FAIRBANKS -- As the defending champion, Fairbanks cyclist Jeff Oatley isn't worried about his competition in the Iditarod Invitational, the world's longest human-powered winter race that begins Sunday in Knik.
Nor is he concerned about the condition of the 350-mile section of the Iditarod Trail the race follows through the Alaska Range from Knik to McGrath.
"It doesn't really matter," a philosophical Oatley said. "Whatever happens happens."
He might sound like a human bumper sticker, but Oatley has run the Invitational enough times -- this is his sixth race -- to know anything can happen in an event that can pit participants against some of the harshest conditions Alaska has to offer.
Last year, for example, Oatley and several other cyclists had to push their bikes and posthole their way through a blizzard and waist-deep snow in Rainy Pass. They were the worst conditions Oatley has ever faced, but he persevered through the storm and additional adversity farther up the trail to win by more than 10 hours. It took him a little more than five days.
It was a breakthrough win for Oatley, who had finished everywhere from second to sixth in his previous five races.
This year, Oatley, a 40-year-old engineer who works for the Cold Climate Housing Research Center at UAF, is hoping for better conditions on the south side of the Alaska Range, which could allow him to shave a day or two off last year's winning time.
Oatley's main competition figures to come from former champ Peter Basinger of Anchorage; last year's runner-up, Jay Petervary of Wyoming, who will continue on to Nome after reaching McGrath; and Dave Pramann of Minneapolis.
Thirteen Alaskans are entered.
The field is limited to 50 and was full months ago. Eight countries are represented by 30 cyclists, 18 walkers and two skiers.
Racers in the recent Iron Dog snowmachine race reported little or no snow on the Farewell Burn, a desolate 90-mile stretch after racers have crossed the Alaska Range, suggesting a replay of the 2007 race, when cyclists had to push their bikes most of the way across the snowless Burn.
"As long as it's ridable, even if it's slow, that's fine," Oatley said. "Walking on tussocks is less fun."
Oatley hopes the wet snow and rain that fell on the south side of the Alaska Range last week will freeze by the time the race starts. If it does, cyclists could travel on a veritable highway.
"All that soft snow and melting, if it freezes hard that's about as good as it gets on a bike," Oatley said. "If it doesn't freeze hard, that's when it gets miserable."
Oatley will share the trail with his mentor, the relentless Rocky Reifenstuhl, who is 57 and has been a top contender in the Invitational for years. Six years ago, Reifenstuhl took Oatley under his wing and taught him the finer points of extreme winter racing.
"I was the person who taught him how to sleep on his bike," Reifenstuhl said.
Reifenstuhl said "serious medical issues" will prevent him from cranking it up like he usually does this year. His primary goal is to finish.
"My goal is to keep a smile on my face and forget about racing," he said, without elaborating on his medical problems. "I'm going to try and finish the race. I'm hoping to do it in seven days."
After competing in extreme winter races for decades, he isn't ready to give up racing. He just returned from a 600-mile bike tour in South America.
"This has been part of my life for 23 years," he said. "It's hard for me not to be a participant in life."
That said, Reifenstuhl is picking Oatley to win.
"I've got my money on Jeff," he said. "He's got a new bike. He's got the proper training. He's mentally tough. He knows what may be required to win.
"... He's learned from the old man and now he's way past the old man."
By TIM MOWRY
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner