2022 Alberta Rockies 700

680 km fire reroute: 2 days 18 hours 48 minutes. 6^th place

Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/7646389888

This year I decided to try something different and use a bike with gears. This was my fifth time completing the Alberta Rockies 700. The first four times were on my single speed mountain bike and this time I put an 11-speed cassette on the back.

Look at all that stuff on the back wheel! So complicated.

It started at Rebound Cycle with about 50-60 riders congregating for the starting picture. 

Grand Depart
Photo credit: Kristin Anderson

At the grand depart I was able to meet Majo, who was the first to challenge the GRAAB Gravel Across Alberta Challenge after my inaugural run. It was great to hear his impressions of that route!

Majo and me
Photo credit: Kristin Anderson

The AR700 started with a smooth cruise along the Legacy Trail. It’s about a 20km paved path that goes between Canmore and Banff. This felt like a road ride with the group separating into a couple of pelotons. I was careful not to push too hard with the geared bike. With the single speed (SS), I would have maxed out at a slower speed and ended up near the back of the pack, so gears were nice on this part. 

Glimpse of the Peloton on Legacy Trail

The route then turned back toward Canmore on the Goat Creek Trail. It’s a double track that I’ve ridden many times on other races and rides like the Tour Divide. It was nice to have the easier gears to climb all the hills. I chatted to a few other riders like Colin where this was his first ever bikepacking event and Mike, the owner of Thief Bikepacking bags. I was using some of his product. Good stuff if you are in the market for bags! Colin had a background in off-road motorcycle racing like the Baja. He also participated in ice climbing and rock climbing.

The route continued on to the Spray Lakes and followed a short section of the High Rockies Trail along the water’s edge.

Spray Lakes

Then we were spit out on the dusty, relatively busy Smith Dorrien Road. Not my favorite stretch of road. I was feeling good and took the time with the easy riding to cram some food. I was trying to convince the organizer to avoid this whole stretch of road and follow the High Rockies single track instead but to no avail. At one point, I passed a touring couple with big saddlebags and a “Just Married” sign on the back. As I rolled by, I congratulated both of them and it was nice to see their smiles. I found out on social media after that they were on their way to Mexico.

Dust abounds on the Smith Dorrien Road

Thankfully the time on the Smith Dorrien Road seemed to pass quickly and we were on a short stretch of the High Rockies Trail. Such a fun, twisty, turny, flowy easy single track trail! I talked for a short while to Alistair who I met last year. He ended up having a strong ride finishing on the podium!

Obligatory photo of the High Rockies Suspension Bridge

The route then went into the Peter Lougheed parks and campgrounds following a complicated network of paved trails and roads. I went off route a couple of times due to the many choices of paths to take close to the track on my GPS. I stopped at the Boulton Creek store and chatted with some other riders including Majo and Theo who won the AR700, 700km version last year. We had a small thunderstorm roll by so we huddled under the eave of the store and snacked on junk food. I was off fairly quickly and went on the trails that led to the paved road of Highwood Pass.

I wondered where I was in the standings but was not too concerned. My goal for this race was to see how the geared bike felt and minimize stopped time. At this point I was only at about 20min of stopped time so I felt good about my ride. I also felt good because I was not pushing too hard. It made me wonder if I was not pushing hard enough. All of these thoughts are new to me because with a SS, the bike sets the pace. With gears, I had a choice as to how hard I could go and I had this nagging doubt that I could always go harder. One reason why the SS is more fun and mentally relaxing!

The paved, gentle cruise of Highwood Pass

As I rode, Majo pulled up to me and we leapfrogged all the way to the Highwood House store. On part of the descent, we had some interactions with some cows.

I wasn’t sure if I would make it to the store before it closed at 6pm so was happy I could get some snacks and cold drinks.

Majo!

After Highwood House the route went back on the gravel and back uphill. It was continuing to follow the 500km route until it took a left turn toward Claresholm. Majo caught and passed me at one point and that was the last I saw him since he was doing the 500km race.

I took the 700km route left turn and it continued uphill over a pass and out of the foothills. Beautiful country! 

Climb up to the pass out of the foothills

After the pass, the route steeply descended down some thick, loose gravel. It felt pretty unstable at times, and I had to stay alert so my front tire did not get taken away. It would have been rough to crash at these high speeds! After the steep descent, the slope flattened a bit, but it still was a fast cruise most of the way to Claresholm. I was able to tuck in my aerobars and stay in my top gear. I passed Ian on the gravel, then when we came to the paved road, he passed me. We turned back onto gravel as the sun set and I went ahead again. I cruised on the gravel as the sky went dark and the moon rose. As it peeked above the horizon it was full and a deep red colour. Amazing!

I had enough snacks to make it but knew I was running short on water. We were travelling through farmland so did not have the abundant mountain streams like earlier in the route. I debated about taking the detour off route into Claresholm. At the last turn to Claresholm, I checked my phone and saw a river/creek up ahead and decided to take the chance that I could filter the water. I rode to the bridge, parked my bike, and made my way down to the “river’s” edge. It was a still, brown liquid but deep so I filtered 2L into my hydration pack. My plan was to finish the leftover water in my water bottle and drink this “water” the next day. I would double down and in addition to filtering, add a couple of purification tablets to the 2L of mank.

With my water situation taken care of I started looking for a place to bivy. It was about 1am and I wanted to get about 3.5 to 4 hours of sleep. I didn’t feel tired but knew the sleep would do me good. I found a place in a ditch behind some low-lying bushes.

 Bivy spot for the night among the cow patties

I slept pretty well. Some riders rolled by in the night and the morning but I wasn’t too concerned. If I placed well, that would be nice, but I was trying to just ride my own race. As I slept, I woke to cows breathing heavily over me and walking around. I was happy they were on the other side of the fence.

At 5am, I got up and started rolling. The route was making its way back into the foothills and mountains. It was beautiful country!

On the way back to the mountains

I followed the gravel up a long, steady hill and it was nice to be able to climb it all the way up with the geared bike. If I was on my SS, I would have had to walk the whole thing. I leapfrogged the Block brothers and another rider quickly passed all of us. I met up with Ian again at one point too as he passed me, and I passed him while he got some water at a stream.

I forgot my sheet with the distance between towns so was going on memory. I saw a highway up ahead and thought it was the road leading to Coleman, but I was sorely mistaken. While I thought Coleman was just up ahead, it was actually about 50km away. I was excited to get some fresh water and snack on some new food. The snacks I brought from home were becoming less and less appetizing and I was essentially force feeding myself. I found a stream where I was able to refill my hydration pack with better water and clean off my sweaty face and neck. That felt good!

I still had to traverse another pass along dusty gravel roads that were busy with RV traffic. It was reminiscent of the Smith Dorrien Road. This was a low point for me on the ride. It was hot and I was disheartened when I saw the sign that said it was 35km to Coleman. Up to that point I didn’t know how far away it was and the sign showed me I had a long way to go. I took a few stops at campgrounds to use the bathroom and empty my garbage to break up the monotony.

Eventually I made it to Coleman and it was a relieving sight. I had a gas station pizza sub and some fresh liquids. That pizza sub was the first non-snack food I had for the trip so far! I felt refreshed but I knew I would pay for eating and drinking so much. I tend to overdo it when I feel extra thirsty and hungry. Sure enough, as I left Coleman I felt lethargic and got a case of “pizza sub belly”. As long as I kept pedaling, I would work my way through it.

Up ahead was a route I had not taken before. It was a double track ATV trail that was steadily climbing uphill. It was a lot of fun to ride some more mountain bike-like trails. I much preferred the remote off-road stuff to the dusty gravel roads!! I saw a large coyote on the trail ahead, but it was big enough that it may have been a wolf. I thought it ran off into the trees but for the next few corners I kept seeing it just ahead. I wondered if it was leading me into a pack of its buddies. Thankfully, I did not turn into dog food.

Nice double track after Coleman

There were a few water crossings, and the trail was essentially a stream at some points, but I was enjoying it thoroughly! Then as the sun set, the trail got steeper and steeper, and rockier and rockier. With the geared bike I was able to climb much of the steep trail while I saw many footprints where others chose to walk. But I found the climb was continuing and getting rockier. I decided to start walking like the other riders to change things up and prevent burning out. It was tough to ride and mentally draining to pick a smooth line among the rocks. When you walk, you just walk over all of it and don’t have to think about it too much.  

With the nifty gears most of this was climbable

 One of the rickety bridges

As it got darker, it got rockier

I eventually got to the top of the rough, rocky climb and declared, “I’m never doing that again!” It was dark and now the decision was to descend in the dark. I wasn’t sure if it would be as rocky on the way down because if it was, I’d be walking down too! I decided to go for it and started the descent. There were some sections that I felt should be walked instead of ridden but for the most part, it was not too bad. I got to the end of the ATV trail and got back onto a gravel road.

Periodically I would see these cute little boreal toads along the trail shuffling along.

Boreal toads eating their night insects

I started a climb on the gravel road as it was approaching midnight. I saw lights up high in the distance and wondered what would be so high in the sky. I think it was a mine or something. I was feeling tired after that rocky ATV trail so decided to stop and sleep for a couple of hours. Usually in these 2-3 day races I would only sleep the first night and push to the end but wanted to try sleeping more. Whenever I pushed to the end without stopping for a good sleep, I would be nodding off so much it took a lot of the fun out of the ride.

I stopped on the side of the road out in the open to sleep in my bivy for a couple of hours. It is bear country, so I stopped my bike, pulled out my bivy and walked down the road about 30m to sleep. All my snacks were in my bike, so I wanted to stay away from it while I slept. I was putting my food wrappers in my pocket, so I also took off my shorts and left them on my bike too. I was passed by another rider while I slept for a couple of hours. It was great! I slept well and felt refreshed after I got up!

At about 2am I kept riding up and over a hill and started along the Elk River toward Elkford. It was cold when I got into that valley! I had to put on my puffy coat, gloves, and some toe warmers. After that, I was feeling okay. I rode through the early morning and waited for Elkford to appear. The sun rose and I heard crashing in the bushes a couple of times. Sounds that big were either moose, deer, elk, or bear.

When the trail turned onto some single track, I knew I was close since I did this part last year! Elkford came into view, and I rolled up to the gas station at about 6:30am. It was bustling with workers getting their lunches and snacks for the day. There were lots of catchy sayings like “working hard or hardly working” and “living the dream” being tossed around. They had some microwavable meals, so I had my first real breakfast the whole trip, potatoes, eggs and bacon bathed in hot sauce.

Real food is good!! Note the bike in the window.

I thanked the ladies working in the restaurant without calling them “princess” like the many workers passing through and was on my way satisfied.

Just as I left town, I ran into Neil. I have known Neil for several years in the bikepacking community through Bikepack Canada Summits and overnight trips but had never run into him in an event. He was doing the 500km route. It was nice to chat! We leapfrogged one another from this point all the way to the end.

 Neil!

The route gradually climbed up some single track and with the geared bike, it was nice to climb it all. I remember riding this at about the same time of day as last year and feeling really tired. But today I felt great! That 2 hour sleep was doing wonders for my alertness.

View from the top of the Elkford single track

After the single track I knew it was a fairly long stretch of undulating gravel roads along the Elk Valley that gradually climbed over Elk Pass.

Elk Valley gravel

At one point I started to feel tired and nod off. I stopped in a small field of daisies on the side of the road and took a 10 minute nap. After that I felt really good again. A while later at Tobermory Cabin I felt tired again so took another nap on the picnic table. I also filled up with water here from the stream.

Snacking on chips close to Elk Pass

Eventually I came to Elk Pass Arch. I arrived at the same time as Ethan from California, and he was gracious enough to take my picture with my GRAAB finisher’s shirt. The arch is the start of GRAAB and the last time I was here was last September when I rode that route for the first time. 

The start of GRAAB!
Photo credit: Ethan Albrecht

After Elk Pass, I could see the end in sight! Skogan Pass was the last major pass to go! I descended the other side of the pass with Ethan and we marveled at some big bear tracks in the dried mud. Ethan was concerned about bears, but I tried to reassure him that there is not much to worry about if you respect them and give them their space.

Big bear and slightly less big bear tracks

We passed back through the center of the figure eight of the course as we travelled past the Boulton Creek store. I had enough food and water to continue on, so I did not stop. The route went along some paved roads, and I was feeling good to be almost done! I thought maybe I’d be done by midnight!

I turned onto highway 40 and chatted with a cycling tourist from Los Angeles. He had been touring the area on his Surly Long Haul Trucker with panniers front and back.

 Sheep ahead!

There they are

The route turned off the highway and went on a fun bit of single track toward Fortress Ski area and Kananaskis Village. 

 Bridge leading to the single track

 Some of the rockiness

I had a lot of fun on this part! The trail flowed well and had some good viewpoints. I was glad it was more technical than a gravel road, so I did not have the chance to get sleepy. 

View as the single track passed the golf course

There were nice, paved trails around Kananaskis Village. I started climbing Skogan Pass and was curious to see what the footing was like. The last time I was there was for an October training ride for the 2016 Tour Divide. It was snowy and the footing below felt uneven. This time I was happy to see the smooth surface. I could ride a lot of it and walk a lot of it at a quick pace compared to the nasty ATV hike-a-bike before Elkford.

 Pristine, smooth surface of Skogan Pass

There was a lot of bear scat around, so I was yelling, “Hey bear,” every several minutes. I got to the top at sunset and then the descent was fast and smooth. 

Near the top!

There were a lot of moths that would go up in front of me as I zipped down the other side. I continued to yell, “Hey bear,” a lot because there was tall, thick grass where a bear could easily hide. It was a long, fast descent. I stopped a couple of times to rest my hands from braking so hard.

Hey bear!!!!

When I got to the bottom, I thought I was almost finished, but I knew there was a single track trail coming up. I was hoping it would be a fast one. I was getting hungry and was trying to eat, but didn’t want any more of my food. It was getting harder to swallow without water. I almost heaved from eating a Hot Rod.

I tried to find the trail to the single track called Guy Lafleur. There was a rickety plywood bridge across a fast-moving stream. 

Ride it! Nope!!

I hoped it was a fast, flowing singletrack but sadly, that wasn’t the case. It was a lot of short, steep climbs that I had to push my bike up. There were big roots so I couldn’t get any significant motion for much of the trail.

I saw 3 or 4 boreal toads that were cute that shuffled off the trail. One of them I had to take evasive action to avoid so I didn’t crush it. 

Save the toads!

Eventually I came out in the Three Sisters Village and thought the single track was done! But then the track started going back up the mountainside to Highline Trail. Sadness! Again, the hope was that it was fast and flowy. Again, that was not the case. It was similar to Guy Lafleur except instead of roots it was rocks, so very slow going.

After an hour and a half of pushing my bike up steep climbs and riding some of it, there was a really fun downhill section that finished at Quarry Lake. Along the way, a tiny little mouse jumped out in front of me! This little mouse was just sending it around the berms. It really stood out among the lights and the white, dusty trail. I slowed down a bit to watch it go, then it went off into the trees. Keep shredding little mouse!

Those last two stretches of single track were relatively soul crushing when I thought I was almost done. Both locals familiar with the route and finishers thought it was a cruel addition when the town was in sight. Once I got past Quarry Lake onto the road, I was sooo happy the single track was finally over.

The route snaked through town on some of the nice, smooth pathways. Kristin, Evan, and Megan greeted me at 1:43 AM with Evan holding a “Congratulation!” sign he made. I was elated to be done! 

Elation!!

Congratulation!

Neil arrived about 15 minutes later and we complained together about the end. Misery loves company! That was a tough one! Kudos to everyone who made it!

Neil and me with feelings of intense relief

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Epilogue:

So you might be wondering what the verdict is between gears and SS! Well, each has advantages for different types of rides, but I’ll be using SS for my next bikepacking event. Gears were nice for the sustained downhills and technical climbs, but sitting all the time killed my butt. 

I also find the simplicity of SS very relaxing and it makes the ride more fun. I don’t need to think about which gear to be in and wonder if I should go harder or easier. On a SS, it is what the bike is and there is no choice. It leaves more time to enjoy nature, the surroundings, and the riding itself. I’ll use gears on my fatbike and road bike, and put gears on the Unit X for tours and bikepack trips with other people, but when it comes down to riding for myself, SS for the win!!

2021 Winter Everesting on a Fat Bike

by Dean Anderson

Everesting statistics:

• Started at 11:34 AM, Thursday, 14 January 2021 on a carbon Trek Farley
• Ended at 6:39 PM, Friday, 15 January 2021 on a steel Surly Moonlander
• Total time: 31 hours 5 minutes
• 232 km total
• 36 laps
• 6.4 km per lap
• Elevation gain per lap ~251m
• -7 to -8 degrees Celsius at the coldest
• Moving time: 23:49:42
• Total elevation gain: 9032m
• Max speed 54 km/h
• Freewheel broke 3:40 AM Lap 22
• Started with Kristin’s steel bike at 5:51 AM
• 2 hour 11 minute delay to switch bikes
• $3345 raised of $2000 goal for the St. Albert Food Bank. To donate, please go to https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/everesting-on-a-fatbike/
• Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/4627120334 

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Everesting is a challenge where the same hill is ridden over and over again until the 8849m elevation of Everest is reached. Walking or sleeping is not allowed. 

My first successful attempt was on Signal Mountain in Jasper, AB in July of 2019. With bear spray in tow, I rode my single speed mountain bike 11 laps up the rocky, muddy, trail for 26 hours to complete my first Everest. The Strava link is below for that ride. https://www.strava.com/activities/2568639824

At the start of the Signal Everesting

At the end of the Signal Everesting

The winter following the Everesting on Signal Mountain, I had the bright idea of doing a Winter Everesting. I do most of my training on my trainer in the basement and I think I must have thought of it then while I was all warm watching Netflix. When you are all warm and cozy you forget about how challenging it is outside. 

So, the gears started turning (pun intended). I scoured the segments on Strava searching for a good route. I checked with the locals and the snow on the trail on Signal didn’t get packed much so that was out. I found Pyramid Lake Fire road and it is groomed for cross country skiing. Perfect, I thought! Kristin and I took a test ride in September to check the route and it looked great. We booked a room at the hotel at the bottom of the hill and waited for the date to come. 

We had it all planned. Kristin would set up basecamp at the hotel and take care of me as I rode all night. I knew riding a fat bike would take a long time due to their portliness and slow speed. There was one big factor that could throw a wrench in things and that was the weather. There could be really warm temperatures, really cold temperatures, lots of snow, or any number of other things. Either way, we picked December 18th, 2020 as our date and hoped for the best.

I wanted to raise money for the St. Albert Food Bank. Just as Everesting is a challenge, the Christmas season is a challenging time for those less fortunate. I chose to add Everesting in the snow as a symbol to the added stress of the COVID-19 pandemic during the holiday season. The St. Albert Food Bank provides much needed food for those in need and also provides other services such as counselling and mental health support, so they are a great organization to try to assist. 

With any challenge like Everesting, there are always hurdles and challenges to overcome. This one had a few big ones. 

Big hurdle one: December 18th approached and in Alberta COVID-19 surged. I spoke to some of the locals in Jasper and with Kristin and we decided it was not the best time to do the Everesting. Jasper had a number of cases and their hospital was in lockdown status. There was probably small risk in getting injured but if I did, I did not want to contribute to the strain the hospital was already under. 

So, we rescheduled for January 14th. It was tough to change plans, but not that big of a deal. The hotel had no problem moving our registration date and our schedule was pretty flexible. I was looking forward to going in December so I could stop training though. With the date moved up, I had to get back to training. The taper was over and I was back on the trainer in the basement.

Sweat production machine in the basement

January 14th approached and things were going according to plan. Training was going well and we were ready to go. COVID-19 was diminishing in Jasper and the hospital’s outbreak status was removed. With COVID-19 close contact is discouraged, so we planned on a solitary event. The Pyramid Fire road was in good condition so it was a go!

Pyramid Lake Resort. Basecamp…or so we thought.

Big hurdle two: The night before we were going to travel, we saw a snowfall warning for Jasper. We were going anyway regardless and hoped for the best. We got up early and started travelling to Jasper. I was messaging with the Jasper locals and they said there was a LOT of snow on the ground, so we were concerned about the condition of the Pyramid Lake Fire road. We got to the hotel and tried riding the fire road. No go! A friend in Jasper tried riding earlier and said it was too soft. After sweating and churning the 4.5” tires at 5psi on the first flat part of the trail, I knew there was no way it would work for the challenge. We had to find another hill - and fast!

Big snow at Pyramid! 
Yes, the bike is standing on it’s own because the snow is so deep.

More big snow!

I searched and searched. As I was churning and walking my bike back to the hotel, I was messaging Chris Peel asking advice on routes. We talked and determined the Jasper Skytram Hill would be the best choice. Low traffic and still snowy enough for a Winter Everest. Kristin suggested I test ride it first, so off we went… that night. We got there and it was not plowed, but there were tire tracks, so up I went. I was able to ride it all the way up! Challenging, but doable!

Scouting in the fresh tire tracks

It was decided. That was the hill! 36 laps! Now we had to convert from a hotel basecamp to basecamp in our SUV. We had to get some water carrying capacity and a warm sleeping bag for Kristin. We figured things out and bought a few things in town the next morning and set up camp at the parking lot at the top of the hill. Finally, about 6 hours later than I planned to start, I was off!

Bob Farley and me ready to go!

The first couple of laps went well. I wasn’t able to eat or drink as much as I usually do because of the running around we had to do in town, so I immediately started eating Clif bars and meat sticks (my usual go-to food). The left pogie was for Clif bars and the right was for meat sticks. We prechopped them and tossed them in the bottom of the pogies so I could munch on them when the biking allowed. The road surface was freshly plowed during the night after my test run and had about 2-3cm of packed snow and ice underneath, so that satisfied my desire to do an Everest on snow. The surface was hard, so after the second or third lap I increased my tire pressure to about 10psi.

The view on the way

The view was fantastic! All that snow that recently fell was piled up on the trees and it was a beautiful, sunny day.

The shiny part of the road is ice

Each lap was taking about 40 minutes to complete. I felt good the first 2-3 laps, but then started to feel sore and tired. It takes me a bit to get going sometimes so I wasn’t surprised. A few hours after dark I started to feel a bit better. In Canada at this time of year it gets dark at about 5pm. The long night was a challenge I expected for this attempt. I usually do these long rides or races in summer when the nights are short and for this ride the night was about 16 hours long. 

There were some workers cutting trees around the power lines and they would see me ride by repeatedly. One of them asked if I was Everesting. I said, “Yes,” and he said he heard about the attempt. The next lap we talked a bit more as he casually walked beside me as I slowly climbed the hill. Cool! These little exchanges are a great part of getting out there and doing things. Every lap, Kristin would take my picture, take a picture of my Garmin, and I would check off the box on the poster that my daughter made.

Face photo

Garmin photo. My son and daughter picked the stem cap.

Checking the box

 So, the daytime laps went by and I started the nighttime laps.

Nighttime descends

I had a pretty good light system, but was concerned about the batteries. They are getting a bit old and on some test rides they would just shut off. On the descent I was approaching 50km/hr at times, so I didn’t want them shutting off randomly. I had my headlight as a back up though. Good thing was they worked great! I used the big light on the handlebars and my headlight turned high for descending. After the turn around at the bottom, I would just use my headlight on low. All to conserve battery.

Light system check 

The first part of the night went well and I felt good. I got into a rhythm, determined the line I wanted to ride on the road, and knocked off a bunch of good laps. Kristin had pizza and oatmeal at the top if I wanted some more food and I would alternate with whatever I felt like eating at the time. 

I started naming the pitches on the hill too. When you ride the same hill this many times, you have to keep your mind occupied. At the start there was Rock Wall Hill. It was a moderately steep slope that was about a medium length. Right after Rock Wall Hill came Deception. Deception was a false horizon. Near the end of Rock Wall Hill, in the distance it looked like a flat spot was coming. But it wasn’t flat. It was another hill. Deception. After Deception was a flat spot I could reach the blistering speed of 7km/hr, and that led in to Whistler Hill. It was a short steep pitch with a sign that said “Whistler” at the top of it. Then there was a tiny downhill, a small hill to go past a hostel, a bit of a flat spot, then the big one. Tram Hill. This was the combination of steep and fairly long. The good thing was it ended with my loving wife at the top… and pizza. It helped to break the hill up into pitches and treat them as a “one step at a time” sort of thing.

Crushing the pizza

One issue with riding below freezing is the moisture. As I climbed, I would sweat. As I descended, I would freeze. About 6-8 hours in I started to find my outer layer would freeze by the end of the descent into a coat of armour. I felt the resistance when moving my arms. The sweat was wicking away and freezing the outer layer. Kinda neat!

8:17 pm and a frozen coat but doing good!

The water would freeze when almost empty

About 1am I thought I should change layers so changed out my upper base layer, added a thin fleece, put my wet, synthetic puffy back on, then a fresh outer fleece. The fatigue was starting to hit. I had been riding in the dark for about 8 hours and about 13 hours total. I was getting tired and getting into my usually low point at this time in these kinds of events. I have experienced it before, so expected it and waited for it to pass like it always does. This extra time in the dark was a challenge though.

New warm clothes but feeling low

Since it was the middle of the night traffic basically stopped. During the “daytime” hours (it’s still actually dark for many of these hours), I stayed to the right side of the road in case a car came by. Now I had the freedom to go anywhere. I noted some good ice on the left side of the road so I picked that for quite a while. I had studded tires, so had good traction on the ice. Ice is hard so it provides lower rolling resistance and is a tiny bit easier to ride on. You’ve got to take all you can during these long rides.

If you remember, earlier I was taking about three big hurdles. So far, I have only mentioned two. 

Big hurdle three: About 3:40am I was spinning up Whistler Hill, heard what I thought was my chain skipping, then it felt like my chain came off. I got off my bike and to my horror, the chain was on but the freewheel was not catching. Busted. I called Kristin to come help. She had the tools in the SUV. 

Sometimes in the cold, the pawls in the free hub get stuck open so I wanted to see if that was the case. As I took off the cassette I saw that this hub was not going to be easy to take apart. I’m not that experienced in these and it had a bunch of lock rings I didn’t want to mess around with. Kristin suggested we call Chris Peel. He offered earlier we could call him anytime, even 3am. I doubt he expected it would actually happen. We talked on the phone and we tried squirting some dry lube into the hub in case they were just frozen. No go. He did some research online and found it was probably a blown hub. The wheel was done and there was no way to fix it.

Bob Farley's busted! 

The good thing was we had a solution to this big hurdle. We had Kristin’s bike! When I got the Trek, she inherited my seven-year-old Surly Moonlander. The steel beast. So, we marked our spot on the road and drove back to the hotel to set up her newly christened steed, “Fatniss Everdeen”. I moved over the pogies, various mounts, frame bag, and Garmin to Fatniss and we got back to Whistler Hill. One thing I skipped was the grips. Fatniss had some pretty pink grips that were not compatible with the pogies, so they had to come off. The grips on Bob Farley were fixed firmly in position and I didn’t want to fight with them, so I just didn’t put them on. I guess I would be gripping bare steel bar for the rest of the ride. About two hours later and we were back in business. 

Gripless bars (picture taken the next day)

Fatniss is about 10 pounds heavier and didn’t have the same climbing ratio as Bob Farley, but had some great pink accents to make up the difference. Kristin recently bought some studded Dillingers too, so it was a solid bike to finish this thing off. 14 laps to go! 

This pink rim tape really pops 

Back in action! 

Fatniss and I will tear this up!! 

After the drama of the bike change, it was back to crunching along the icy road in the dark. Some light snow started to fall and I started to feel the sleep monster. If you have never felt this feeling before, it’s an overpowering need to sleep. On bikepacking races whenever I felt this, I would stop and take a 5-10 minute nap to fight the monster off. The problem is, naps are not allowed in Everesting. It was tough. I was having trouble riding in a straight line and had to stop often to try to regain my focus. 

Fighting the sleep monster in the snow 

As I was in a state of delirium, a car approached from behind. He came to see how I was doing, and we chatted. That snapped me out of my delirium and I felt good again.

After a lap of delirium 

Daylight came and that was a big lift that helped keep the sleep monster at bay. I was, however, fondly remembering Bob Farley’s nice big climbing gear. Riding Fatniss was equivalent to one or two speeds higher… or lower… I can never remember which way that goes, but harder, whatever that is. Then I thought to myself, “Don’t be such a wimp! Don’t you usually ride a single speed mountain bike? Stop being a wuss and just grind the hills away like when you ride a single speed!” So that’s what I did. I changed my mentality from focusing on what I did not have to accepting what I did have. I decided to ride the pitches like a single speed. Grind hard on the steep parts, then cruise easy on the flatter parts. Don’t gear up. Use that time as recovery…just like I do when riding single speed. That change in the brain really helped. 

I feel better but it's still hard

So, I started grinding away laps. No longer spinning but grinding, and that’s okay. Every lap I was feeling the sleep monster creeping in on the edges of my eyes and I was doing all I could to fight off the drowsiness. Talking to myself helped. If you were by me at these times, I would sound like a raving lunatic. Talking full voice to myself, singing, playing word games, whatever to keep relatively alert. It was getting a bit warmer too. So far through the ride it floated around -6 to -8C. Now it was getting close to freezing…about -1C. It was nice that it was warmer, but that softened up the surface and gave a bit more rolling resistance. I was also having a hard time dealing with the amount of riding I had to do. Kristin would encourage me by telling me, “There’s only 10 more laps to go!” In my mind though, grinding though the soft snow I was thinking, “Oh man, I have 10 laps to go.” 

Challenging day in the sun 

The sun was beautiful, daylight was great, and it was still a challenge. It was hard, but it was also good! As morning led into afternoon, I had a few random surprise visitors. Word was getting out on social media and people would drive by and shout encouragement from their vehicles. That was just what I needed right now! Kristin was reading comments of people encouraging me on and that helped so much. I did my best to focus on just getting up the next pitch. I also started seeing how fast I could get down to the bottom. Fatniss handled great on the descents! I was picking lines and only braking when I needed to. I didn’t want to crash so I didn’t push it too far, but got some good speeds. Fun! 

Almost there...almost there... 

So, I came to five laps to go. I knew I would finish but was not looking forward to five more times up that hill. Lucky for me a couple of locals surprised me and rode with me the next three laps. It was nice traffic was basically nonexistent so we could spread out and keep our distance from each other while we rode. I don’t think they planned on riding with me that much, but sympathized with my state of mind. Laps 5, 4 and 3 to go went by fast! It was great! It started to get dark and they didn’t have lights so they took off to go home. Those guys saved my bacon big time! Such a good surprise! 

Only a couple laps to go! 

I put on my lights and cranked out the last two laps. I was going pretty slow during these daytime laps and was preparing to ride more in the dark, but riding with those guys the previous three laps kept my pace up, so I only had a bit of dark to ride in. 

Last one!! 

The final descent of Fatniss

I blasted down my last hill and did the final turn around at the bottom and was elated! Only one more time! I started naming off the pitches as I finished them. No more Rock Wall Hill. No more Deception. No more Whistler Hill. No more Tram Hill. I crested the final hill and heard cheering from my wife and a couple of socially distanced locals. I crossed off the final box on the poster and was so happy I was done climbing! 

Please take the picture, this thing weighs 40 pounds!

The Winter Everest was complete! At the time of writing this we raised $3345 for the St. Albert Food Bank! Way past my $2000 goal! Thanks to everyone who donated and thanks for all the positive messages and encouragement along the way! These kinds of events are a mental game and that’s what got me though! So much gratitude to you all!

Some notes on gear:

Bob Farley is a carbon Trek Farley 9.6 with 4.5” studded 27.5” Gnarwhal tubeless tires.

Fatniss Everdeen is a steel Surly Moonlander with 4.6” studded 26” 45NRTH Dillinger tires with tubes.

My boots are simple WindRiver brand that I got on sale years ago at Mark’s Work Warehouse. Nothing special, but they had boot liners and lots of room inside for big socks. I had a thin liner sock, then plastic grocery bags, then medium weight wool socks. My feet started to get cold, so after a few laps I put on some chemical toe warmers, then I put a fresh pair of toe warmers on later in the ride. The plastic bags worked well in preventing the wool socks and boot liners from getting wet.

On my hands I had 45NRTH Cobrafist pogies. They were great! I was able to wear some lightweight gloves so I had enough dexterity to easily feed myself and do other things. I stored food in the pogies too which kept the food from freezing. I put on vinyl gloves as a vapour barrier so my thin gloves did not get wet. That worked too. My hands were warm basically the whole time. At the end of a fast descent they would get a bit cold, but warmed up quick when I started climbing again. One thing I must note about the vinyl gloves: when I took them off at the end of the ride, my hands had a slimy texture and emitted the most horrific smell my body ever produced! It’s a warning to those who try this. It worked well to stay warm but prepare to wash your hands several times to rid yourself of that pungent entity that will linger on your hands for hours.

I changed upper layers once during the ride. I had one long sleeve base layer, a thin fleece (for the second change only), a North Face Thermoball puffy, then a Fleece outer layer. I had a buff and a thin toque (this is what Canadians call a warm beanie hat).

On my lower body I had some Nike Pro synthetic shorts, a thin base layer, then a pair of Columbia shell pants. I felt good “down there” the whole ride. There was no chafing or pain in the saddle, but with the lack of breathability some time was required to air things out. Whew!

I had a frame bag with some basic tools like pump and extra tube. I put a couple of hand warmers in there (just in case) and put my big light battery in there too.

I had two Revelate Feedbags. One held some extra batteries and a power bank for my Garmin. The power bank kept my Garmin at 97% to 100% the whole ride. The other was for my water bottle. I learned from a friend I ride with (thanks Josh!) that if you put your bottle in spout down it would keep it from freezing for a longer time.

I had a Fenix LD22 flashlight strapped to my helmet. This thing is awesome! I have used it for all of my bikepacking races, including Tour Divide and AZT750, and use it consistently for commuting. Bombproof! I had it on a lower power when climbing and put it one notch brighter when descending. On my handlebars I had a big Serfas light. I think it is 1000 lumens at it’s brightest. I was having issues with it stopping without warning during testing but it worked well during this ride. I only used it when descending. It’s getting pretty old so maybe a big light is my next present to myself.

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Winter Everesting: Support Crew Edition 

by Kristin Anderson

This Winter Everesting was nuts, but Dean got it done in 31 hours. The route we scouted out in the summer, Pyramid Fire Road, was unrideable from a winter storm that dumped 6-8" of snow the night before we arrived. We tried riding the 7 km segment as soon as we got there, a day before his scheduled start, but it was mostly hike-a-bike. He plowed through the fresh snow through a combination of riding and mostly walking, while I ran over his bike tracks trying to pack the trail down. The snow was still too deep with no traction. We turned around at the 2.5 km mark and discussed alternatives. He mentioned Jasper SkyTram Road, which I really liked because with SkyTram closed for winter, traffic would be minimal. I suggested we head right over there so he could test it out. The road hadn't been plowed yet, but the test ride was successful. He could still start as planned the next day.

Hike-a-bike

Pyramid Mountain

My cozy hotel basecamp at Pyramid Lake Resort was no longer in play. It was a 20-minute drive away from SkyTram. Logistic considerations for the new basecamp in our vehicle were access to washrooms, the ability to boil water, and recharging electronics. None of this was available nearby. I booked a room at Mount Robson Inn, which was a 9-minute drive away. I could get there and back before Dean completed a lap. On the morning of the big day, we stopped in town to get a water jug and a sleeping bag rated -12C so I could stay warm in the vehicle. Then we headed to the SkyTram parking lot.

There was a worker plowing the parking lot and a couple of other workers going back and forth from the SkyTram building to their vehicles. Dean got his bike set up then descended down the mountain. The rest of the event was pretty routine. I’d record lap start and stop times on my clipboard, calculate the next arrival time and double check elevation gain totals to make sure he was on track. I’d premix electrolyte drinks and coffee, then post his progress on social media. Then I would cover up with the sleeping bag and try to get a few minutes of sleep. About 5 to 10 minutes before his arrival, I’d run the vehicle not only to warm myself up, but also to “warm” the pizza up on the other seat warmer. It was more room temperature than warm, but at least it wasn’t cold. I’d cover up the food and water with blankets to keep them from freezing, and then Dean would arrive. I’d take pictures of him and his bike computer, have him mark the progress poster, and then run to get whatever food or tools he needed. Then he’d take off and the whole thing went on repeat for the next 35 laps.

Seat warmer pizza

I was surprised at how quickly he returned from the 1^st lap – 34 minutes to be exact. He didn’t want any food or drink for the first few laps, so he just turned around and continued. A couple of the workers were getting into a vehicle when the plowing guy came by and told them to watch out for the cyclist on the road. One of the guys joked about what he would get if he “got him” meaning Dean. The plow guy looked away and didn’t reply knowing that I was in my vehicle and could hear them. The guy repeated his joke again to no response, so he got in his vehicle and drove away. Upon their return, I stared at him as he walked back to the SkyTram building.

I was also surprised at the traffic coming by because there was nothing up there. A truck crested into the parking lot, immediately turned around and left. When Dean arrived from that lap, he asked, “Did you see Loni?” I said I saw a truck turn around and he said, “Yeah, that was her. She drove by and said hi and took pictures.” That was awesome! Loni was a big advocate for Dean with the Parks Canada trail groomers for Pyramid Fire Road and it was nice that they got to meet in passing. A few more trucks would come and go just circling the parking lot then leaving. One flashy blue truck came by fishtailing and revving. The guy probably would have pulled donuts if the lot was empty. I made eye contact with that guy too, dreading the fact that he was going to be driving past Dean.

The last of the workers was leaving during one of Dean’s stops. It was the same guy joking earlier. He wished Dean well and took off. The mountain was mostly vacant after that. Around 11 PM I saw lights coming up the hill, so I hopped out of the vehicle running with my phone and the poster, but it wasn’t him. It was a vehicle full of passengers. I ran back to my vehicle and locked the door. I wondered what they were doing there this time of night. The locals all seemed to have the same answer, “It’s probably people smoking weed.” Ugh. High people about to drive by Dean. I took comfort in knowing that he could hear cars coming from a good distance away, could see their lights from even further, and that he would just get off the road completely if necessary. After they left, I had the lot to myself for the night.

My only issue staying in the vehicle was that my feet would get cold. They say diamonds are a girl's best friend, but chemical toe warmers are mine. I recently got big, warm boots for fat biking with extra room for toe warmers if needed. I ended up using more of them than Dean did – 3 packs for me and 2 for him. He changed into some dry layers before starting the second half of his ride. It was startling how wet his clothes were. He had a really good puffer jacket that retains heat in wet conditions. If we ever did this again, I would make sure he had another one to change into. I was too keyed up to sleep. I needed to know how well his new layers worked out with that wet puffer coat. On his return he said he was almost too warm. I was satisfied. After he left, I celebrated that he was warm by getting out some gluten-free tuxedo cake. I laughed to myself. I was eating cake alone in the dark and it wasn’t sad.

Celebratory Night Cake

I charged his phone during laps 20 and 21, and even though it wasn’t fully charged, I insisted he take it for the next one. He put it in his pocket and took off for lap 22. At 3:40 AM, he called and asked me to drive over because he had a mechanical issue. I found him trying to take the cassette off his back wheel. He realized he wasn’t familiar with how to repair this particular model of hub, so I suggested we call Chris Peel. We met Chris at the end of Dean’s 2019 Everesting at Signal Mountain. Days before this winter attempt, Chris, a former bike shop owner, gave us his contact info and insisted that if we needed anything, even if it was 3 in the morning, to give him a call. It was nearly 4 AM and without hesitation he helped us. He told us the freewheel was toast and that if we had a backup bike, we should get it.

Freewheel is toast

We packed up Dean’s broken bike and went back to our first hotel to pick up mine. The night manager rapid fired question after question about my girly Surly bike aka Fatniss Everdeen, as he got it out of storage. Dean transferred his cycling gear onto Fatniss while I boiled water in our room and filled up the thermoses (thermosi?). Then we headed back to SkyTram.

I dropped him off at the point where his bike broke down and he was rolling again at 5:51 AM. I watched to make sure he took off okay, then rolled down the window and shouted, “Woo hoo!” as I passed. 

Dean and Fatniss Everdeen get going

Dean arrived at the top with Fatniss and said it worked well. The lap after that, he seemed a bit more demoralized. My bike doesn’t have the big climbing gears that his Farley does, and he found the climbing harder. He was spinning up the climbs with his bike, but with mine, he had to grind and there were 13 laps to go.

Upon his next arrival, he had come to terms with those big climbing gears being gone. Dean is a singlespeeder, so he decided that he was going to shift back into the singlespeeder mindset where he’s stuck with the gears he’s got, and he’s just going to keep grinding like he would as if he were on a singlespeed. A local drove by cheering for Dean and seeing how he was doing on the new bike. It seemed like a welcome distraction from the grind.

We thought that when the sun came up, he’d feel much better as he always does, but he still had difficulty shaking the sleepiness and the low. I suspected that the extra demands on his body from the cold had taken their toll. We put out a call for encouraging messages in the official Everesting group and the messages came flooding in. I read him messages from his Dean on Wheels Facebook page and updated him on new donations as he ate and drank, and little by little, the low began to lift.

Climbing like a goat

A friendly couple in a car came by and pulled up a few spots away. We rolled our windows down and I asked what brought them by. They said they’d been following Dean’s Everesting on Facebook and wanted to cheer him on before they went skiing. I was so moved by their gesture, fought back tears of gratitude, and tried to keep my voice steady as I replied, “He’s been struggling these last few laps and your cheering is exactly what he needs. Thank you guys so much!” We chatted and then cheered when Dean arrived. He was all smiles and thankful for them cheering him on. They took his picture, wished him well and took off. They really were just what the doctor ordered.

As the laps began to dwindle down, I made more of an effort to sleep. I’d set my alarms for 10 minutes before his expected arrival. Around 3:17 PM I was startled upon waking up to see him cresting into the parking lot. He was 8 minutes early and he wasn’t alone. Someone was coming up the hill with him and taking pictures. What? Confused, I greeted Dean with my usual hello and asked the guy where he came from. He rode up with Dean. Cool. Then he started taking pictures of the both of us. I could barely think. I was so self conscious. I was disheveled in my dirty but warm puffy cycling coat over my long winter coat. I was fixated on the fact that I had recently eaten chocolate cake while I was smiling for the camera. I remembered to take a picture of Dean’s bike computer, but I forgot to take a picture of Dean.

The good thing was that the presence of another cyclist helped Dean pick up the pace. He started off the Everesting with 34 minute laps and by the time he reached 30 laps, he came in at around 45-48 minutes. I was surprised and scrambling when he clocked in at 40 minutes with the other cyclist. Another good thing was that he was going to join Dean for another lap, which meant it would be another fast one. They arrived at the top with yet another cyclist who was out for a training ride. This guy was hardcore! He was riding a bike with skinny, studless tires on the ice. Wow! That lap took 38 minutes.

Another vehicle drove by and they wished Dean well. It was touching that people took time out of their day to support him. It was starting to get dark and the other cyclists didn’t have lights, so they headed home. Safety first! Dean rode the last two laps on his own, but pushed hard and kept up the pace coming in at 38 minutes for both.

Done... or is he?

A couple of socially distanced locals cheered with me as Dean rode in from the final climb. Smiles, congratulations, and thanks went around in addition to disbelief that Dean was going to ride down the mountain to continue his Strava riding streak of 404 days in a row. Even though Dean’s Everesting took place over two days, Strava only counts it as one daily event, so Dean needed to get a 15 minute ride in to continue his daily streak. I picked him up on Highway 93A. We went back to the hotel and celebrated over mediocre burgers and poutine.