Day 11: “Sweet dreams are made of this”
Somewhere between Bentalit and Skwentna, I came upon a message etched in the snow: “Follow your dreams.” For those who dreamed of completing the ITI 350, those dreams are over, either fulfilled or not. And now we are left to dot-watch those remaining ITI athletes’ dreams which are still playing out.
The Nome-bound athletes are spread across a stretch of nearly 260 miles, from Miron Golfman and Tyson Flaherty at approximately mile 598 (as of 7:49 AKT) leading the field on bike and Sunny Stroeer rounding out the remaining 23 competitors at mile 338 on skis. It takes a special level of strength and determination to simply start a race like the ITI, especially the 1000-mile race. Increase that by several degrees for those who are willing to head out on untrodden trails and for those who know that they are the last ones on the course with no one behind to proverbially catch them if they fall.
I’ve contemplated why some folks toe the line of a “race” like the ITI. And I imagine there are many reasons. For some, it’s the adventure where you can almost imagine what it was like to be an early explorer (without all the Colonialist underpinnings), reliant primarily on yourself and your physical and most especially mental stamina. For others, it may be the need to prove to yourself (and maybe others) that you have what it takes to push yourself to previously unknown limits. Maybe it’s an escape or a mental reset, the ability to spend protracted periods amongst the beauty of wintry landscapes and away from all the noise of our modern world…or maybe for others it’s just plain ego. There are as many reasons or combinations of reasons as there are competitors. But I think they can all be summed up with one common theme … the one I saw on the trail … following a dream. Will some let that dream go because of gear issues or maybe physical ailments, or because at some point the dream just doesn’t seem all that “dreamy” anymore? For my part, I’m rooting for each and every one who continues on the trail, though with a special place for the Wild Winter Women. There are four who remain and, even if unintentionally, they serve as inspiration for many of us.
Kinsey Loan is leading the pack. She’s well on her way to Ruby with a mix of riding and bike pushing. No dream comes easy. She’ll hopefully arrive in the early morning hours to a nice warm space either in the local school or at a Bed and Breakfast that has catered to racers in the past.
Leah Gruhn similarly faced some challenging bike pushing this afternoon with speeds varying between 1.1mph and 4.4mph. In particularly rough conditions like what Leah and Kinsey must be facing where it’s a windblown, trail-obscured section similar to the miles between Shell Lake and Finger Lake this year, I wonder why folks don’t just ditch those really, really expensive hunks of metal (or whatever bikes are made of these days) and choose the pure, simple joy of pulling a much, cheaper piece of luggage, like a sled. And then I remember how those lead bikes normally arrive in Nome two weeks before the first foot person and check myself. (Not to mention how when pushing through a strong wind, that cheaper piece of baggage (mine may have earned the moniker “Fu%*ing Flippy” as I headed up toward Rainy Pass) tends to turn over repeatedly or get caught up on branches or hung up in the sastrugi.)
While I appreciate cyclists (some of my favorite people including my partner are avid cyclists), the foot division and our close kin, the skiers (they tend to walk a great deal too), have a special place in my heart. So, here’s a special shout out to Faye Norby, the only female foot athlete to make it to McGrath this year and who was then able to tear herself away from the warmth and comfort of the McGrath Outpost and proceed on to Nome, knowing that it would take her likely another 20 days at least to arrive at her final destination. Unlike the cyclists, those on foot or ski know only the same plodding pace of one footstep or one ski shuffle after another. Faye’s 2.5mph pace is not much different than Sunny’s 2.7mph. Faye is nearly 70 miles ahead of Sunny with about 20 miles before she arrives in Cripple, or eight hours of steady walking (eight hours!).
Sunny is 21 miles behind her closest competitor Petr Ineman, another skier who has also biked to Nome several times (and won once!). Sunny is an experienced athlete who can ably take on this challenge. Though part of me hopes that Sunny can catch up with Petr, a great traveling companion and someone who, if push comes to shove, could do what Sunny did for me at Rainy Pass, give a word of encouragement and a hug if needed.
I’m raising my proverbial glass to Sunny, Faye, Leah, Kinsey, and all the dreamers on the Trail. May your dreams come true.
Author: Carole Holley
Photo credit: Carole Holley with Sunny Stroeer in the distance on her way to pizza in Skwentna.