txbennett wrote:Welcome Jeff -- how exciting to have you on our forum.
A few years ago Cabela's opened a new store just down the road from Austin, in Buda Texas. When they first announced their plan for a store, I started lobbying for them to bring Jeff King and the Cabela's Iditarod display to the store to share that part of their product line with us Iditabuddies in Texas. They declined, very politely, since they thought there would not be much demand for sub-zero outfits and arctic sleds in Central Texas. We're great customers for their hunting, fishing, camping products, but we don't have much demand for Parkas.
They probably made a very good business decision, but we missed the chance to host you and to hear about your Iditarod experiences directly and personally. Now we have the opportunity to visit with you in the BSSD forum. Thank you for giving us this time and energy out of your precious preparation schedule.
You (and Martin) had a very different strategy than Lance and Paul in scheduling your 24-hour layover while running the southern route in 2007. Without revealing any strategic "secrets", I am wondering whether you are thinking of perhaps running a little further down the trail before "resting" for this next race, and if so how that may be reflected in your training sessions and the selection of the members of your team. Lance and Paul seemed to have more energy running up-river on the Yukon after laying over in Iditarod.
Thank You again for your time. I have already placed you on the top of my Top Ten Picks for this year's race. I believe this will be number 5 for the King.
TXbennett
Thank you for your confidence! Number 5 would be really cool. And yes, I really do know who Rick Swenson is. However grumpy at times, he truly is one of the sports all time greats and I would love to tie and go on to beat his Iditarod victory record.
As for the strategy for my 24 hour layover, there is one reason - first & foremost - that I continue to use Takotna as a default for this important, strategical decision. It's the pie they serve at Takotna. It is to die for. In addition to this, I just think it's so important to make sure I error on the side of conservativeness when it comes to expending the dogs' energy. It's just not possible to "recharge" in 24 hours if you have overextended the dogs prior. I am consistently prepared to go further than Takotna - and even give up the pie - but I am very very stingy when it comes to expending the dogs' energy and any doubt at all, I want to rest earlier than later.