Scott Jensen admits he was nervous going into this year's Arrowhead 135 winter race in northeast Minnesota, given all the hoopla about the dreaded polar vortex and forecast record cold temperatures.
That's understandable when you're gearing up for a grueling, 135-mile wilderness ride on a fat-tire bike from International Falls to Tower, Minn.
"It was sort of a sense of foreboding," said Jensen, 57, a Grand Forks attorney and fat-tire bike enthusiast. "We woke up Sunday morning up in International Falls, it was 44 below, and my car wouldn't start."
Sleep was hard to come by Sunday night, Jensen says, and his mind was racing in the hours leading up to the race, which got underway at 7 a.m. Monday, Jan. 28, in International Falls. Competitors who didn't drop out along the way had to cross the finish line at Fortune Bay Casino near Tower by 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30.
"I was more nervous this year," he said. "I'm a little old to be doing this again. That's all I could think about."
Riding a Salsa Beargrease fat bike, Jensen finished the race at 8 a.m. Tuesday with a time of 25 hours, 50 minutes, good enough for 25th place. This was his seventh Arrowhead, which is open to competitors on bike, skis and on foot.
A total of 178 participants in the three categories started the race, and 52 finished _ 39 bike riders and 13 of the 65 runners who entered.
Among other area participants competing on bike, Chuck Lindner, 47, of Warroad, Minn., finished 7th with a time of 19 hours, 8 minutes; Pat Adrian, 48, of Roseau, Minn., placed 9th with a time of 19 hours, 10 minutes; and Ryan Haug, 47, of Fargo placed 10th with a time of 19 hours and 22 minutes.
"Our local people all finished and did well," Jensen said.
