On New Years day I had planned on a long fully loaded yet casual training ride. Where I went depended on the conditions but if all was smooth I would have enjoyed a flight back from White Mountain 70 miles away. Things were smooth but not that smooth.
I intended to ride with a ridiculous luxurious load, bike weighed 71 lbs to be exact, on my skinny tire 26-er piece-o-shat since my fatbike is in Anchorage. Not surprisingly, It held up to its unreliability by having considerable mechanical failure at about mile 22.
With an increasing 25 mph biting headwind going into Topkok and a sketchy bike to boot I decided not to commit to additional 40 miles of pushing. Over a tasty gummi bear and a beautiful Bering Sea sunset, mile 28 would be more than a sufficient half way point.
I knew my plan had been a little too ambitious and instead I teased out a pleasant return ride with a tailwind though I did have to push the last 10 miles into town, the bike simply wouldn't respond to my trail fixins'. I was very tempted to decorate the trail with my bike and leave it.
The moon was blood red when it rose and I sure wish I had a more traditional camera to take these kinds of pictures. It was incredible.
The trail was pretty good especially down the coast but still some pushing even if I did have a fatbike. All in all a good ride, felt great and nice to shake out the gear.
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