Musical ride WSO musician begins long, gruelling cycle through untamed Alaska By: Joshua Frey-Sam Posted: 12:25 PM CST Friday, Feb. 23, 2024

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This article was published 23/02/2024 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The preparation has been akin to composing an elaborate symphony, with tons of planning and moving parts. But it will be a solo act once Daniel Perry begins pedalling, one that demands he pluck all the right strings to reach the finish line.

Perry, a double bassist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO), will begin the most challenging bike ride of his life on Sunday.

His wits, mental toughness and endurance will be tested in the Iditarod Trail Invitational, a multi-day ultra-marathon in Alaska notorious for its unrelenting terrain and harsh conditions. Perry and 63 others — who will navigate the trail by foot, bike or ski — will have completed their pursuit after 560 kilometres, while 38 others try to conquer the full 1,600-km course.

“In an external sense, this I consider it the quintessential premier event of the winter ultra-racing scene,” Perry, 33, told the Free Press. “But a lot of it is just about doing it. This is an opportunity to experience a new place. Alaska winter is such a hallowed concept and to have an opportunity to go be in it, just to me is so exciting.”

Racers start in Knik Lake, an hour shuttle drive from Anchorage, the state’s largest city, and end in the remote community of McGrath. Perry will have 10 days to complete the course but hopes he won’t need more than five depending on his energy level and weather conditions.

“These events and these long-distance rides, they come with these experiences of physical and emotional peaks and valleys and going into these deep dark places where you really find out things about yourself and find out what you’re made from and pull through it,” he said.

The preparation has included many hours of researching the trail, refining his bike setup and strategically mapping out rest points.

Perry has also conditioned himself for the multi-day ride by simulating his experience by falling asleep outdoors in his sleeping bag after riding for hours.

At the time of writing, the forecast in Anchorage calls for temperatures ranging from -7 C during the day to -24 C overnight. Lindsay Gauld knows how critical it will be for Perry to efficiently set up and pack up his sleeping arrangement and stove to avoid wasting energy and staying warm.

“Daniel has no idea what he’s going to run into”–Lindsay Gauld

The 75-year-old Winnipegger has biked in the heralded event three times, completing it once when he was 65.

“It’s the unknown. You have to be prepared for every type of condition,” said Gauld. “Daniel has no idea what he’s going to run into.”

Gauld tried Iditarod for the first time in 2012, a year that saw more than 30 inches of snow pack the trail and force him to walk most of it. He made it 330 km before succumbing to the harsh conditions. He suffered severe frostbite on his cheeks and nose and needed to be rescued.

“You know, you live in Winnipeg, you’re used to winter, and it caught me (by surprise) anyway,” he said. “You can run into any kind of conditions out there, and it’s so condition-dependent.”

Gauld expressed confidence in Perry’s ability to finish as one of the top racers this year. There won’t be a crowd watching the bassist but Perry insisted the thrill of this challenge will be enough to maximize his experience.

Music was all Perry knew from a young age. His parents, both musicians, demanded excellence and held him to a strict training schedule to refine his craft.

“Cycling was something I did as a kid. For me, it was kind of an outlet for freedom and independence,” Perry said. “It was one of those things that I kind of built on my own terms.”

In 2014, he left his hometown Indianapolis for the Manitoba capital to join the WSO. In 2016, he bought a bike to have a hobby outside of work.

Perry would ride year-round back home, though, Indiana’s winters aren’t nearly as harsh as Manitoba’s, he said. He made a point of continuing to bike in the snow despite the frigid temperatures, and it didn’t take long for him to push his limits.

A fun weekend in the dead of winter would include biking to Birds Hill or Beaudry Provincial Park, starting a fire and staying the night.

Perry’s friend eventually suggested he try Actif Epica, a 230-kilometre bike marathon that traverses the Crow Wing Trail from Emerson to The Forks. He completed Actif Epica for the first time in 2019 and did it again in 2020.

“Something about it just got me hooked,” Perry said. “Something about what feels so ridiculous about it, I think I take joy in it. In some ways, it makes me laugh and I can’t help but relish it.”

Perry planned to wait another couple of years before taking on the Iditarod Trail, but a victory at the Tuscobia Winter Ultra in Wisconsin last year earned him a free entry into the race — an opportunity too good to pass up.

“To me, it’s so similar to what we experience from playing and listening to these great pieces of music, especially these long-form symphonies,” Perry said.

“In a lot of ways, Iditarod is almost like one of these big symphonies that a musician might only dream of being able to do once in their career because there’s such a large musical and logistical undertaking.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam