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Race Recap: Dryland Races

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Fall is in the air and the Alaskan mushing scene is doing something it has never done before. It brought dry land racing to the trails of the Chugiak Dog Mushing Association. Earlier this summer I saw a post of the CDMA Facebook page saying they were planning a dry land event in September and I immediately contacted them. I have been using a cart for training sled dogs for more than 15 years. Long before the days of being able to afford an ATV. At one point I was hooking up 12 Siberian Huskies to an old Risdon-style cart that I got from the late Frank Hall.

I met with Deb, the organizer of the event in late July and we talked about my experiences with cart training and racing and we went over ideas on how the club would put on the races.

Day 1 Races

The event was divided into classes. First the canicross guys and gals went out. These are guys that are running the two mile course with their dog leading out in front. Then the one dog bikejor, two dog bikejor, scooter and then ending the days races with the four dog cart.

I was participating in the two dog bikejor, and the cart races.

I left the house early, at about 7am and with the help of Nicole loaded up the dogs and was on the road toward Eagle River. I arrived at 8am and in time sign up for the days events and help out a little. The musher meeting and bib pickup was at 9:30 and we got our positions.

When I got back to the truck Michele and Nicole were there. They had to make a quick stop at Fred Meyers to pick up a helmet for me as I forgot mine at home. Helmets were required on the cart, bike, and scooter events. Also, our friends, Dale, Lacie and Vanessa were there. Lacie and Vanessa own a young Siberian Husky named Boomer. He came out to learn how to be a sled dog!

As the start time approached for the bikejor, Nicole hooked up my two dogs, Sidney and the young leader, Shock and we headed to the start line. We started off quick and made our way down the muddy trail with the occasional rough spot of deep pea gravel. We finished in what I thought was pretty quick time and I was only passed once by Iditarod veteran Nick Petit on his fat tire bike.

About an half hour later we were hooking up the dogs for the cart races. In this one I had Shock and Sidney again in lead, followed by Burton and Bodhi in wheel. We worked our way to the starting line with the same old cart that I had trained those twelve dogs on before. This time the steering mechanism was bent from hitting boulders and being flung off at high rates of speed from those early days gone by. My cart was by far the heaviest on the trails in this race but it didn’t matter. We rattled along and I occasionally got off the run beside the team with the mud was deep or the pea gravel weighed us down. I was again passed by Nick and finished pretty strong both the dogs and I smiling for the cameras as we came into the finish line.

We had a quick awards ceremony and all of us got something. I got a couple bags of dog treats for my two races.

All in all it was a great day of racing and a fabulous event. The next weekend we would be back at it again for round two.

Day 2 Races

Day two started much the same except I was bringing along a few more dogs. I was the first musher to arrive at the parking lot and sat for a few minutes before others started to arrive. It was indeed much colder than the week before and there was frost on the trucks and on the starting chutes. It was going to be a great day of racing!

Today we would be entering three teams in the 2 dog bikejor, as Dale and Lacie would also be racing under the Team Ineka banner. As you may recall, Dale mushed with us last year and he has one of our older dogs, Pearl. Lacie and her dog Boomer are new to this whole sled dog thing but they would quickly learn today just how fun it is!

We had our meetings and grabbed our bibs and waited for our race to start. Lacie was scheduled to go out 3rd, Dale 4th and me in 9th position. With only a minute between starts our handlers for the day, Michele, Nicole and Vanessa would have to boogie to get us all out on the trail. Lacie was running Denali and Boomer. Denali, one of our oldest leaders would teach a thing or two to the young pup, Boomer. They started down the trail quick and Lacie was pedaling hard as she rounded the corner and out of sight.

Dale was up next. He had the ever-excited duo of Cession and TyTy. Cession is an up-and-coming leader and TyTy runs in lead all the time with Nicole on her team. Dale admittedly was a little nervous with these two high energy pooches out front. His only practice run was a quick circle around the parking lot minutes before the race.

I rounded out the field of nine as I made my way to the starting line. I had Sidney and Shock again. Remember last week when I told you that we had to wear helmets? Well, we only had two bicycle helmets at home so I had to improvise.

As I headed to the starting line I put on my Viking helmet that sure was getting a lot of side glances, pictures, and comments. I even made the 10pm news on channel 2! I headed down the trail and had a great run. My two dogs knew by now we were there to race. The trail was firm as all the mud had dried up from the week before.

I ended up finishing in 5th place and Lacie and Dale in 8th and 9th respectively.

As it approached time to hook up the four dogs for the cart race I decided I would wear a bicycle helmet because I thought I heard I was disqualified from the biker for my outlandish viking helmet. I had Sid and Shock in lead followed by two big brutes, Ragnar (hence the viking theme) and Trapper. Ragnar is new to my team this year as he is a bit “wild” in harness. This year he will be on my main team. Trapper has been with me since the beginning when he came to us a couple summers ago as part of the Kasilof Crew. He has raced with me in races the last two seasons including the Tustumena and the Knik 200.

We scooted down the trail on the same heavy cart but we had much more power with the two big boys in the back. We ended up finishing 8th.

We had our awards ceremony and all three of us collected our winning dog treats. Lacie and Dale were all smiles and really enjoyed their time on the trails.

We were told that next year the club hopes to have a dry-land race series in September/October. We will surely be there!

This event, both weekends was an absolute blast! We had a great time. Met a lot of great people and introduced two new mushers to the sport of dry land racing. That’s what its all about for us.

I want to thank the volunteers and the Chugiak Dog Mushers Association for putting on an awesome event. It will be something that we will remember for a long time. I am glad someone had the courage to bring this to Alaska. Any mushing event that can bring people and dogs together is what this sport needs in order to continue to grown.

Thanks again from all of us at Team Ineka. We will see you next year!

Gear: Trans-Alaska III Pac Boot

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Pac Boot Team InekaI (Robert) have been using either Steger Mukluks or a combo-system with my Neos for years on the trails. My Neos have been worn for seven thousand miles over the last few winters and it is time for a change.

This year I plan on using the Trans-Alaska III Pac Boot.

Living in Willow, Alaska it can get pretty cold– usually we are in the mid-20s below zero in the middle of winter and out on the trails it will be much colder. I once measured -36 degrees on the Yentna River a couple years ago and I am sure I have been in much colder.

With these boots I plan to replace the liners with a beefier set that many mushers use. When I tried them on and walked around for a while yesterday they were light and comfortable. I typically wear a two sock set up–a moisture wicking material under a Smart-wool type. In my Neos my feet often got wet from sweat and made my feet very uncomfortable but the boot system was very light and I could get off the sled and run with no problems.

I will amend this review after I wear them for several runs.

From the Cabela’s website:

From the Iditarod trail to the treestand, these boots have proven they are true cold-weather performers. A 13mm Texel® removable liner reflects heat inward to minimize loss. Beneath that, the Moisture Trap footbed wicks away perspiration and condensation. A 1/2″ layer of EVA foam, coupled with the nylon-covered Phylon midsole, puts 3″ of cold-blocking material between your feet and the ground. The tough, flexible vamps are protected by a triple-layer, abrasion-resistant toe guard, and the rubber toe cap ensures longer wear. These boots have a reflective, lightweight waterproof shell with lightweight, reflective nylon shafts. Radiantex™ reflective coating. The 8″ liner allows for pants inside the boots, and the rip-stop nylon gaiter has a cord-locked drawcord to keep out snow. They’re easy to tighten, thanks to a one-pull ball bearing lacing system. Inside, a heat pack pocket allows you to insert toe warmer heat packs.
Height: 15″.
Average weight: 5.8 lbs./pair.
Men’s whole sizes: 7-13.
Color: Black/Tan.

Cost: $199.99 in-store or $219.00 on website

What types of boots do you wear on the trail?

Nicole signs up for the 2015 Junior Iditarod

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Nicole signed up for the 2015 Junior Iditarod this morning at the annual volunteer picnic and musher sign-up at the Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla. She was the first musher to sign up for the race that takes place the last weekend of February.

The Junior Iditarod is a 150-mile race that runs along a portion of the original Iditarod trail, leaving from Knik Lake and finishing at the Willow Community Center.

Nicole ran the race last year as a rookie and was the red lantern winner. This year she will be racing for the last time as a junior and the last big race before she heads off to college at the University of Alaska-Southeast to study marine biology.

Nicole has a large pool of up-and-coming pups to choose from for this year’s race. She hopes to have last year’s leaders on her team, Aussie and Sidney.

Training starts for the dogs in late August.

If you would like to become part of the team, you can be our entry fee sponsor, you can sponsor a dog on the team, and if you are up in Alaska and would like to learn more about mushing and drive you own team, you can do that too!

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The Dog Days of Summer

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Here in the land of the midnight sun, the mosquitos are out and the dogs are enjoying their vacation. They spend their days lounging around in the barking lot and wishing for the colder days when training will start again. We are truly in the dog days of summer here at Team Ineka.

That does not mean that nothing is happening, the mushers are busy running triathlons, working their summer jobs, fishing for salmon that they will use for trail snacks and backyard BBQ’s, plenty of chores to be had, dog houses to build and kennels and fencing to be installed, bees to attended too and cord wood to be stacked.

We are already planning our season. Robert will attempt (once again) to do his Iditarod qualifiers IF the snow comes and none are cancelled like they have been for the last two seasons. Nicole will run the Junior Iditarod for the last time before she heads off to college in the fall of 2015, Michele plans to enter a small race or two and our friend Dale will too.

We are always looking for people to be a part of the team too! You can learn more about our incredible athletes, the mushers and our daily life with 40 sled dogs.

You can sponsor a dog, booties or become a race entry sponsor, or help with the daily kennel needs with your generous contributions.

It takes a small army to get to the starting line. Our sponsors and supporters are not just people that donate money, goods or services to us. They are part of the team. We appreciate your support and look forward to new partnerships.

Our sponsors receive letters and pictures directly from your favorite mushers. You have the opportunity to meet the team at race events and if you are up in Alaska we can teach you how to drive your own dog team. The mushers are always willing to travel to speak to our sponsors and supporters and to school and other groups that would like to learn more about living a life with dogs!

If you would like to find out more, comment below or check out our sponsorship page by clicking the button below.
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Junior Iditarod

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nicole forto junior iditarod finishNicole ran the Junior Iditarod in February as a rookie and finished with a team of 10 happy dogs lead by Sidney and superstar stand out, Aussie!

As Nicole’s dad and armchair musher for this race, this re-cap will be a little different than most. It does include an excellent 60 minute interview with Nicole talking about her race on The Sibe Vibe show hosted by Dorothy Wills-Raftery. You can listen to the show by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post.

Race Recap

Nicole started training for this race more than a year ago after she finished the Willow Junior 100 and decided that she wanted to run the biggest junior race in the world, the Junior Iditarod.

Nicole was the first musher to sign up in October and was given a generous donation by Alaska Chicks, Co. to pay for her entry free.

Lead up to the Race

As many of you know, we had a crazy winter here in Alaska. Just a little bit of snow in December then a huge warm up and a big melt in January. After I ran a few of the sprint races in late January we let the dogs have a couple weeks off to gain some weight and relax a bit as we geared up towards race day.

We waited for a couple weeks before the Junior Iditarod folks would make a formal decision on the race and the trail. Finally, about a week before they said that the race would leave from Martin Buser’s Happy Trails Kennel in Big Lake, follow through the swamps to the river past Scary Tree and up to Yentna, have the kids do a 10-hour lay over and return.

Musher Meetings

The week before the big race is always crazy! First we had to drop off Nicole’s drop bags so that they could be flown to the checkpoint at Yentna Station. Each musher was allowed two drop bags that weighed no more than 60 pounds. Each drop bag would contain everything that Nicole would need at the checkpoint and the return trip back. They included things like kibble and meat for the dogs, meat and salmon snacks, extra dog booties and batteries for Nicole’s headlamp, food for her and a few extra supplies.

On Thursday night Nicole had her rookie musher meeting at Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla. It was very informative. Iditarod veteran Cim Smyth talking about feeding and snacking on the trail, another Iditarod veteran Zack Steer talked about dressing for cold weather, many others spoke about vet care, sled repair, the trail, and more.

On Friday morning we had to arrive before noon back at Iditarod Headquarters for the Vet Check. All the dogs looked good and passed the check except the vets told us to make sure that we gave the dogs a nail trim before the race.

Friday night was the musher meeting. Nicole, Michele and I attended and heard about all the formalities of the race and the bib draw took place. Since Nicole was the first musher to sign up she was the first to draw. She picked number 6. She would be going out in the middle of the pack.

Race Day

Race day is always organized chaos. We had all of Nicoles gear and sled packed up the night before. We loaded up the team and headed over to Happy Trails by 8:00. We had to be there by 9:00. Nicole was going out 6th so we knew we had a little over two hours before her race started.

They parked us down on the lake and we got started with our pre-race chores: dropping the dogs from the truck, putting on the tags for each dog, prepping Nicole’s sled, a talk with the veterinarian, many pictures from fans, and much, much more.

As we began to hook up it was my job to lead the team out to the starting line by holding on to the leaders. Dale was near the front as was several other volunteer handlers as we made our way across the lake ice to the starting line. Michele was already there to take some pictures as they counted down to the start of Nicoles race!

Day 1

Nicole and her team were off shortly after 11:15 and on the trail. The team looked good as they rounded the first turn and then she was out of sight. For us armchair mushers, the first time for me with Nicole in a big race, it was now a waiting game. The Junior Iditarod was testing out a new tracking system that would be used by the big race, the Iditarod, in a couple weeks. Each team is given two trackers, actually emergency locator beacons or SPOTS. They not only have the ability to track the teams on the trail but should the musher have an emergency they can push a button on the tracker and help would be on their way. But, if a musher pushes the button they are withdrawn from the race.

For us armchair mushers (and parents), it would become a maddening 30+ hours of constantly hitting the ‘refresh’ button on our iPhone/iPad/computer to see where Nicole was on the trail! It was so maddening that by the time I made it home from the race start, I hooked up a 10-dog team and went out on a 40 mile run. When I made it back to the house, I said, “well that took me 4 hours, Nicole should be on the river by now!”

Sure enough she was. Over the last several hours Nicole was pretty much keeping pace with the middle of the pack. As the hours wore on she fell into last place but she was keeping and even speed of about 7.8 miles an hour. The average speed of our dogs, many of them Iditarod and Yukon Quest veterans who’s speed is much more deliberate and they set themselves into a comfortable pace.

Nicole arrived to Yentna station close to 7:00 to begin her 10 hour mandatory layover. She was a couple hours behind the musher in front of her but to Nicole she didn’t mind. She started her chores and even got a few hours rest before leaving in the early morning darkness heading toward the finish. The reports from the trail said that her dogs looked great and so did she and she left without any problems.

Nicole would tell us later that she mushed along the river with the Northern Lights swirling above her. What a sight!

Day 2

I woke up at 5:30 and the first thing I did was check on Nicole’s status of her tracker on my iPad. She was allowed to leave at about 4:50. I saw that she was moving down the river and went back to sleep until about 7:30. After the morning chores and meeting with a dog training client at our house, we left to head to Big Lake at about 11:30. We arrived by 12:15 and could see by the tracker that she was still several hours away. We alternated between sitting in the truck and the visitors center at Happy Trails to get updates on Nicole.

When she was five miles out we all started getting anxious and headed out to the finish line. What was so cool was that everybody that was still at the visitors center came out to cheer Nicole in.

Nicole made it up the hill and crossed the finish line a little after 3:30. After all the formalities were done: she had to check in, make sure all of her mandatory gear was there and a quick pat on the head for each of the dogs, I went up and gave her a hug and told her great job!

We lead the team over to the truck and Nicole gave them a quick salmon snack. I looked over the dogs and so did the vet. While they were tired, there were no injuries at all! That is a testament to good dog care out on the trail by Nicole.

We packed up the gear and loaded up the team and headed for home. Nicole grabbed a quick shower while Michele and I put the dogs back at their houses.

By our schedule that we came up before the race, we thought that Nicole would arrive just in time for the banquet. She made it with a couple hours to spare!

The Banquet

The banquet was held at the Willow Community Center at 6 pm after the race. It was a packed house and all the mushers got to sit front and center. The guest speaker was Iditarod veteran, Mike Williams, Sr. He talked about the importance of mushing and preserving our way of life and the junior mushers becoming a mentor for someone else. He also performed the invocation in both his native language and in English. It was a very moving experience.

After dinner, the awards ceremony started. Each musher received a large amount of goods and services donated by local businesses. Nicole received her Red Lantern award and thanked me when she spoke to the crowd. I was so proud of her at that moment I started crying.

What Nicole learned

As we always do on our race recaps, we share what we learned on the trail. The following is Nicole in her own words about what she learned on the trail:

1.) Pack extra boot liners or boots. I had no idea that i would be going through open water but I shouldve thought ahead and planned for the absolute worse. I did not pack extra liners or boots and ended up going through open water and recieved frost bite on my feet. (Robert here: Nicole had to cross a stream of open water up to her knees. Hear the whole story on the interview on The Sibe Vibe.)

2.) Try to push through swamps as fast as possible. The swamps were the worst part for me and the dogs. They got to hot and that’s when a lot of them slowed down and my time increased. (Robert here: The swamps she is talking about are miles and miles of mostly treeless land around Big Lake, Alaska. Even with temperatures in the mid-20s with the sun bright overhead it feels much warmer and it doesn’t take long for the dogs to get too warm.)

3.) Even dogs who are 4th and 5th string leaders have the greatness to be 1st string. Aussie a last choice leader lead the entire race. (Robert here: Aussie was a dog we got from a good friend of ours, Hugh Neff. After hearing about this he asked if he could have him back. Nicole said, “Not!” They both laughed.)

4.) Sometimes keeping your attitude happy and exciting is the best for the dogs. If you think you can’t make it the dogs will feel that energy and they will just quit on you.

Nicole says that she will be back next year to run the Junior Iditarod and remember that thing about mentoring that Mike Williams talked about at the banquet? Well, it is in the works that Nicole will be mentoring a young lady from Canada and they will run the race together next year!

A huge thank you to Nicole’s sponsors and supporters for this race. Not only were your donations much appreciated but your kind words, advice and support that helped make all of this possible: Alaska Chicks, Co. The Upholstery Gallery, Ed and Judy Perry, April Cox, James Wheeler, Bob Morgan, Jeff Rogers, Hugh Neff, David Scheer, our awesome vet Susan Dent and many other family and friends that cheered for Nicole along the trail and to the finish line.

Listen to Nicole’s interview on The Sibe Vibe:

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