Yukon Quest Day 5 2/10/10

We Have A Race!

The race leaders left the Eagle checkpoint within 7 minutes of each other - Zach, Hans, Lance and Hugh. Up and over American Summit, they are crossing into the Yukon, with Lance and Hugh leading the way. Soon, they'll return to the Yukon River and head towards the mandatory 36 hour layover in Dawson City.

There have been no scratches, and everyone has at least made it to Slaven's Roadhouse.
Rookie Abbie West has just over an hour lead over Josh Cadzow in the Rookie of the Year race.
Rookie Terry Williams is still bringing up the rear, arriving at Slaven's a couple of hours after the leaders left Eagle.

The OFFICIAL Standings (not taking in to account the GPS trackers)

Normal 0 0 1 83 477 3 1 585 11.0

1 Zack Steer (2)

2 Hans Gatt (13)

3 Lance Mackey (11)

4 Hugh Neff (23)

5 Ken Anderson (17)

6 Sonny Lindner (20)

7 Gerry Willomitzer (5)

8 Abbie West (1) {R}

9 Brent Sass (12)

10 Joshua Cadzow (21) {R}

11 David Dalton (3)

12 Normand Casavant (10)

13 Sam Deltour (4) {R}

14 Kelley Griffin (15)

15 Dries Jacobs (22) {R}

16 Mike Ellis (18)

17 Pierre-Antoine Heritier (19) {R}

18 Cindy Barrand (9) {R}

19 Katie Davis (6) {R}

20 Bart De Marie (14) {R}

21 Peter Fleck (24) {R}

22 Jennifer Raffaeli (16) {R}

23 Jocelyne LeBlanc (8) {R}

24 Terry Williams (7) {R}

Yukon Quest Tuesday AM

Leaders on the move!

The leaders are out of Slaven's Roadhouse. Zach Steer continues to set a record pace, with Hugh Neff and Ken Anderson following a little over an hour later. Shaping up to be the fastest Quest on record!

Abbie West and Josh Cadzow are keeping the Rookie of the Year race tight.
No musher's have dropped yet, with Terry Williams bring up the rear on the way to Circle City

Standings as of 7am EST 2/9/10

1 Zack Steer (2)

2 Hugh Neff (23)

3 Ken Anderson (17)

4 Lance Mackey (11)

5 Hans Gatt (13)

6 Sonny Lindner (20)

7 Gerry Willomitzer (5)

8 Brent Sass (12)

9 Abbie West (1) {R}

10 Joshua Cadzow (21) {R}

11 David Dalton (3)

12 Kelley Griffin (15)

13 Mike Ellis (18)

14 Normand Casavant (10)

15 Sam Deltour (4) {R}

16 Pierre-Antoine Heritier (19) {R}

17 Dries Jacobs (22) {R}

18 Cindy Barrand (9) {R}

19 Katie Davis (6) {R}

20 Peter Fleck (24) {R}

21 Bart De Marie (14) {R}

22 Jocelyne LeBlanc (8) {R}

23 Jennifer Raffaeli (16) {R}

24 Terry Williams (7) {R}

Yukon Quest Monday AM

Lance Mackey first into Circle City

Decent snow made the trail over soft, slow and easy on the teams.

Standings as of 6am EST 2/8/10

1 Lance Mackey (11)
2 Zack Steer (2)
3 Hugh Neff (23)
4 Hans Gatt (13)
5 Gerry Willomitzer (5)
6 Brent Sass (12)
7 David Dalton (3)
8 Abbie West (1) {R}
9 Sonny Lindner (20)
10 Joshua Cadzow (21) {R}
11 Ken Anderson (17)
12 Sam Deltour (4) {R}
13 Kelley Griffin (15)
14 Normand Casavant (10)
15 Mike Ellis (18)
16 Dries Jacobs (22) {R}
17 Pierre-Antoine Heritier (19) {R}
18 Katie Davis (6) {R}
19 Bart De Marie (14) {R}
20 Cindy Barrand (9) {R}
21 Peter Fleck (24) {R}
22 Jocelyne LeBlanc (8) {R}
23 Terry Williams (7) {R}
24 Jennifer Raffaeli (16) {R}

Yukon Quest Early Leaders

Zach Steer with early lead; Lance Mackey races to 2nd

Less than 24 hours into the 2010 Yukon Quest, some strong teams have already made moves.

Zach Steer, who started 2nd, is in the lead. More impressive, Lance Mackey has raced up from 11th to 2nd. Also impressive is Hugh Neff, moving up from 23rd place to 5th.

Early standings:
1. Zach Steer (Started 2)
2. Lance Mackey (11)
3. Gerry Willomitzer (5)
4. Hans Gatt (13)
5. Hugh Neff (23)
6. Brent Sass (12)
7. Abbie West (1)
8. Joshua Cadzow (21)
9. Sonny Lindner (20)
10. David Dalton (3)

When Dogs Run

Today, I experienced a true dog sled run. After struggles and frustration, it came together.

After my previous post, I had more troubles with Alice, ending with her refusing to run after a couple of miles deep into the woods on a trail a two weeks ago. I ran Nick with Biscuit (our small farm dog) once and then just Nick, leaving Alice behind. That last time, she whined so much that it freaked out Nick. We could hear her even a half-mile from home, and he whined and wanted to turn back. So, I hadn't been having a lot of luck actually getting pulled. With just one dog (and the occasional small farm dog), I wasn't able to be pulled very far. I would run to get Nick into a lope, when he could pull me easily, but if I didn't run fast enough, we just couldn't get moving. I ended up walking all but a few stretches of downhill. In 4 or 5 trips down the trail, I had yet to have a smooth run, where I just rode the runners.

So today, I loaded Nick and Biscuit into the dog box on my truck. Alice was really whining, and she had seen the sled, so she knew what we were doing. I decided I would bring her, and if she balked, I would simply tie her off to the rear of the sled and she could run behind. No pressure on her was my goal. We were going to have fun, and if she didn't, then I would just let her off the hook.

I drove us about a mile and a half to another gravel road where the snowmobile trail crossed. Organized the sled and lines in the ditch, then proceeded to hook up the three dogs to the gangline. After a couple of tangles I showed Nick to the snowmobile trail. He took off, pulling Biscuit by the neckline, Alice ran along in line, and I grabbed the sled and jumped on as it pulled by. And we're off!

Nick sniffed the trail and turned, knowing what to do. They all kicked it in gear, and I called for them to "Hike up!" and we did! They broke into a nice, fast lope and we raced up the hill. At the top, I stopped us and went up to thank them all. Alice was happy and not freaking out, so I gave her a ton of love. The boys got tangled, but after fixing that, we took off again in the right direction. Down the hill, turning to run up the waterway to the electric transformer station. Nick was going to pull us right onto the gravel road, so I stopped us and turned the team around. We just started back down the trail when I saw a couple of snowmobiles on the trail. I pulled the team off the trail and gathered them up by the gangline. I thanked the sledders as they passed, straightened out my team, and we took off. Fast!

After a nice, easy run, we came back to the road near my truck. Nick was following the trail, and he actually led us across the road to the field, where the trail continued north. I stopped us, because it went past a house that I think has loose dogs and at this point, we were having fun and I didn't want to risk the distraction or have any troubles. Plus, I wasn't sure how far we could go, and I really didn't want to finish running uphill.

Biscuit, being under 35 pounds, was getting tired, but the other two seemed ready to keep going. Even though Biscuit pulled out of his collar, I tightened him up, turned the team around and told Nick to head back onto he trail we had already done. "Hike!" and we were off!

Again we raced up the hill. Stopped for lovin' and a treat, then I decided they were up for it, so we headed down the trail to the waterway. Off into some deeper snow, we struggled a bit, so I turned us around and told them to takes us back to the truck. Part way up the hill, I called them up and we took off full speed, flying down the trail!

Once back to the truck, Biscuit was done. I knew Nick wanted to keep running, and Alice seemed like she would keep going, too. But I decided to leave us wanting more. We loaded up and drove home. Loving and water and treats were handed out at home. The Alaskans were calm and happy, and the farm dog was beat. So, too, was the musher.

First True Run

My first multi-mile run on actual trails with my "real" sled dogs on SNOW was on my 50th birthday.

I added a small farm dog to fill out the team and to help motivate Alice. After messing around a bit, I put the two boys in lead. I half led, half rode down the road to the snowmobile trail. Once we got on the trail, the dogs knew what to do. We flew across to the woods. I stopped us and gave the dogs some lovin' before heading down the steep slope to the riverbank. I rode the drag with no trouble, but on the next corner, the dogs dug in and whipped me around. Up on one runner, I lost it and face-planted in a snowdrift! I yelled "Whoa!" and they stopped. My spare ropes and gear was thrown all over the place, so I gathered the stuff up, untangled the team and away we went. A couple of wrong turns (Nick knows "gee" and "haw" mean "turn", he just doesn't quite get which way) and we made it along the river for a half-mile or so, then up to the field. Another long hike, some riding, some walking, back to the gravel road. Then it was a LOOOONG, up hill walk, with me continually leading them to the side of the road. By the time we got home, I was drenched in sweat and they dogs were tired. Less than 3 miles total, but with tangles and spills, it was quite taxing on me. A jammed pinky seems to be the only injury, although all of my joints are sore.

What a great birthday treat!

Under the Hood of a Dog Team

or "What do you do when half the team won't go?"

What would it be like if 8 of your 16-dog team all refused to run simultaneously?

Or if you had a 6-dog team and 3 wouldn't stay on the trail?

Well, it happened to me. I have a 2-dog team and half of them balked.

Oh, did I mention I'm a rookie?


She doesn't LOOK like trouble...

Alice, my female, has always been nervous and skittish. She's fine while running, but anytime we stop, she acts scared of the quad. Last weekend, she just didn't want to go. She turned sideways, put her head against her brother's side, and pushed him off the trail. Repeatedly. Even when he wanted to go, we couldn't move. I left her behind, but after a single loop, Nick was ready to go hang out with her.

This went on for two days.

What's a musher to do? Look at the problem and come up with a solution.

I've been working them fairly hard, especially considering we're a 2-dog team. We have over 200 miles behind us, usually running 12 - 16 miles on the weekend, and maybe a couple of 8-mile runs during the week. Even though I don't have an actual race in front of me, I am trying to learn how to train for when I have a full team and want to run a 30 miler. So I gave them the week off.

I drove the quad every time I went to the dog lot, so they would associate it with good feelings. I parked it where they could sniff it and check it out. I left it there for hours some days.

I drove it around the farm, grooming trails, letting them get excited. I also lengthened the rope from the quad to the gangline to get them a little farther away from the noise.

My trail started at their houses, twisted around the farm and headed down a cornfield waterway, where it looped at .8 miles, and ran back. I straightened out part of it, avoiding the stretch where it ended right at their houses. I gave it a new half-mile stretch, and put the loops so that there isn't a true beginning or end, it is actually an endless loop for 2 miles.

I also decided to do some basic obedience work, so I taught them to "stay down". Alice is doing pretty good, she still wants to put her paw on my leg at first, when she is excited. After watching me work with Alice, Nick learned in 5 minutes!

After a week, it was time to put the plan into action. And once we got moving, it seemed to work. The new stretches are great, we are running fast when we pass near the houses, and we don't stop on the loops. There are still a couple of moments when we argue, at the new turns that they are learning, and I still have to stop and pull them on the new path. I'd say we are 80% improved.

But I know that in mushing, it is "2 steps forward, one step back" so a setback is expected.

Who knew that mushing would be so mentally taxing?