Aliy with the Red Team and Ryne with the R&B team have departed Willow Lake, the starting point of the 2012 Don Bowers Memorial 300. It was a crisp -30 degrees during hook up but the sun is persistantly warming things up.
Aliy left with a team of 15 dogs with Beemer and Pud in Lead, Tony and Honda in Swing, and Viper and Bonita in Wheel.
Due to the ongoing debate in another post about the starting line up of Ryne’s R&B team, here is the full lineout. 
Ranger-Stormy;
Kipper -Lester;
Butterscotch – Spicy;
Skittles – Rose;
Moonpie – Tug;
Mac – Chemo
Boris – Cutter
For the first time this season we won’t be the first to provide you with race updates. A couple of the checkpoints have no communication other than ham radio operators and they are going to be keeping everyone updated. We will relay information to you as soon as we get it.
We are going to see a slightly different tactic among mushers this race. There are reports of a very large number of moose in the area. Last night a cow and calf wandered right through the dog trucks in the parking area and made themselves at home infront of the Eagle Quest kitchen. Some mushers are informally agreeing to team up and travel in convoy in order to address any encounters as a group. We could see people checking in and out of checkpoints in groups.
Good luck Aliy and Ryne! Hope you don't have moose problems!
Departure times can be found at http://www.donbowersmemorialrace.org/index.php/Bowers/Standings .. if they keep them updated.
What do you do when you encounter a moose? Are you allowed to shoot a moose in self defense of you or the dogs? I seem to recall that Susan Butcher had to quit an Iditarod race because of moose attacking her dogs. Is it common for the mushers to carry guns?
Moose, yikes. Sounds like they're playing it safe, glad to hear it.
There are some great pictures already on the Don Bowers 300 website. I love the one of Ryne's start – gives a great perspective of the team that you don't usually see.
Hey Jeff! — Well, it looks like we at least got the six dog back end more or less right… Kudos to you for putting Ranger up front, and I'm taking credit for Stormy… Kipper and Lester in swing is news to me… though I can see the merit in keeping the "veteran powerhouses" — Butter, Skittles, Rose and Spicy — in the middle in reserve… Go teams!!!!
Aliy, Dallas Seavey, and Karen Ramsted are interviewed at: http://ktna.org/2012/01/27/don-bowers-sled-dog-race-gets-underway-in-willow/.
Please stay safe out there! Moose can be very dangerous!
Hey Mac! Guess we are not completely nuts lol! Yeah Kipper
and Lester on swing wasn't even on my radar…Tuggy running team wasn't either. GO SP!