Arrowhead 135

This past half-week I participated in the Arrowhead 135. It’s an endurance race that starts in International Falls, MN. and ends in Tower, MN. 135 miles of self supported snow cycling. This was my first time participating in the event and regardless of my outcome I had a blast and can’t wait for next year! Here’s my account.

I left monday morning at 7:11 am. The first section is an “out and back” to make up for a few miles. It was a staggered start so you could leave anytime between 7:00-8:30am. I was the second biker to leave just behind Mike Reimer. We chatted a bit and would proceed to play leapfrog for the next ten miles. Not long after that a couple of guys with arrow-bars on pug style bikes blew pass me. It was a strange sight indeed. I reached the checkpoint, then eventually the starting point from which I left.My first mistake and ultimately what did me in was just surfacing at this point. The excitement (I have been waiting two years to partake in this event) and the surroundings had me so encompassed that I soon realized I was pushing to high of a gear. My knees were beginning to ache.

I stopped and ate. It was so quiet. Dave Gray caught up to me. We chatted abit, both mentioning that we were feeling alright, and he left towards the first checkpoint. I reached the first checkpoint at 2:03 pm. 35 miles in 7 hours. I felt pretty good at this point, but my knees were beginning to hurt pretty badly, especially when I had to dismount and push my bike (70pounds) up the hills. I took some ibroprufen and pressed on towards the halfway checkpoint Melgeorges Resort. I decided to just keep it in low gear and spin, like I should have from the beginning, to put off the knee pain for as long as I could. Soon the pain grew into a steady pulsing pain. At random moments a sharp and intense spike of pins and needles would shoot out my knees in all directions and force me to grunt and vocalize. I would have to say the knee pain was a result of my 4 days of almost zero miles due to a sickness leading up to the Arrowhead.

As the night fell the tempeature dropped and things became intensely surreal and beautiful. The sky was clear and the moon was very bright. I barely needed my headlamp. My jacket zipper began to cause me problems. I was keeping my food and water in a fishing vest under my coat to keep the food and water from freezing. This worked very well, but soon I was forced to remove my gloves every time I had to get food, because I couldn’t zip the broken zipper with them on. This meant that everytime I ate I had to rewarm my hands.
My layering techniques worked almost flawlessly. I was hardly sweating at all, and yet I was warm.
I figured I had gone 20 miles since the last checkpoint. A snowmobile pulled over and told me I had 28 miles to the next checkpoint, Melgoeorges Resort. That meant I had only gone 6 miles. I couldn’t believe it. I was excited and satisfied with newly presented challenge ahead of me. I was warm, had energy, and was happy. All I needed to do was endure the stupendous knee pain. Needless to say it was a very long 6 more hours of pedalling, walking, random bits of pain, and beautiful scenery engulfed in complete silence and solitude. This is why I had signed up, for adventure and a humbling challenge, and this is what I was getting.

The darkness grew thick and I began to feel a bit detached. Not delirious, just “in the zone”. The downhill sections were amazing. I would like to think I hit 30 miles an hour on some of them. I hardly used my brakes at all. Speaking of brakes…

Before the race I had completley removed my front brake. I decided I wouldn’t need it. My bike was set up with hydraulic disc brakes. I had gone through two winters with them without a single problem. In the last moment I decided to put the brake back on. A good decision indeed. Shortly into the night I was barreling down one of the hills hooting with joy. “Perhaps I should slow down” I thought as a sharp corner and a bunch of reflectors marking a bridge came into view. I reached for the rear brake. Nothing. Nada. Zip, zero, zilch. I was goin way to fast to even think about using the front brake so I just held on tight to my bar end, gave a loud woop of excitement, and leaned into the corner. A few seconds later I was calmly pedalling on the flats once again. Pugsley, your a damn fine machine.

I had originally planned on actually utilizing my bivy, sleeping bag, and stove/ extra supplies. This was, after all, my vacation and I was gonna treat it like one. Around 8:00pm I put those plans aside. My knees were fucked and I did not want to admit it to myself but I was probably going to drop out at Melgeorges. I only commute by bicycle. I don’t own a car. To completely destroy my knees and possibly cause permanent damage did not interest me at all, nor did taking the bus to work once I was back in MPLS. Nor did not riding my bike.

It was 9:00pm when I reached the second checkpoint, Melgeorges Resort.
I reached Melgeorges and walked inside. There was a few people at a table. I was offered grilled cheese and soup, hot coco and water. I said I felt good and planned on sleeping for an hour and going back out. Fucking liar. Dave was there and mentioned he was out. He had the flue. Mike had also dropped. Others would also continue to show up in either state of clarity and confidence, or stumble in shivering and staring.
I ate some soup and sat. I went up stairs to sleep and soon found myself sweating in bed and then shivering all of a sudden. I went in the bathroom and vomited up all the food I had ate while I was riding earlier. I went back and drank some water and laid down again. Soon I went downstairs and watched people come in. It was 11:00pm.
Suddenly I awoke behind the couch. I stood up and asked what time it was. I quickly sat down again. My knees felt like pin cushions. It was 6 am. I popped some more ibuprofen. The pain persisted. I stretched but still the pain. I thought about if I wasn’t in a warm cabin with support. What would I do in this same situation if I was on a self supported bike tour across some desolate region? I would be fool to press on, decreasing my chances of survival by destroying my self one painful step at a time. The riding and walking/ pushing would turn to walking and crawling, crawling and sitting. Sitting and dieing. Eventually I would become a hopeless, naked, hypothermic curled up human being. Cold as the frozen forests and iced over swamps around me. The soil would take me back in the spring. Defeated by my own stupidity and impatience.

I dropped out of the race at 8:30 am Tues. morning. at Melgeorges checkpoint.
I am looking forward to coming back next year with stronger knees, a few small gear changes, and more knowledge of what to expect. It was by far the hardest ride of my life so far, but surely not the last.