Petersburg Pilot -

Most of the racers in the Iditarod Trail Invitational reach the finish line in McGrath, Alaska and celebrate after their impressive journey through 350 miles of Alaskan wilderness.

But for Phil Hofstetter, 51, and the handful of other athletes going the full thousand miles, McGrath was just a checkpoint.

Having started in Anchorage on Feb. 25, Phil still had hundreds and hundreds of more miles to go until he reached the final finish line in Nome.

After doing some maintenance on his bike, oiling the hubs that were freezing over, he repacked his bike and got going.

"It was so cold that morning,...