And, he’s off
After months of preparation and watching our credit card balances soar into the stratosphere, Rod is finally on the trail.
After years of entering sled dog races, we’ve got our pre-race timing pretty much figured out. Rod fed the dogs a meaty broth about 7 a.m., we started loading them in the truck at 8:15 and we left for the starting line at 8:30 on the dot. The first team left the gate at 11 a.m.
When we got to the staging area behind the borough building, we took the dogs out of the truck so they could pee and stretch their legs and eat a snack. Then we loaded them up again so they wouldn’t get overexcited while Rod finished loading his sled and made last-minute adjustments. An hour before we were due to start, we unloaded the dogs again, started putting booties on them, then harnessed them and put them on the gangline right as the snowmachines arrived to help us down to the river and the start line.
The Quest handled the start very well. We had lots race volunteers help us get to the line, so the team stayed under control and the timing was perfect. It’s probably the easiest time I’ve ever had getting to the starting line of a race.
And the crowd was tremendous! I’ve never seen so many people hanging out downtown. The weather was perfect for spectators, although a bit too warm for the dogs. I had my camera with me, but was too busy meeting up with old friends and getting the dogs ready to take any pictures. I hope someone else will post one.
People always want to know our dogs’ names so, here they are: Slug, Zorro, Freddie, Shadow, Blue, Margarita, Nugget, Summit, Barney, Ethel, Roger, Spruce, Tank and Star. This is roughly in the order they are in the team, starting from the front on back.