Comments on: Iditarod 2016 – Day 6

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 20:02:15 +0000

Ruby is the first checkpoint on the Yukon River and they will essentially be following the river until Kaltag when they head for the coast.

Brent has had a few tough years – a concussion that cost him a win on the Quest, and then the iPod debacle last year at the Iditarod. I think he believes this is his year. Aliy has been so close, so often, that she really wants this.

Camping allows more sleep for the team and keeps other teams from knowing where you are. A lot of mushers aren’t really ‘people people’. Many live in the North because there aren’t a lot of people around. Like you, they appreciate solitary travel. 🙂

Another factor is that it conceals your run/rest balance. When all you have is in and out at checkpoints, you don’t really know how rested or tired a team is. If you could see the GPS for the other teams, you would adjust to their patterns.

One of Lance’s greatest strengths is also a weakness – he creates a plan and sticks with it no matter what. If it is the correct plan for the realities of the trail, his team will win. This time he was wrong, and he waited too long to adjust. The good news is that based on the first few days, his dogs will run, unlike the past couple of years. Next year this team will be a real contender.

By: JuanitaM

JuanitaM — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 17:18:32 +0000

I meant to say that they are out of Ruby at this point. Aliy is now on the Yukon River according to a new post on the site. Allen left a dog in Cripple, but they don’t know why at this point.

By: JuanitaM

JuanitaM — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 17:01:32 +0000

Wow, Lance Mackey really made an uncharacteristic mistake. You may have already read the story, but if not here’s the story: Back to Ophir

After all the health issues and problems he’s had in the last few years, I had hoped he would be able to make a good showing this year. He’s been slowly building his team and taking it relatively easy with them the past several years. The Iditarod always has a few wrong turns, it’s just surprising with his experience that he got caught out this way. Just goes to show that anyone can get in trouble on this trail.

It may be the year for Brent Sass. According to the current race standings, he left Cripple with Aliy about 2.5 hrs behind him. No one else has left Cripple but those two.

Aliy is realling looking good this year. They are giving daily updates on her progress at the spkenneldoglog.blogspot.com site. They said she blew through Cripple last night and the dogs looked really good. Apparently it was noted that she picked up a bale of straw, so she’s going to camp out on the way to Ruby.

I’m curious, what is the benefit of camping out? There must be something to it because you’d think the “human” animal would prefer a warm place to sleep. Oh, I just read further down that the dogs get a better rest away from the other teams.