Neil Beltchenko wins the 350 mile race in 3 days 1 hour and 4 minutes! This was his second year on the Iditarod Trail and he is happy to be done. He said there was lots of waist deep snow beyond Rohn where he had to push his bike most of the way. Congratulations Neil!
I made it to McGrath! It was a beautiful sunny day, the flight provided amazing views of the Alaska Range, Denali and what might be the Iditarod Trail. Four wives/girlfriends of racers flew out to the finish line with me. We are ready to cheer in Neil Beltchenko in his second year racing on the Iditarod Trail. He is far ahead of Clinton Hodges III from Anchorage and defending champ Jay Petervary who is riding the 1000 mile race. The temperature in McGrath is 0F with no wind today. Was told by residents that the wind has been blowing the last two days. Neil is making really good time despite having to push his bike in places.
Kathi Merchant
co race director
Neil Beltchenko has a giant lead on Clinton Hodges III and defending champ Jay Petervary. He arrived in Nikolai late last night and rested for only 2 hours. As of this morning he is about 40 miles from the finish line in McGrath, so expected to finish later this afternoon. I am flying out to to the finish line this morning to greet him as he arrives in the remote town of 350 residents, where the only way to get there is by airplane or by the frozen Iditarod Trail in the winter.
It's -20 in McGrath this morning.
Kathi M.
co race director
Strong winds at Rainy Pass Lodge have caused the windchill to plummet to -35F.
Jussi Karjalainen took a wrong turn heading towards Rainy Pass and spent the night weathered down. An aircraft was dispatched to his location this morning to check on him and to let him know he was on the wrong trail. The pilot found him in good spirits with no physical injuries, and he has since made his way back to the main trail.
Scott Hoberg, the lead runner, arrived at the Puntilla Lake checkpoint at 8:30pm. He is planning on getting some sleep before heading towards Rohn.
Neil Beltchenko is only 10 miles from Nikolai. His progress is slow at times due to terrible trail and weather conditions. The winds have picked up in Puntilla (Rainy Pass Lodge) as well as in Nikolai. The trail over Rainy Pass is slow as well. The trail is above tree line and the winds have been blowing up there in the valley and drifting in trails for the racers.
The last two racers Jason Boon and Thomas Keene made it to the Skwentna check point tonight.
The lead runner, Scott Hobert, is in Puntilla as well. Rookie Gavin Woody and defending champ David Johnston are still traveling together and are less than 2 miles from the half way point.
The leading woman is Nina Gaessler from Norway in her rookie 350 mile year. She is currently 20 miles out of Rohn while 2nd place female racer Missy Schwarz is still making her way up Rainy Pass. Not far behind Missy are Kimberly Riggs, an ITI veteran, and rookie racer Jill Martindale.
Skier Chet Fehrmann, from Anchorage, is resting in Puntilla.
Skier Lindsay Cameron, also from Anchorage, is resting at Winterlake Lodge.
Carole Holley, from Anchorage, is on foot and traveling with Canadian rookie Jessie Thomson- Gladish.
Will Muecke and Lawrence Lunt finish the 130 mile race this afternoon at Winterlake Lodge.
Congratulations!!
Race leader Neil Beltchenko is 42 miles from Nikolai at this time.Clinton Hodges III is trailing him by 8 miles followed by 1000 mile long time ITI participant, previous winner, record holder Jay P 16 miles back.Way to go guys!!
Race veteran and previous 1000 mile finisher Loreen Hewitt is a scratch in Skwentna this morning unfortunately. Her frost damaged thumb from 2 years ago had developed blisters again and it was not even that cold out there. Once you damage your fingers with severe frostbite, it is extremely difficult to keep them warm in below freezing temperatures.
3 scratches so far.
Christoph Harreither is heading back down to the main trail heading to Skwentna, CP 2. He is a rookie in this race and entered in the 130 mile distance.
16 degrees F this morning in Skwentna and clearing.
Our checkers Lucas and Jenny are flying out to Nikolai today with Alaska Air Transit. They were on weather delay yesterday.
Jussi Karjalainen ended up on the marked Iron Dog Trail (snowmobile race a week ago) at the Rainy Pass split. We used this route last year, it is 30 miles longer that way to Rohn. We hope he realizes the mistake and turns around into Rainy Pass, the route the ITI is following this year.
We have had 2 scratches. Erick Basset and Dominique Charton took a snowmachine ride to Deshka Landing in Willow and then headed back to the Westmark in Anchorage yesterday. We are not sure of why yet. Still getting the whole story.
Christoph Harreither in the 130 mile distance is off course heading to North Woods Lodge, located on Fish Lakes Creek only 2 miles from the main trail to Skwentna. Myra said they will turn him around and back to the main trail. 4 miles extra, a bonus.
Kathi M.
The race leader Neil Beltchenko is out of the 200 mile Rohn check point this morning. the 1000 mile race leader Jay P is resting in Rohn this morning as well as Casey Fagerquist and Clinton Hodges. Neil has put quite the lead on those guys, almost 20 miles.
First woman Nina Gaessler from Norway is heading into Rainy Pass this morning.
Several racers including co race director Kyle Durand are resting at the Rainy Pass check point, the half way mark in the 350 mile distance.
In the running division rookie Scott Hoberg has been resting at the Skwentna check point at mit 90 for 3 hours. Record holder and long time competitor is only a mile out of Skwentna with rookie Gavin Woody.
Kathi M.
co race director
Pam Todd from Alaska is the first woman in the 130 mile distance at Winterlake Lodge in 22 hours 55 minutes only 24 minutes behind race winner Dennis Staley. Contgratulations to you both!!Both are first timers in the ITI this year. Well done!
The weather forecast:
Tonight
Partly cloudy, with a low around 0. Northwest wind 15 to 20 mph.
Tuesday
Partly sunny, with a high near 16. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.
In her second year on the Iditarod Trail Nina Gaessler from Norway is leading the women's field on a fat bike. She is only about 4 miles from Rainy Pass Lodge, at 165 miles the half way point on the way to the finish line in McGrath.
Arrowhead winner and ITI rookie Jill Martindale and Missy Schwarz from Fairbanks were 22 miles behind Nina resting along with co race director and on trail photographer Kyle Durand and 8 other racers.
In the running division rookie Scott Hoberg is leading the field. He is 100 miles up the trail beyond Skwentna tonight ahead of record holder David Johnston with 7 wins in the ITI since 2012. He is 8 miles back from Scott with rookie Gavin Woody from Washington.
There are also 2 skiers in the race this year from Alaska. We have had several years without any skiers entered.Chet Fehrmann is at mile 107 on his way to Winterlake Lodge. Lindsay Cameron on skis from Fairbanks is in Skwentna, CP2.
https://craigmedred.news/2018/02/26/pedaling-publisher/
A blogger from somebody’s basement was leading Alaska’s premier fat bike race into the Alaska Range on Monday.
OK, maybe somebody more than a blogger. Thirty-year-old Neil Beltchenko from Crested Butte, Colo. – the leader in the Iditarod Trail Invitational – is the founder of Bikepackers Magazine, now Bikepacker.com.
He remains a regular contributor to the business he started with his wife, Lindsay Arne, but judging from the times he is rolling up on fat tires along the Iditarod Trail it would appear he has been finding plenty of opportunity to slide away from a computer to get out on a bike and train.
The third-place finisher last year, Beltchenko was into and out of Perrin’s Rainy Pass Lodge early in the afternoon with a lead of about an hour on a motley crew of chasers behind.
That group included Jay Petervary from Idaho, who is the defending champ and three-time winner of the 350-mile race up the remote Yentna River north of Anchorage into the mountains that slice through the heart of the state and on into the truly wild heart of the 49th state.
Good trail
From the Rainy Pass Lodge on Puntilla Lake near 2,000 feet in the Happy River foothills south of the highest pass on the Iditarod Trail, Steve Perrin was reporting excellent trail to the north.
“We’ve had beautiful weather here,” he said just before noon Monday.
A light snow had begun to fall, but there was no wind, he said. Crews preparing the trail for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, which starts Saturday in Anchorage, had come through pulling heavy sled-loads full gear, he said, and others had come behind pulling heavy sleds loaded with fuel headed north.
Such traffic only serves to pack in a firmer and firmer trail, which is good news for people on fat-tired bikes. Invariably, Perrin said, there are some windblown areas up in the pass that might require some bike pushing, but all in all the trail was sounding better than last year when it took Petervary 3 days, 3 hours and 29 minutes to make McGrath.
He finished just ahead of Anchorage’s Tim Berntson, the 2016 race winner and one of only four cyclists ever to make it to McGrath in under two days.Bernston is sitting out the 2108 ITI after hip-replacement surgery.
John Lackey, who now lives in Bellingham, Wash., set the course record of 1 day, 18 hours and 32 minutes in 2015. The trail was a frozen sidewalk almost all the way from Knik to McGrath that year, and Lackey set a time eight hours faster than any dog team had ever been able to cover the same distance.
Beltchenko and his chasers looked to be moving at something close to dog-team speed this year, but with hints weather might slow the race ahead.
The forecast for the village of Nikolai on the north side of the Alaska Range called for one to three inches of snow and west winds Tuesday. From Nikolai, the trail turns west toward McGrath and smack into any winds.
The chasers
On the trail behind Beltchenko, Petervary was joined by an eclectic group.
- Clinton Hodges III from Anchorage, a 36-year-old, bushy bearded, road construction supervisor who looks more like a member of the band ZZ Top than an ultra-endurance cyclist.
- Jussi Karjalainen from Oulu Finland, a retired university professor in his 50s who made a name for himself by winning some Arctic fat bike races in his home country.
- Casey Fagerquist, a 35-year-old former runner for the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves by way of Wyoming now working as helicopter mechanic in the ski-town of Girdwood just south of the state’s largest city.
- And Kevin Breitenbach from Fairbanks, the winner of the 2014 ITI in a then record time of 2 days, 4 hours and 43 minutes. A sometimes writer, sometimes househusband, Breitenbach these day lists his profession as “outdoor industry product tester.”
There aren’t many venues better than the Iditarod Trail for that job.
Whether any in the chase group can reel in Beltchenko remains to be seen. That Karjalainen is even in the pack, given his age, is impressive. He was on Petervary’s wheel on the trail just outside of the Rainy Pass Lodge at about 4 p.m. Monday. Hodges was only about a mile ahead and closing on the cluster of lodges structures along Puntilla Lake.
None of the riders who left Knik lake a little more than 24 hours earlier were expected to linger long at the lodge.
We have a 130 Winner! Dennis Staley into Winterlake Lodge at 19:57 Feb. 26.
Congratulations!!
Today has been a mixed bag on the trail.
Light snow this morning at Skwentna, followed by glorious sunny skies at Shell Lake and then a massive ground blizzard going into the Finger Lake lodge checkpoint.
Progress from Shell to Finger is very slow, with punchy trails covered in new snow.
Coloradan Neil Beltchenko in his second year racing on the Iditarod Trail is leading the 2018 ITI and is only 5 miles from the halfway point at Rainy Pass Lodge less than 24 hours from the start. He has put 8.5 miles second place rider Clinton Hodges III from Anchorage. A surprise is Jussi Karjalainen from Finland in his rookie year is in third place at the moment.
First woman is Nina Gaessler from Norway closing in on the Winterlake Check point. Nina won the 130 mile event to Winterlake two years ago. Beyond Winterlake, the trail will be new to her.
In the running race we have Tuscobia Ultra winner Scott Hoberg ahead of ITI veteran and record holder David Johnston from Willow traveling with rookie Gavin Woody from Washington state.
Two French runners are off route and appear to have taken a snowmachine ride out to Deshka Landing near Willow. We should hear more about them this afternoon.
The leaders are out of Winterlake Lodge this morning. Neil Beltchenko from Colorado is in the lead this morning, while Clinton Hodges III, Jay Petervary and Jussi Karjalainen from Finland are still resting at Winterlake Lodge this morning. It is snowing this morning in Southcentral Alaska.
The forecast:
Rest Of Today
Snow likely in the morning, then scattered snow showers in the afternoon. Snow accumulation up to 5 inches. Highs 15 to 25. Light winds.
Tonight
Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers in the evening, then partly cloudy after midnight. Lows zero to 5 below. West wind 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.
The leaders are in and out of Yentna Station tonight. Jay was in and out first followed by Neil B., Clinton H. and Casey F.
Images at Knik Lake today by Andy Romang:
http://www.andyromang.com/Sports/2018/ITI-2018-Iditarod-Trail-Invitational/
Good progress today.
At 7pm, race leaders Neil Beltchenko and Jay Petervary are already 44 miles up the trail and following the Yentna River.
Soft, punchy conditions are reported on Flathorn Lake.
Bike racers are doing a lot of pushing.
Follow the race live here: http://www.iditarodtrailinvitational.com/tracking
Find more updates here: https://www.facebook.com/iditarodtrailinvitational/
The racers are off from Knik Lake today at 2 PM Alaska Time under sunny skies! Coloradan Neil Beltchenko in the lead at mile 35 at the Susitna River with Jay Petervary right behind him at 5:42 PM.
The 2018 ITI starts today at 2 PM. Follow the race live here on our tracking page.
We will have daily updates on face book, twitter and on our latest news page here on our website.
https://www.facebook.com/iditarodtrailinvitational/