GWSHC Member Brags 2007

The following brag is from the Colorado Chapter of GWSHC, this race was the weekend of Jan 27-28

This past weekend was my first race of the season.  It was a two day event, held at one of the coldest spots in the state.  The powers that be were with us, as the 80% chance of snow and 20 MPH winds that the forecasters promised never materialized. 

 On the first day, the light at 9 A.M. was pretty flat, making it nearly impossible to see the trail for the the first teams out, those with 8 dogs.  (that is most assuredly NOT me!!)  Several came back with wide eyes, after taking hellbent runs and more than one spill, or "biff", as I first learned the term that day.  This was enough to make me worried about my own run, coming later in the day, with only four dogs.  To add to my trepidation, it turned out that due to some last minute configuration changes, my team was now going to include one of Mike's big, famous powerhouse wheel dogs.  Montana has not been feeling well lately, so he was bumped down to my team.  However, even a less than optimum Montana was still more pulling power than I've ever ridden behind. 

 By the time I went out near the end of the day, visibility had improved remarkably.  I was quite cautious on my run, using the drag brake on all the hills, trying to keep the wheel dogs from over-running the slower leaders.  I had only run this course once before in my life, at last year's race at this site, which had to be cancelled on the second day due to whiteout conditions.  Not being familiar with the trail also added to my caution, but I finished the race without biffing, second to last. 

 Day two dawned clear, calm, and cold.  With a second night of freezing temps behind, the trail was even faster for the racers.  I received a mind-boggling amount of technique advice, but determined to give highest attention to that of my mentor, who went out in the 6 dog class ahead of me, and at least has some understanding of my skill level and the power of his own dogs.  I was told I did not need to be as cautious as I had been the day before, and that I had a chance of beating the team ahead of me in the standings from the previous day. 

 The racers are staggered in their starts by one minute intervals.  I took off, and actually employed some of the techniques I've been aware of, but never had the inclination or nerve to try.  I crouched down onto the runners on the flats and gradual downhills, and felt more confident, knowing where and how extreme the curves were.  Before I knew it, I was gaining on the guy ahead of me, and knew I could indeed beat him.  I worked HARD, kicking a leg to help propel the sled, and caught him on a long uphill.  The teams pushed up the hill side by side, but my sweet and friendly leader girl, Seeley, kept turning around to catch sight of the other dogs.  Finally to get ahead of them, I got off and ran up the hill, pushing the sled, dragging in great, open-mouthed lungfuls of air.  At the top of the hill, I was home free, and in sight of the finish line.  We were pulling ahead, the crowd was cheering, the dogs were heading home.  Then we took a curve a little too fast and a runner hit soft snow on the burm.  Down I went, and my competition sailed past.  I got up quickly and was gaining on him again, but the distance was short, and he crossed the line ahead of us.  The time I spent in the snow lost me enough seconds to narrowly miss beating him. 

 It was a very crowd-pleasing and exciting finish for the spectators.  Even with my spill, I still bettered my day one time by over two minutes, and managed to be "in the $$$" for the purebred classes.  This was also my best-ever time at a race, breaking under 20 minutes for four miles, a personal goal since I began this sport last year.  And I figure I "biffed" with the best of them!!  So I went down because I was truly racing for the first time, not just standing on the sled and going around the course.

 Lest anyone think I'm going to get rich at this, my winnings amounted to $31.00.  Since my entry fee was $40.00, you can do the math--LOL!!

 Another race this weekend, but I will have a slightly different team, so the results are bound to be different as well.