Winter ride to test pedal power

PALMER — Billy Koitzsch is a veteran of winter extreme racing. He’s braved the Ultrasport— a race that sends competitors on bike, ski or foot — up the Iditarod Trail through the heart of winter. And as challenging as that may sound, Koitzsch may have found another event that may even be more extreme.

Koitzsch has teamed with Zack Steer of Sheep Mountain Lodge to create the Sheep Mountain 150 Winter Bike Race, which is slated to start Dec. 11 at Sheep Mountain Lodge.

While races such as the Ultrasport and Iditarod Invitational send competitors across miles — and miles and miles — of frozen, flat ground. The Sheep Mountain 150 has something different to offer — elevation.

“They don’t know what they got themselves into,” Steer joked Thursday afternoon by phone from the Sheep Mountain Lodge.

Steer, a musher who organizes the annual Sheep Mountain 150 Sled Dog Race, laughed as he said there are two type of trails in the mountain range beyond Sheep Mountain Lodge.

“Up and down,” he said.

And that’s just more challenge for the 50 riders who have signed up for the inaugural Sheep Mountain bike race.

Koitzsch said he wanted to create the race to add to an extreme sports schedule that already includes events such as the Iditarod Invitational and the Susitna 100, which leads riders, skiers and runners from Point MacKenzie to the Yentna River each February.

“It’s great training for everyone,” Koitzsch said.

While those aforementioned events includes classes for competitors in three different categories, the Sheep Mountain 150 is a bike-only event.

“It’s just too hard to have a multi-sport,” Koitzsch said.

Temperatures could approach 40 below, which would be brutal for the runners, and terrain is just too tough for skiers, Koitzsch said. But it’s manageable for the riders, regardless of conditions.

Competitors will leave Sheep Mountain Lodge Dec. 11 at 9 a.m. and head across the trying terrain to the Eureka Lodge checkpoint. The first leg between Sheep Mountain and Eureka is about 50 miles. A second leg, will lead participants in a loop following the Little Nelchina River and Old Man Creek back to Eureka Lodge. The final leg is the 50 miles of trail between Eureka and Sheep Mountain.

Koitzsch said organizers have also created a race of the 100-mile variety. Once competitors reach Eureka Lodge after the first leg, Koitzsch said, they can opt to continue on the 150-mile course or turn back to Sheep Mountain to try to complete 100 miles.

Koitzsch said there’s a 39-hour completion time, which means competitors will have to cover each leg in about 13 hours.

Just like the other winter extreme races, competitors in the Sheep Mountain 150 are required to carry a specific list of survival gear. That list includes items such as a headlamp, sleeping bag rated to at least 20 below, a tent, stove and fuel and cooking pot.

Koitzsch said organizers have also instituted a strict prequalifier rule. Each competitor must have previous experience in a long-distance winter race.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.