CB300 - Mushers Draw

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The drawing of the bibs for the start of the Copper Basin 300 occurred last night, and the stars lined up for Ryno Kennel: Ryne was very happy to draw bib #4 and Liz drew bib #6!! If my calculations are correct, that means Ryne will head out at 10:06 AM this morning, and Liz will follow 10:10 AM.

 

As I learned from Ryne's mentors at SP Kennel, two key elements make for a successful dog team: "the attitude, appetite and ability of the dogs, and the skill, strategy and stamina of the mushers." But there is a third element that plays a role in any endeavor, and that is luck. Whether it is luck with being dealt the perfect cards in bridge or not catching that cold before a 10K race,  in dog sled racing, there is luck of the draw.

 

43 mushers will be starting this year's CB300, starting at the rate of one every two minutes at 10:00AM this morning (AKST!). Each team will make up their portion of the start differential at the mandatory six hour layover to make it all even between the racers in the end. As learned from SP Kennel, picking an early starting number has two advantages:

  1. "An early starting position means that you have little, if any, traffic ahead of you. For speedy teams, that means very little passing needs to be done. This can be significant because passing is not as fast as free running. It takes a little time to pull up on a team ahead, signal your intentions, make the pass then move along. Think about what it’s like to pass a slower vehicle on a two-lane road. It takes time to accomplish before you can step on the gas again. Top teams which pick early starting numbers will be much happier with their luck than those who pick later starting numbers and have to work their way through the crowd."
  2. "Second, the earlier your start, the more “start differential” time you have to give back at your longest checkpoint rest. This is also an advantage for early starting teams because instead of getting only the 6-hour mandatory rest, they can get as much as an extra hour-plus of rest. That extra rest is all to the good for a dog team. So, again, early starters will be happier with their luck of the draw. These are slight, subtle advantages, but every little bit helps in a highly competitive race like the CB300."

The stars were aligned for Ryne, #4,  and Liz, #6, last night.

 

If you want to follow the race:

  • Copper Basin 300 website can be found at www.cb300.com
  • To follow the trackers on the CB300 website: http://www.cb300.com/racecentral.aspx
  • And, for the tech savvy, KCAM Radio in Glennallen will be announcing from the start and their website is http://www.kcam.org/

 

Side note: I am Ryne's mom, Katy, and will be trying to keep up the Ryno Kennel blog from my home in Durango, Colorado, while the rest of the team is all at the race. As Ryne mentioned, on site, Derek, Thomas, and Jeff will be trying to update me as the WiFi lines permit, otherwise I will be anxiously following the tracker on the CB300 website as I hope you will. 

 

Good luck and Happy Trails to the Ryno Kennel teams!

To Glennallen We Roll!

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This morning we left at 6:30 AM on our way to Glennallen for the Copper Basin 300! We are BEYOND EXCITED!!

So who's part of the Ryno Team this year?

HANDLING CREW: Tom Olson (my little brother) and Derek Patton (my main guy). Tom will be handling for Liz and Derek will be handling for me.

MEDIA CREW: Katy Olson (my mother), Tom Olson (he's a man of many talents), and Jeff Schell (Liz's dad; he doesn't know he's on the media crew yet, but hopefully he'll be game). The media crew will be actively updating the blog and social media pages (Facebook and Instagram- give us a like!) with commentary, photos, and videos.

RACE TEAMS:

My team will consist of......drum roll......... Boone, Cartel, Drummer, Goblin, Jana, Katy, Lefty, Perm, Supai, Uno, Wingman, and Wombat. This team has a few different players compared to years past, but I can't wait to see how youngsters Uno, Wingman, and Wombat perform in their first 300-mile race! I anticipate main leaders to be Cartel, Katy,  and Goblin. Back up leaders are Lefty (he's a great leader but not particularly fast), Boone (she's coming into heat, and all the boys think she's super duper cute right now), and Jana (she's coming off a little soreness, so at the first sign of stiffness, she'll be dropped. I want her to stay active but not at the risk that she'll miss Quest). Our goal for this race is to do our absolute best and have a FANTASTIC TIME. We're not a 13 mph team, but if the trail is challenging or slow, we'll be right in the mix.

Liz's team will be comprised of Belle, Blitz, Coot, Drake, Fish, Gringa, Ham, Niagra, Yuker, and Ruby (an awesome little leader from Smokin' Ace Kennels- Thanks Matt and Amanda!). Her team is a mixture of trail hardened veterans and rookie two-year-olds. This will be Blitz, Fish, Gringa, and Yuker's first 300-mile race, so we're very excited for their mid-distance racing debut! Drake, Coot, and Belle have thousands of trail miles under their belt, so this will be just a nice long training run for them. Ham, Niagra, and Ruby will be her main leaders, with possible substitutions of Coot, Belle, and Gringa at the helm. Their goal will be to enjoy every second of the race at a leisurely pace. This is Liz's first mid-distance dog sled race as well!

We decided not to enter any yearlings in the Copper Basin and instead gear them up for the Two Rivers 100 on January 20th with Tyler!

Running Dogs and Building Cabins

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With less than one week to go before Copper Basin, we've been staying busy by running dogs, building our cabin, and starting drop bags! Here are some photos from our recent dog runs and cabin building sessions.

What's on the agenda for the next week? Over the next few days, we'll be finishing up Copper Basin drop bags and completing a large portion of the Yukon Quest drop bags, which are due a week from Saturday. Liz has been busy cutting hundreds of pounds of beef, liver, BLT (beef, liver and tripe), fish, and beef fat into convenient snack sizes. She's also packaged over 75 kibble meals including supplements and probiotics. So a big high five and thank you to Liz!!! I'll do a more complete post about drop bags in the near future.

My little brother, Tom, will be arriving tomorrow night to handle for Liz during the Copper Basin. Not only are we SUPER excited for him to join us, but he'll also be bringing our new canine family member: a Griff pup! On Wednesday and Thursday, we'll pack the truck, go on our final training runs, then leave early Friday morning for the COPPER BASIN!!!!!

There will be lots of ways to follow along during the Copper Basin. My wonderful mother, Katy, will be updating this blog. We'll also have Facebook updates on the Ryno Kennel Facebook page, and Copper Basin will have updates on the Copper Basin 300 Facebook page. The Copper Basin will also be providing GPS trackers, so follow along on the Copper Basin website (www.cb300.com) for tracker information.

ARE YOU READY FOR THE RACES?!!!!!

Welcome 2018

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We started off 2018 with a beautiful dog run! This video was taken at about 1:00 PM near the peak of the sun's trip across the sky. It's been over a week since the winter solstice, and we've gained 20 extra minutes of daylight. Can't you tell? Just kidding. The sun still barely clears the horizon; however, that makes for spectacular colors throughout the day. During January, the length of day will exponentially increase until we're gaining about 6:45 per day, at which it will stay throughout February and March. Tour guests always ask how we can handle the darkness, and I reply, Alaska is the land of extremes. Just when you start to grow weary of the dark (or total light during the summer), the world rapidly changes. You just have to get outside regardless of the sun or temperature, and try to experience all Alaska has to offer because before you know it, the seasons have changed!

Thanks to everyone for being a part of the Ryno Team in 2017, and we can't wait to share our adventures with you in 2018! We wish you a Happy New Year filled with friends and family, both human and canine. 

The Last Frontier Mushing Co-op

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The crew relaxing inside after a long campout.

During the holidays, we've had a big rush of new adventure seekers going for rides with us at the Mushing Co-op! We do a few different types of tours ranging from 2-Hr Chena River rides to 4-Hr Aurora Tours to expeditions (in the spring). For the dogs, this a great opportunity for them to get a little extra attention, meet lots of new people, and practice camping (especially on the 4-Hr Aurora tour when we mush out to our campsite and stay for a couple hours waiting for the aurora). Typically I bring the yearlings on these tours; however, the rides are also great stretch out runs for the adults after we do a long training run. At night after the tours, the adults and I head out for longer runs in preparation for the Copper Basin in just a couple weeks!!

Success!

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We had a fantastic time yesterday competing in the Solstice 50! We finished in 6th place with a happy dog team who were still slamming their harnesses at the finish line! I call that a big success. Liz had a fantastic race as well. She stopped for 1 hour 15 minutes at a camp about 30 miles into the race. Since the yearlings did not have much experience running longer distances, this was a courtesy stop for them, but they thought it was just a waste of time! Crunch ( a two-year-old) led the entire way with Niagra and did very well. Overall, it was a blast!   

Ryne and Team- Photo Credit Scott Chesney

Liz  and Team- Photo Credit Scott Chesney!

Here are a couple videos from the trail.

Solstice 50!

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We're kicking off the 2017-2018 Race Season with the Two Rivers Dog Mushers Association Solstice 50!

With all the snow in Two Rivers, the trail will be taking a new route up over the highest hills outside of Fairbanks. Recently we ran the trail and took a short video of the incredible views!

Both Liz and I will be running in the Solstice 50 with Derek and Tyler helping us take off! My team will be:

Katy & Goblin

Boone & Drummer

Cartel & Perm

Yuker & CJ

Wingman & Lefty

Supai & Drake

Liz will be running a mixture of adults and yearlings. Given the strenuous course, she'll be taking a short break about 35 miles in, mostly for the yearlings. Her team will be:

Niagra & Crunch

King Louie & Belle

Wombat & Uno

Amelia

Gringa & Coot

Flash & Blitz

Our good friend, Mari, with ATAO Kennel (http://ataokennel.com/) will be running Nile and Vanessa in her team. Let the races begin!!

The Crew

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Liz & Thresher, Derek & Faff, Ryne & Mako, Tyler & Yoshi

Even though we're a few months into the season, I realized I have yet to introduce the Ryno crew this year! Liz and Tyler are helping us with chores, training, and building- so a BIG thank you for all their hard work!

Liz has been focusing on training the adults and will be running in the Copper Basin 300. Tyler has been training the yearlings and will be running in the Two Rivers 100. To learn more about Liz and Tyler, check out their bios under the "Mushers" tab. I can't say thank you enough for their love and care for the dogs and continual help at Ryno Kennel!

The Week at a Glance

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I know everyone is starting their Monday and planning the week ahead, but we wanted to share some photos and videos from last week! The weather here remains unseasonably warm. It even rained a little! It felt so strange to wake up to 33F and see photos from my family in Birmingham, Alabama after a fresh snow storm!

Even though it's warm, the Ryno athletes covered lots of miles. Tyler has been running the yearling team for the most part this season, but I hopped on the runners for a day of hauling supplies to our hillside yurt on Trapline Mountain. Nile and King Louie both took turns running in lead with Fire and did great! Cooke, Vanessa, Flash, Amelia, and Blitz all helped haul up supplies as well. Elmer and Badger ran to the staging area at our new property, but I opted not to run them to the top of the mountain because I was worried I'd have too much power on the way down and find myself hurtling down the hill out of control on the return trip. As you can see from the photo and video, the view at the yurt site is incredible! This winter, the Last Frontier Mushing Co-op will be leading overnight aurora viewing trips to the yurt for a nice unobstructed view of the northern skies.

The adult teams (and myself and Liz) went on a field trip to Minto Flats to run with Paige and Cody and the other Squidos. We had a blast running on new trails and and camping with friends. The two-year-olds are all starting to figure out the camping rountine, with the exception of Yuker and Gringa. Gringa will play with anyone close by, and if they insist they won't play with her, then she chews on the line for entertainment. Because of this, she's goes to "time out" and is tied to a tree or the sled by herself with as few distractions as possible. Maybe she just never gets tired? Yuker is just an ultra-cocky teenager and likes to posture and show his toughness, even if everyone around him is sleeping. So like Gringa, Yuker had a "time out" spot to himself. A few more campouts, and I think they'll learn the routine. Ewok, Crunch, and Wingman have all been taking turns in lead. I love seeing confident youngsters running up front! Fish and Uno have non-stop energy. Even when they return home after a run, they're immediately running in circles. Blitz is a little behind in miles because he missed some training for a vet visit this fall (as the Farside comic said, "He went to get tutored!") Blitz is catching up fast though. It's looking like a great group of two-year-olds!

Louise knitted this beautiful beanie made out of soft qiviut yarn. I don't know how she did it, but the Ryno logo and huskies are all knitted into the sides. Incredible! Thank you Louise! We've also been receiving lots of delicious doggie treats from our canine sponsors. I'll be posting photos of the athletes enjoying their treats in the near future! A big thank you to all the Ryno followers- you've been so generous!

Homestead Construction Update

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Handler Cabin

The Handler Cabin shell is complete. Next up are windows, the door, and the all the internal work (roof insulation, spray foam etc). Because we didn't have a roof on the cabin during the October ice storm, there is a thick layer of ice across the floor. It'll take a few days of a wood stove cranking to dry out the inside of the shell.

Webasto Heater

We haven't worked on the handler cabin for a little over a week due to training, and Derek was installing a Webasto Heater in the diesel truck! What is a Webasto? It's a heating system that is integrated into the engine coolant circuit and brings the engine up to operating temperature before starting. Meaning that even if it's -40F, and we arrive at a frozen truck after a long training run, we don't have to fire up the generator and plug the truck in for hours. We can just start the Wabasto heater and 30 minutes to an hour later, voila! The truck fires right up. Even better, while the Wabasto is working its magic, it is heating the cab of the truck too. Can you tell I'm excited? No more lugging a generator around, building a fire to warm up the frozen generator, waiting hours with the truck plugged into the generator, or sitting in a frozen truck! Woot woot!

Main Cabin

Liz and I started leveling out the areas for the pads for our main cabin. The cabin will be constructed on "post and pad" instead of a concrete foundation. While the area was mostly level, it wasn't perfect, so we spent a day chiseling away at frozen dirt and rock to make each spot level. Here's a little video to show how ridiculous we looked....and felt.