Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby elsietee » Tue Mar 13, 2018 1:48 pm

Eggs wrote:Nic Petit and his dogs recently pulled in.
https://www.facebook.com/akdispatch/vid ... 039318207/


It's hard to hear, but worth a listen - thanks for the link!

Choice snippets:

"We're not stopping, don't get excited!".

...

"I didn't have much of a chance to catch up with him after I red-lined the team. But this was constructive for next year."

...

"He had to have a big smile on his face, so congratulations to him. He's going to have a new truck... he's got a piece of crap, so that'll be good." :)

...

"Q: You know that it isn't over, though.

N: Yeah, it's not over, but we have to be realistic. How often does it ... it just happened that one time. "

...

"Get a better trail report before I leave the checkpoint next time. Where are we going? and can I have a map, please?"

...

"We proved that there's still room for improvement"
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby Frozen Chosen » Tue Mar 13, 2018 2:38 pm

elsietee wrote:Joar in White Mtn:



Q: Did you have thoughts of maybe stopping in Elim and then decided because the dogs were doing so well you'd just go?

J: yah, if they'd've needed the rest, I would have stopped, but they were charging there, all the way from Moses Point [where is that?], so I knew it was good.

[/quote]

Elsie, if that is your italicized question re "Moses Point"... Moses Point is roughtly about 2/3s to way from Koyuk to Elim, along the coast, some miles past the hilly point.
It is acually a spit that jutts out parallel to the coast. There is a river there. Elim ppl have fish camps there and they gather berries and wild greens there too.
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby Frozen Chosen » Tue Mar 13, 2018 2:51 pm

elim-koyuk.jpg
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby Eggs » Tue Mar 13, 2018 3:03 pm

Man, I hate this. Wade has scratched in Koyuk.
https://d3r6t1k4mqz5i.cloudfront.net/wp ... pdf?x14076
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby elsietee » Tue Mar 13, 2018 3:50 pm

Frozen Chosen wrote:Elsie, if that is your italicized question re "Moses Point"... Moses Point is roughtly about 2/3s to way from Koyuk to Elim, along the coast, some miles past the hilly point....


Thank you for that!

I do remember noticing that his team picked up by that point. He'd snacked them before crossing the Kwik River, and they suddenly seemed better. I thought it was that the trail had been super-snowy up until then, being more hilly, but it seems not from his comments.
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby elsietee » Tue Mar 13, 2018 4:16 pm

Nic in WHite Mtn:

"I've got two yearlings on the team, and knowing that they were going over Golovin for the first time in their lives, I didn't want any stress on them, and even helping on the sled behind can be stressful to a dog, so I just kind of sat there, and let them do their thing.

And when we approached Golovin, I gave them the command that says 'this is *not* a checkpoint' - I told them <stern voice> "Don't get excited. We're not stopping". They know what that means, they didn't even try to move in, which is really awesome, and they went right through Golovin and all the way here without questioning it.

That's one of the things that made me not even think about chasing Joar all the way here last night, because, you know, puppies.

We didn't really have that much of a chance to catch up, after I red-lined the engine looking for the trail. This was constructive for next year.

Q: Did you realise he hadn't even stopped?

N: Oh yeah, because... well, I pulled into Elim and he was not there. So I knew he'd come all the way over here - probably with a big smile on his face the whole way because he knew I was going to stop.

Congratulations to him for being here when he got here. There's still a lot of trail, but he's going to have a new truck.


[hah! They cut out the comment Nic made about how it was good because Joar's current truck was a piece of crap. So glad we got to hear the whole interview (albeit hard to hear) on Tegan's FB live feed.]

There's more, but you can hear it yourself on Tegan's FB feed - it was this first part which I had trouble catching.


* * *
Mitch in WHite Mtn:

Seems in good spirits.

Well, the whole race has been a kind of a spiral. Um, I trained for a whole different kind of race and with this slow trail, no matter how much rest you had, you could only go so fast, and we just slowed down and slowed down - and I don't think we're going to go any faster until they get a couple of weeks off. So they feel good and they're rested, but they're in that slow trail speed.

Something that's missed is that when the dogs try to go fast on a punchy trail, the trail is deceptive and it drops out from under them, so they become really tentative, so matter how good they feel, they're only going to go so fast, for fear of falling into a hole. That's probably a good thing.

So yes, they have a little more rest on board - it didn't convert to any extra speed, but with a small team you have to make sure you go that way, and keep the ones that I have...

...

I'm competitive because that's the name of the game, but I don't have a bad day or a good day over stuff like that. It is what it is. I'm very happy. I'm pleased with the team - they gave me everything... I obviously made a few mistakes, but I don't think I let them down either... Not the kind of mistakes where you kick yourself afterwards and say 'why do I keep doing that?', but mistakes where you have to make a decision and sometimes it's the right one and sometimes it's not.
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby elsietee » Tue Mar 13, 2018 4:44 pm

Just looking at our TTPs - we need Aaron Burmeister to break into the top ten! Currently he's 37 minutes behind Jessie Holmes. Go Aaron! Pedal!

Jessie doesn't need to top ten - he's got ROTY, he doesn't need top ten too.

I was excited - looked at the tracker:

Jessie - 4.1 mph! Woo hooo!

looked at Aaron:

Aaron - 3.6 mph.... oh

:)
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby Eggs » Tue Mar 13, 2018 4:56 pm

You sure about Jessie Holmes ROTY? I'm not convinced. Matt's not that far back. I confess, I'm a huge Matt Hall fan. He's not going to push his team to unhappiness, but he's got the goods.

I am watching Ramey Smyth too (also a Ramey fan). He keeps moving up. I'd be nervous if I was in front on him, especially late in the race.
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby elsietee » Tue Mar 13, 2018 5:31 pm

Eggs wrote:You sure about Jessie Holmes ROTY? I'm not convinced. Matt's not that far back. I confess, I'm a huge Matt Hall fan. He's not going to push his team to unhappiness, but he's got the goods.


I wasn't sure back in Shak and was rejoicing that Matt had outplayed him and gotten ahead. But Jessie likes to bank rest and profit from the resulting speed. I was hoping that Jessie's relative inexperience (compared to Matt) was going to be to his detriment - and then he shot out of Shak and hasn't really slowed down since (he was the fastest team over Norton Sound by 50 minutes). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Matt can out-maneuver him (also a huge Matt fan - he's one of my all-time favorites because of his sunny temperament and ease), but it doesn't seem to be playing that way - Aaron already overtook Matt by not stopping in Elim, and so he's going the slow and consistent route by the looks of things. I hope I'm wrong, but unfortunately it doesn't appear to be happening as yet.

I am watching Ramey Smyth too (also a Ramey fan). He keeps moving up. I'd be nervous if I was in front on him, especially late in the race.


I know! I'm so happy to see him up there again. Ramey is faster than Travis, but not as fast as Linwood or Ritchie, so Travis is probably the only one in danger. Agreed, I wouldn't want him behind me either :)
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Re: Koyuk-Elim-White Mountain

Postby Eggs » Tue Mar 13, 2018 5:41 pm

For what it's worth, just saw this on Smokin' Ace FB: (posted about a half hour ago)
Matt made it into Elim @ 2:54 pm! This weather doesn't seem to want to let up. Lots of snow & wind challenging them every step of the way.

Yesterday it was a beautiful day in Nome, as night grew near, clouds rolled in. Today it's cloudy and snowing. Looking across the frozen ocean it's dark in the distance. I think this blizzard is going to follow these teams to Nome!

As I write this, Matt checked out of Elim @ 4:36 pm! He either has some cards up his sleeve and is making moves or staying ahead of the storm! Whatever his game plan, we've learned to never second guess Matt--He knows his dogs and knows how to read their fuel gage. What an exciting race this is shaping up to be.
I haven't been tracking the weather recently. Is that storm still going on? I didn't think it was.

Whatever, it'll be fun watching these teams.
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