Nikolai - McGrath - Takotna - Ophir - Iditarod

[mira]

From radar, looks like snow is going to hit Iditarod pretty soon (5:30-6 pm AK). Joar should be okay, though it won't be fun. But Lars is in for it. Wind is going to pick up in front of that snow.

At least, if it's one person I'm not worried about being out in a storm, it's Lars.. but it might not be that wise thinking about the competition

Lars has rested for 2.5 hours 40 miles from Iditarod. Larry has stopped for the last 30 minutes 50 miles from Iditarod. Jeff come from behind, seemed like he stopped at his spot for a couple of minutes before Jeff continued.

I do hope this works out for Joar but I have some doubt, Lars/Larry/Jeff will all help getting the trail settled I guess.. I think if Joar move should really work no more should have gone.. But I hope I'm wrong! On the other hand, he will not need to break trail to Yukon (most likely) and he will has a fresh team comparing with Nicolas taking 24 in McGrath for instance.

Jakes article (posted somewhere) were great reading.. He did the same computation as we all try to do (who is actually in the lead).

[mira]

Nicolas, Aaron and Wade are all finished. Ryan can leave in 12 minutes from McGrath.
Nicolas is flying at 8.4 mph and is 5 miles from Takotna. Mitch can leave Takotna in 30 minutes.. That will be close

#13 Mitch Seavey can leave at 07th. Mar at 23:35 from Takotna.
#17 Ray Redington jr can leave at 08th. Mar at 02:00 from Takotna.
#36 Jessie Royer can leave at 08th. Mar at 02:16 from Takotna.
#31 Aliy Zirkle can leave at 08th. Mar at 03:00 from Takotna.
#8 Linwood Fiedler can leave at 08th. Mar at 03:18 from Takotna.
#29 Richie Diehl can leave at 08th. Mar at 03:40 from Takotna.
#30 Peter Kaiser can leave at 08th. Mar at 03:41 from Takotna.
#15 Matt Hall can leave at 08th. Mar at 05:33 from Takotna.

#41 Jessie Holmes can leave at 08th. Mar at 13:31 from Ophir.

#33 Joar Leifseth Ulsom can leave at 08th. Mar at 21:38 from Iditarod.

[mira]

Lars rested for approximately 3 hours.

[elsietee]

Looking at the radar, the snow appears to have gone south of the trail and missed them (currently dumping on Finger Lake).

Kelly Maixner's GPS has gone AWOL and is showing him resting on the up side of McGrath since 7:30 this evening (never mind he got into Takotna at 3:40 a.m.).

Lars would appear to be on a similar schedule to Joar (maybe they compared notes?), except he rested a bit longer at his previous-to-this-one rest. He only stopped for 3 or so hours after a 9 hour run, and is now trundling down the trail again.

Mira:

I do hope this works out for Joar but I have some doubt

Agreed on both counts. It's so hard to tell - it really hangs on how the trail goes for those that follow. I'm not sure Joar was totally convinced, but having seen his team in the other video - where they are lunging to go - and if you say he was telling the dog to settle down, I assume that tipped him towards making that move. You never know unless you try.

[elsietee]

Aliy in Takotna:

Q: The run to McGrath... did the trail conditions change your decision on where you were going to 24?

A: Absolutely <laughs>

Q: It was bad, huh?

A: Well, not bad - it was a real winter trail. Yes, my whole plan with this dogs team - it's a hard core, strong, tough group of dogs, and so we wanted to keep their speed. So the plan was to rest periodically until we got to the halfway point at ID with not too long a runs. But the fact that the trail conditions were kind of old school, like, breaking trail kind of stuff, meant that they had to go slow anyways, so I was not salvaging their speed, ... so that would have been two additional long runs to the halfway point, which seems like it was the opposite of what I was going for.

So yuh... the one year I'm telling everyone 'yeah! I'm going to ID!' <looks over at Michelle next team over> ... I told Michelle .. and she was, like, [seeing Aliy in Tak] 'What are you doin' here??'. I told her, like, three times 'Michelle, I'm going to ID!' <laughs>

Michelle over by her team is laughing and shouts back "You were playing mind games with me!"

Aliy agrees "I'm playing mind games with you, girl"

Michelle: "I'm going to ID too!!"

Aliy laughs uproarously. "Nyuh uh... you said 'I'm NOT going to ID', you said 'good luck'.

[elsietee]

Aliy and Mitch checking out Mitch's sled in Takotna:


A: So did you train with this sled all season?

M: I ran it for a month - took me a while to build it

A: Do you have certain dogs that don't ride?

M: nuh

A: oh, they all ride? Do you have them on a rotation, or is it just whoever looks like they...

M: I have a chart to keep track. So they're on a rotation. BUt then it gets to where... sort of the way I like to do it is... if it doesn't slow me down - because there's times you do that instead of being on the brake - but if it's going to slow me way down, then I don't do it at all.

A: So you can carry 250 lbs of dog in here? THat's incredible

M: ...and go the same speed pretty much. BUt it's a ton of work. It takes a bunch of time every time you stop.

A: I think I saw you when I passed you - you were taking a dog out, or putting a dog in - way back before Finger Lake... or maybe you were just snacking?

M: No, before Finger Lake I was switching dogs. But it was pretty slow there.

A: Man, it seems like a lot of work <laughs>

M: It is, it's a lot of work...

A: But then again, you're winning <laughs>... it's not easy to win, is it?

[elsietee]

Michelle in Tak:

They talk about where she was planning her 24 and the cost of sending lots of stuff out on the trail.

M: ...I don't know about going to ID this year...

Q: but you know, Joar blew through Ophir and is going to ID

M: Is he?? O-kay! He's going for it! ANyone else take up the challenge?

Q: Four teams are in Ophir, but none have gone through yet

M: Wow

Q: So what do you think about the strategy of going to ID on this year's trail?

M: I wouldn't be very comfortable with it, I would think it would be a real soft trail, I think the more people that travel on it, it could set up. It could maybe still be crusty, so there might be a better base, and then it'll all go to sugar... but I guess we'll see.

[mira]

Jessie (Royers) interview is also nice:

J: so. I know it's a different route and here.. Iditarod would be the half-way but..I don't think ANYBODY will be first to go across to Iditarod...this year"

Q: somebody has to?

J: "Yeah..somebody will have to be".

Q: Joar went

J: "Did he go? ohh man" She looks really surprised (and perhaps a bit impressed)

Q: So what do you think of that? You know this trail

J: yeah, well,, uhmm I hope... It's either going to pay out and he will be way ahead or it won't. It's a big gamble I guess... and I hope it works out for him.. I'm rooting for him... but.. yeah.. I think we will have soft, slow trail all the way to Nome from here.

..and then she goes on talking about how they are traveling into parts where is hardly ever traveled, no base all way up the river.. and on the coast, when they usually will have harder trails they have much more snow than usual.

[mira]

Joars team look good at arrival in Iditarod, one dog in the sled I think he said. Also a nice interview, Joar is answering those parts he wants to answer

Q: Talk about the decision and now you're here, are you happy with the decision you made?

J: I'm happy to be here.

Q: But how do they do?

J: They did very good, I'm extremely proud of them, very good attitude, and just kept trotting along just kept working. I'm superhappy with the team, beautiful leg.. top five of running dogs.. beatiful scenery in the mountains and I got to see it all in slow motion

Q: Was the wind blowing in the trail has it blown in behind you?

J: It was blowing coming here and it started to drift quite a bit. Snowing on and off.

Q: You turned back into Ophir, why?

J: Coming into Ophir.. the ten last minutes I was trying to decide what to do. I decided when I got in that I should grab and go. I packed all my dog food, straw, heat and all that and took off and five minutes later I saw any of my food so I figured that will be a long trip so I went back to get my food.


That was a smart move.. to remember his own food He talked very much about how good his dogs are doing, I don't think he ever answered the question if he was satisfied with his decision.. and the part about the trail. well.. he kind of answered that.

Looking at the videos and radars I don't think they were really hit (Eggs or elsietee wrote something about it), it's snowing powder but not that kind of snow that builds.. very pretty snow. Of course the trail will be loser but it doesn't seem to accumulate much. But I'm still worried that Joar, Lars, Jeff and Larry will make the trail having a base making it easier for the others. The trail will have time to settle a bit.

[mira]

Almost forgot, Nicolas and Mitch is almost into Ophir.. they are within a mile from each other...