Rob Cooke news

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Rob Cooke news

Postby tanglefoot » Thu Feb 09, 2017 12:09 pm

News from Rob. He is running a sibe team and is originally from here and an old friend. He has got some detractors out ther who are hell bent on rubbishing him and his races this season and spreading runours.
You may have seen him with a nasty cut, here is the real story.

Whoever is rubbishing Rob and his efforts is one sour piece of dirt!

Halfway through and the dogs are doing amazingly well. They are screaming to go from checkpoints and camping stops alike; eating well and loving life. I hope I can live up to task of looking after them in the second half of the race so they can continue to be amazing. I don't normally post from Dawson but I gather for a second Yukon Quest out of the last three someone has been posting misinformation so I feel I need to correct that now. The incident 15 miles out from the start, the drop onto the Yukon, went something like this: the trail was great and the dogs were screaming along, we came across a set of crossed trail markers (indicating a hazard) and a member of the public shouting that I had to stop as 'she has gone over the edge' and I had to get off my sled and help her. By this time my team had rounded a 90 degree bend and were screaming to go and my sled was jarred into a tree on the corner. I pointed out that there was no way I could leave my team. Paige appeared and said she would help get my team by hers, She said her team were OK and I should go on, her toboggan was over the edge and she was struggling to get it back up onto the trail - all her dogs were safe, well and raring to go (Paige should be commended for how calmly she was dealing with this). Because I was wrapped around the tree I had to flip the sled and the dogs dragged me around the corner. With Paige's help we righted my sled and the dogs took off downhill. I don't know how but I managed to get the team and the sled by Paige's team without running into any of them. The drop onto the river was steep and long but nothing unexpected. The dogs were so pumped by seeing Paige's team that I couldn't slow them despite being stood on the brake and trying to use the snowhook. The next bit is a bit hazy but there was a right turn at the bottom, the dogs took it, I didn't: the sled flipped and I smashed my head straight into the tree - I remember thinking that this was bad and I may just die here (I am a drama queen). Next thing I knew I could see a blurred vision of the dogs 10ft down the trail: I had been thrown off the back of the sled, let go of the snowhook and that had caught. Groggily I got back on and set off, as I pulled onto the river Alan Moore came by and asked if I was OK - I said not really and then noticed that my straw was lying in the snow about 50ft behind me - I must have ripped it loose as I was knocked off the sled and it had fallen off as we dropped onto the river. I couldn't hook down so sat hard on the sled whilst a member of the public grabbed my straw. I was feeling really bad so sat with my head on the handle bar for a while. I could see that Paige was at the top and still struggling then I saw another team descending and having the same control issues I had had. 2 minutes later a loose team appeared out of the bush and I could see from their jackets that they were Hugh's team. I couldn't get off my sled as the dogs were screaming to go but I shouted at some bystanders to get into the loose team and stop them - which they did - they tied them to a tree. I then had someone (a nurse it turned out) check me for bleeding and proceeded on. This whole thing is just something that happened and is part of racing (we sign up for the Quest because it is challenging). This was absolutely NOT the fault of the Yukon Quest, NOT NOT the fault of the Canadian Rangers (it is disrespectful and insulting to say otherwise), the Rangers have again done an amazing job with the trail, and NOT the fault of anyone else, mushers, public whatever - these things happen, we deal with it without making a fuss and move on. This is an amazing race with amazing support and long may it continue that way. Rant over, back to bed, enjoy the second half of the race - we'll try to:)
Believe in your dog team and your dog team will believe in you. – Frank Turner
TANGLEFOOT SLED DOG RACING TEAM
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Re: Rob Cooke news

Postby Moose » Sat Feb 11, 2017 8:34 am

What? I'm thankful to be missing the rubbish. Who could say something negative about Rob?! I don't get it. I hope he can disregard the comments as he and his beautiful/awesome team make their way up the trail.
Wag more, bark less.
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Re: Rob Cooke news

Postby elsietee » Sat Feb 11, 2017 10:23 pm

I took this to mean that he was defending the race and the trail setters, not himself.
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Re: Rob Cooke news

Postby fladogfan » Sun Feb 12, 2017 12:19 pm

I remember watching a video of Hugh's team being brought under control and tied to a tree or something. That was a very scary part of the trail for all the mushers.
Why would anyone be telling lies about Rob? What can they gain?

Good to read his story, hear about what he experienced, saw and felt.
All my children have four feet and fur.
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