by elsietee » Fri Mar 10, 2023 10:15 pm
Meal for Jessie:
Lobster bisque, king crab salad with creme fraiche; slow cooked veal with stock and mashed potatoes; cheese cake.
Brent in Anvik:
Finally wearing his parka with ruff (I think the first time this race?). They offer him his bags and he says "I don't need any of that". Asked where he's going to 8, says Kaltag is the plan right now.
Nic:
Asked if he's going to take his 8. He says "I dont' have to declare it, do I?" They explain that they don't have enough straw, so if he's staying 8, they'll give him a full bale of straw. Otherwise he only gets half a bale. It looks like that decides him (the video cuts right as he says something). Dogs are SCREAMING to get going, so not really ready for 8, but he take it anyway.
Later interview - has been sleeping a lot. Says the trail has been hard pounding since Rohn - dogs are ok, but his feet hurt. Talking to Jessie sounds like he, Nic, might have done a few things right there. They had a cushion because it snowed just a little bit, where it might have been a hard, fast trail for others - just after his 24 [back in Nik], so maybe that helped. Has been putting on a lot of ointment and pretty happy with how the dogs look.
Ryan in Shag:
Decided to 8 there because of the hilly run over there - get some rest on the dogs. Seemed like the smart move for his team. He got some sleep and feels pretty happy. Has heard there is some overflow on the river, but as cold as it was there, he wonders if it froze. Really proud of how his dogs have run the first half the race - he learned a lot and had fun.
Dan in Shag:
"I might be a certifified vet by the time i get to Nome. I've been doctoring the whole way." Has carried a dog for at least part of the way on every single run since Rohn. Has been a lot difference than last year when it was pretty much smooth sailing the whole way. Carried a dog with a sore wrist (the one he's putting a wrap on as he's talking), then carried his biggest dog - Eggroll - who he thinks is the biggest dog in the entire race, in on the run before that. It has been challenging. But is happy now that it's cool - the dogs like it, so he's hoping to turn his race around.
Wade in Anvik:
Was expecting the trail to Anvik to be a little shorter - it was a few more miles than he anticipated. Bruce asks why he decided to stop there, since he just 24ed in ID. Wade says "no, this was a long run for us - about 70 miles" which is a big push for his team. Cites that they aren't very far off John Baker's record*. The front runners are killing it. Bruce points out that although John has the record, he says he did it doing a consistent 7-8 mph. Wade agrees - says he hasn't let his dogs go over 9 mph the whole race. When they hit 9 mph, he hits the brakes. Says his dogs dropped down to 8 mph "Hey? what are you doing?", so he chivvied them a bit and they raced up to 11 mph "No, don't do that either!" <laughs>. Dogs will need to settle on the river. Where they live now in WI is very hilly, then they did the Quest out of FBs, which was also hilly, so they aren't used to flat, so it'll be interesting to see how they come up the river.
[I was looking at this earlier. It looks like John arrived in Anvik ~5:40 am, where Jessie arrived at 4:00 am - so just over 1.5 hours faster]
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elsietee AT ponyhill DOT org
Repotted english person in the Sierra foothills, CA
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