|
|
OUR
2008/2009
DOG SPONSORS
|
|
|
|
A Rookies Journey
January 12, 2006
What a race! If you remember I had a very conservative race plan where
I estimated finishing between 9 and 11 pm Sunday night with 4 hours
of rest outbound and 2 to 4 hours of rest inbound. If you look at
the previous years race results that would put be firmly in the back
of the pack and quite possibly the red lantern. That was a little
hard for me to swallow (planning to come in last), but once I did
it allowed me to completely let go of the race and I think that was
a major contributor to my final results. The first several miles of
the trail have several narrow sections where passing could be difficult,
so my only goal was not to pass or be passed by too many teams in
the first hour of the race. After that the trail to the river is mostly
on old seismic lines and about 10 feet wide. Once on the river most
of the trail is more that 20 feet wide (and the river is more than
¾ mile wide). After the first hour passing is not a problem.
Bill Borden,
Eric, and June Price before the
start of the Knik 200. Photo courtesy of Mary Dillingham |
There were 54 teams that actually started
the race. I drew number 26 – right in the middle. Everyone started
on Knik Lake and it was pretty much of a zoo. Dog trucks parked close
together, dogs barking, people running around – all in all pretty
good training for Iditarod. My poor dogs, like most of the teams,
had never seen anything quite like this before. Some of the dogs,
like Bass, got excited, while others, like Dash, were more intimidated
by all of the commotion. I chose Bass and Keiko to lead from the start
with Platinum and Dash in swing followed by Sisco and Dukat, Basil
and Balu, and then Mocha and Jewels in team, and Picard and Belle
in Wheel. Balu and Basil looked just a little off. Mocha is very young
(16 months) and the lack of maturity shows. Putting her next to Jewels
who is a solid steady performer really paid off and calmed her down.
June Price and Brenda and Bill Borden came by to visit, and Bill helped
us get to the starting line. With the loose snow over ice on the lake
the help was really appreciated.
Eric's team less than one mile
from the start.
The dogs are pumped and charging much to fast
for a 200 mile race. Photo Courtesy of Jlona
Richey at Tracks of Alaska |
Once we left the starting line the dogs
wanted to go into turbo mode. They have no idea how long the trail
is (it’s one of my jobs to tell them) and wanted to lope hard
and fast. I kept riding the drag (a piece of snow machine track between
the runners) to slow them down. We passed one team fairly quickly
and that motivated the dogs to run faster – and me to work harder
trying to slow them down. I promised them that they could run as fast
as they wanted in the last 50 miles of the race. Keiko started to
get nervous and not want to lead about 4 miles into the race so I
swapped her out for Dash and put her in swing with Platinum. About
2 hours into the race we got to the famous Nome Sign, which isn’t
there any longer, and swung off the trail to snack the dogs. While
there we were passed by about 10 teams. Combined with the 10 or so
teams that passed us while we were running I figured we were pretty
much in last place and didn’t worry about anyone behind us.
About 3 PM we were on Flathorn Lake when Jeff King passed us –
at least I think it was Jeff – he had the Cabelas sled bag and
12 really nice moving dogs. Marti got me a Sony digital voice recorded
to take notes during my races so I can remember more details. Before
my first race several years ago I had envisioned sitting relaxed in
the checkpoint writing down what had happened that day. If you’ve
ever been to a checkpoint you realize just how silly that idea was.
You are so tired you don’t even want to eat, let alone take
notes. Anyway I was reaching into the sled bag for the recorder when
we hit a sharp drop of 8 inches in the lake ice, and then right back
up on the other side. Quite a thrill when I wasn’t expecting
it.
After Flathorn Lake the trail winds through
the woods and then out in the Great Dismal Swamp, which is several
miles long. The trail through the swamp had overflowed with water
and then refroze. There was no snow over parts of the trail and the
trail became poorly defined. Bass tried to take a side trail and I
wasn’t sure that it would come back to the main trail so I stopped
the team. Taking commands in a wide open area with no well defined
trail is not one of my team’s strong points, and I couldn’t
set a snow hook to get off the sled to go help them out. Sure enough
Bass got confused and thought I wanted to go back, so he turned the
team around. I wasn’t last after all because another team came
up at that point and of course wanted to follow Bass. Bass wanted
to go back and check out the new dogs. I discussed this with Bass
for a while and the other driver got his team moving down the proper
trail, so Bass turned the team around again. We had a tangle then
and I wouldn’t let him go so he turned them around a third time
facing backwards. By now poor Jewels had the lines wrapped tight around
his belly and it hurts so much he is crying out. I manage to jam a
snow hook into the ice and pray it holds so I can go up and get Jewels
loose. Everything worked, I got Bass lined out on the right trail
and as he pulled the snow hook loose I stood there and caught the
sled as it went by. All’s well that ends well, but it was kind
of interesting to get there.
Just a couple of miles later we dropped onto the Susitna River and
everything became flat for the next 60 miles or so. This is beautiful
country and the sun was starting to set. After just a few miles we
turned off the Susitna River onto the Yentna River and proceeded up
the Yentna. At 5:08 PM we arrived at Luce’s (a lodge) on the
Yentna and stopped the team on a side trail about 50 feet past the
trail off the river to the lodge for a break. This was where Lexi
and I had camped the previous weekend while I fixed my broken runner.
Dash had been limping lightly just before we stopped and an exam showed
she was sore in the left shoulder. I took the booties off the dogs’
feet, fed them dry kibble, and fired up my cooker to melt snow to
drink. Then I massaged Dash with Algyval liniment and put a jacket
with hand warmers on her shoulder to ease the soreness. When the water
was hot I made myself some fresh hydration drink and put the rest
in a cooler for the dogs when they woke up.
A Raven eating snacks left by
previous teams
and playing "chicken" with my dog team. |
Timing is everything in life and just
as I finished it started to snow. I carry a space blanket tarp to
spread out on the snow under my pad and sleeping bag and I pulled
that over the bag and tried to sleep. The main trail goes down the
middle of the Yentna at this point and Luce’s is on side trail
to the bank that is staked so you can find it in a storm. I heard
several mushers come down the wrong trail and try to stop and turn
their teams around while I was resting. I found out later that the
snow storm created almost whiteout conditions where you have trouble
seeing your leaders, let alone the trail. There were some interesting
stories that came out of that. I had my eyes closed under the space
blanket and never even knew.
It quit snowing just as I got up from my nap with about ¼ inches
of fresh snow on the ground. I made a soup for the dogs with the water
I’d heated earlier and some fish scraps and everyone drank it.
I checked Dash and she wasn’t limping and didn’t show
any soreness after her massage and heat treatment. I moved Dash back
into swing to take the pressure off her and put Keiko back in lead
with Bass. We left Luce’s at 9:10 PM after a 4 hour rest. The
run to Skwentna was uneventful. The dogs moving steadily down the
trail at between 9 and 10 mph. At 1:21 AM we arrived at the new Skwentna
roadhouse for our mandatory 6 hour rest.
Dash had started to limp during the last few miles into Skwentna and
I asked the vet to check her out. She was pretty sore, but the vet
suggested I repeat the massage with Algyval and heat packs in the
warm-up jacket and reevaluate her before we left. I was in good company,
being parked next to Martin Buser who was doing a Jr Iditarod training
run with his son Nikolai. It had been fairly warm during the race
and was 28 degrees when I arrived at Skwentna. I took the booties
off the dogs, fed them, and bedded them down on straw. The roadhouse
had cold water for us, so I heated that to make my drink and have
water for soup for the dogs when we got up. Then it was into the lodge
for some sleep.
Team resting on way back to
Knik
about 1/2 way between Yentna
and Luce's. |
I was up at 6:45 and back with the dogs.Dash
was looking good and not limping, but she had done that leaving Luce’s.
She is just a year old and a key dog for Iditarod so I decided not
to take any chances and left her at the roadhouse with 4 lb of kibble.
They put her on an airplane with the rest of the dropped dogs and
she was waiting for me when I got back to Knik. She is fine and hasn’t
shown any sign of soreness, but I’m giving her the week off
anyway and I’m very comfortable with my decision to drop her.
At 8:24 we pulled the hook and left Skwentna with the old country
song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘round the Old Oak Tree”
going through my head. I’m going home I’ve done my time…
The adjustment for start time is made during the mandatory rest, so
my rest was just under 7 hours (I was 7 minutes later leaving). This
tended to group the teams of similar speed and sure enough there a
few teams just ahead of us. The dogs love to chase and we had a nice
ride chasing and passing several teams.
Eric's sled and bed for the short
nap on the way back.
Had this been a longer stop or colder
I would have put my sleeping bag
on top of the pad. |
According to race rules you are supposed
to pull off the trail to snack your dogs. This is so you don’t
block the trail and so, if your dogs don’t finish their snacks,
they are not on the trail to disturb the following teams and possibly
share your germs with them. Nonetheless not everyone does this. The
Ravens know that drivers snack their dogs and will follow along the
trail looking for uneaten snacks. Some of the Ravens don’t want
to give up their free food just because a dog team is coming and will
give the dogs a real thrill by staying there as the dogs come up,
only to fly away at the last minute. It’s fun to watch the dogs
try to catch the ravens and gives us a speed boost.
At 11:42 we passed Yentna Station, about 30 minutes out from Luce’s.
At 12:08 I saw a nice side trail that went up to the river bank to
protect us from the wind and pulled in and shut the team down for
a rest. If you remember my race plan from last week if the team was
strong I would rest 2 hours on the way back, if not I would rest 4.
I wasn’t sure, but thought they looked pretty good so 2 hours
it was.
While we rested several of the teams we had passed, passed us and
I felt we were pretty far back in the pack. The snow had been soft
further up the river, but was fairly hard from here back to Knik and
it was about 30 degrees so I decided not to bootie for the run back.
That would save me ½ hour getting ready to leave. The routine
was the same as before. Take the booties off the dogs, feed the dogs
dry kibble, and put straw down for them. Then fire up the cooker to
melt snow for water to make my drink and soup for the dogs before
we left. Balu didn’t eat his dinner and obviously wasn’t
feeling well, but I thought he could finish the race. Mocha had been
limping some on the way in and an examination showed her to be sore
in the right shoulder. I gave her the same massage with Algyval and
heat jacket treatment I’d given Dash.
Since I saved the ½ hour by not booting the dogs I had 50 minutes
to nap. I spread my space blanket out and put the sleeping pad on
top. It was warm enough (30 degrees) I took my parka off and laid
down in just my sweater and bibs for a short nap. I got up, fix the
dogs soup. When I walked Mocha she was still limping and very tired
(she is the youngest dog on the team) so I loaded her in the straw
bag on top of the sled and she settled right back to sleep. I hooked
up the rest of the dogs and we left the camp at 2:14 PM.
The dogs were working steadily, if not very inspired, and I was pretty
pleased with them. After about an hour there was a team in front of
us that was traveling at about the same rate and we followed them
for quite a while. Several of the teams that had passed us were now
pulled off to the side of the trail and we passed them again. I imagine
this passing and re-passing will be a major Iditarod theme. As we
pulled onto the Susitna the team we were following caught and passed
a second team. Mocha woke up about now and started feeling frisky.
I stop the team to let her out to relieve herself and she said she
wanted back in the team. She wasn’t limping so I let her.
As we climbed the bank back off the Susitna and headed for the Great
Dismal Swamp the second team we had been following pulled off to the
side to rest and we passed them. This seemed to put a spark into the
dogs and combined with the easier pulling on the ice the pace picked
up. The dogs were moving at a very nice clip now and within ½
hour we caught and passed another team. This time the other team slowed
for a hill and my guys almost ran over them they were so excited.
Almost all dogs love to chase and it’s common that when a team,
particularly a tired team, goes into chase mode they slow down after
the pass because there is nothing to chase anymore. Of course the
passed team is now in chase mode and this see saw passing is common
and frustrating to the mushers involved. Imagine my surprise when
my dogs didn’t slow back down but kept the pace up and continued
charging down the trail. It’s about 3 hours from the bank of
the Susitna to Knik and I kept waiting for the dogs to slow, but the
closer we got the harder they drove. Remember, in the first 50 miles
I promised the dogs that they could run as fast as they wanted in
the last 50, but I never thought they would take me up on it!
The trail was fast and fairly flat (with some hills) but I had never
seen my team hold this kind of speed for this long. We had run most
of the race between 9 and 10 mph, but now we were running closer to
12 mph and I swear hitting 15 for short times. This was after 17 hours
of running (about 160 miles). I was so impressed I almost fell off
the sled. At seven miles from Knik we caught and passed one last musher,
Becca Moore. I think Becca was the person we had been chasing since
Susitna, but when we passed her we flat ran off and left her. This
is what I had hoped to do in the Sheep Mountain race, but even then
I had never hoped to do it so well. I told all the dogs that I was
very proud of them.
We finished at 7:53 PM, just before the banquet ended. Everyone was
inside at the banquet, so after I secured my dogs to the truck I went
into the resturant to check in. Imagine my surprise to find out I
was 36th out of 54 starters. Then the Master of Ceremonies said “Are
you Eric Rogers?”, “yes”. And to the crowd –
“I’d like to present our Humanitarian Award winner, Eric
Rogers”. You could have knocked me over with a feather. The
humanitarian award is given by the veterinary staff to the person
they feel has taken the best care of their dogs during the race. There
were several people known for their good dog care running that race
and to be chosen is quite an honor. I always hoped that I might win
that award someday. In many ways I would rather win the Humanitarian
award than the race itself.
The plan now is to bring Lycos back into the team (he is recovering
from an injury during the Sheep Mountain race), keep everyone else
healthy, and prepare for the Don Bower’s 300 on Friday the 27th.
then Iditarod Food Drop is February 15th. If I can survive that we
can finish the race ;-).
Keep ‘em Northbound
Eric
© 2006 All rights reserved
|
|
|
OUR
2008/2009 RACE
SPONSORS
|
8025 Schoon Street
Anchorage, AK 99518 |
 |
|
Northern
Restaurant
Group, LLC
Dale & Patricia Keefe
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mary
E Curtis
|
|
|
|
The
Sorvoja Family
|
|
|
Have
you ever wanted to be part of the Iditarod adventure
but didn't
know how? Help support Eric Rogers Iditarod team
by joining the
2008-2009 season Rogers Rangers. Just $30 buys you
a bootie worn by the
team, a 2008 Rookie season musher card, and a signed
certificate of
membership. All funds go to support Eric's 2009
Iditarod. For your
convenience we now take credit cards through PayPal.
All donations
gratefully accepted.
Thank
you for your support.
|
|
| SPONSOR
INFO |
|
|
OUR
2008/2009
DOG SPONSORS
|
"THROTTLE"
Sponsored by
Karen
Lederhost
|
|
"THYME"
Sponsored by
Penny, Dennis,
& Adam Sputh
|
|
"PLATINUM"
Sponsored by
Pat Ford
|
|
|
"MOCHA"
Sponsored by
Pat Schue
|
|
"LYCOS"
Sponsored by
Muzzy's
Place
|
|
|
|
|
"BASS"
sponsored by
William
& Gary Sanders
|
|
|
|
|
|
"WORF"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
