Ophir > Cripple > Ruby on the river

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Re: Ophir > Cripple > Ruby on the river

Postby fladogfan » Thu Mar 12, 2020 12:00 pm

Just what Brent doesn't need a cell phone. Surely can't be worth $3000, gold thank you very much.
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Re: Ophir > Cripple > Ruby on the river

Postby elsietee » Thu Mar 12, 2020 12:06 pm

Just taking a quick look at dog numbers.

A couple of days ago Meredith was down to 11, now she's down to 9. Virus? Über-caution? Hopefully she's now pared down to the strong ones.

Matt F is also down to 10 as of leaving Ophir.

Jessie, Richie, and Thomas W are holding strong at 14 dogs at the front (probably) of the pack.

In Cripple - Brent dropped one in McGrath (? Tak?) because he wasn't keeping up with the others, but was otherwise fine. Michelle, Lance, Kelly and Aliy are also still at 13.

(Aliy's arrival there puts her 9.5 hours + whatever bib # differential behind Brent. Not an unsurmountable lead to get her back in the top ten?)
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Re: Ophir > Cripple > Ruby on the river

Postby mira » Thu Mar 12, 2020 1:13 pm

70 minutes I think (assuming they started with a two minute interval)
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Re: Ophir > Cripple > Ruby on the river

Postby txbennett » Thu Mar 12, 2020 1:38 pm

After differential adjustments Paige gains minutes on everybody else since she started in the last position. Also, there is a possibility (probability) that some additional teams will arrive in Cripple and leave with or ahead of or only slightly behind those resting in Cripple for their 24. The lead pack will become better defined when the teams leave Ruby. They all must take a required 8 hour break in their choice of one of the Yukon checkpoints, which must also be factored in. The Cripple 24ers will probably go beyond Ruby to take their 8 closer to Kaltag, the folks coming from Takotna (etc.) may take their 8 in or just beyond Ruby.
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Re: Ophir > Cripple > Ruby on the river

Postby braider » Thu Mar 12, 2020 4:23 pm

GoJessieGo - first to leave Cripple / 1st place She gets tough at the end of this race.
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Re: Ophir > Cripple > Ruby on the river

Postby libby the lab » Thu Mar 12, 2020 4:57 pm

Fingers crossed for GO JESSIE GO!!
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RIP Libby and Hank

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Re: Ophir > Cripple > Ruby on the river

Postby elsietee » Thu Mar 12, 2020 5:32 pm

Snippets from today's Insider vids from Cripple:

  • Jessie R's team looked "business-like" coming into Cripple.
  • Thomas W's OTOH, were lunging, barking, and wagging (they came in loping). He says they go slowly for the first couple of hours, then get up to speed.
  • Lance sweet-talking his dogs as they lolled in the straw on their backs, blissed out. Up to this point he's just letting them do their thing and he's along for the ride. They are doing exactly what he's seen them do all season long. No particular outstanding dog - just a nice team. Taking it a little more seriously this year - not doing the snooze-n-cruise. A little different approach this year than in past years. It's been ten years since he last won, ... he was thinking about Jeff King on his way over to Cripple, sasys he misses him. That the media made them out to be "rivals". He says competition brings out the worst in ppl - esp when they haven't had much sleep and demand perfection - you're just seeing that side of their personality. He has no plan - just going to see where it gets him.
  • Kelly Maixner: feels that he's right where he should be - he's running Dallas' dogs and thinking "what would Dallas do?" He's a little faster than most because he's taking lots of rest. The run to Cripple was really slow - grabby snow.
  • Michelle: challenging last night, moving very slow, slow thinking from lack of sleep. Has had some naps and feedings and feeling much better. She's a little swollen, she says. Says going to Cripple was a good option after YQ. Was happy with that choice. Dogs came in happy, eating well. Says it depends on the time of day, as far as when she takes her 8. She'd prefer to take it later on the Yukon.
  • Paige: Q: how does sleep deprivation affect how you look at your dogs? She says it totally does - when she's tired, she'll look at them sleeping and think they look bad. Then go in and take a nap and come out - and say "Look how great they look" and it's totally the same picture. Asked about where to take her 8. Says she doesn't want to take it in Ruby - doing a 70 mile run straight off after the 24 is not a good idea. Then she's very cagey about what she is going to do (because Bruce will tell everyone). She'd rather take it later. She seemed very peppy and alert. Said she was getting a little loopy from lack of sleep last night, so every hour she'd stop the team and do "wellness checks" - but when she stopped them, they'd stare at her like "what are we doing?". But she said by the time she worked her way from the front of the team to the back, wiping snow off their faces, they'd all be barking and excited and wanting to go at 9 mph. Then an hour would go by and they'd get all dull again, so she'd do it again - and everyone was still happy each time - barking and excited when they arrived. She said some of the dogs turn into monsters as they go down the trail - they get bigger and more muscled, and louder - start quiet and by the end they're just barking to keep going all the time.
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Re: Ophir > Cripple > Ruby on the river

Postby elsietee » Thu Mar 12, 2020 7:25 pm

Brent in Cripple:

Feels great, he got a lot of sleep. Asked how he thinks sleep deprivation affects the dogs? He says they feed off your energy, so when you get tired the dogs pick it up. So he makes an extra effort to be positive and more upbeat when tired. You can't fake it, but you can be more upbeat and not a downer. Keeping himself hydrated and eating properly really helps him cope better with the sleep deprivation.

How are the team now versus in the YQ?
Says they're maintaining - have a really steady stride and he feels really confident how they are looking. Hopes they'll just keep getting better. Feels like they started a bit stronger than they did for the YQ. He put about 450 miles on the dogs between the end of YQ and ID, to keep their metabolism rolling and keep them in the groove.

Where best to take his 8?
Would like to go to Kaltag - later is better. Just keep doing his 50-60 mile runs to Kaltag and take it there. But then again, it might be advantageous to take it quickly in Ruby. Depends on if he wants to carry stuff on this next stretch to Ruby - in order to camp. Or travel light and buzz over there. So two totally different plans. Depends on how the dogs look - and he has 12 hours to figure it out.

...more to come
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Re: Ophir > Cripple > Ruby on the river

Postby braider » Thu Mar 12, 2020 9:14 pm

This seems like a very great race this year GoJessieGo!
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Re: Ophir > Cripple > Ruby on the river

Postby elsietee » Thu Mar 12, 2020 10:34 pm

Cripple:

Mitch:
How does he deal with sleep deprivation?
Does a lot of race-simulation training and he's been doing it for years, so muscle memory and routine. Just keep going. Ends up taking longer to do things and you get slowed down. Things look a lot better after your 24.

<entire team of dogs howling in the background, so hard to hear> I think he's talking about wanting to futz with dogs - work on their feet, etc, but sometimes the best thing to do is just leave them alone.


Aaron B:
Goes on through. Says he wants to break the trip from Ophir to Ruby into three legs - he did a 6 hour run, then rested and now he's five hours into his next run - so will go another hour before resting again, then a 7 hour trip into Ruby. Doesn't want to put any long runs on the dogs this soon after his 24.



Ryan Redington:
Pretty happy, adapting well, taking it one run at a time, being conservative. He was sick in Nik, and on the way to Tak he fell asleep on the sled and hit a tree - that really jarred him. His boots went bad and he's been dealing with cold feet, but now he's got new boots (in McGrath) and things are going better. 5 or 10 gallons of water ended up in his sled and he couldn't get his boots out because they were frozen in there, so that was "interesting".
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