SPK Dog Log

Aliy left Mile 101 checkpoint without Chena. As she was bringing her team up from her parking spot to the checkout area she noticed Chena was limping a little and appeared to have a sore shoulder.

Although she thought it could have just been a cramp from sleeping, as the next leg included Eagle Summit she didn’t want to risk having her really injure it more or have to carry her in the bag up and over the hill.

Chena is happy in the truck having had some beef snacks and is now curled up asleep. It won’t be long before she is reunited with her team mates and back at the kennel where she will get some rest for a while as we reassess her injury.

She had done so well up until that point but it was best for everyone that she get left with Wes and Wendy.

The Black Team handler team is currently in Central having just seen Allen and the gang come and go through the checkpoint. They have a long road to Circle and it is short by road miles so we are holed up here for a couple hours (I think the others are thinking: Superbowl!) to get some good food and a little down time. It’s a good chance to catch up with what has happened so far.

As expected Allen and team “blew through” Two Rivers checkpoint, staying only long enough to pick up some supplies and check in and back out again. They then ran into the night to climb 3,640ft Rosebud. It was a beautiful night, clear and starry with dancing auroras overhead. Musher after musher coming off the trail said how ‘amazing’ or ‘stunning’ it was to climb up seemingly almost into the lights.

The team arrived just before 4am and, unfortunately I am not able to upload any video but when you see it you’ll see, several of the dogs were slamming in their harnesses especially Mac who was screaming and lunging. They quickly found a park and Allen set to with his checkpoint chores of snacking the dogs on some salmon and beef snacks, laying out the straw for them to snuggle into and taking all booties off. He put a few blankets on those who needed them and let them be for a while, while he prepared their big kibble and meat meal for later. He then went through his drop bags and packed and organized himself to leave in a few hours.

When he came inside for an amazing feed of scrambled eggs and bacon (lots and lots of bacon) cooked lovingly by Dallas for the mushers, we noticed he was a little more frosted than the other mushers that had come in. There had been some two foot deep overflow in one section and evidently as Allen lifted his feet to try to keep his feet dry he got tangled in one of his ropes and toppled over, right into the freezing water! He wasn’t completely saturated but he said “I got a little bit wet”.

He was really pleased with how the team is going and said he is still riding his drag mat to keep them at a reasonable pace. The trails are hard and he doesn’t want to go too fast at this early stage and risk ‘hard trail injuries’ such as sore wrists and shoulders.

Allen then went off to the musher cabin for a quick sleep and to dry out his gear while we kept watch over the team in shifts. It was a real treat to be out there while the lights were swaying overhead, the stars twinkled and the smoke from the woodstoves in the cabins drifted across the checkpoint.

At one point the next door team started howling and, wouldn’t you know, Schmoe joined in! Apart from then, they all seemed to sleep pretty soundly.

After a sleep Allen set about his exit routine. He fed the dogs their big meal, which they finished off in short order, then dressed them ready for their climb up and over Eagle Summit on the way to Central. The sun started rising about that time and the surrounding hills glowed pink. Allen was looking forward to climbing up and enjoying the view.

Teams were to see out a mandatory four hour rest plus their time differential at either Mile 101 or Central, so Allen saw it out in 101. Their stay was a little over five hours.

After we cleaned up his camp spot (raking up the straw, removing trash and surplus supplies) we drove the 33-odd road miles to Central. The road flanks Eagle Summit so we could get a real sense of just how big the climb is!

Bridgett, Scotty, Jennifer and Jen took snow machines up Eagle Summit and have said they have some great photos and video to share. I’ll get that to you as soon as I can. I can’t wait to see it as it was an absolutely stunning day.

Around midday, Allen and his team of screaming and yelling dogs pulled into Central checkpoint. He didn’t park, rather pulled to the side of the trail and restocked his sled with dogfood and snacks as well as some personal gear for himself. He also took with him half a bale of straw so we expect they will camp on their way to Circle City, around 75 miles away.

RED TEAM UPDATE – YUKON QUEST 300

I haven’t had much of a chance to see or speak to Aliy yet. Seems they camped at the same place Allen did just before the Two Rivers checkpoint and followed suit by blowing through, stopping to replenish supplies and check in and out.

Their campsite in 101 was very picturesque! She stopped there for a few hours (you can probably tell that info better than I as I don’t have ready access to the leaderboard nor a tracker) before embarking on their climb over Eagle Summit! We are waiting in Central so we can see can see her team arrive.

Compared to the recent CB300 — a short, fast race in which top teams take only the mandatory rests, and cumulative run-times between checkpoints is all that matters — the YQ1000 is a far more complicated race to follow. Here are a few things to know if you’re new to the race, or to remind yourself of if you’re a veteran armchair musher:

The YQ1000 is a very long race: From start to finish, the race will take teams about 10 days to run. Different mushers have very different race strategies, and these can take several days before they start becoming apparent. Depending on their training regimens and the nature of their dogs, some mushers will make longer runs and take longer rests while others will run/rest in shorter increments. As a result, there can be many, many changes in position along the way. Where a team is in the overall string along the trail is somewhat informative of performance, but the order of teams in short geographic stretches often doesn’t mean much.

The YQ1000 is all about “energy management”: According to Dr. Mike Davis (probably the world’s leading authority on sled dog physiology) sled dogs experience “depletion” during the first 2-3 days of a race. That is, they expend more energy in action than they replace with food and rest. Somewhere at the 2-3 day mark, something magical happens in the dogs’ physiology which switches them to a “maintenance” energy profile. They start to more efficiently convert their caloric intake to energy output and maintain their strength and stamina. This “switch” is what enables high-performance sled dogs to “run forever” once they are in “maintenance” mode. The tricky part is that this switch only happens if the dogs do not get too depleted in their first 2-3 days of running. If their metabolisms get too run down at the start, the switch either doesn’t happen or it doesn’t happen soon enough to be effective. Top mushers know all about this “energy management” equation and must constantly battle their desire to “get out front” with the need to “pace themselves” early on. Going too far too fast in the early stages will diminish their late-race performance, but holding back more than is necessary also hurts their overall time. Mushers will get the absolute best performance out of their teams when they walk the razor’s edge between the two.

The YQ1000 is always full of surprises and hazards: Any veteran YQ1000 musher will tell you that they never know what they’re going to encounter on the trail. Weather can change from clear, calm and mild to absolutely hellish in a heartbeat. River crossings can be easy as you please to life-threatening open-water disasters. Mountains are never easy to summit, but sometimes they can be so difficult that they crush a dog team’s spirit and ability to go on. Running through so much remote wilderness, it is easy to lose the trail and take wrong turns that waste great amounts of time and energy. This can also undermine the dogs’ enthusiasm and trust in the musher, with devastating effects on performance. All of these factors are why veteran mushers will tell you that they need a certain amount of luck to win the YQ1000. Attitude, appetite and ability are all essential for a winning team, but simple bad luck can make all the difference in the end.

There’s a lot more to running the YQ1000, of course, but those are probably the top three factors to keep in mind for now. In closing, let me offer three more suggestions to enhance your armchair mushing experience:

Pace yourself! It’s a long race. Practice your own “energy management.” Get up from the computer. Take your dog for a walk. Teams will be on the trail for days to come. You’ll have plenty of time to catch up later. Get some sleep. Stay hydrated. Armchair mushing can be exhausting!

Don’t jump to conclusions! Just because you see on the GPS that a team is ahead or behind at any given moment doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Trail position becomes more predictive of results the closer teams get to the finish, but at least until the 36-hour rest at the half-way point in Dawson it doesn’t mean much at all.

Get some skin in the game! Sled dog racing is a very expensive sport. Except for the very few top finishers, prize money (if any) doesn’t come close to covering the costs of racing. Putting on the YQ1000 is an extraordinary, expensive endeavor. Corporate sponsors are very generous, but individual contributions are always needed. Send a few bucks to your favorite teams and to the YQ. Chip in to support the SPOT tracking that you know you’re hitting the refresh button on a million times a day. Getting some skin in the game will make armchair mushing even more exciting!

I’ll be keeping my eye on the race, of course, and will sound off from time to time when circumstances warrant. Meanwhile, have fun… and GO SPK!

As I write this Allen and his team are still camped out, a few miles before Two Rivers checkpoint so there shouldn’t be much need to stop at the checkpoint. He is likely to “blow through” stopping only to check in, let the vets check the team and grab a “to go” bag with dog snacks. He will then be on his way to Mile 101 over “Rosebud” – a rather innocuous name for a rather large hill!

Aliy and her team are still moving nicely along the trail. It remains to be seen if she camps or goes through to the checkpoint.

The handler crew (Mark, Chris and I) is about to head up to Mile 101 checkpoint to meet Allen there. Wes and Wendy will follow to meet Aliy. We all then carry on to Central and Circle City checkpoints. It may be a while before you hear from me again but I will do what and when I can. If nothing else, we will have a lot to catch up on!

Please keep an eye on the Yukon Quest Facebook page and website with live tracking to keep abreast of what’s going on.

I hope you enjoy these quick videos of both teams leaving the start line in Fairbanks earlier today.

Ray changes runner plastics; Aliy ready to go (Photo: Barbara Swenson)

It can be difficult to get a picture of Sparkie

Boonie enjoys a snack

At the truck, about to leave

Chena and Lester getting ready

At the start line

GO! (How many different directions can a dog team go?

The all-important spot tracker; Bib #4!

Allen with his Quest Guest; Mac getting into”the zone”

Excited much? (Check out the Dutchman!)

At the start line

They’re off (Photo: Barbara Swenson)

Howdy! (Photo: Barbara Swenson)

Leaving the starting chute area (Photo: Helen Campbell)

Passing by Pleasant Valley Store on the way to Two Rivers checkpoint (Photo: Jennifer Moore-Smith)

We got both teams off onto the trail earlier today! There is always to much to do in the lead up to the race it is a good feeling to get them started safely and as planned.

They each went through their usual pre-race routines of packing the sled, checking it twice, harnessing and booting the dogs then the crew helped bring each do to the line and walked them up to the start chute. It was very well organised by the YQ team, especially as it was the first time they had staged from that area and didn’t have much time to plan!

Right now both are on their way to the Two Rivers checkpoint. It appears that Allen is camping before the checkpoint. You will find both Aliy and Allen often doing this as, especially in the early part of the race with all the teams bunched together, it is quieter to camp outside a checkpoint and the dogs get a better rest. Allen and Aliy enjoy camping and as the weather is so mild (around 0F) it will be a pleasant stop for them. The vet team will get to look at the team when the arrive into Two Rivers but we might expect him to not stop too long at the checkpoint.

Aliy has just passed Pleasant Valley Store. She may be running the same race strategy as Allen and camp early or she may stop at the checkpoint, we will need to wait and see on that one.

I have 100s of photos to sort through and am uploading some start videos as I write this but here are a couple of pics from the start for those that missed it on our Instagram or Facebook page.

Allen’s line up when he left was: Scout and Waylon in lead, Kodiak and Chipper in swing, Mismo and Scruggs, Schmoe and Dutch, Willie and Commando, Izzy and Mac, with Clyde and Felix in wheel.

Aliy left with Chena and Lester in lead (not pictured, they were too fast!), Spark and Boondocks in swing, Chemo and Daisy, Violet and Driver, Iron and Champ with Sandy and Amber in wheel.

More soon…

PS A wee story of a touching moment from this morning… As we were loading up the dogs for Allen’s team he did a walk through the yard just to check we had everyone. As he passed by Quito’s house she jumped up at him, he gave her a cuddle and told her she was a ‘good girl Quito’. She didn’t seem upset or confused at being left behind but perhaps she wanted to wish him luck.