Thursday, February 19, 2009

Winter Training Camp II and Su 100 race






Bill and I went out to Point McKenzie to set up our winter training camp on Friday afternoon. We had only 2 students Kevin Hill from Canada and Yair Kellner from Australia, but we had a great time with them despite the warm weather and all the new snow on the trail. Gear testing was all about how it worked in this soggy wet conditions. I was actually able to watch the start of the Susitna 100 race and the Little Su 50 K race at the Point McKenzie store. I met a lot of our friends that were in the race. The trails for the race were soft and rather slow, despite that the bikers Bill Fleming, Greg Matayas and Janice Tower in the 100 mile and Billy Koitzsch in the 50 K finished in an amazing time. The skiers were definetly having the edge this year with snowy trails and warm temperatures perfect for sking. We cheered on racers from our camp in the trees just before Flathorn Lake and spent 5 days out on the trail testing gear and riding the trail to the Yentna River where Kroto Slough joins the trail on Tuesday when the trails finally firmed up some. Despite a tire failure on one of the bikes and a broken snow machine the winter school was a great success.
Thanks to Kevin Hill and Yair Kellner who were great campers and riders!


How different it can be,last week in Willow with -20 F and this week at up to 35 F.
We met Eric Parsons and Brij Potnis on the trail and had a good visit.











Conditions can vary so much. They are supposed to get two more feet of snow in the Alaska Range, we will see what this year's race has to offer us. It is never the same twice for sure.










We eat well!

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