Nikolai- McGrath- Takotna - Ophir

[elsietee]

Vids in Takotna:

• Joar: said no point going to ID if it's snowing. He's going to see what happens. Bruce thought he wanted to go to ID and wondered if the weather coming in had dissuaded him, but it sounded more like Joar's dogs needed to stop earlier. Talked again about Jaeger - did Kusko with him, and he's turning into a great dog. He put him out in lead with another dog, but Jaeger kept pushing the other dog out of the way, so he finally just put him in single lead and let him get on with it. Said being in single lead doesn't seem to cost the dog anything, he's just rolling around in the snow, happy as anything. He's a b/w dog with a big rangy gait.
  
  
• Trail to Ophir is basically a road. Bruce speculating that Matt Hall might go on to Ophir. And that because Nic rested a short while in McGrath, he probably will too. [edit: he went through Tak]
  
  
• Bruce says that Mitch says not to try anything wild and extreme - better to stick to known strategies.

[elsietee]

A few more in Nik:

• Travis Beals: also mentioned the moguls - makes it hard to keep the dogs into a good rhythm.
  
  
• Linwood on his adventure: Had just entered the buffalo tunnels and hit an 8" stump and the carabiner broke. ... he then gets teary - said he needs some composure, he's really tired.
  
  
  Then talked about pushing his sled, then Mats came along and towed him for miles. And they crossed a river and the dogs were way down the river off trail. His headlight picked up their eyes and saw them all bunched up.
  
  
  No one is terribly hurt and they were all able to run on to Nikolai. Has a couple of dogs that are a little banged up, but they're all alive - didn't think they were going to be. Said he's helped others in a similar situation and it often results in fatalities. "It was a long night". Dogs were all tangled up in a ball - barking at him. They were on the ice and you could hardly stand up since it was so slippery - he has some screws on his shoes which helped. Said he pulled them off the ice so they could stand up and get them sorted out.
  
  
  They were really lucky, he said, if it had been in daytime, he doesn't think they would have seen them - his headlight picked up the reflection of their eyes.
  
  
• Mitch: Doesn't want to be anywhere else - he's where he wants to be. Too many pitfalls to change anything. Says Nic has a big jump, but did it cost him anything. Sometimes you come off your 24 hour layover and think "uh oh".
  
  
• Jessie Holmes: talked about losing his trailer - turned around, not knowing how far back it was. He turned around and met Mitch coming up the trail - had a bit of a tangle since he has a female in heat. Mitch told him it was back there in a creek. He said he still "got here in 8 hours 17 mins, so that's really good" (I'm thinking Jessie is a numbers man, since he's always talking about how long a run took him - to the nearest minute?). Says it would have been a 7 hour XXX min trip without the detour - he has a fast team and he's keeping them fast with lots of rest.
  

Bruce and Greg talking about how most mushers set up their drop bags so they can pick and choose where they want to 24 - but that last year Jeff King didn't do it very well and it forced him to go all the way to ID - which meant he was way off the pace by the time he got there. Said the trail to ID can be very windy and blow in easily - snow is very powdery, so won't take much to blow over if there's any wind.

Bruce was teasing the rookies who were all having a good time at Rohn - he said to them "well, you haven't seen the buffalo tunnels yet" : ) ) )

Bruce then talking about blankets v. straw. Funnily enough, mentioned how horse owners are tending to not blanket so much - blankets work great for wind, but it flattens down the coat, so it traps less heat, so doesn't work as well as you'd think (the only time I blanket my horses is when it's wet and windy - when it's just cold, they're better off staying out of the wind and staying fluffy).

Talking about the Buffalo Tunnels - the dogs apparently run faster through there because of the smell of the bison who've put in the tracks through the tightly packed bush.

[elsietee]

Pete Kaiser declared his 24 in Tak.

Nic blew through in a hurry - already had his vet book out to wave at the checker, shouting to get a vet to sign his book. Dogs were raring to go.

Sounded breezy in Tak.

and that's it for the evening.

[mira]

Thank you so much ET!

[elsietee]

One more - Jessie R in Tak:

"I've been here in top ten before, but not second place. But you know how it goes... I'd be a lot more excited if I was in second place on the coast. We'll just keep playing it out and see how it goes".

[Another UK Fan]

Great job Elsietee and thank you so much. It's such a help to get quickly into the race again.

[mira]

I extended this topic to add Ophir, Nicolas is there.. So.. will he continue on or stay? Last year, Joars move going to Iditarod didn't work out (it wasn't bad, but it wasn't this great solution either). He has run non-stop since McGrath, that is 5 hours or so

[Another UK Fan]

I extended this topic to add Ophir, Nicolas is there.. So.. will he continue on or stay?

Yes it's hard to say isn't it? GPS last updated 1hr and 20 mins ago and has him in Ophir and racing. . . .

Current standings show him in Ophir and no leaving details, which sort of suggests he is staying - comms room would have updated by now if he'd left - unless it was in the last few mins of course.

It will be quiet in Ophir and Nic said somewhere he didn't like the noise in the checkpoint.

Hey - who knows? It's wait and see . . .

[txbennett]

Aliy making her move??? 24 in Iditarod? McGrath through Takotna with only a 3 minute stop already, then through Ophir? Then one long stop at a shelter cabin or two short stops at shelters en route to Iditarod??

Go SPK!!!

[Another UK Fan]

Whaaaa????? You turn away for a few minutes and everything changes! Thanks for the upudate Tx

GO Aliy!