WINTER CYCLING -- A Fairbanks, Alaska, cyclist has finished a frigid course that challenges the continent's best sled dog teams. Jeff Oatley, the 2014 Iditarod Invitational record holder, pedaled his fatbike on the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest route in just over two weeks.

With a one-week head start from Fairbanks, Oatley finished just ahead of the first sled dog racers. He started on Jan. 31 and finished Feb. 15 in Whitehorse, Yukon, packing a sleeping bag rated at minus 60 degrees.

The Yukon Quest has no formal bike or human-powered race, as does the Iditarod -- the "other" 1,000-mile sled dog race trail.

But being rated as more difficult than the Iditarod, the route has been on Oatley's radar for some time.

A significant difference is that the Iditarod trail is more heavily traveled by people who live along the trail, Oatley told Sam Friedman of the Fairbanks Daily News Miner. That leaves the Quest trail more prone to being buried in snow.

Oatley was by himself most of the time and the ride had a few rough sections, including the soft snow and near-zero visibility over American Summit.

The Fortymile River was soft and stomped out by caribou.

He got a hard time from Canadian Custom in Dawson City, Yukon, where he was nearly arrested for violating what he described as "a pretty serious homeland-security-ish sounding law."

Yet he didn't seem entirely ready to quit at the end.

“There’s always a little satisfaction when you set out to something and do it, and there’s a bit of sadness that it’s over with,” he told the Daily News Miner at the finish line.

Asked for a highlight of the trip, Oatley said the stretch between Circle and Eagle stood out. 

“It just felt like it was me and 10,000 wolves by the tracks out there,” he said.