Gin Gin 08 Part One

I chose to run the qualifiers I picked based on the fact that I thought they would be easy. Ha! I have already qualified for the Quest, its just been too long ago logistically, I’ve run half of a Quest and lots of other races so I hardly considered myself a dumb rookie. Ha! Again. Little did I know that I had entered one of the hardest races that I, and according to veteran Iditarod and Quest mushers, including champions, have ever ran. I also learned that although I may not be a dumb rookie, there were a couple of skills both the dogs and I needed to learn before taking on the “big one.”
I traveled down to the GinGin 200 with Tom Lesatz so that we could save money on gas. As we got closer to Paxson, the start, we started to laugh nervously about what we were getting into. The wind was howling. You could feel the wind blow against the truck. Snow would kick up and make the road disappear for a couple of minutes so I would almost have to come to a complete stop to wait for the gusts to die down and the road reappear. Gulp, what’s this going to be like on the trail?
It was a social affair the night before the race, an advantage having over 40 teams entered. Lots of catching up and talking dogs. Good food and hospitality at Paxson Lodge. I recall being asked a few times, “Are you nervous?” To which I would reply, “Nah, I’m just going to take my time, I am just qualifying.” Ha!
The next morning was beautiful! (well at least at Paxson Lodge) About 10 below and sunny. I left 3rd which would turn out to be an advantage. The first few miles were wonderful. Travelling at good speed despite my sled loaded to the max. We were carrying all of our food and gear for the entire 200 mile race, so that makes for a heavy sled. We were surrounded by mountains. Within a couple miles I passed bib 2, Christine Roaloffs. Then we hit the wind. We have never been in anything like it. The wind would gust and snakes of snow would whip across the road. Some claimed it was blowing 30/40 mph some claimed 50/60mph, all I know that with the snow blasted off the road leaving only ice and asphalt it was strong enough to blow you and your sled clean off the road! The dogs would be running on the right side of the road and I would be dragging behind them, sideways, barely hanging on to the left side. At one point the dogs got confused and were like, “Oh, you want us to go that way.” and the turned haw off the road. “NO! NO! NO! GEE!” To no use, we were in the deep snow down off the road. I got them stopped and pulled them around to the road and went back to the sled to help them get the heavy load back on the road. Christine showed up by then and held my leaders on the road while I got them out. After thanking her profusely I began to pull away again. But a particularly strong blast pushed me back off the road and dragged the dogs with me so again they ‘hawed’ off the road. I got them turned quickly and I was pulling the dogs back onto the road I saw Christine pull up again. She stopped for just a moment when a team pulled around the side of her, it was Yuka Honda, and at that moment the wind blew Yuka and her sled into Christine and her sled and they both rolled down off the road together. Their teams were tangled, sleds tipped and their dogs began to get tangled with mine. I pulled my dogs away, and was about to go back and turn my sled toward the road, but Yuka turned it for me because she was standing right there and held her dogs out of my team. I caught my sled as it whipped past me and we were off. I felt terrible leaving Yuka and Christine behind, but there was nothing I could do with no snowhook hold, plus sometimes its better to eliminate a team out of the situation because it just causes more problems, which I would find out later was the case. Yuka said, it was better to just get out of there.
The next 10 miles or so there was very little snow and the wind continued. I managed to keep the sled on the road by riding on one runner or tipping the sled towards the wind, which was quite the workout with such a heavy sled. Plus Samson and Leo learned to stay to the right even if I was dragging of to the left helpless in the wind. With some of the big gusts I would have to run along side the sled and jerk it to the right with all of my might. I fell twice when the sled would be pushed hard to the left so I would be swung sideways then it would catch an edge. I clocked my head once hard on the exposed asphalt. After a while the wind calmed some, but I just wanted off of the road.
At mile 30 we finally got off the road onto the Mountain Loop Trail. It was punchy and a little slow but absolutely amazing. We travelled in a valley around a mountain and the alpine glow turned everything pastel. All I could think was how it was our reward for making it through the wind. At one point we were in a big open valley and the wind started to pick up again, the trail was already blown over from the team in front of me. I held my hand to the head of the valley, where the wind was blowing from. “NO!!!!” No more wind, but it wasn’t bad compared to what we had come through. I could see a team behind me in the distance, it was Aily Zirkle we were tavelling about the same speed so she never caught up to me. After about 15 miles we popped back out on the road. It was dark now, I could see the lights of McClaren Lodge down in the distance. Finally, the first checkpoint. Time for some good rest for the dogs. I pulled into the the checkpoint, we all were staged on the McClaren River below the Lodge. I set to my checkpoint chores. I was the 4th musher into the checkpoint, but I would be the 6th out because our times would be adjusted at this stop from our start order. I gave the dogs a fat snack. I pulled off all of the booties and checked feet and muscle soreness. I put straw down for them. We were each allotted ¾ of a bale of straw. When we returned to McClaren after the next leg we would return to the same camping spot and straw. I went up to the lodge for hot water for the dogs meal. They ate heartily, that was a good sign. I massaged the dogs and worked liniment into the dogs with past injuries as a prevention. I applied ointment to some minor toe burns and sores. All and all the dogs looked happy and healthy. I put coats on the dogs and laid blankets over them. Time to let the dogs rest. I went back up to the lodge, I was starving, a feeling that would continue through out the whole race and a couple days after. I ordered a reuben, and drank lots of hot tea, as I ate the lodge filled with more and more mushers. Each with stories of amazement and adventure. Comments were being thrown around like, “You’re definitely qualified now“, “ I’ve never been in anything like that., “ and “ I would have scratched, but I didn’t want to go back through that.”
I stayed up through the 6 hour mandatory rest, something I would never do on a race over 200 miles. But the conversation was good and I had to keep a eye on the dogs. We had a big 110 mile run in front of us. I was going to try to take my time, take lots of breaks and push through the whole thing with no long rest. I was a little nervous because it would be the longest run the dogs had done this season. I wasn’t sure if they could do it. The temperature had dropped to 37 below at the lodge and colder on the river. It would be an interesting run.