On your mark... Get set.... Go! It's time for the dogs to earn their keep. Becky, Charlie, Riga and I have been involved with a local group of fun loving folks (and dogs) in the greater Fairbanks area that like to get together once a month during the winter months to race. It's completely informal. No entry fee. No official organizer. No ESPN coverage (yet). Some time before the snow falls the dates and locations are set for the season. Here is how it works: As long as you are non motorized you can compete. The most common form of competing is skiing, skijoring and dog mushing but on occasion someone will run or bike the course. Normally you would not think a team of 8 dogs would be fair against a skier or runner. True, so a point deduction system is used where you get a set number of minutes added to your time for each dog. Strategy plays a big part in preparing for the big day. Do you take two fast dogs and travel light or four steady dogs with good endurance and sacrifice the minutes? Beck and I only have two dogs (one if you consider Charlie lets Riga do all the pulling) so we skijor with two. They are not the fastest dogs but it's a grand ol' time. So far our best placing was 10th out of 70 competitors. We don't have fancy high dollar prizes such as the Chevy truck the Iditarod hands out but we do get prizes for top finishers. Normally it's something inappropriately funny from the thrift store. That's all for now, I've got to get back to training for next month's race.Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Race Hard Play Hard
On your mark... Get set.... Go! It's time for the dogs to earn their keep. Becky, Charlie, Riga and I have been involved with a local group of fun loving folks (and dogs) in the greater Fairbanks area that like to get together once a month during the winter months to race. It's completely informal. No entry fee. No official organizer. No ESPN coverage (yet). Some time before the snow falls the dates and locations are set for the season. Here is how it works: As long as you are non motorized you can compete. The most common form of competing is skiing, skijoring and dog mushing but on occasion someone will run or bike the course. Normally you would not think a team of 8 dogs would be fair against a skier or runner. True, so a point deduction system is used where you get a set number of minutes added to your time for each dog. Strategy plays a big part in preparing for the big day. Do you take two fast dogs and travel light or four steady dogs with good endurance and sacrifice the minutes? Beck and I only have two dogs (one if you consider Charlie lets Riga do all the pulling) so we skijor with two. They are not the fastest dogs but it's a grand ol' time. So far our best placing was 10th out of 70 competitors. We don't have fancy high dollar prizes such as the Chevy truck the Iditarod hands out but we do get prizes for top finishers. Normally it's something inappropriately funny from the thrift store. That's all for now, I've got to get back to training for next month's race.