Alaska Ultrasport

Iditarod sled dog race:

Toughest Race on Earth - Discovery Channel

I'd like to be doing the bike version of this race next year, but it will have to wait till 2011. The bike race follows the same course as for the sledders.

Wheels in the Wind - Alaska Ultrasport

Forgive the cheesy music!

There were 45 starters in the 2008 event. Of those, 28 completed the short course (350 mile) to McGrath. Of those, 13 continued racing the full distance to Nome (1100 mile). Only 6 finished! The whole race travels along snow mobile/sled tracks. It's not so bad when the tracks are cleared, but they quickly re-fill from snow drift or fresh snow.


Alaska is a beautiful place. It's called the land of lakes. The state bird is the mosquito. Bull moose are more dangerous than bears. Innumerable creek crossing have no bridges. In winter when this race is held, -20 to -30C is not uncommon. When the wind kicks in, -60C wind-chill is also not uncommon. The Northern Lights are something to behold. I've witnessed a glimmer of these in autumn, but I am sure they'll be a dancing delight in the winter darkness.

This is certainly gonna be one hellova challenge. Already, I can't wait.