Good evening everyone, I’m in a little dilapidated cabin 45 miles from Iditarod. It was an eventful day to say the least, I was fortunate to get into shelter last night - another trail side cabin, just before a hell of a storm blew in and the high winds have closed the trail, blown it shut.

 

This is a notoriously challenging portion of the course. I intentionally played it conservatively in my distances, because to get here too early means there’s probably not going to be a trail. Up to this point it’s worked out great, I’ve been able to ride my bike where others that are ahead of me have been walking for days. So, although I find myself a day or so behind them, this decision today to turn back to the cabin was based purely on pre-race strategy, calories, and mathematics.

 

There’s no trail, so I tried to walk from this cabin three miles, I had already walked 15 to get to here, walked another three hoping there would be a trail and there wasn’t, so I came back. So now I’ll wait for the trail breakers which should be leaving McGrath only a day behind me. If another storm doesn’t come they’ll bust in a trail, and the biking should get to be good.

 

I should be able to hit the trail sometime tomorrow completely fresh and I’ll be able to wave at the Steve that would have been 20 miles out in the middle of the bush, out of food and water.

So, in this case, going backwards was going forwards.

 

Getting to Iditarod will be a huge accomplishment. Most of the trail, almost all of the trail is pretty well used from Iditarod on so there will be traffic, and the dogs are coming, so even if there is a storm there will be traffic to lay that down.

 

The next big goal will be getting past the Yukon River. At that point we’ll hit the northern route, which is very heavily traveled village to village to village.

 

But, first things first I’ve got a box with my name on it full of FOOD and yummy, sent to me, from me, about a week and a half ago that I can’t wait to get to. So you’ll know it’s all good if you get to watch that dot tomorrow and I’m going more than two miles an hour!

 

Thanks for all your well wishes, I’m safe in the cabin, turning snow into water, getting a meal, getting some rest. Tomorrow. Onwards!