Nome is many things but it also happens to be a stopping station for many wild eyed adventurers dating back at least to Roald Amundsen. Always interested, I have met a fair number of them in my time here and some are pretty out there and some pretty grounded. The latest is the french kayaker who got plucked from the Bering sea about 40 miles from the St. Lawrence island. He seemed really grounded and has done some amazing things, such as paddle solo across the Atlantic. My friend Tyler interviewed him for the nomenugget paper and was a pretty neat guy so invited home for dinner. Sarah, Hahnah, myself and a few friends joined them and was really pleasant.
On the Norway side of things.... since last fall I have had this boat sitting on my trailer. The gentleman from Norway finally arrived last week. While, I felt his boat needed some work he did not seem bothered by it and asked if I could drive him to Teller to start his journey to Diomede, maybe across the strait? I'm really not sure what or where or how long he intends on going. Tyler and I dropped him off with the boat and he rowed towards Brevig Mission where he knows the pastor. We heard, however, through the grapevine that his boat started leaking and he ended up in Teller for the weekend fixing it. I certainly wish him the best.
Another month past and still, plans for any big summer venture to satiate the ember of misadventure fails to rise. Or rather, it fails to come together. I had a number of ideas that burned then fizzled; everything from the Yukon1000 to an Iron Man and most recently the Colorado Trail Race . I have been both encouraged and discouraged to bike the CTR and it certainly has appeal to my kind of race (epic-esque). There are quite a few logistical issues but I won't rule it out just yet as I sorely need a solid bike race to use as a training module for another attempt at the full ITI next winter.
Last weekend I was easily coerced (for some reason) into running the annual 12.5 mile Anvil Mountain race. I think this is actually my longest legitimate running race and I am by no means a runner. It starts at sea level in town and at about 4 miles around the 100 ft level it climbs rapidly ~1000 ft in about a mile, levels off then drops on the tundra straight down for a mile or less before hitting the road back into town. It was surprisingly fun and was happy to finish it in 1 hr 28 minutes. Though I do need running shoes, ever since my first ITI in 2008 my feet grew (or something) and most of my footwear is too tight. My poor feet felt the pain.
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