Kenai 250 Short version

This was my third attempt at the Kenai 250. The weather was bound to be awful (it always is) and there were rumors that the top of Lost Lake was still covered in snow. Right before starting, another racer who lives in Seward confirmed snow at the top, reportedly 6 miles that people were skiing Wednesday! Oh brother... Anyhow, off we went at 9am on Friday starting at the Seaview Cafe in Hope. The route this year had us climbing up Resurrection, down Devils Pass trail, up the road to Johnson Pass north trailhead. Ride Johnson Pass south to Moose Pass, then go to Primrose -with a small detour to ride Crown Point singletrack- ride the Old Iditarod trail to 12 mile trail head, back up the highway for about a mile to Troop Lake trailhead so you can ride the Old Iditarod trail to Bear Lake, then ride to Seward, have a burrito, ride Lost Lake back to Primrose; the highway to Tern Lake. Take the Old Sterling to Sunrise, then Snug Harbor Road to Russian Lakes, go around and then ride Resurrection back to Hope. Clear, right?

 So off I went at 9 am, rode Resurrection without much issue. Decent weather actually, and trail was nice.

The view was gorgeous. Down Devils was ok, but my choice of a fully rigid bike wasn't entirely optimal. Specially on the rock gardens, but on the other hand it prevented me from going too hard. So there is that. At the bottom of Devils I regrouped with Jill, my riding partner for the weekend. We had a lot of fun, if not success last year so I couldn't ask for a better riding partner. And getting to witness the recording of some of her video logs was totally worth it. If you haven't watch those videos you should. Seriously.

 Where was I? Oh, yes at the Devils Pass trailhead. From there we hit the road to Summit Lake lodge for pizza. And that's when it started to rain, and headwinds and eff you weather, really. After a longer-than-needed-but-it-was-warm-there stop at the lodge we took off and rode the rest of the road (and bike path) to Johnson Pass. It was raining at this point. At the trailhead we saw Alec C, Tim K and Josh D, and I think Ana and Jim J either passed us right there or were a little ahead. I started down the trail and let me tell you, it was muddy and overgrown. Like going through a freaking car wash honestly. I got cold, cranky, cold, cranky, and my right knee started to hurt at some point.

I passed Ana and Jim and Tim passed me, Jill ended up behind me apparently cold and thinking about spending the night there (thanks for not letting her do it, Julie) and I got to Moose Pass, in time to order dinner. But cold, in a bad mood and with a sore knee. At the restaurant it was quite a party. A party of tired, dirty cyclists with wet gear all over the place but a party nevertheless. My initial plan was to ride to Crown Point that night, or even further. But at some point in the warm restaurant a decision was made to camp in Moose Pass. I think it was six or seven of us that ended at the gravel pad about a mile north that night, merrily drinking margaritas off muddy cups. Thanks to the Fucking Singlespeeders, seriously thank you guys that was awesome!

 The next morning we eventually left camp, later than we should but hey, is not a race. No, wait it is. Whatever, we weren't going to win anyway. Had coffee at Moose Pass, rode Crown Point -totally worth stopping and doing the little loop if you haven't done it. The climb on the fire road is steep but the descent is sweeeet! And then down the narrow road to Primrose. At this point my knee was hurting. I'm not sure why, I think my saddle may have been a little lower than it should -I have a suspicion my seatpost slipped- and there was a slip on Johnson pass but I can't pin-point when or why it started to hurt. But hurting it was as I started on the Old Iditarod Trail.

This north section off Primrose isn't too bad, actually has some fun sections. Just remember it will be slower than the 6 miles and no big climbs suggest. After that, we got onto the south side of the Old Iditarod trail. The Bear Lake side. Not a mile in, we run into a hiker with three large dogs. Three large dogs that charge me growling and barking. One of them actually bites me. I yell at the guy "your freaking dog just bit me!!!" while pulling my bear spray. And what does he say "yeah, spray them!" Some people... at least he was polite, seemed genuinely concerned about me and apologize. I saw that the dog hadn't really harmed me and kept going... only to be followed by one of his freaking dogs still barking and growling at me. At that point I lost it. As Jill can attest I had some choice words for the dog. Who must have believed I was going to bear spray the shit out of him if he came close because he turned around. Anyway, as if I didn't like that trail already a fucking dog charged me. Some days...

At the bottom of the freaking-hill we pushed up last year and, to be honest I pushed some of it going down because that hill freaking sucks. Have I told you I don't like this trail? At the bottom of that hill I stopped to wait for Jill, there is a turn that is easily missed so I waited and took a selfie. #theoldiditarodtrail And then it started to rain.

 All day weather had been ok, even a bit of sunshine. But now it really opened up. It was only six miles or so to Seward, but I was soaked when we got to La Cantina. I think this is a good time to inform you that my rain jacket has apparently given up on being waterproof. Either that or the car wash like riding in Johnson Pass left it saturated. So there we were at La Cantina buying burritos, cold and trying to figure out what to do next. It was too early to quit for the day, so we had to at least start on Lost Lake. My knee hurt worse, but I figured I could still go. We checked on Trackleaders -sssssh, don't tell anyone- and I figured out it was only about 2 miles of pushing on Lost Lake. So fortified with burritos, drier, and with a spare burrito for tomorrow's breakfast and a warm Coke on our packs off we went! (Warm Cokes because they ran out of the ones in the fridge, the lady at La Cantina was really embarrassed. We didn't care)

 Lost Lake was actually good, all things considered. The trail was really good almost to the lake and then the snow was patchy for about two miles. Maybe it was the fact that I thought it would be worse. Maybe it was the beautiful scenery, but I actually enjoyed most of it.

It was cold, though. And windy, not surprising if you have been there before. So I put on literally every layer I had, including rain pants and kept on. After layering up eventually I started feeling my toes again. We stopped to eat a snack and drink a beer before descending.

The descent wasn't that good though. My knee hurt, bad, every time I stood up. On a rigid bike that made riding over the roots on that trail extremely difficult and painful. At that point I realized that I would not finish. I had already told Jill throughout the day that I didn't think I could do it, the knee was bad. But I think deep down I still thought I could push through it. I knew I risked a serious injury but I didn't want to quit two years in a row. The descent, however, made it clear I wouldn't be able to ride the trails on Russian or Resurrection. The climbs I could manage, slow and it hurt a little but I could do it. The descents however, were not going to work. The day wasn't over though.

 We got to Primrose and, obviously, nowhere to camp there. We had already discussed going back to Crown Point and camp by the lake. Get up early and get coffee at Moose Pass. But when we got to Crown Point some people had taken over the whole damn place. Parked their trucks and ATVs blocking the trail. We decided that they obviously didn't want company and kept going back to where the day started. We camped at the same gravel pad, exactly same spot. I had a decent night of sleep, but the next morning my knee still hurt. As you can see I was really happy when I got up.

At about 9:30 we left our home away from home. It is funny that we spent both nights there, on the other hand it is a good spot to camp.

I had my cold burrito and drank my Coke, and I told Jill I was done. She wouldn't have it. She didn't want me to quit, and I really thank her for that. Seriously. On the road to Tern Lake she fell behind me, she said she had to peel off some layers. Maybe she realized I needed to be by myself. I won't lie and say it was an easy decision. It wasn't a hard one either, I knew what I had to do since the moment I finished riding Johnson Pass. My knee was hurt and if I kept going I would make it worse and possibly cause a serious injury. As it was, a lingering ankle issue was flaring up again. It is never easy to quit one of these. It is never easy to accept defeat. A part of you keeps saying that you CAN keep going, no matter what the reason is you shouldn't quit. At some point on those five or six miles between Moose Pass and the Sterling Highway junction I came to terms with it though.

I waited for Jill and bid her goodbye. She'd continue on to have an amazing performance and finish that night after a 100 mile day. That Canadian is tough. Myself? I soft pedaled my way back to Hope on the road. About four miles from the Hope cut off Alicia D, who also scratched and was getting a ride from Seward saw me and stopped to offer me a ride back to Hope. I told them it was only 20 miles more (her friend thought that was funny, "only 20 miles, he says") and I'd feel better with myself if I at least rode back to Hope. Plus, they didn't want me on that car. I stank, and my shoes smelled like death. So I rolled back to Hope, changed into some clean clothes and drove back home. When I took of my socks I realized that my left ankle was very swollen, a cankle really, and I could feel my tendon on the back rubbing. So probably wise to quit. I guess.

 For those of you curious about gear, I rode a fully rigid 29r Gunnar Rockhound. I'd like to say it was a good choice and I think the knee issue is unrelated to it. But front supension -or fatter 29+ tires- may be a better choice. I carried my gear on a Revelate Viscacha seatbag -nothing to say other than it works great- a Revelate Sweetroll for the sleeping bag -the Sweetroll is a great piece of gear- a frame bag from when Revelate was Epic Designs (fuck you Specialized) and my trusty but no-longer-made Vaude backpack. All of it worked just fine. My sleeping setup consisted of an REI Flash sleeping bag, I really like that bag. Light and warm. An REI Flash sleeping pad, not the lightest, not the warmest, but I don't think you can beat the price/weight/warmth/comfort ratio for that pad. And because last year I had issues with condensation on my bivvy, this year I brought my MountainHardwear Sprite tent on the fat-pitch set up (footprint+fly) Being a floorless tent it lets bugs in. I brought a mosquito-net hood and... well, lets just say the set up needs work. The first night I was too close to the swamp and mosquitos bugged me (I'm so clever with my puns) the second night further from the swamp was better. But still, the system needs work.

 Other than that, the cankle is not as swollen and the knee feels better. Will I try it next year? Right now I'm saying no. But I'll probably change my mind.