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Norwil

Pat's Call from the Yukon
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I'm in Nome, from Safety to Nome it is 22 miles — half of which is on a road, which is kind of half a road because it's usually windblown and drifted in. Which, of course, it was, but it all worked out good. Riding down the front streets, down the shoot, just like the dog teams do was pretty fun. Unfortunately, this is the biggest town I've been in since I started this race 17 days ago, and so riding into Nome on the road, pretty much flattened by ski of any P-tex that was left on it. I was riding on a piece of wood, or balsa wood actually, into Nome down Front Street and to the end. So 16 days, 20-some odd hours later, 4th place is secured. It feels good.

"This race is not for the weak of heart, not to say that my heart wasn't weak — my heart was weak a lot of this trip...."

Safety to Nome was just like any other day: long and just pretty uneventful. Soft snow, hard snow, sunny, overcast, you know you just kind of see it all. Four hours, I think it took me to go 20 miles. I think this race is really about patience. It is just dealing with whatever comes at you. I really think — I hope — I learned to be a little more patient. Coming into Nome, I think I let air our of my tires four times and put air in four times and it seemed like every time I adjusted my air pressure for the trail conditions the trail conditions changed. It's kind of been that way this whole trip. It is like everything changes moment by moment and you look off to the horizon and you can't see where you're going, and you know you aren't going to turn around and go back — just total commitment.

This race is not for the weak of heart, not to say that my heart wasn't weak — my heart was weak a lot of this trip. There were so many moments of just complete overwhelming frustrations: yelling at nobody in particular and everything that's bugging me at the moment. It was an emotional rollercoaster ride that is over. I feel super satisfied that I was able to do it and I had the opportunity to do it. And I definitely found my limits. Riding to Nome is as far as I can go, I couldn't go another pedal more. When I stopped riding under the 'Welcome to Nome' sign I was done. I pushed my bike to the hotel and that is where it sits right now and I'm going to bed.

—Pat Norwil, MountainZone.com Correspondent

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