passed, all I had to do was pack up and wait for the pre-race meeting on Sunday. To pass the time Susan and I took in a movie at the local Cineplex Saturday night. Sunday morning we drove over to Voyageurs National Park for a snowshoe hike. The trail we decided to walk was well packed down. No showshoes needed. But we had a nice walk anyway.
Sunday after the meeting all the participants posed for the race picture. We were told at the meeting that once again, like last year, there would not be a mass start. The start line is along the highway 10 miles south of I-Falls. No parking lots. Many of the participants would use the shuttle provided by the race. The logistics of getting everyone to the start line at the same time complicates things. We were allowed to start anytime between 7 am and 8:30 am. The rest of Sunday evening was spent packing and re-packing the bike. I still had many undecided decisions to make. The warmer weather predicted for the morning, low 20's, worried me. I was very concerned about sweating out my layers, headwear and handwear. I ended up taking 6 extra shirts, a dry pair for each fourth of the race. Several extra hats, and four extra pairs of glove liners and several pairs of gloves. I ended up needing almost none of these extra layers.

One of my better decisions was to use my handlebar mitts. I was worried it was too warm for them. It was the last decision I made. I went with them. It enabled me to wear nothing but glove liners on my hands for the entire race.

Race Day: Start to Gateway Store Checkpoint.

I woke before the alarm went off at 5:30. I had been awake since 4:30. I normally have no trouble sleeping until the alarm goes off. And then I usually hit snooze 3 or 4 times. I was nervous, but not as nervous as last year when we woke up to -28 degree temps. This year it was a balmy 50 degrees warmer.

My only strategy for the race, other then getting to the finish anyway I could, was to try and ride straight through. I knew this would be a long shot. Plan B would be to stop along the way, either at the Melgeorges Checkpoint, or further beyond and get a few hours of sleep to recharge. I am an experienced winter camper, I even teach winter camping classes. So camping out wasn't a concern for me. My only fear was that I'd sleep too long if I camped out. I sleep better in a sleeping bag out in the woods than anywhere else in the world.

Susan drove me to the start. We got there soon after 7:30.
I loaded up the bike as quickly as I could including...
...the stuffed moose Susan asked me to carry last year to remind me of her. This year she offered me something else to carry, but I risked offending her by requesting to carry the moose again. I felt a need to get that moose to the finish line. It seemed like unfinished business to me.
After loading up, I headed to the start line to check-in.
One last shot before checking in.
At 7:51 I was off....
Looking at the races spread sheet, the majority of the bikers started between 7:20 and 8:00. I fell into the middle of that pack. I decided at the last minute not to carry a camera. Sorry, it would have been nice to have some pictures of the course to show you, but I don't regret not having to think about taking pictures during the race.

The first part of the course was an out-and-back on the Arrowhead Trail. You start heading in the wrong direction to get to the finish. It's nearly 9 miles out before you get to turn around. This section is flat. Last year it was devastating to me. I didn't have a cyclometer last year. I thought I could do the out-and-back in 2 hours. Last year Susan was waiting for me at the highway. When I asked her how long it took me, she said just over three hours. Time is very distorted while out on the trail. I couldn't believe it. This year I had a cyclometer. I did it in two hours. I was very pleased.

The rest of the way to the first checkpoint went pretty well. I rode alone most of the way. I had seen Dave Gray just after the turn around, as he was heading to the turn around. I had expected him to pass me soon after that. He didn't come up on me until I had hit mile 21. I was very surprised it took him that long. When I inquired about his strategy, in a round about way, he seemed to indicate that maybe going for the win may or may not have been part of his strategy. Perhaps he was still undecided. We chatted for a few minutes before he headed up the trail ahead of me. Not much later I came up on him again. He had just finished repairing his first, of many, flat tires. Some time later I passed Spencer before coming to the Gateway Store. I arrived at 1304 and left at 1313. There was a handful of bikers at the store. I stayed long enough to fill my water bottles. Last year I had stayed for 30 or 40 minutes. I caught a chill standing around in the store. This year I decided not to let that happen again. Other than the Melgeorges Checkpoint this would be my longest time off the bike during the race. I stopped often to drink or eat, but never longer than a few minutes.

The temperature was warming up near the low 30's during the day. The conditions were difficult. The snow was loose and well churned up from a busy weekend of snowmobiler activity. The warm temperatures made the loose snow very soft and very slick. You had to work hard every minute to keep your line and were constantly looking for that "sweet spot" between the snowmobile tracks that you could find traction. The front tire would go out from me over and over. At least a half dozen times the front tire would go out and I'd end up hitting the foot deep snow off the edge of the groomed trail. The front tire would knife into it and sink. I narrowly avoided doing an endo over the handlebars on several ocassions. Other riders weren't as lucky. Many spills on these sections. I started with my tires at 20 psi and stopped twice to let air out. I was down to 7 psi and kept it there for the remainder of the race.

Gateway Store Checkpoint to Melgeorges Resort Checkpoint:

The Gateway Store was at mile 35. Immediately after the store I started feeling lousy. The small hills started. It takes fresh legs to power up the short steep hills in the soft snow. I was losing power rapidly. I decided to start walking all the hills early on. It takes much less out of you walking the hills. I also realized my strategy to ride straight through was already looking like it wouldn't happen.

I started having doubts again. Those demons were sneaking into my head. My longest training ride on snow was 35 miles. And that was only with a partially loaded bike. How was I supposed to get this heavily loaded bike another 100 miles when the hardest part was still to come? I decided to do it one step at a time. My new strategy was to walk the hills, keep eating and drinking, get to Melgeorges, eat a lot more and decide on my strategy from there.

Dave Gray had reached the Gateway Store before me, but had stayed longer. Once again he passed me. I continued to march on. For the next 20 miles after the store I felt lousy.

Last year Susan was meeting me at road crossings to give me some encouragement and support. It also provided me with some peace of mind with the scary cold we had last year. It was at the Sheep Ranch Road crossing at about mile 52 that Josh Peterson and I dropped out last year. Susan was there to give us a ride. With the warmer temps this year I asked Susan not to be at the road crossings. I knew it would be too easy to drop out if I had a way to do it. I was feeling so bad when I reached that road this year that if she had been there, I might very well have dropped out again this year. Her not being there forced me to face the demons and keep moving.

Even though I was feeling bad, I hit that road at 1630 this year. Last year I hit it at 1830. This year it was still light out. Last year I had been using my lights for over an hour by time I hit the road crossing. Luckily, not long after that road crossing I started to feel better. I was doing a great job at eating and drinking. I think it was starting to pay off.

Chuck Lindner caught up to me at some point. He had arrived at the store a few minutes before me, but stayed longer. We had a nice chat before he set out ahead of me. By this time it was dark and snowing lightly. We were using our lights. I started to enjoy the ride as I started feeling better. The darkness closed in. All I could see was the ten or twenty feet in front of me lit up by my lights. My doubts started to fade. The hills were getting bigger and I was still walking them. The ride down the hills was challenging. It was hard to keep the bike heading in the right direction. The key to controlling the bike was to control my speed. A 60 lb bike, even in snow, accelerates very quickly downhill when you let off the brake. On one long downhill I decided to see if I could make up some time. I wasn't even up to 10 mph (which seemed crazy fast) when my front tire went out from me. The bike seemed to literally throw me. I ended up face down in the trail about 12 feet away from where my bike ended up. I wasn't hurt, the bike wasn't damaged. All I could do was laugh, get on and ride.

At one point the trail turned into an active logging road. The surface was dirty brown packed snow and ice. Very fast. I don't know how long it lasted, maybe 2 miles, or five. But it was nice. The bikers loved it, the skiers and runners (pulling sleds) hated it.

It seemed to take forever to get to Elephant Lake and Melgeorges. Every downhill I was convinced was the last downhill to the lake, only to reach the bottom and be facing another steep uphill. The mileage we were given showed Melgeorges at 69 miles. I was at 71 miles when I spotted a sign for Melgeorges that said two miles to go. Aaaarrrgh! When I walked in the door at Melgeorges someone asked me how it was going. I remember saying that the last hour seemed to last three hours. Several riders nodded their heads in agreement.

It was such a relieve when I finally reached the edge of the lake and started out across the lake. At this point I seemed to have gained some energy back. The surface of the lake was fast for riding. All I could see in the darkness was the snowmobile tracks on the ice and the posts in the ice with reflectors on them to guide you. Eventually I rounded the end of a cove and could see lights on shore. I had made it to the Melgeorges Resort Checkpoint!! It was 8:57 pm when I checked in.