Tuscobia 80 Race Report

On Sunday, December 29, 2019, after over 29 hours I finished my first cross country ski race ever. The race was the Tuscobia Winter Ultra. The Tuscobia is run on the Tucobia Trail in central Wisconsin and allows runners, cyclists, and skiers to compete over either a 80 mile course from Park Falls to Rice Lake or a 160-mile course from Rice Lake to Park Falls and back. I was in the 80 mile version.

Here is a link to my GPX file for the race and here is a map of it:





Like all my winter races, my goals for the race were to:

Alternative Routes Through the Alaska Range

I had a fun conversation with an ITI veteran about alternative routes through the Alaska range if Rainy Pass and Hells Gate Pass aren't available for some reason. This map shows two such alternatives: Simpson Pass and Goodman Pass. The theoretical case for taking one of these routes occurs when you are facing a choice between extreme avalanche danger in Rainy Pass due to a heavy snow or 30 more miles and sketchy open water through Hell's Gate.

ITI Ski Finishers

Here is a look at historical ITI ski finishers.  The bottom line is that there have not been very many and in many years there were none.

But the question is:  why so few?  Here are some possible reasons:

1. There are a lot of downhills that are too narrow to safely ski down, so the skis have to come on and off a lot; 
2. There are a lot of situations where you can only classic ski, but it's so much slower to classic that some skiers have brought two pairs of skis--adding to the complexity and transition effort; 
3. For classic skiing, consistent grip is an issue given the extremely varied terrain and conditions; and
4. Limited availability of breathable NNN ski boots--most NNN boots are "waterproof" creating soggy foot issues for many racers.  

Similarly in a Facebook post, Sean Grady, pointed out that:  "Skiing presents all sorts of issues on the Iditarod trail. It's a rough trail that can break light skis, but there's so much flat River that it's difficult to justify heavier Nordic backcountry skis. Likewise with possibility of ice and metal edges. Snowmachine trails are really hard on wax. Grip wax can wear off in a few miles if the trail is abrasive and the huge variety of temps justifies a bunch of different waxes and knowledge of how to use them. The first hundred miles are better skate skiing, the next hundred would be better on touring or the lightest Nordic bc skus, and the next hundred to McGrath could be either skating or classic striding."  Bottom line:  "There's a lot more to it than riding/pushing or the relative consistency of foot travel."

Chet Fehrmann, the second fastest skier to finish the ITI, had an interesting perspective on the challenges of skiing here. 

Cory Smith who skied in 2009 had a detailed race report which also makes great reading here.

With that preamble, here is a list of the 23 individuals who have successfully skied the ITI:  

2020	Mathieu Bonner	France	350	7:21:28:00
2020	Greg Mills	USA - Alaska	350	8:14:19:00
2020 2020	Asbjorn Skjoth Bruun Lars Danner	Denmark USA - Alaska	750* 350	19:05:33:00 9:03:28:00
2019	Asbjorn Skjoth Bruun	Denmark	350	7:11:27:00
2018	Lindsay Cameron	USA - Alaska	350	7:00:37:00
2018	Chet Fehrmann	USA - Alaska	350	5:04:58:00
2017	Daniel Powers	USA - Alaska	350	8:17:22:00
2016	Russ DeVries	USA - Alaska	350	6:06:45:00
2016	Daniel Powers	USA - Alaska	350	5:07:23:00
2011	Andy Sterns	USA - Alaska	350	8:22:05:00
2009	Peter Basinger	USA - Alaska	350	6:06:15:00
2009	Ed Plumb	USA - Alaska	350	6:09:53:00
2009	Cory Smith	USA - Alaska	350	6:06:55:00
2008	Andrea Cavagnet	Italy	350	6:04:45:00
2006	Ned Rozell	USA - Alaska	350	8:07:30:00
2006	Andy Sterns	USA - Alaska	350	6:07:30:00
2005	Gail Koepf	USA - Alaska	350	7:06:18:00
2004	Rajko Podgornik	Slovenia	350	7:02:56:00
2004	Eric Wilmot	France	350	5:11:54:00
2004	Brent Veltcamp	USA - Alaska	350	8:14:24:00
2004	Brane Kozinc	Slovenia	350	10:15:00:00
2003	Pat Norwil	USA - Washington	350	6:21:00:00
2003	Christian Sterr	Germany	800	30:00:00:00
2003	Barbara Schwarzmann	Germany	800	30:00:00:00
2002	Jim Jager	USA - Alaska	350	4:08:00:00
2002	Andy Sterns	USA - Alaska	350	7:09:50:00

Note: Several people went to Nome during the Iditasport in 2000: Dave Norona (33:04:30), Kevin Vallely (33:04:30), and Andy Sterns (44 days), but there were all over the current 30-day time limit. The record for skiing to Nome was set by Bob Baker and Tim Kelley in what was arguably the first Iditasport in 1990. Bob and Tim managed to get there in 23 days 5 hours 4 min. No one has skied from Knik to Nome in the ITI. 
*Asborn made it to Unalakleet in 2020 as part of an attempt to go to Nome that was thwarted by impassable conditions in Norton Sound. 

Year-round Bicycle Commuting in Northern Climates

Here are my thoughts on year-round bicycle commuting in Northern Climates:

I sold my car fourteen years ago and began year-round bicycle commuting and have never looked back. And every year the number of winter bicycle commuters in Anchorage grows.

• After a lot of experimentation, I firmly believe that less is more when it comes to winter commuting--and it's the tires, not the bike that are key. The number of deep, fresh, snow days in most places is pretty small and in general the snow gets compacted pretty quickly after it falls. A setup that will get you through super deep stuff will be too heavy for the conditions you will encounter 95% of the time in the winter--and frankly even the fattest tires can struggle on new snow.
• The real focus for a winter commuter should be getting through ice, not snow. Ice lasts longer and can be much more dangerous than snow.
• So you need studded tires. A nice fat studded tire like the Dillinger 5 from 45North will be great for most commuting conditions--it's reasonably light and has relatively low rolling resistance. But if you don't have a bike that can fit a fat tire, then something like the studded Schwalbe Marathon Winter tire will work just fine--they don't really help on soft snow, but they are much better for the conditions you will encounter most of the time and on the longer commutes the light weight can be really nice.
• A helmet can be another $50-75--a nice snowboard helmet is a nice option, they're not aerodynamic, but they are warm and comfortable (although they are too warm for expeditions or hard rides). .
• So that leaves the bike. In my view any style bike will do--but rigid frames are more durable and less likely to cause problems. Lift up the wheels and spin them. With a soft spin you should easily get 5 or more full rotations before the wheel stops. If the wheels don't spin freely in the fall, they will be even worse when it's -5F outside.

ITI Nutrition

I get a fair number of questions on ITI nutrition.  In general, I figure on about 2.5 pounds of food per day--high calorie stuff like nuts, dried fruit, crushed potato chips, chocolate, cheese, etc. That's a little too much at the start and a little light at the end, but it's always worked out okay for me. Plus a lot of the bikers don't even open their drop bags so there is usually plenty extra food at Finger Lake and Rohn.

The math is that dragging a sled on snow takes about 150 calories per mile, so about 6k calories a day for a 40 mile day on foot or skis.  I'll often go farther on a bike but the overall effort and calories burnt are similar.  Plus I'll burn another 2k for my elevated baseline. Total I need is about 8k.

It'd be great if I could eat that much, but most people's digestive systems can only handle about 6k a day and I am no exception. The 2.5 pounds gets me about 5k plus another 1-2k at the checkpoint. That gets to close to the max that my digestive system can handle, but not quite enough to fully maintain my weight. So I lose about 0.5 to 1.0 pounds per day. But, as long as I have some body fat at the start (some years more than others) that should be manageable.

I don't bring dehydrated backpacking meals. They are too different from what I normally eat for my stomach to handle them. The high calorie foods I mentioned above seem to do a better job keeping my system working. That said, one can prepare the backpacking meals with water from your hydration pack and put them in a pocket next to your skin with some hand warmers to warm them up.