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Michele

Nome 40 10 mile race

March 29, 2014 by teamineka

Spring mushing is the best in Alaska. Last weekend, Michele and Nicole ran a 10-mile race in Knik and had a blast!

It was the first race that Michele had run for more than 13 years and the first time she raced against and with her little girl.

I (Robert), was supposed to run the Nome Sign 40 race but decided late on Thursday to let the girls run and have some fun.

We wanted to test out two new dogs we got from James Wheeler, whom we got the Kasilof Crew from two summers ago. The new dogs, Valdez a big 70 pound male and Pearl a small black, shy female hoped to make it on the team and this would be their time to shine!

The race started early so we packed up the two teams of six dogs and headed for the lake. The race is one of the most low-key races in the Valley. You meet on the lake, hand the race marshall your cash and pick up a bib. Dale, was there to give us a hand hooking up and seeing the teams off.

The musher meeting was held on the lake and Michele and Nicole picked bib 4 and 6 with the hopes of having someone in the middle to give us four minutes to get the second team on the trail.

Michele was running Vela-Cession, Scarlet-Pearl, Bodhi-Trapper. We got the team hooked up and away she went. Within 30 seconds Michele’s team was heading down the ice road towards someone’s backyard. We quickly got her turned around and on the trail and on her way.

Nicole was running TyTy-Rasp, Aussie-Gabby,Valdez-Ragnar. Nicole started second in the field and left quickly down the trail with Robert and Dale leading her out. Her race was a combination of passes and rock-n-roll as she made her way down the 10 mile trail. Having just finished the Junior Iditarod she was pretty confident on the runners, even though she was using the Sled Dog Systems sled for the first time. After the race she said it felt like a rocket with the light sled and no weight in the bag.

Nicole came in with the other mushers and finished in the middle of the pack.

Michele here: We meandered around the historic town of Knik, past the Dog Mushing Hall of Fame. The trail was icy and fast and it was quite warm. We crossed the road, up a hill and hit the moguls. It became quite a ride! At about mile 3 passes were starting to happen. At the turn around Barb and Ramey Redington were there to help us out. There was a beautiful view of Sleeping Lady (Mount Susitna) and that is were I met up with Nicole.

Nicole was rocking out to her music on her iPod and passed me in quick order. On the way back I switched out leaders and now had Bodhi and Cession in lead. This was the first time Bodhi has ever lead in a race and Cession had only lead for Robert a couple times in his sprint races earlier this season.

As we saw the lake Bodhi’s tail was flying’ high. I could see Robert and Dale as I got closer and closer and I said, “Bodhi take me home to Daddy!” He saw Robert and picked up speed.

We finished strong and waited for the last team to come in. As it turned out Michele and Nicole finished fifth and sixth with Nicole beating her mom by just eight minutes.

What we learned:

Michele here. 1. We are still struggling to find the right mix of leaders. We have plenty of team dogs but a dog team is only as good as their lead dogs. This summer and fall we will be training up several lead dogs to hopefully make our teams complete.

2. I wasn’t prepared for all the moguls! I am used to the nice groomed trails of the Haesseler-Norris trail system. My poor ankle took a beating!

3. I loved racing with and against my daughter. This is the first time I had ever run with Nicole in a race since way back when she was three years old and running her first race, a 100-yard dash with her dog Tamaya.

These low key races are excellent for getting new dogs out to experience the race vibe. I think Valdez and Pearl proved themselves enough and we just may keep them. I am saying, they just may have a chance, quoting one of my favorite movies of all time.

Most likely this is the last race of the year for Team Ineka and now our focus shifts to next year. We hope to start the season with entering a few of the shorter races like the Aurora 50-50 and the Alaska Excursions 120 in December. That is if Mother Nature blesses us with good snow!

See you on the trail!

 

Related articles
  • Nome Sign 40 Re-cap
  • Junior Iditarod
  • South Central Challenge
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Filed Under: Races, Team Ineka Tagged With: #racerecap, Alaska, Junior Iditarod, Michele, MUSH, Sled dog

Living a life with dogs

October 20, 2013 by teamineka

Robert Michele and Bodhi at Team InekaA lot of our fans and supporters always ask, what is a day like for you guys at Team Ineka? How do you fit all in?

To put it mildly, our teenage daughter has no social life (barely anyway!) and Michele and I have to sneak off and play hooky every once in a while.

Here is a typical day at Team Ineka. It changes depending on who is off work or school but it is pretty much a life with dogs.

5:30 AM: Michele and Nicole get up and take care of the house dogs and the Camp Dogs we are training either in our Camp Works program or service dogs for our business, Alaska Dog Works.

6:30 AM: Michele and Nicole get ready for work and/or school and grab a quick breakfast, usually oatmeal.

7:00 AM: Michele heads to Houston to drop off Nicole who is a junior in high school. Michele makes an hour commute to Palmer to her job as a paralegal.

7:30 AM: Robert and Tyler get up.

7:35 AM: The sled dogs are fed. We have 36 sled dogs and it takes about 45 minutes to an hour for feeding, clean up and a quick pat on the head and a rub behind the ears.

9:00 AM: Robert heads to work in Palmer. He works 3 or 4 days a week and Tyler heads to work at Lowe’s or school. He is a freshman at Mat-Su College.

10:00 AM: Robert at work. If it is a day off for him he spends the day at home running the dogs, hosting radio shows, and/or working with the Camp Dogs.

1:00 PM: If Robert and Michele are in Palmer together they will grab lunch together and if its nice a picnic!

3:15 PM: Nicole gets home from school and spends the next couple hours working with the Camp Dogs and doing homework.

5:30 PM: Depending on who is home, training begins with the sled dogs. Most nights Robert and/or Michele have clients in Anchorage and throughout the Valley for dog training with Alaska Dog Works.

6:00 PM: First team is on the trail!

7:30 PM: Second team is on the trail and someone is either working with the Camp dogs or making dinner.

9:00 PM: Feeding the sled dogs.

9:45 PM: Usually all of the chores are done and we finally sit down for dinner, the Camp Dogs are in their crates for the night. Nicole and Tyler are typically doing homework.

10:30 PM: Usually we will put in a movie or catch one on Netflix. We love horror movies and Robert is a huge fan of documentaries.

11:30-12:00 PM/AM: Bedtime!

This goes on 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We love what we do and wouldn’t trade this life for anything. Sure we work on Christmas but it is something that we choose to do. What is the saying? If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life.

~Robert

 

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Filed Under: Mushers Tagged With: Alaska, Michele, Nicole, Robert, Sled dog, Tyler

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