Yukon Arctic Ultra - MTB
Discussion
Wasn't sure whether to put this in sports or here, but as there is large bike content decide this is best!
I have been doing endurance stuff for a few years, mostly triathlon. I want to do something crazy. I thought about a channel swim as I am a good swimmer but without wanting to sound like a t
t that didn't seem hard enough :-)
I was watching the James Cracknell DVDs of his adventures and one thing he did (6 months after nearly being killed in a bike accident) was the Yukon Arctic Ultra. This is a self supported race along the Yukon Quest Trail. There are various distances, the important one here is the 430mile MTB one! I quite fancy this. The entry fee is pretty reasonable (I am used to MDot IM fees!).
Training for a 430 mile bike ride is the easy part. I guess the hardest bit for someone living in England is going to be training specificity. That one or two snow days a year isn't going to cut it. I suspect I will need some proper training on how to deal with the extreme cold (the race was temporarily halted this year as the temp as -40oC) and some practice holidays in the Alps somewhere.
Costs could be quite high for this. A lot of the kit can be rented but travel to Canada, the bike, the clothing etc all going to add up. Crackers had a custom build fatbike with ultra low gearing. Given I am the same weight and height as him I will probably need the same.
They only do the MTB race every other year and next year is too soon so would consider this for 2021 or 2023.
Anyone done this or anything like it?
I have been doing endurance stuff for a few years, mostly triathlon. I want to do something crazy. I thought about a channel swim as I am a good swimmer but without wanting to sound like a t
t that didn't seem hard enough :-)I was watching the James Cracknell DVDs of his adventures and one thing he did (6 months after nearly being killed in a bike accident) was the Yukon Arctic Ultra. This is a self supported race along the Yukon Quest Trail. There are various distances, the important one here is the 430mile MTB one! I quite fancy this. The entry fee is pretty reasonable (I am used to MDot IM fees!).
Training for a 430 mile bike ride is the easy part. I guess the hardest bit for someone living in England is going to be training specificity. That one or two snow days a year isn't going to cut it. I suspect I will need some proper training on how to deal with the extreme cold (the race was temporarily halted this year as the temp as -40oC) and some practice holidays in the Alps somewhere.
Costs could be quite high for this. A lot of the kit can be rented but travel to Canada, the bike, the clothing etc all going to add up. Crackers had a custom build fatbike with ultra low gearing. Given I am the same weight and height as him I will probably need the same.
They only do the MTB race every other year and next year is too soon so would consider this for 2021 or 2023.
Anyone done this or anything like it?
Yeah adds another dimension to it. I read some race reports. It sounds fking terrifying. This year the temps were down to lower than -40. Some chap got hyperthermia and became disorientated took his gloves off and walked off without his kit. Might lose his hands and feet due to frost bite.
Think I might need to build up to up it with some smaller things first.
king terrifying. This year the temps were down to lower than -40. Some chap got hyperthermia and became disorientated took his gloves off and walked off without his kit. Might lose his hands and feet due to frost bite.Think I might need to build up to up it with some smaller things first.
Scabutz said:
Think I might need to build up to up it with some smaller things first.
Search for iditabike and Iditarod, there have been a lot of mag articles over the years. Think this was the original, people have been doing it on mountain bikes since the 90's. They seem pretty strict on entry requirements, even the shortest 130 mile version, and full fat is 1000 miles 
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