In 2024 Amanda Harvey completed a 5-year journey that started at the St Croix 40 Winter Ultra and led to completing the 350 mile Iditarod Trail Invitational in Alaska. Hear her story of getting into winter ultras and the trial and error that lead to completing one of the world's hardest endurance events.
Follow Amanda Harvey on Instagram. Interview and text by Jamison Swift of the St. Croix 40.
Long distance winter biking events are not the first thing that comes to mind when you think about short-track velodrome racing. However when the outdoor stadium closes for the cold Minnesota winter season Amanda Harvey decided that there was still more biking to do. This journey led her from her first short fat bike race to eventually biking 350 miles across Alaska in the Iditarod Trail Invitational.
After experiencing the joys of her first winter race, Amanda discovered the St Croix 40 Winter Ultra and signed up. This led her to more and more adventures as she got familiar with the community and learned about events such as Arrowhead 135 and Tuscobia. Of course you can’t be a part of this community for long without hearing about Iditarod, and so a plan was hatched to work her way from SC40 to ITI in 5 years. Although the original plan was more like 3 years, things like COVID got in the way. However, eventually Amanda reached her goal of traveling through Alaska on two wheels.
