Report by Eric
We had nine people come out for the Midnight Sun Run Course Clearing Ride this year.
Included in the mix were an ICE trike and a penny farthing!
The forecast called for hot and sunny with a chance of thunderstorms. Instead, it was cool and rainy leading up to the event. Fortunately, the rain quit before the run. The conditions were great for running. Not bad for biking, too.
As usual, we gathered at the base of the Patty Center steps, where the penny farthing, owned and ridden by Carter, gathered a lot of attention. Steve's ICE trike also got some love.
One notable absence to this ride was long-time Midnight Sun Run (MSR) ride leader Liam Wescott. Liam, a lifelong Fairbanksan and long-time FCC member, died earlier this year after a brief illness. He is sorely missed.
Rep. Ashley Carrick had hoped to join in on the ride, but the second legislative special session messed up those plans. Ah well, duty calls. This legislative session Rep. Carrick and her office wrote a memorial citation for Liam. Rep. Carrick had hoped to present it before the ride start. I brought a copy and summarized it for the group, pointing out that it highlighted Liam's dedication to cycling and leading the Midnight Sun Run ride. See it HERE.
A bit before the race start we migrated to our starting position out in front of the runners. We made sure to get a ways out front, as the lead runners go pretty fast. Carter got on his penny farthing and started riding circles so as to be ready for the start. The rest of us, on our "safety bicycles" (except Steve on his tricycle), got ready without having to ride circles.
Soon we heard the national anthem and then the race countdown. As soon as the gun fired, we were off.
We ended up breaking into two packs, one farther out in front and another closer to the lead runner, Daniel Abramowicz. That worked out well since some people needed to be reminded twice that there was a race happening. The lead riders had to remind a couple of car drivers that runners were coming. The closer group had to remind kids zipping around on bikes and people walking in the middle of the street with their backs to us that runners were coming. Those are all good reminders that we are out there for an important reason.
There were not as many partiers out in the Riverview Subdivision as in the past -- probably due to the cool conditions -- but there were still a lot of spectators.
It's not hard keeping ahead of the lead runner, but you do have to pay attention. Abramowicz, who led the rest of the runners by a lot, occasionally snuck up on us, requiring us to pedal a little harder.
The main tricky part of the ride is going under the Peger Street underpass. We have to make sure we are well ahead of the lead runner because we slow way down going through that underpass and have to go single file. We did all right this year again, but once through we could see that Abramowicz had gained quite a bit on us.
We pulled off the course and stopped right where the runners took a sharp turn into Alaskaland/Pioneer Park. There a course worker there telling runners what to do, but there was no ribbon or other indicators about the sharp turn and some runners seemed confused. One blew right by the door, so we created a barrier with our bikes and pointed people in the right direction. That seemed to help.
We saw several FCC members out running the race, including Lazy-ish Ride leader Dave. He came to talk to us after he finished and said he had gone out a little too fast. Fortunately, he finished without tossing his cookies. He was planning to lead the Lazy-ish Sunday Road Ride the next day, but he figured it would be more on Lazy-ish than usual!
Thanks to everyone who came out to join in on the ride - Evee, Dan, Carter, Steve, Caleb, Rulon, Glenn, and Richard!
2026 pics by Eric and Richard
