ST PAUL, MN (BRAIN)—Minnesotans fancy themselves a hearty lot. But as the winter sun sets on the Twin Cities and temperatures drop into the single digits, even the most staunchly dedicated bicycle commuters take to the frozen streets in their heated four-wheeled machines for the trip home. Not Park Tool design engineer Pierre Ostor.
Although he lives only one mile from Park Tool headquarters, Ostor gets on his bike even in the most severe conditions and rides 11 miles around White Bear Lake before he reaches the comforts of home.
There is a method to Ostor’s madness. As an ultra-marathon athlete with a full time job, he takes every opportunity to get in some training time. Once he is home, it is not unusual for Ostor to don his snowshoes and head back out into the night to tug a sled through the snow for a few hours.
This February Ostor will put his fitness to the ultimate test as he attempts to race his bike in the famed Iditarod Trail Invitational.
The race begins on February 24 and spans 1,100 miles from Knick Lake outside Anchorage, Alaska all the way to Nome via the famed Iditarod Trail. The race is limited to 50 competitors. 2008 will mark Ostor’s fourth attempt at the Iditarod. He has so far been unable to complete the entire distance.
As a warm-up for this year’s race, Ostor will compete in Arrowhead Ultra-Marathon three weeks before Iditarod. He will attempt to traverse the entire 135 snow-covered miles from International Falls, Minnesota to Lake Vermillion on foot. He is also the race organizer for this event.
Ostor says that using Park Tool products in the most severe conditions imaginable keep him mindful of the quality and dependability necessary for truly world-class tools. You can follow his progress during Iditarod at www.parktool.com.
