The Final Chapter on my Alaskan experience

The Final Chapter:  I know, Dear Reader, that you must be sick of the thousands of words regarding what was essentially a minute part played by a bit player in an epic race that was contested by several of the top actors in the game of long distance snow bike racing.  Whilst Lindsay and I tottered along way way way back, true athletes, in their prime, were putting on a magnificent show, out front, pushing against each other and the conditions all with the famed Iditarod trail as their backdrop.  Special kudos to the leading quintet of Petervary, Berntson, Oatley, Breitenbach, and Lacy of whom all took part in expanding the bounds by which this race is measured by aspiring enduro-cyclists.  The same can be said of Ms. Horanyi and Ms. Ver Hoef, both of whom unequivocally demonstrated that strong women deserve the same respect as strong men when it comes to events like this (and all other pursuits as well).  Finally, the man-hauler, Dave Johnston, who missed breaking Steve Reifenstuhl’s 2005 foot record by just four hours, who through his appreciation of beer, the other finer pursuits of life, and good cheer along the trail has forced the author to concede that runner’s are people too. 

The swollen head of a contented man...A man near the end of his rope...but a contented man nonetheless. 

In closing, I loved being a part of this race.  The whole thing from hanging out at Irene’s Bed&Breakfast, to stumbling along following Lindsay’s red blinking rear light along the trail, to my head swelling up like Elephant Man, to eating those huge Man-cakes at Peter and Tracy Schneiderheinze’s cozy home in McGrath. I am still constantly thinking back on how fun it all was and how I cannot wait to go back.  My simple advice to you is to go do it!