Rovaniemi 2017

[voodoo_simon]

Is Trackleaders http://trackleaders.com/rovaniemi17 having a wobbly? The guy I caught up with at the last checkpoint on the 150, Jussi Karjalainen, who finished on Sunday evening (I think he was the winner) is still shown as active.

Think most riders are shown as active I know more than two have scratched and they're still 'active'

[Alpinum]

Great stuff and congrats to all, also those "just" showing up at the start line

[johnnystorm]

Is Trackleaders http://trackleaders.com/rovaniemi17 having a wobbly? The guy I caught up with at the last checkpoint on the 150, Jussi Karjalainen, who finished on Sunday evening (I think he was the winner) is still shown as active.

Think most riders are shown as active I know more than two have scratched and they're still 'active'

In 2015 Paul Errington apparently made a sizable detour into the Barents Sea! That was his spot page rather than trackleaders though.

[whitestone]

My ride/race report is here: http://bobwightman.blogspot.co.uk/2017/ ... ition.html

Tl,dr - overweight bloke rides first bike race in Arctic and confirms lack of technique and it's cold.

Now, how do I link up those Veloviewer squares with the rest of them?

[Richard G]

Edit - You don't say in your write up, but did you take chemical hand warmers? I rarely use them, but they've saved me from complete misery on occasion.

One on the back of each hand is just enough to turn unbearable into manageable.

[ianpv]

I enjoyed that Bob - well done!

[whitestone]

Edit - You don't say in your write up, but did you take chemical hand warmers? I rarely use them, but they've saved me from complete misery on occasion.

One on the back of each hand is just enough to turn unbearable into manageable.

I did take them but didn't use them. User error

Made a few minor mistakes kit wise, most often it was having the kit but not using it in time. A case in point: after the checkpoint at 80Km there's a bit of riding through the woods then there's a new logging road that was basically a 20-30kmh descent for about 18Km. I should have wrapped up with an extra buff to cover my face, put thicker gloves on but I didn't so was pretty cold by the time I got to the road at the bottom which probably also caused me to miss the right turn off the main road. It took a good hour of constant riding to get warmed up.

[voodoo_simon]

Here's how not to do it...
https://singlespeedsimon.wordpress.com/ ... way-there/

[Richard G]

On the frozen food thing... I can't speak for cycling in those temps (have never done it), but if riding in subzero I always keep my gels etc right next to my skin (or at least on the bottom layer). That way my body heat stops it from completely freezing.

I guess it's a different story when you get to temps that low though.

[voodoo_simon]

That's true Richard, I warmed up a gel by my body and some other food, but whole meals seemed a bit too far. I can be fussy with food in terms of freezing and reheating and I wasn't sure if you could do this with hydrated food (excuses excuses!).

Great write up Bob, enjoyed reading it

[Dovebiker]

Here's my write-up:

https://fraserkblog.wordpress.com/

A slowly deflating tyre, frozen pump and realisation that Snowshoe 2XLs were the wrong tyres for the conditions made for slow progress on the first couple of days - I was never going to threaten the top-3 so what's the rush? Plan was to aim for overnight - as it dropped to -27C on the 4th night it was the right plan. I detoured off the route to Purolan Cabin for the third night and arrived expectantly to find a wood-burning stove - despite hours of feeding it wood, it was barely hand-hot and enough to melt snow - ended up using my stove indoors! Regular stops for hot food and carrying 2x1L flasks that were good for 6 hours+ worked out well. I found chemical handwarmers nigh on useless, but some lighter-fuel Whitby ones were good, particularly to defrost/warm-up my boots overnight until I ran-out of fuel on the last night. Silva headtorch cable failure on the last night was annoying. I was right on the limit of Wolvhammers for multiple days in those conditions, even with Yeti gaiters - maybe need to look at vapour barrier socks or pair of Wolfgars and spare liners.

[whitestone]

Nice one Fraser.

I was behind the Finn Jussi Karljalinen until the second visit to the Porohovi checkpoint, he was certainly shifting. I don't know if he actually did so but he was talking about riding through to the finish. Impressive if he did.

I've used vapour barrier socks when climbing at altitude, they certainly work though it needs to be well below freezing otherwise you feel like you are in a pool of water. Bags from loaves of sliced bread seem to be a popular alternative to the commercial versions. 45Nrth do insulated gaiters but whether they are better than Yetis

Cath's wanting to go back and do the 150 so might have a go at the 300

[Alpinum]

Ya, thanks for sharing Fraser. Read it with big interest and enjoyed it much. Gives a good idea of what it's like.

I fond it's always nteresting to see different ways of how winter bikers cope with the cold too. Not quite as simples as it is in summer.

Bontrager OMW have an amazing moisture management.
You might find this helpful http://fatbiking.eu/?p=7328
Have since used the boot much lower temperatures and works fine too. When very, very cold I just get off and push 10-20 min. The sole is soft enough to get those cold toes warm again by movement.

[whitestone]

You might have come across these tips from Jay Petervary:

http://45nrth.com/blog/post/preparing-for-winter-riding

http://45nrth.com/blog/post/cold-weathe ... -petervary

http://45nrth.com/blog/post/jay-peterva ... owhead-135

Bootwise I wore some climbing boots I had http://www.scarpa.co.uk/mountain/phantom-tech/ and didn't get cold feet but I wasn't out in low temps for the periods that Fraser was.

[benp1]

Question for the Rovaniemi vets - how did you carry water?

I'm in Lapland at xmas for a family holiday and wondering how to carry water for day to day use

Normally put water bottles in the side pockets of a rucksack but if we're doing stuff outside I don't really want these to freeze. I could use a thermos but I'm also thinking about a hydration pack and blowing the water from the tube back into the bag after each use (so the water isn't left in the hose to freeze)

[voodoo_simon]

Question for the Rovaniemi vets - how did you carry water?

I'm in Lapland at xmas for a family holiday and wondering how to carry water for day to day use

Normally put water bottles in the side pockets of a rucksack but if we're doing stuff outside I don't really want these to freeze. I could use a thermos but I'm also thinking about a hydration pack and blowing the water from the tube back into the bag after each use (so the water isn't left in the hose to freeze)

Carry it as vodka! Joking aside, Valhalla is worth seeking out and trying.

I used flasks, simple and straight forward. I ditched the push button lid and opted for the twist cap, much more reliable I'm my opinion!

Those riders who used camelback systems wore them next to their base layer and their water was fine. Only problem with this method is if it leaks, you're up sub standard creak very quickly! Don't under-estimate damp clothing in that environment - sweat is also a danger.

I also used a Nalgene bottle for the last years out there with salt tablets - good and bad method. The salt keeps the water from freezing to a certain point (so all ok when it was -5c) but once it got colder, the molecules in the solution freeze much more rapid than plain water (I'm sure someone will explain the science behind this).

For a family trip, flasks are just easier to use.

And don't carry Nutella as a snack (go on, ask me how I know...)

[benp1]

For a family trip, flasks are just easier to use.

And don't carry Nutella as a snack (go on, ask me how I know...)

Thanks, that's helpful. We'll be doing a bit of skiing and things, plus hopefully some activities that involve being outdoors (husky/snowmobile/reindeer etc), so I'll need to be able to keep the family hydrated. I imagine we'll get fairly dehydrated from just breathing given the lack of humidity

I would have guessed that nutella becomes like very very hard chocolate!

[Dovebiker]

Really depends on the prevailing weather - if the temperature is above -5C then you can probably get away with regular bottles, bladders etc, but you need to keep water moving / out the wind to stop it freezing. I used a bladder under my jacket for the 150 in 2016 and it was OK, I also had an insulated hose kit but it is sweaty and re-filling is a hassle. This year, lots of people on the shorter events had problems with freezing bottles / flexy flasks because they'd looked at pictures from previous years and saw that everyone was using them, but they were freezing solid. This year was a lot colder - getting to -27C. This year I used 2x 1 litre flasks wrapped in radiator foil/foil - I'd melt snow / boil water at the beginning of the day and they'd still be warm after 6 hours, where I'd refill for lunch and made a hot meal anyway.

Simon, I see they now make Nutella bars just for you!

[voodoo_simon]

You guessed right, oh the power of hindsight

Joy with using a flask is that if you use hot water, you can add snow mid way through to get more water (not tried this method though)

Tell me more Fraser

[benp1]

Thanks all, helpful. I'll take a couple of thermi (I'm sure that's not right but thermoses doesn't spell right...!)

Bikes must have been heavy if everyone is carrying a thermos

[Dovebiker]

The weight of 2x thermos was relatively trivial in comparison to the rest of the kit I was carrying:



My only luxury was the piece of reindeer hide - for sitting on the snow as an impromptu 'chest warmer' which I'd put under my jacket after a stop.