SlickRock

Iditarod Invitational March 2004

The End

Living Room To Kitchen (About 5 Metres)

Prev

Waking up early that morning was the start of a mini adventure in itself. I ate breakfast at about 7am, again at 9am and then again at around 11am, after that it was soon time for lunch and so it went on into the evening.

Peter and Tracey who welcomed us into their home in McGrath were without doubt the best hosts one could wish for. Their home became the temporary home for all the finishing racers over the next week. We were spoiled rotten. As well as being treated to a video of the '76 Paris Roubaix we went sledding with Peters dogs and also thrashed a couple of snow machines up and down the river to get the 'slowness' out of our system. It was the best way to end such a race.

It was also a time to reflect a little on the previous week. The race is quite intense in some respects, if not actually riding or walking you were packing or eating or trying to grab some sleep. I realised that despite the difficulty of the conditions and the arduous nature of the race there had not been one moment of being miserable or wishing I was not there, I think there was just too much focus and drive for that. I came to believe that barring injuries, whether you finish or not can be attributed to your attitude on the start line. If there is any disbelief in your own ablity then you are already on a rocky path. Although my preparation had been brief it had been quite thorough. 350 Miles was tangible for me, I could relate to such a distance and having to put in long hours. Trying to come to terms with the notion of Nome and 1100 miles is a completely different matter however. At the moment the concept is too far over my horizon line but I'd like to bring it closer, break it down into quantifible pieces and then put it all together again as something that could be achieved. Tim Hewitt has my greatest respect as the only racer who continued onto Nome finishing some 16 days later. I don't think I'll be doing the race in 2005 there are too many other places to visit (maybe with a Fat Bike) but maybe in 2006, who knows.

I hope the race will continue for many years to come, I'm not sure if anything else exists that provides such a challenge and the opportunity to meet such a great bunch of people. A special thank you has to go to Bill and Kathi Merchant who work so hard to make the event what it is. Bill has the great ability to make you feel comfortable in the wilderness, good plain advice and always smiling. Go do the race and visit him.



Alan Tilling April 2004



The Results

PlaceNameCountryCategoryPlaceTime
1Peter BasingerUSABike15days 00hrs 59mins
2Eric WilmotFranceSki15days 11hrs 54mins
3Roberto GhidoniItalyFoot15days 21hrs 20mins
4Alan SheldonUKBike26days 05hrs 36mins
5Tim HewittUSAFoot26days 08hrs 24mins
6Carl HutchingsUKBike36days 08hrs 33mins
7Andy HeadingUKBike46days 11hrs 26mins
8Alan TillingUKBike56days 12hrs 30mins
9Aidan LeheupUKBike66days 18hrs 06mins
10Rok KovacSloveniaBike77days 00hrs 36mins
11Rajko PodgornikSloveniaSki27days 02hrs 56mins
12Brent VeltcampUSASki38days 14hrs 24mins
13Marco BerniItalyFoot38days 15hrs 35mins
14Gigi MazzocchiItalyFoot48days 18hrs 30mins
15Rob KehrerUSAFoot59days 10hrs 45mins
15Andy WilsonUKFoot59days 10hrs 45mins
17Brane KozincSloveniaSki410days 15hrs 00mins
18John SchweikerUSAFoot711days 00hrs 45mins
dnfOakley CochranUSASki
dnfBob LiseyUSAFoot
dnfTom JardingUSAFoot
dnfJohn StamstadUSAFoot
dnfDavid Barker MilnerUKBike
dnfJohn OrbanUSABike
dnfAngiolino TomasiItalyBike
dnfMeredith AhmasukUSAFoot



At Rest On The Sofa

At Rest On The Sofa


Roberto gets ready for a bit more filming

Roberto gets ready for a bit more filming


Tim Hewitt barely pauses before heading for Nome

Tim Hewitt barely pauses before heading for Nome


A brief Snowstorm

A brief Snowstorm


Aidan

Aidan




























Alaska - It's really meant for dogs!

Prev