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Fed up with yet another storm? The first of this year's dot watching events could hardly be more different:
The Atlas Mountain Race - https://amr2020.maprogress.com/
Rovaniemi 300 - http://trackleaders.com/rovaniemi20f.php (orange dots are fat bikers, red ones are skiers, blue is for runners)
Quite a few Brits in both.
Bikepacking.com have done one of their "Rigs of the ..." articles - https://bikepacking.com/bikes/2020-atlas-mountain-race-rigs/
My mate is in Rovaniemi on a fat bike. Weather looks better there...
Who dat den?
I know a few of the riders on the 300. Ian Barrington and Will Robertson among the Brits plus a few continentals. Looks like it's a very fast course this year, similar to or a bit faster than 2017 when apart from the bits named as "Pain in the ass" 1 & 2, it was all rideable. Ian's just arrived at CP6 in a little over 6hrs - I took 6hr25 to there in 2017 and 9hr31 last year. Given that they have more kit than those riding the 150 (same route until the 149.5km mark) that's good going.
I notice in the rules for the 300 - https://www.rovaniemi150.com/roi300/rules/ - that they are allowed a drop bag of unlimited size and weight which will be left at the 150km mark so there's a possibility that they are riding fairly lightly laden.
Would love to do the rovaniemi event
@eskay - it's good fun. It's in no way technical, the hardest bits would be a blue at a trail centre, and there's maybe 3km of that. Snow conditions make the most difference. In 2017 I finished in 13hrs, last year I finished in 20hrs despite knowing more about how to ride in snow.
You can enter the 66km with no winter experience but for the 150km you need to show that you've done something comparable - it's not about riding a bike it's about being able to handle yourself in extreme conditions. I used my mountaineering background for example.
It's also expensive! Then again everything in the far north is expensive. Minimum of five days really, budget £1500 or so: £300 for flights, inc bike; £300 for the race fee; £500 for accommodation; £200 for food & beer.
When we first went we went for a week so we weren't rushing and could get used to riding on snow, etc. We also took advantage of good weather and went for a bivy above the Arctic Circle in a laavu, a sort of community supported lean-to with firepit and pre-chopped firewood. For the 150 there's a mandatory kit list so we thought we might as well use it!
I've got interest in a couple of the AMR dots, Michael Collins and Mitch Jones. Feeling a bit jealous as I watch them suffering through the desert heat 😁
Camping and Survival Sportives are getting expensive these days ; )
Camping and Survival Sportives are getting expensive these days ; )
Yeah, I applied and had a place this year... then priced the rest of it up, including kit that I didn't already have, and it turned out I'd have been spending more than the cost of a family holiday!
No way was I getting that signed off.
Camping and Survival Sportives are getting expensive these days ; )
Very true. I had most of the kit from my climbing days. What I didn't have was a fat bike - slight problem given that it's a fat bike race 😂 Ended up buying Ian Barrington's Puffin. Then my wife decided she wanted go as well so that was another bike to buy.
Looking around I think the cheapest sleeping bag that's on the "approved list" is the Alpkit one at circa £400. Then there's the kit that whilst not mandatory is advisable - pogies for instance. That's another £100 or so. By the time you've finished the bike's the cheap bit. Of course if you know a mountaineer then borrowing from them is probably the best way to dip your toe in the water.
Looks like the leader is about to leave the road section and do what feels like the remote bit of the 150km course. The next two have left the hut at Kuusilampi and are about to start a long and fast descent on fire-roads - I got really cold on that bit three years ago as I didn't realise it was going to be that fast. Last year you had to push parts of it.
^ just kidding really, even AMR and similar event entry fees are high. The experiences make anything like that worthwhile. Anyway.. digressions. Will look out for the Rov 150 pics.