Day Four: Rainy Pass Lodge/Puntilla (153) to Rohn (187)

 As it usually is, it’s been a day when it comes to crossing up and over Rainy Pass.  The high point of the race, with brutal weather conditions and equally brutal trail conditions.  I’m happy to report at the time of this post that Ryan has made it over Rainy Pass (172) and through the Dazelle Gorge to Rohn….slept, ate (the two brat limit), and is carrying on to Nikolai (259), by way of the Bear Creek Cabin shelter (228).

It certainly wasn’t easy.  Temps were brutal ( -20+), wind, drifts from the wind, and for Ryan, a tire that wouldn’t hold air.  This all makes more sense now, as his speeds down Rainy Pass weren’t significantly faster than going up….I think it’s safe to say pushing a heavy bike uphill with a flat tire is no one’s idea of a good time.  Ryan pushed through the night without stopping, but it was slow going (2ish mph).  He left Rainy Pass Lodge at 1:45pm, cleared the pass 19 miles later at 12:50am, and arrived at Rohn at 7:30am.  11 hours to get up, 6.5ish to get down….compare this to last year’s 8hrs to get up and over, 4hrs to get to Rohn…a long, hard push for sure.

We communicated only through gps inReach, talking mostly about his problematic tire (he was going to try and replace his valve stem), where others were in relation to Rohn, and the weather.  I’m sure he’s exhausted, but it didn’t come through the 5 word texts we were exchanging…I’m sure he’s fine .

I’ve talked a lot about the weather conditions, but haven’t gone into too much detail.  To give you a sense of what it’s been like, I’m attaching a screen grab of this video taking of a foot racer battling the elements.  Here is the video (INSANE)

I’m also including the screenshots of the weather forecasts I’ve had the pleasure of relaying. I think there’s something to be said about how easily these racers taking this information in stride…

I likely won’t have much to update until he gets to better reception in Nikolai, where I’m happy to report the weather is warming!  Everyone seems to be having a great race despite the obstacles presented by way of the conditions…my guess is this is why they signed up   Congrats to the finishers thus far, and safe travels to those still doing work!