When the going gets weird . . .

. . . the weird go nocturnal. After Sunday’s Frigid Bits crit, race impresario Carlos Lozano informed us that the race is going dark in February. Time to break out your race jammies and fuzzy slippers. Races will start at 7 p.m. on the 11th and 25th.

Sunday’s race attracted a record 12 riders for the start in sunny, 8-degree weather, including “Crazy Ed” Witterholt, who showed up on his Bianchi track bike. Yeah, that’s what I said. Track bike. Skinny tires and all. No shifters, no brakes, no studs. I’d add “no brains,” but from the way he was zooming around the course it was obvious he knew what he was doing.

When you see a guy riding a skinny-tire fixie on a frozen lake in Alaska in January, you just have to remember what your momma taught you about loony people you see on the street: avoid eye contact, and keep moving. Them's be scary people.

Christopher Souser showed up to photograph the whole scene, which is why you see the picture on this post and can see his other shots online. Thanks Christopher, because I never even took my camera out of my truck.

We also had a visit from Jill and Geoff, who were on their way back to Homer after a Saturday training ride on the Susitna 100 course. They’re lookin’ lean and mean with about three weeks to go before their torture-fest begins. It was cool to meet a fellow Alaska bike blogger after reading her stuff for the past few months.

Here are the final results:

5 Miles
(1) Stan Steck 28:25 ; (2) Ken Smith 30:39

10 Miles
(1) Rob German 50:42; (2) Tim Woody 52:28 ; (3) Super Stud Daveit 55:44 ;
(4) Robert Gransberg 59:45.

15 Miles
(1) Tom Peichel 1:01:25 ; (2) Joe "Froze His Bit" Weinberger 1:01:28 ;
(3) Phil Hunter 1:06:25 ; (4) Ed Witterholt 1:07:22.