Jay Petervary packed the shop on Tuesday night when he led a slide show discussion about his upcoming Alaskan Iditabike Race that starts on February 24th. About 30 cyclists got the chance to ask Jay evrything they ever wanted to know about snowbiking, the gear involved, and his mental and physical preparations for this 1100 mile ride through Alaskan wilderness. For the first 350 miles Jay explained that the race will have a good level of support for the riders. After most of the racers stop in McGrath, however, the race becomes completely self supported for those pushing on to Nome. Last year only two racers actually saw the finish line in Nome. Jay is busy right now packing cardboard boxes, 11 in all, full of food, batteries, and chemical heat packs. These boxes will be FedEx’d to Inuit villages along the route and serve as his life line during the ride. One of the drops is only a GPS coordinate marked by a flag placed on the pile of boxes in case they get buried in snow before the racers arrive. It was fascinating to hear about all the international riders who show up for this unique event. Jay talked of one racer he met 2 years ago, when he placed second in the 350 mile version, who traveled all the way from Spain, “This guy got a grant from the Spanish government to be the first Spaniard to walk to Nome. Jay doesn’t get grants, Jay hangs drywall.”
Well, this year Jay did get a grant of sorts. At the event he was presented with the first $1000 Fitzgerald’s Team Scholarship to help the huge financial burden this event requires.
This event will have great web coverage so you can follow Jay for potentially 3 weeks of racing. Race updates will be posted on www.alaskaultrasport.com/latest_news.html and you can hear a daily podcast complete with racer phone reports at www.mtbcast.com.
We are so excited to hang on every report!
Jay ended the evening with the request to save your good thoughts more for his wife Tracy, “When you see Trace don’t ask her how I’m doing. Ask how she’s doing. The hard part isn’t going and racing up there, it’s sitting at home worrying about the person you love racing up there.” Good luck Tracey!