Our Alaska Fatbassador, Travis Hubbard, sent us this Race Report from the 2016 Icy River Rampage in Eagle River, AK. Thanks, Travis!
The Icy River Rampage was held on Sunday February 21, 2016 in Eagle River, AK. The race is a fund raiser for the Eagle River Nature Center and is put on by The Friends of the Eagle River Nature Center, sponsored by Chain Reaction Cycles, and supported by Odd Man Rush Brewing and Trek Store of Anchorage.
The race was originally going to be held on February 6th at the Nature Center proper at the upper east end of the valley but was postponed due to open sections of river and long sections of overflow on the river portion of the trail. The race was moved down valley to the Lower Eagle River trail and river.
Mother Nature really threw the book at this race! The day before the race the NWS issued a winter storm warning for southcentral Alaska, the warning advised of 2 to7 inches of snow expected at lower elevations and 15 to 30 inches of snow at higher elevations. The warning also stated that all precipitation could fall as rain at lower elevations. As our luck would have it, precipitation came primarily as rain. When I left my house in Anchorage it wasn’t raining, there were a couple inches of slush on the road. Halfway to Eagle River it started pouring rain and the road surface turned to pack ice with water on top. It was a 4-wheel drive, 25 mph-type of white knuckle drive. The wind started cranking up also, I seriously questioned my gear selection as I pulled into the Briggs Bridge Day Use Area.
51 racers showed up to brave the course and raging weather. Racers could ride either one lap for 9 miles or two laps for 18 miles.
Race on!
The course initially took racers up valley on slush covered trail for a few miles. When racers first arrived at Eagle River they were welcomed by an 8 foot steep cut bank that dropped down to the river. All racers were required to get off their bikes and walk/butt slide down the bank. Two Nature Center volunteers were stationed here to get bikes down the glare ice covered embankment.
From here racers rode on the river downstream. Below are some of my favorite pics from the race. Mike Jipping shared some of his photos with me, thanks for sending Mike!
Matt Tabinor
Doug Schutte
Sheryl Loan
Amber Bethe with Mellie Park hot on her heels!
Will Ross followed closely by John Sindell.
Cristal Hibbard on river.
Cristal Hibbard crossing the finish line to take 1st place in the Female 1 Lap category.
Race Results:
Female – 2 Lap
1st – Amber Bethe
2nd – Sheryl Loan
3rd – Rose Theisen
4th – Mellie Park
5th – Suzanne Hosmanek
Female – 1 Lap
1st – Cristal Hibbard
2nd – Dora Krenzelok
3rd – Mesa Jetton
4th – Arianne Morrison
5th – Jesicca Adema
Male – 2 Lap
1st – Will Ross
2nd – Brian Bonney
3rd – Tom Reichel
4th – John Sindell
5th – Fred West
Male – 1 Lap
1st – James Howery
2nd – Alex Wing
3rd – Leonard Fancher
4th – Will Corbridge
5th- Luke Kiskaddon
Sione Lomu crosses the finish line.
Sione took the time to show me his tricked out Framed. He calls it “Hulk” and it’s easy to see why! The custom paint job is trick and even glows in the dark.
Racers were greeted by a warm fire and plenty of good food and beer at the finish! The race was a well run event, volunteers were scattered all over the course to assist racers and the course was well marked to include warning signs at sketchy sections. A Green Egg smoker was on site cranking out gourmet dogs for the wet and weary. The one thing you couldn’t miss was the smiles, despite the weather and course conditions. It just had that awesome fun factor, a great group of Alaskans getting out and having a blast on their Fat-Bikes!
Below are links to Colin Tyler Photography. Colin took some great photos, check them out!
http://www.colintyler.com/news/2016/2/21/2016-icy-river-rampage
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.890701257714044.1073741873.650362505081255&type=3
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