Frosty Bottom 50
Last November, several members of the local mountain bike group were hard at work in Kincaid Park to blase new trails for many to enjoy for years to come in the north part of the park. Luke Simpson was one such outstanding member of that community who had a passion for so many amazing outdoor activities one can do in this fair city. One November day, Luke was riding along through some fresh berms and double table top jumps when something went wrong. An unfortunate crash sent Luke, happily married, father of two young ones, to the ICU with broken ribs, vertebrae, nose, and other facial bones. He suffered a stroke as a result of 3 of 4 major arteries leading to his brain suffering damage. Currently, he is in Craig Hospital in Colorado receiving treatment. He has cognitive function but hasn't been able to speak yet, though his vocal cords are intact.
I read about Luke's story in the front page of Anchorage Daily News on my way home from the race while I sipped on a hand crafted mocha at SteamDot Espresso. I remember his name mentioned before the race started but didn't know about what had happened. The race was mentioned in the article as it was part of a fund raiser for his recovery. Over 200k has been raised and I'm happy to say part of my race registration went towards that. I need to be reminded now and again that these races aren't about me or the other individuals.
The day of the year's first bike race started out in a warm, dark Anchorage winter morning. At 29 degrees, I only needed two layers; I knew chilliness wouldn't be an issue. The lead train stayed together for the majority of the out leg on the way to Bicentennial Park. There were something like 30 people trucking along but the pace was far from blistering. Few people were really willing to take the lead a pull hard (I was stuck in the back, so...). Once we hit Anchorage's eastern-most park, the terrain got a little more technical and the group quickly split up. The turn around area lead us through some single track before spitting us back onto the wider multi-use trails where we could open it up again. The single track was in pretty bad shape; the pack was pretty rough and there was just a rut running down the middle that you had to try and sort of balance on. I remember seeing two very large moose in my peripheral; wouldn't be a winter race in Alaska without 'em, I guess.
I had taken a wrong turn in the park which cost me a minute or two so I had some catching up to do once I hit the wider trail. By my estimations, I was about an hour from the finish when I got out of the woods so I laid down the power and hit my functional threshold pace. I held it steady there and flew past a few other guys in my pursuit of the leaders. Things were going well until I got back on the coastal trail. With something like 400 other riders out using the trail that day, this bit wasn't in very good shape. I quickly got bogged down and it took me too long to realize I was gonna need to let a lot of air out of my tires to get through. For a moment there, I felt like I was recreating that scene from Cool Runnings were their sled crashes and they have to shoulder it to the finish line. I quickly stopped caring about what place I was in. I had gone all in over the last 40 minutes and I was counting on that last bit of trail to be as good as it was going out.
It ended up being a mostly good day and a huge improvement on my last fat bike race, which I'm not going to talk about. Let's just say I ended up swearing more than I should've.
I got home and immediately crashed on my bed after a wonderful hot shower, my body aching all over with that pain of a ride well done.
Luke, get well soon.
I read about Luke's story in the front page of Anchorage Daily News on my way home from the race while I sipped on a hand crafted mocha at SteamDot Espresso. I remember his name mentioned before the race started but didn't know about what had happened. The race was mentioned in the article as it was part of a fund raiser for his recovery. Over 200k has been raised and I'm happy to say part of my race registration went towards that. I need to be reminded now and again that these races aren't about me or the other individuals.
The day of the year's first bike race started out in a warm, dark Anchorage winter morning. At 29 degrees, I only needed two layers; I knew chilliness wouldn't be an issue. The lead train stayed together for the majority of the out leg on the way to Bicentennial Park. There were something like 30 people trucking along but the pace was far from blistering. Few people were really willing to take the lead a pull hard (I was stuck in the back, so...). Once we hit Anchorage's eastern-most park, the terrain got a little more technical and the group quickly split up. The turn around area lead us through some single track before spitting us back onto the wider multi-use trails where we could open it up again. The single track was in pretty bad shape; the pack was pretty rough and there was just a rut running down the middle that you had to try and sort of balance on. I remember seeing two very large moose in my peripheral; wouldn't be a winter race in Alaska without 'em, I guess.
I had taken a wrong turn in the park which cost me a minute or two so I had some catching up to do once I hit the wider trail. By my estimations, I was about an hour from the finish when I got out of the woods so I laid down the power and hit my functional threshold pace. I held it steady there and flew past a few other guys in my pursuit of the leaders. Things were going well until I got back on the coastal trail. With something like 400 other riders out using the trail that day, this bit wasn't in very good shape. I quickly got bogged down and it took me too long to realize I was gonna need to let a lot of air out of my tires to get through. For a moment there, I felt like I was recreating that scene from Cool Runnings were their sled crashes and they have to shoulder it to the finish line. I quickly stopped caring about what place I was in. I had gone all in over the last 40 minutes and I was counting on that last bit of trail to be as good as it was going out.
It ended up being a mostly good day and a huge improvement on my last fat bike race, which I'm not going to talk about. Let's just say I ended up swearing more than I should've.
I got home and immediately crashed on my bed after a wonderful hot shower, my body aching all over with that pain of a ride well done.
Luke, get well soon.
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