Posts from — February 2017

These are the 9:00PM CST standings on the YQ 300 based on the Live Tracker.

Four teams scratched at Carmacks: Chase Tingle (51), Susie Rogan (57), Kyla Boivin (68), & Melissa Schenke (69). All ‘for the good of the team’, which, based on pictures, means the mushers are freezing. Scott Janssen (59) joined the group by scratching at Carmacks. Hans Gatt (63) scratched at Pelly Crossing ‘for strategic reasons’.

Michelle, Aliy, Nathaniel, & Claudia looks like the finishing order. Michelle crossed the finish line at 9:57PM CST.

Finished
1 Michelle Phillips (58)
Beyond Pelly Crossing
2 Aliy Zirkle (56)
3 Nathaniel Hamlyn (66)
4 Claudia Wickert (62)
At Pelly Crossing
5 Gerry Willomitzer (71)
6 Magnus Kaltenborn (64)
7 Jacob Heigers (60)
Beyond Carmacks
8 Roger Lee (53)
9 Jason Biasetti (54)
10 Fabien Cayer-Barrioz (55)
11 Marcelle Fressineau (52)
12 Jean-Marc Champeval (73)
13 Thomas Verin (65)
At Carmacks
14 Lynne Witte (70)
15 Brian Kandler (72)
16 Craig Houghton (67)

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by clicking on the sled dog or selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

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Hugh is continuing his race to Dawson and collection of firsts into checkpoints. The temperatures are staying cold which is better for the puppies, if not so great for the mushers.

Yuka Honda has been hit with a two-hour penalty for repairs to her sled that required outside assistance.

The Current Standings at 9:00PM CST ( 7:00PM PST):
Beyond Pelly Crossing
1 Hugh Neff (9)
2 Brent Sass (14)
3 Allen Moore (8)
4 Katherine Keith (19)^R
5 Matt Hall (20)
6 Ed Hopkins (18)
7 Paige Drobny (7)
8 Torsten Kohnert (21)
9 Yuka Honda (2)
10 Ryne Olson (15)
11 Brian Wilmshurst (16)
At Pelly Crossing
12 Gaetan Pierrard (10)
13 Rob Cooke (4)
14 Dave Dalton (13)
15 Ben Good (3)^R
16 Sébastien Dos Santos Borges (5)^R
Beyond Carmacks
17 Laura Neese (11)
18 Ed Stielstra (12)^R
19 Jessie Royer (1)^R
20 Jason Campeau (6)
21 Hank DeBruin (17)
[Read more →]

These are the 10PM CST standings on the YQ 300 based on the Live Tracker. The two races are obviously overlapping. Michelle Phillips’s tracking unit isn’t working well and drops out for long periods.

Olaf Thurau (61) scratched at Braeburn citing the good of his team, i.e. the puppies weren’t happy.

At Carmacks
1 Michelle Phillips (58)
2 Aliy Zirkle (56)
3 Hans Gatt (63)
4 Nathaniel Hamlyn (66)
5 Gerry Willomitzer (71)
Beyond Braeburn
6 Magnus Kaltenborn (64)
7 Scott Janssen (59)
8 Jacob Heigers (60)
9 Melissa Schenke (69)
10 Chase Tingle (51)
11 Susie Rogan (57)
12 Roger Lee (53)
13 Fabien Cayer-Barrioz (55)
14 Marcelle Fressineau (52)
15 Jason Biasetti (54)
16 Kyla Boivin (68)
17 Claudia Wickert (62)
18 Thomas Verin (65)
19 Jean-Marc Champeval (73)
20 Brian Kandler (72)
21 Lynne Witte (70)
22 Craig Houghton (67)

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by clicking on the sled dog or selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Hugh was first in to Braeburn, but he took a break there while Brent, Allen, and Brian blew through.

The CBC has a nice article on the on the traditional hand-embroidered dog blankets created for the ceremonial start of the race.

The Current Standings at 9:30PM CST ( 7:30PM PST):

Beyond Carmacks
1 Hugh Neff (9)
2 Katherine Keith (19)^R
3 Brent Sass (14)
4 Allen Moore (8)
5 Ed Hopkins (18)
At Carmacks
6 Matt Hall (20)
7 Brian Wilmshurst (16)
8 Yuka Honda (2)
9 Torsten Kohnert (21)
10 Dave Dalton (13)
Beyond Braeburn
11 Paige Drobny (7)
12 Ryne Olson (15)
13 Gaetan Pierrard (10)
14 Sébastien Dos Santos Borges (5)^R
15 Rob Cooke (4)
16 Ben Good (3)^R
17 Hank DeBruin (17)
18 Jessie Royer (1)^R
19 Jason Campeau (6)
20 Laura Neese (11)
21 Ed Stielstra (12)^R
[Read more →]

The race preliminaries started at Noon CST [10AM PST] with a field of 21. While they are Quest rookies, Jessie Royer and Ed Stielstra are Iditarod veterans. The members of the field planning on competing in the Iditarod should leave the bulk of their equipment in Fairbanks, because there is a lack of snow in the Alaska Range and the racing will probably use the 2015 trail.

The racing begin at 1PM.

Beyond Whitehorse
1 Jessie Royer (1)^R
2 Yuka Honda (2)
3 Ben Good (3)^R
4 Rob Cooke (4)
5 Sébastien Dos Santos Borges (5)^R
6 Jason Campeau (6)
7 Paige Drobny (7)
8 Allen Moore (8)
9 Hugh Neff (9)
10 Gaetan Pierrard (10)
11 Laura Neese (11)
12 Ed Stielstra (12)^R
13 Dave Dalton (13)
14 Brent Sass (14)
15 Ryne Olson (15)
16 Brian Wilmshurst (16)
17 Hank DeBruin (17)
18 Ed Hopkins (18)
19 Katherine Keith (19)^R
20 Matt Hall (20)
21 Torsten Kohnert (21)

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, and the small “R” indicates a rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by clicking on the sled dog or selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

The race starts this Saturday, February 4^th, in Whitehorse.

Whitehorse 2089 feet [637 meters] Start
Braeburn 2326 feet [709 meters] 100 miles [161 km]
Carmacks 1722 feet [525 meters] 77 miles [124 km]
Pelly Crossing 1558 feet [475 meters] 73 miles [117 km]
King Solomon’s Dome 4002 feet [1220 meters]
Dawson 1050 feet [320 meters] 202 miles [325 km] 24 Hour Stop
American Summit 3920 feet [1195 meters]
Eagle 880 feet [268 meters] 147 miles [237 km] 6 Hour Stop
Circle 597 feet [182 meters] 159 miles [256 km]
Central 435 feet [133 meters] 74 miles [119 km]
Eagle Summit 3685 feet [1123 meters]
Mile 101 2250 feet [686 meters] 33 miles [53 km]
Rosebud Summit 3640 feet [1109 meters]
Two Rivers 750 feet [229 meters] 42 miles [68 km] 8 Hour Stop
Fairbanks 440 feet [134 meters] 45 miles[72 km] Finish

[Read more →]

My first azalea blooms of the year.

It’s Groundhog Day and some of the militant marmots object to being disturbed.

The CBC offers the most complete coverage and tell us that Shubenacadie Sam in Nova Scotia and Wiarton Willie in Ontario think winter is over, but Punxsutawney Phil from Pennsylvania predicts six more weeks.

FYI: this is approximately the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. It is called Imbolc among the Celts, which is why people are interested.

Budweiser Super Bowl ads almost always include Clydesdales, and lately have included puppies, but this year’s version is going to raise some eyebrows.

First off you need to understand that because of the expense, the ads for the Super Bowl are usually started in the Spring of the preceding year, May of 2016 in this case, so it shouldn’t be viewed as having any relationship to the Presidential campaign. The company decided to tell the ‘all American story” of the two immigrants, Eberhard Anheuser & Adolphus Busch, who came to the United States and founded a brewery in St. Louis, Missouri in 1852.

The Drumpfkins will probably call for a boycott…