TRAVELING WITH AN ICON      PART 3

The Arrowhead 135 really becomes challenging after the riders  leave the halfway check point, both psychologically and physically. It  is here that a spectator, such as myself , also begins to realise that  becoming an ICON in a sport does not depend solely upon physical talent  alone.  Anyone can see from Lindsay’s resume as an athlete that he is  very special. I think you all know that he was an Olympian in 1972,  a  Canadian champion in speed skating and in cycling, both on the road and  on the mountain bike, and has a most impressive record as a XC skier and  adventure racer. In the latter two sports, which he took up late in life  , his results in the International Ski Loppet series are remarkable, his  3 day ski race across portions of the Greenland ice cap was incredible,  and his leadership of his team in the 5 day Quebec Ukutak adventure race  resulted in a podium position behind the world class team from Finland,  in weather conditions that were truly horrendous [ -77C windchill   -36C  actual ]

Other qualities are just as important, especially if you look at the  psychological side of successful sporting ICON”S achievements.  If you  analyse Lindsay’s first attempt at the Arrowhead 135 in 2009 you begin  to see a pattern emerging. The 2009 event was particularly tough as  there was a combination of very cold temperatures and about 5 inches of  fresh snow. This made the race roughly 4 to 6 hours slower than this  years. Lindsay is well aware that the colder and tougher the race ,the  better he does !  However , equipment is very important…… Last year  Lindsay’s Pugsley and the safety equipment, food, and water he was  carrying, totalled 70 lbs.   This year he had spent considerable time  and money to reduce the weight of both the bike and  the equipment . He  also realised, by experimentation , that an insulated camelbak, both  hose and pack , would allow him to stop for water and only lose about 30  seconds a stop, or about 30 minutes for the whole race. Last year he had  to carry insulated water bottles in his packs and each stop of about 50  stops in total cost him about 3 minutes , or about 2.5 hours over the  duration of the race.  At this point one begins to see why, when he  discovered that his carefully insulated camelbak bladder lid was still  in Winnipeg, he left the start of the race in a “right snit”. His mood  was again decidedly sour when the replacement water pack encased his  reproductive organs in an evergrowing ice pack, instead of providing  hydration.

It is only when you add to this ignominy the fact that he spent  nearly $2000 on a titanium frame from Alaskan company Fastback,  purchased very light wheels and hubs , a light bottom bracket and crank  set, extra light inner tubes, and ordered special frame fit carrying  bags from Epic, all for a grand total of $4000, only to find, when these  parts arrived, that the titanium bottom bracket threads were faulty on  the new frame. Lindsay had already paid for special overnight shipping  of the parts and despite doing the same when the frame was returned to  the manufacturer it didn’t return to Winnipeg in time for the race.   In  summary he had spent $4000 and could only use the $10 light  weight  inner tubes, and still had to stop and drink out of water bottles. He  was able to use the light frame bags and so had a bike plus equipment  about 10lbs lighter than the previous year.

The sole purpose of including the above information is to  demonstrate very clearly, to anyone reading this, that an Iconic athlete  has to have the mental ability to perform at their best no matter what  setbacks occur prior to an event or in the event itself.

Returning to the race the next I heard of Lindsay ,after he had  departed the halfway checkpoint, was that he rode right past the 3rd  checkpoint as his helmet light had failed and he missed the turn off the  trail.[ reminder to self ..tell him to buy only lithium batteries for  cold weather events] Luckily for our diminutive hero the snowmobile  patrol had seen him just before the check point and called in to give  the officials a heads up. When Lindsay didn’t show  ,the snowmobiler  went on up the trail and found him almost 3 kilometers past the check.  Our hero had no choice but to turn around and head back to the  checkpoint, thus adding another 5or 6 kms to his ride. Its bad enough  when this happens to you when you are in daylight, but when it happens  after  2am in the early hours of the morning after you have ridden over  115 miles of a 135 mile race and are starting to look like road kill,  feel like road kill, and smell like road kill , even ICONS can be a tad  tetchy !

The last 20 miles of the race from the final check point to the  finishing line are relatively flat and Lindsay completed the race  without further incident, having ridden most of the race entirely on his  own. For more”in race” detail you will have to wait for the Icon himself  to relate his version of the race.

This story doesn’t quite end with the completion of the race , as  our Iconic hero, the ever happy hobbit, or Sea Level as his friend  Murray Crundwell used to call him, had been telling anyone who would  listen, that he intended to have a brief rest at the finish and then get  back on his bike and ride back to International Falls, entirely  unsupported .  He later decided to ride back to the halfway check point  ,then turn around and ride back to the finish for a second time. This  latter idea made better sense as the runners would still be on the  course ,together with the snowmobile and first aid patrol. Privately I  believed this was unlikely to happen as I knew Lindsay well enough that  I was sure he would at some point let his race instincts take over and  hammer as hard as he could . From the halfway point on his time checks  suggest that  indeed he did .

Much to my surprise, after 3.5 hours of resting on the bed he  “rose from the dead ” girded up his loins , and headed purposefully for  the two other loves of his life after Lynne and racing, the toilet and  food. Two sudoku’s later he emerged from the toilet and made a bee-line  for the restaurant{ Note to self Book a room with 2 toilets when sharing  with Lindsay] This restaurant would now be out of business if it had had  an “all you can eat” menu.

So, one hour later , suitably empty at one end and suitably full at  the other, he headed back out onto the trail for a further 10 hours of  riding !

Happenings on this solo endeavour also add to the reasons why some  top athletes are merely top athletes , whilst others move onwards and  upward to ICONIC stature. On his way back he passed many other cyclists  and the top runners ,encouraging them with a few well chosen words,  whilst quietly and modestly, as is his way, letting them know that he  was just putting in a few extra miles to make up for the travelling days  to the race and back, as well as getting a better feel of what it will  be like when he tackles the Iditabike in 2012. [ 350 miles rather than  the arrowhead's 135 miles]  Obviously this quiet encouragement had  worked as I overheard a rider , Phil, I think his name was, telling his  wife what a wonderful person Lindsay was, and what an honour it had been  to ride with Lindsay for a short while.

I have to admit, all be it somewhat reluctantly, that Phil was  right , Lindsay treated his factotum , dogsbody, batman, or whatever ,  with just the same quiet respect and made that misfit feel pretty good  too. In fact I think that it is this characteristic that is required to  reach Iconic stature.

Lindsay is by no means the only Icon in the race, Dave Pramann  the  course record holder, and Charlie Farrow,  absolutely the most handsome  guy in the race, according to a poll conducted by the checkpoint  volounteers[ please forgive the spelling of the names]  are two other  cyclists who are clearly Icons in both this event and amongst the ultra  cycling fraternity.

Well so ends this brief description of a 24 hour period in the life  of one Lindsay Gauld ! A guy who shows up at a very tough ultra distance  cycling event held in the “Icebox of the Nation” at the tender age of 61  going on 83, old enough to be the father of 70% of the racers,  grandfather of 10% , and demonstrably capable of beating  90% of the field.

Andy