getting into a fat diet

Yesterday afternoon went to Billy Kootch's place to set up the bike and say hi to the family. While we were getting all the bits together and tweaking the equipment- Billy's 4 year old daughter took charge of catering and with a little help from mom produced some amazing marshmallow cup cakes- a lovely treat while we were fiddling with wheels, racks, bags, pogies [hand warmer handlebar oversizes 'gloves']

It was a perfect afternoon cold and sunny- and good snow- to hit the snow and go out for a 'little spin'- and back to adjust seats, handle bars- chains and gearing- but soon enough we loaded the bikes on the truck ( AKA Tony's car) and headed to a pre-race meeting- this was a meeting / briefing for the Susitna 50 and 100 mile races running on the weekend- all participants must bring their gear for check- the is a compulsory min weight to carry- mainly survival gear. everyone got issued with race bibs and shirts- and- as the eruption of Mt redoubt- our rumblings local volcano- is anticipated shortly- everyone got issued with dust masks! not quite your standard race kit.

The race organisers then ran a very funny- but also informative race session- and we then headed to another pub to eat and continue talking to some folks who are racing- it's not a very big place and soon enough i was running into some familiar faces-a nice feeling of being more local then a day ago- when i arrived- you get a lot done in a day!

After dinner went to visit Eric Parson-AKA Epic Designs AKA a great guy who himself done some amazing expeditions in some wild places- the last being a raft/ bike trip along the wild and glacier strewn coast of Alaska- incredible. Between these Eric keeps busy making fantastic bike gear- innovative and smart- and very popular with bike riders everywhere- [i have been the 'Australian' branch for a while]- and it was great to go see Eric in his new workshop- and collect some gear i ordered- which is already on my bike tonight - ready for the ride!

This morning went for a ride along Chester creek trail- heading out to Cooke inlet- pretty much frozen except a narrow channel with fast flowing tidal current. It's been relatively 'warm- just on -9 when we headed out- Tony, my host, [and driver, guide, beer buddy ] and generally a great guy! Nikki and Andy from the UK, and myself- enjoying our first fat chance fat bike experience. riding thru the forest along Chester creek we met quite a few people on skis- dogs, runners, and kids being towed on sleds- a lovely ride ending with a little outing onto the ice of the inlet- then back home for a quick change and headed out towards the mountains north east of Anchorage to drop Nikki and Andy off in a town near the race start ( they are doing the Su 50) and back to Anchortown to set up our own bike- i am heading out for a 5 day riding and camping ( no tents- it's a bivvy bag kinda camp) and with changing conditions, temp drop, and fresh snow expected tomorrow night- should be interesting....we are leaving early in the morning- so the next comm will be when i am back- about 5 days.

Thanks to everyone who's been sending hi via emails and comment on the blog- good to hear from you!

on the ice of Cooke's inlet