Fat Biking Alaska: Chasing Spring at 63

0:00What's up? I'm Cory with the story, and these are your headlines from Anchorage News today. A writer in Fairbanks, Alaska, is gearing up for a big adventure on March 21st, his 63rd birthday. Ned Rosel and his friend Force Wagner plan to pedal fat bikes all the way from Fairbanks to gnome on the sewer peninsula. These bikes have super-wide tires perfect for floating over packed snow trails, aiming for an average speed of about 6 miles per hour. Rosel has dragged on with temperatures dipping to 30 below zero, and no real thought since last Halloween. The duo needs firm snow machine trails to make it work, as spat biking shines on groom paths, but crawls otherwise. Rosel mentions how riders top out around 10 miles per hour on a good day. This trip echoes one Rosel did 25 years ago, with Andy Sterns, skiing the historic serum run route from the Nana to gnome. That journey took 27 days on short skateskies, with Rosel sending weekly updates back home. Back then, they hauled everything on their backs.

1:01Now older and short on training miles due to brutal February storms, Rosel draws inspiration from late adventurer Dick Griffith, who raced at age, 81, and called his 60s, the Prime of Life. Preparation has been tough with obliterated trails and endless cold. Still, with the promising forecast ahead, Rosel is lacing up and hitting the pedals ready to chase spring across Alaska's frozen north.