Rough time

Well, the CC 200 didn't go as well as we'd hoped. While the dogs ran great in the Quest 300, the Chatanika 200 turned out to be quite different. The first section of trail proved to be challenging with winds drifting the trail over, causing the dogs to slog through drifts both while climbing and dropping down hills. There was a VERY STEEP downhill that lasted for about 1/2 mile that started well. I kept the dogs down to an easy pace (I don't let them lope downhills, which keeps them from getting injured) until about halfway down, at which point the trail was really dug up and trenched. The sled tipped to the left, which caused me to put counter pressure on my right runner. This meant I had to take one foot off the brake. The dogs sped up, which had me stabbing for the brake more, resulting in the sled tipping. NOT COOL! I was drug for a bit, but the dogs responded to my Whoas! and stopped. Unfortunately, the dragging did some damage to my back, though it didn't hurt too much at the time. We did the first 41 miles slowly, coming across the road 5 1/2 hours after the start. The dogs then picked up once they realized we were on home trails and we started passing teams that were resting. I had planned on running straight through to Pleasant Valley, only taking short breaks to re booty and to snack. But several dogs had diarrhea, and then one of my key dogs started necklining. So, I stopped and rested for 3 hours on the Chena River, about 40 miles from PV store. Only 3 teams caught me, but we didn't get in to PV until 3:48am...putting us in next to last place. I ended up having 2 dogs stop on me, though a quick snack soon had them going ok. Unfortunately, I also had a couple of dogs throw up while stopped. They'd obviously picked up a bug, which resulted in their slowing down and not being able to run straight through.

I got them all taken care of then saw to my own needs. I slept for a bit, but when I got up, my back was hurting badly and I was having a hard time moving around. The more I tried to do, the worse my back was getting. It was obvious that I was going to have some severe difficulities with the next section of trail to Angel Creek, as there were advancing glaciers and several areas of overflow/slush/ice. The dogs were not doing so well, though most did eat and drink. However, after conferring with Manny and several race folks at PV store, along with a trail report from Rick Townsend, who scratched upon reaching Angel Creek in 1st place, I made the decision to call it done and wait to try another day. Manny ran the team home, since we live just a mile from PV store. He said there were 4 dogs off their tugs and once in the dog yard, most of the team had diarrhea. Also, I have a pinched nerve and a possible herniated disc in my mid back, though we won't know for sure until my MRI next month. Needless to say, my racing season is over. Manny will be taking a 10 dog team to the Valley Funale next weekend, while Devlyn will be running the 2 dog class. I'll be content to hang out with the baby and help get my 2 racers off on their races.

Next season, Manny will be working on his qualifiers for the 2008 Quest, which he hopes to participate in. In the meantime, we're going to keep working with our team and continue with some light training through the summer months, as temps allow. We did a breeding between Dutchess and Riley, our 2 main dogs in the yard. So, we'll be welcoming a litter in 2 months. Devlyn is excited, as he's our resident "puppy manager" and loves working with pups. Needless to say, this season has been rough all the way around and just didn't pan out the way we would have liked. Still, you live and learn. There's always another race, another time. ;o)

-Tam