Wheels on Ice reveals Alaska's key role in bicycling both as a mode of travel and as an endurance sport, as well as its special allure for those seeking the proverbial struggle against nature. This collection opens with the first bicycle boom and the advent of the safety bicycle in the late 1800s, at approximately the same time gold was discovered in Alaska and the Yukon Territory. As bicycles evolved, Alaskans were among the first to innovate: the fatbike, for example, evolved from the mountain bike in the late 1980s into a wider-framed bike with fatter tires, making snow biking more accessible and giving birth to the Iditabike race. More recently, ultra-endurance cyclist Lael Wilcox rode all the major roads in the state, totaling more than 4,500 miles of gravel and pavement. Jessica Cherry and Frank Soos's diverse group of stories covers cycling both past and present. From riders commuting in every kind of weather to those seeking long-distance adventure in the most remote sections of the United States, these stories will inspire cyclists to ride into their own stories in Alaska and beyond.
Jessica Cherry is a geoscientist, writer, aerial photographer, and commercial airplane pilot living in Anchorage, Alaska. She writes a literary column for the alternative weekly Anchorage Press. Frank Soos (1950-2021) is the author of Unpleasantries: Considerations of Difficult Questions, Bamboo Fly Rod Suite, and Early Yet and coauthor of Double Moon: Constructions and Conversations. He was a professor emeritus of English at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
List of Illustrations Preface Jessica Cherry Introduction Frank Soos Part 1. Bicycling in Alaska, 1898-1908 Introduction Terrence Cole From Dawson to Nome on a Bicycle Edward R. Jesson A Broken Chain and a Busted Pedal: Max Hirschberg's 1900 Bicycle Ride to Nome Max Hirschberg Cycling the Arctic: Levie's Bicycle Ride from Point Barrow to Nome H. B. Levie Part 2. New Wheels, 1980s-2000 Introduction Jessica Cherry and Frank Soos Iditabike, 1987 Charlie Kelly Iditasport Extreme: 350 Miles Rocky Reifenstuhl Iditasport, 1991 Gail Koepf Hellbikes on Ice Roman Dial Biking the Haul Road Dan Buettner Pribilofs by Bike, 1994 Bill Sherwonit Rough-Terrain Unicycling, 1997 Michael Finkel Part 3. Wheels Now, 2001-2021 Introduction Jessica Cherry The Wind Grooms Our Trails Daniel Smith Skagway to Nome Jeff Oatley The Government Sign Corinna Cook Last Ride of the Season David A. James A Winter Bike Commute Martha Amore The Bike Thief Don Rearden The Killer Hill Andromeda Romano-Lax Cryo-Cave! An Ode to Indoor Training in Alaska Eric Flanders The Iditarod Trail and Me Clinton Hodges III That One Magnetek Time I Jumped Over Five Cars M. C. MoHagani Magnetek When There's No One Left to Fight Rachael Kvapil The Books I Carried Alys Culhane Going Long, Going Solo Corrine Leistikow Physical Education Jessica Cherry There Is No Tomorrow BjOrn Olson A Positively Memorable Mountain Bike Ride(ish) Eric Troyer Back in Alaska to Share the Story of the Roads Lael Wilcox Nulato Hills: Biking Musk Ox Trails in Western Alaska Luc Mehl Growing Old with My Bicycle Kathleen McCoy The Magic Bus on Stampede Trail Tom Moran Tell 'Em about It: An Alaska Cyclist at Large Earl Peterson Acknowledgments Source Acknowledgments Contributors
"This book is an important contribution to understanding how northerners and southerners alike have engaged with the Alaskan environment. This book will be of interest to northern environmental historians as well as northern cycling enthusiasts."-Glenn Iceton, H-Environment "However often you ride bikes, you'll find something beautiful in this 320-page collection. You'll probably also find something inspiring. I certainly did, and when I finished reading, I pulled on my boots and went for a long ride."-John Messick, bikepacking.com "Ever since bicycles were invented, intrepid Alaskans have set out through wilderness, over mountains, along frozen rivers, over thousands of miles of trails. This spirited and lively collection gives us history, starting in 1900, with Ed Jesson's thousand-mile trip Dawson to Nome. We witness the development of mountain bikes and fatbikes, of pogies and GPS systems. We watch a Tuesday evening cycling club get bogged down, literally, so their ride lasts until the wee hours. From everyday bike commutes to weeks-long wilderness rides, Alaskans continue to push the pedals and their own limits. This book will delight hardcore riders, weekend riders, and readers who'll enjoy vicariously these wild adventures on wheels."-Peggy Shumaker, author of Just Breathe Normally "Thrilling! This entertaining and thoughtful anthology captures the joys and adventures of bicycling in Alaska. From urban rides in Anchorage to perilous winter journeys above the Arctic circle, and from the earliest bicycles brought to Alaska during the 1890s Gold Rush to contemporary rides on fatbikes taken to help cope with our current pandemic, herein is a wide-ranging selection of essays filled with surprises at every turn. Readers will experience not only long pedals through the landscapes and wildlife of this most beautiful state but also the personal introspection that only a good ride can inspire. At turns humorous, inspiring, and thought-provoking, and all so beautifully written. It'll make you want to ride, even at forty below."-Daryl Farmer, author of Bicycling beyond the Divide
