Bob Fourney, solo RAAM winner ('90 and '91), set a new winter trans-Alaska record of 14 days 7 hours 40 minutes, taking 19 hours off of Mike Curriak's Iditasport Impossible time of 15 days 2 hours.

Fourney chose a different route than Curriak, thinking that a new route would be faster. He followed the same route as the 1925 serum run when brave Alaskans carried life saving diphtheria serum from Anchorage to Nome. Fourney's route was 1049 miles. From Anchorage he rode 306 miles on the Parks Highway (paved) to Nenana. He then travelled on the Tanana River to the town of Tanana and down the Yukon River 400 miles to Kaltag. He then went 90 miles west to the Bering Sea town of Unalakleet, along the coast and over the sea ice across Norton Sound to Koyuk and then to Nome

Fourney rode an average of 18 hours a day with many 10 minute breaks. He left Anchorage at 10 p.m. to avoid traffic and rode through the first night. Most nights he slept in beds when people would offer hospitality. Two nights he slept in cabins with fires he was able to get going.

Ready to ride!

On the trail from Tanana to Ruby (125 miles) he rode through the night because he missed the cabin that he'd intended to stay at and by the time he realized my mistake he didn't want to ride back. He was in a hurry to get to Ruby because he wanted to meet up with the Iditasport riders who started 2 1/2 days ahead of him. As it turned out he was over a day ahead of Curiak at this point. He received updates from passing snowmachiners occasionally and Curiak got updates on Fourney's progress as well. In effect they pushed each other. Fourney said that "The hardest part was getting out of bed daily."

Fourney rode through the final night to finish in Nome at 5:50 am. "It was pretty easy considering the alternatives (laying down and freezing) - at that point I had no sleeping bag, bivy sack or ground pad. "

He rode almost the entire distance. He had to walk some of the steeper hills and about a mile of windblown trail on the Yukon river. He also had a 20 mile section of alternating walking and riding on the sea ice on Norton Sound

The weather was magnificent for Alaska, with sunshine, tailwinds and mild temperatures. It was -20 one morning on the Yukon. Along the coast there were winds up to 50 mph. "At 0 that's awfully cold, but I didn't frostbite any part of my body. "

On the trek from the Yukon to the coast at midnight a passing snowmachine warned him that there was a pack of hungry wolves on the trail ahead. Not wanting to lose time, Fourney continued on. "With scenes of 'when animals attack' playing in my head I wondered if I could get my front wheel off quick enough to use as a shield. As I rode along I started to see the huge tracks. I kept speeding up hoping to reach the Tripod Flats Cabin before they could chow on my biker butt. I kept looking back into the darkness to see the green reflections of their eyes. Once I rode off the trail and piled into the deep snow, landing under my bike and its heavy load. Laying on my back staring up at the northern lights I kicked the bike back up onto the trail to free myself from the deep snow. In the struggle my headlight went dead, I was afraid I had broken the wire from the battery pack to the headlamp. I was in total darkness, the northern lights danced in the North and the stars were vivid. The wind was blowing 20 mph and I was very cold from the snow that had gotten all over my warm body and melted.

"I had to fix the light to continue - waiting till the morning was not an option since I only had a bivy sack. I found my pinch light in my jersey pocket and decided to replace the batteries first, hoping that would be the problem. I took the 4 D cell batteries out of the oversize Tupperware container bolted into my main triangle of the bike. I dumped the used ones out onto the trail and used the pinch light to identify the position that the new batteries had to be aligned. I remember hoping that I didn't burn out the bulb because they are a bear to change out in these conditions. By now I was sure the wolves were aware of my situation and busy plotting their dinner. When the last battery snapped into place the halogen light lit up like the sun PURE RELIEF. Tripod Flats cabin was less than a half mile down the trail. I arrived at 4 a.m. and started a raging fire in the stove, it was 75 degrees in there in 20 minutes. I cooked dinner and went to sleep feeling that I had truly dodged a bullet, I was thankful to be alive. The next day Ranger Dave at the Old Woman cabin informed me that there has never been a documented wolf attack on a human in Alaska. I felt like a Chechacko (Eskimo for newcomer or greenhorn)."

Is dinner ready?

Fourney's supplies were mailed to several points along the trail. He sent out energy drink, a variety of light high-calorie foods, chemical heater packs and batteries. There were 15 villages along the 750 miles of off road trail where he could purchased supplies. "It's amazing how good Hostess fruit pies and the little donuts taste on the trail with the fine French Roast coffee I made regularly." He was invited to eat a meal anywhere he encountered people. "I could put it away. I was blown away by the amazing meals I found along the trail. The elk meatloaf the schoolteachers prepared in Elim with mashed potatoes and veggies with salmon, I was so stuffed for the trip over Little McKinley I was kicking my stomach with each pedal stroke, but I was very hungry by the time I arrived in Golovin at 4 a.m."

Fourney's only mechanical problems were tires. The rough snow was very abrasive to the sidewalls, slits developed and he had countless flats. He sewed up the bigger slits with dental floss (very strong and waterproof, an old Alaskan trick) and glued bits of old tube to the smaller slits. His sponsor Northern Air Cargo delivered new tires to Unalakleet and things went better after that.

Fourney has had a nearly 20 year ultra cycling career, including nine Iditasport runs. He spent several winters in Alaska training sled dogs for Joe Redington and ran several 200 and 300 mile Iditarod Qualifiers with sled dog teams. This winter he tried to maintain his late summer/fal fitnessl. He rode to New Mexico for a week long training camp with BMB riders and then rode 300 miles of the way home in a 24 hour ride. He also bulked up his fat reserves.