ITI 2025 Day 4: Puntilla Lake (153) - Past Rohn (189.5)

Follow @itialaska for general race updates, the blog for Ryan updates. 

Ryan’s ride (all times in AKST):

*Puntilla (153) arrived @9:12am in time for breakfast (coffee), sleep until lunch, ate a meatloaf dinner, and dried gear. Set alarm for 3:30am.  Actually departed early @ 3:10am (and made me a liar to his family!)

*Rainy Pass (high point of the course, 172) @ 9:13am (that’s 5.5hrs faster than 2024) 

*Rohn (187) arrived @ 12:20pm (descent took 3hrs. less than 2024), slammed his two brat limit, and pedaled off for a 1.5hr stop

*Promptly veered right on the river (wrong), a seemingly common mistake as of late (fresh tracks breed fresh tracks). Not common was Ryan’s choice in correcting course…not the best time for his tracker and Find My to stop updating (grrrrrr).  He was reporting lots of bushwacking and scrubby trees…warming up for the tussocks to come?

Tussocks?  Little (large) tufts of exposed grass that present a bumpy, slow ride when there’s now snow….and in the Burn there is no snow.

Hopefully Ryan can enjoy the long slog to Nikoli (259.3) knowing there’s your beloved bivvy spot (I think we’re at three years running at this spot?!?!) @ 218 and Bear Cabin Shelter (225) if a break is needed.  Weather should be good (10 to -10F? with calm winds). So there’s that!

What Say You Ryan?

Day 2 & 3: What is your favorite animal to see on the trail?

(This next section from Puntilla to Nikoli has been where Ryan’s historically seen a lot of wildlife)

    A. Bison (definitely cool, but once you’ve seen a herd, you’ve seen them all. Plus they jam the trail)

    B. Caribou (never spotted but #1 on the wish list)

    C. ***Lynx (no hesitation either because I was right - hard to spot, or I was right - so affirming of his

        spotting skills)

    D. Fox (LEAST favorite. their shenanigans are NOT a welcomed source of entertainment - get in your

        sled, steal your food, not cool. Except it is, right?!?!

Day 4: What’s your favorite piece of gear?

    A. Salsa Mukluk bike (I mean, you respect the ride)

    B. Toasty pogies (gotta keep the mitts warm)

    C. New Smith googles (I mean, I look good)

    D. Ride Forward rear bag for sleeping bag (most recent solution to something on my gear tinkering list)

Comment with your guess and I’ll reveal the answer tomorrow!!