Taking on the Iditarod Trail on a Bicycle

Snow Bike on the Iditarod from Tara McKee on Vimeo.

“I read a book about this less than a year ago. I thought, it just sounds exciting. I thought I could just read about this or I could do it… feel it.” –Lorie Hutchison

It’s probably understating it to say that Lorie Hutchison likes to have a big challenge. She is a veteran of many long-distance endurance races, including the 135-mile Badwater Marathon which goes through the blisteringly hot Death Valley. However, she’d now been there, done that, and was up for a new test of her endurance.

A New Challenge

Lorie was intrigued after she read about the Iditarod Trail Invitational, the world’s longest winter endurance race, which goes across the frozen and remote interior of Alaska The race allows only 50 racers who will complete the race on snow bikes, starting 10 days ahead of the dogsleds. Most of those snow bikers will travel the 350 mile route between Knik Lake and McGrath—a tiny handful might ride all the way to Nome, which would be 1100 miles, a feat of epic proportions.

The Road To The Iditarod

Lorie signed up and went through the interview process with one of the race organizers who determined she had the skills and knowledge necessary to be able to get through the race. Lorie is a Life Flight nurse and no stranger to keeping her head in emergency situations, but she is also very fit and most importantly, mentally ready: “Your head will take you out of this race or keep you in the race,” she says.

The mental challenge is a huge part of this race. There is no designated route through the wilderness, only the mandatory checkpoints. Solving problems along the way is considered part of the experience. Racers decide what to carry with them into the Alaskan wilderness, when to rest, and when it is safe to travel. The racers have no support crews and support is kept to a minimum; there are only two drop-off zones where Lorie will pick up extra food, handwarmers and batteries. Every 50 miles or so, she will check in at a designated spot, and at that point may choose to spend the night in a tent or BLM lodge. If the weather conditions are good, Lorie hopes to finish the 350 mile race within 5-7 days and plans on taking just a few short hours of rest or may push on through a couple nights as she tries to go as fast as she can on her snow bike.

The weeks of preparation are nearly over. She has been taking her Surly Pugsley winter bike up into the Wasatch Mountains near her home in Salt Lake City for long rides: a 6 hour ride and a 3 hour ride each week, plus some spinning or running before she goes to work. As we met her at the start of one of her training rides, the snow was pelting down in hard little balls as she rode her fat-tired 50 lb. snow bike up a mountain road that has been closed for the winter. Because she is the only one around who is training for this race, she does it alone. It is probably fitting, because in the race, she alone will have to meet the challenges that come: perhaps she’ll face bad weather with a 40-60 degree wind-chill, moose with bad attitudes, deep snow, or navigational challenges out on the tundra. Those will be new challenges for her, yet she is ready to test herself and pull out the sheer willpower that has served her before.

She starts the Iditarod Endurance race on February 28^th. Lorie, we wish you the best as you meet this challenge!