Cantwell Classic Rundown

The Cantwell Classic 200 started last Friday. Originally, we were supposed to start at 10am...but the start was changed to noon and was moved a bit further out on the Denali Highway, due to low snow and pavement showing. Ok, no worries. That just made our first leg a bit shorter. Team Rogue drew number 19 out of 32 teams...just about the middle of the field. I got a bit of sleep the night before...but we couldn't get a parking space near a plug in, so Jodi got up around 3am to start the truck. Morgan, one of Jodi's dogs, was staying with us in the room. When Jodi went to start the truck, Morgan jumped on me and I woke up to a dog snout and 45lb pitbull on my chest. Who said pits are vicious? Morgan?? She'd maybe kill you with kisses! Sheesh! Ha ha ha! I got back to sleep around 4am...but then someone clomping down the hallway woke me up around 5:30am. I tried to go back to sleep, but by then, I started thinking about who I was going to have lead out....who would I run with Zen? She's in heat...so she can't run with Chevy or Hilti....Just would be good..besides, he can be a bit shy, so I didn't want him in lead with all the people around. Ok, Dusk and Feather in lead, China & Ahab in swing, Zen & Just, Hilti & Chevy, Tricky & Jericho, then good ole' Rocket & Inu in wheel. Alright...that's what I went with.

Ten o'clock rolled around and we found ourselves in a caravan, trying to get to our parking spot. It was like a carnival out there...but we made it through and got parked. Jodi & Joe were my handlers, so they helped me get the sled out, get the drops out, etc. We left the dogs on the truck, since we'd just dropped them before we'd left the lodge. I wanted them resting as long as possible, as they tend to get amped up on the drops. Jodi & Joe sat in the truck, giving me my time to just pack my sled, go over my stuff, etc. I've found that I need that bit of "quiet time" to gather my thoughts, go over my plan and kind of get into a "zone". I have to do that to calm down, as I always get nervous before races. I hate the feeling too...those butterflies, flipping around...my heart feeling like it's in my throat....ugh! I've been doing this for 4 years now...and still get nervous. So, that alone time lets me get a handle on it and this worked well. We dropped the dogs an hour before my start time...12:38pm. Susan got Jason out on time, he drew the 2nd spot...so she came and helped me. I had a pit crew! I put out the harnesses for each dog, dog coats, and booties. While I finished getting my gear on, headlamp, batteries, gloves, warmers, etc...they got the dogs ready. My sled was ready, gangline stretched...I looked at my watch...10 minutes. Ok, cool. We're right on time. Then, a timer comes up and yells, "You have 2 mins!" WHAT?!? "No, I have 10 minutes!" and I showed her my watch. Well, no one heard me. Next thing I know, all of these people started grabbing dogs, asking me where they go, etc. I mean, there were people everywhere, helping us hook up. Jodi yelled at Joe to jump on the sled...I sat on the sled to give more control. Someone was up front with my leaders...so Jodi sat in front of me and we rode up to the start in style. I had about 30 seconds...Jodi went up and untangled a dog...can't tell you who, as it was just chaotic. I jumped on the runners, they counted down. Mike Santos was there holding my sled. He wished me luck, then off we went. Jodi and Joe yelled "Good Luck!" and I hollered "THANKS!" and we were flying. I rode the drag to slow them down and realized, "Holy cow! We've started!" I didn't even have time for those last minute nerves on the way to the line. Cool!!! :o)

The first leg went really well. The dogs were running smooth, chugging up the hills, coasting down. I stayed on the mat and kept them at an easy pace. This time, I'd learned. No blasting through the first leg for us! My plan was to do the first leg in 4-5 hours...so I kept them easy. We started seeing mushers ahead and slowly reeled a few in. What a RUSH to pass teams! Of course, we got passed here and there. A fellow Two Rivers musher, Judy Currier left behind me. She caught me about 30-45 minutes into the run, though I can't be sure of the time. A few others passed here and there...but that was ok. I expected Hans to catch me quickly, as he'd left right after Judy...but it was a while before I saw him. Right on! That made me feel pretty good. Aaron Burmeister passed me on an uphill...at that point, I'd kept the dogs at a slower pace, so I decided to let them stretch a little. They hate being passed and love to chase, so I let them stay with Aaron for a few miles. It was fun to do that, as it showed me that my team had the speed. However, Aaron was going down hills faster than I wanted my dogs to go, so he did slip away after a while. It took us about 4 1/2 hours to get to the first checkpoint, Big Su. Good, right on schedule. I got the dogs bedded down, but the snow was deep and soft, making it hard to negotiate. I fell down a time or two...like a beached whale trying to get on my feet with all that gear, big boots and soft snow. The dogs were resting until teams started pulling out. I was in the tent, trying to get my gloves dry and trying to get warm (I was freezing for some reason)...but first, there was a fight. Tricky & Jericho got into it, because Jeri is a 2 year old ex-sprinter who was on his first race. Of course, he wasn't resting and was bugging Tricky, the old veteran and Trick didn't like that at all. So, after a few times of this, I moved Tricky back to the sled. Ok, back into the tent, only to be called because my team had pulled loose from the tiny willows they'd been tied to (the hooks wouldn't hold in the soft snow). Ok, I got them tied back out again and went back inside. Started eating my bacon sandwich and was feeling warmer. Then, Ahab somehow got loose....so I had to go get him. CRAZINESS!

My headlamp was malfunctioning, turning off and on. Diddier was parked next to me. When he asked what was wrong, I told him that I needed a new bulb, but had the wrong ones with me. He had a bulb and was so kind. He worked on my headlamp and got the new one in. Wahla! He thought it might be the wire, but I'd insisted that Manny had just replaced the wire, so that couldn't be it. Well, I was out bootying the dogs, getting ready to go when the light went out again. Dang it! I'd had enough. I went to go get the back up petzel...not as good, but at least it worked....when I realize that the battery cord was unplugged. Duh! Well, it turned out that the headlamp has something wrong inside it...that's ok..I can take it back to the folks we got it from and they'll fix it.

Well, I'd hooked up tugs, a volunteer was on my brake while the vet was near my leaders. I was getting my parka on when the vet yelled "Hey!" Chevy and Hilti were fighting. By the time I turned, they'd stopped. So I jumped on the runners and off we went. We were FLYING out of that checkpoint. The dogs looked great, rippling and leaping as they charged up the first hill. Beautiful! We caught and passed a musher, then another musher caught us a bit later. Jason had left about 20-30 minutes ahead of me, but we caught him and passed on by. I was riding a high! The dogs were looking beautiful, moving as a unit. Snow was falling, but no wind. Very nice night. The only thing that would've made it better would've been a full moon & the northern lights. We cruised along, every once in a great while, we'd catch sight of a headlamp in the distance....slowly catching and them passing a team. Right on! I was thinking that we'd get into Maclaren in about 3 1/2- 4 hours...right on schedule. Then, I thought, "Hey, wouldn't it be cool to finish with all 12 of my dogs?!?" Just a few minutes later, I saw Hilti dip and almost stumbled. His tail went up and I noticed a hitch in his gait. Oh no!! I stopped the team and went up to check him out. That's when I saw frozen blood on his right front leg. I freaked! I could've sworn there'd be a gash...but I couldn't see a wound. Well, in the sled for him. I took him back to the sled to get my vet wrap and gauze...but crap! they weren't there! I guess when I asked Jodi to put warmers in the vet bag to keep the liquids warm, she'd inadvertently forgot to put the baggy of gauze & vet wrap back. Well, so much for trying to wrap it...I didn't have anything else but wrist wraps and those might cut off circulation. Ok, we'll just put him in the sled. I moved some stuff (I didn't have to do much, I've gotten really good at packing the sled), and tried to put him in. Hilti had other ideas. He fought like a mad man! He splayed his legs out, twisting and kicking. I got blood all over his dog coat and my gloves. Don't know how I managed to keep it off my parka and sled bag. I got his back legs in and started to push him down when he leaped and tipped the whole sled, knocking me over. Ok, this was NOT working. I was so afraid that I was going to hurt him worse! Well, we can't put him on top....can't lead him next to the sled....so my only other option was to let him go along with the team. I was going to leave his tug unsnapped, but I worried about throwing him off balance. So, I hooked him in and kept the team at a slow trot, riding my drag to keep them slow. Feather and Dusk kept looking back at me, questioning me as to why we weren't hauling...but I just told them "Easy!" and talked to Hilti. We had about 10 miles to go...so I was concentrating on getting them in. Rohn & Martin Buser caught us about 5-6 miles from Maclaren...I watched them float off like ghosts, without headlamps, in white wind anoraks. Feather & Dusk were clawing to give chase, but I wouldn't let them. We made the turn off to drop down to the Maclaren River....whew! a wild ride through soft snow, sharp turns, willow branches sticking up from the trail, from the sides, whipping the dogs and the sled as we went by. I didn't think about the trail, I just rode the sled, hitting the drag and the brake, alternating from one side to the other as the turns twisted first left, then right, then left again....down and down we flew. We dropped onto the river, then headed into the checkpoint. I immediately called for a vet and got the team parked. The vet came over and I babbled what had happened...I was so upset. I went over to take Hilti's harness off...when I picked up the injured leg, I saw that his paw looked weird. I grabbed it and pretty much lost it. His foot was frozen. OH MY GOD!!! I just freaked out! The vet, bless his heart, stayed calm and helped me get Hilti over to the vet tent. He cleaned up his leg...turns out that "gash" I could've sworn he had were only 2 small punctures...obviously from when Chevy & Hilti got into it at Big Su. He started working on the foot, warming it. I realized that I had to get my team taken care of...when another volunteer came and said that he'd help the vet so I could get to my team. I had totally broken down by this time..but going through my checkpoint routine helped me get a grip and calm down. The vet came over and told me that the wounds were small, and that it was just Hilti's toes. Not great, but better than the whole foot. Long story short, we took Hilti to our vet today and she said that it was probably better that I did run him, as it kept the blood circulating in the leg and had he'd been in the sled, that probably wouldn't have happened...but the booty on that foot probably restricted blood to the toes, creating the problem. Her words, I was damned if I did, and damned if I didn't. Besides that, she said that in the sled, he could've aspirated and I'd have arrived with a dead dog. Needless to say, even though everyone said it was a freak thing and that I did what I could...I still feel responsible. I know that we can't always find everything wrong....Kelly Griffin told me that even had I stopped them every 5 minutes, I'd probably not catch everything and that sometimes freaky things happen. However, he's my dog, my responsibility...period. Needless to say, the rest of the race had a shadow over it for me, and I was distracted, worrying about Hilti.

I didn't get any sleep, though I tried. Susie at Maclaren cooked a mean bowl of chili and gave me some delicious homemade bread with it. Yum! But, I could only eat half of it. I laid on the floor amongst all of the other snoring mushers, but soon enough, folks were stirring and lights came on. Oh well...it'd be daylight soon anyway. I moped around a bit, upset about Hilti. Kelly, Anne Capistrant & Deb Hoover soon talked me out of my funk a bit. Kelly then told me something that I'll keep hearing over and over in my head. When she asked if I was leaving at my start time, I told her I should...but I'm so slow at bootying that I might just let everyone leave, then go. She said, "Don't do that...you're just developing bad habits." Her words later rang through my head, as I was stalling about leaving Big Su later on that day. Well, I went out and gave my guys snacks, put there blankets away (yeah, I cover them with blankets once they've settled...along with their dogcoats and straw..they rest so much better that way), and started bootying. However, I'd only made it halfway through the team when my time came. That was ok...they told me I could go whenever I was ready. Good! Cause I was taking the time to massage wrists and shoulders as I went...which is what takes some time. I'm working on that though...to get quicker at bootying. Well, I got finished, hooked tugs and took off about 40 minutes later (yeah, I'm REAL slow). The run to Big Su was alright...the dogs started off poky...but then smoothed into their traveling pace. We caught and passed 2 other mushers who'd left before us. Nice! After that, they started poking along again...pooping and peeing...just goofing off. What the heck?!? Well, ok....I didn't realize it at the time, but they were feeding off of my worry for Hilti and my self-recriminations. I tried to be a little more upbeat, but I don't think they bought it. We finally made it to Big Su...but it took us 4 1/2 hours! Sheesh! My plan was to leave at my designated time...1 1/2 hours...but the dogs all curled up tightly in the wind and settled in. I changed my mind and stayed for 4 hours. They all rested beautifully. I gave them fat snacks, along with their glyco/rice/beef snacks....then a feeding. I wrapped Tricky's wrist as a precaution..it was a little puffy, but barely (per the vet) and covered him with another dog coat. Most of the dogs were shivering, as the wind was howling and the temps were dropping. COLD! I pushed straw around them, then covered them all with their blankets. Even Jericho was curled up, resting...the youngster had finally gotten the hang of this camping stuff. I went in and warmed up...I just couldn't seem to get warm. I had a gut feeling that the wind was really roaring on the way to Cantwell, and that thought had me dragging my feet. Wind...ugh! I hate wind...and ever since the 06 Quest 300, when I'd been stuck in 90 mph winds on top of Rosebud, it's grown into a kind of phobia for me. Still, I knew that I couldn't just sit there. So, I girded my proverbial loins and forced myself out to booty.

I'd been in the tent, and folks were talking about scratching. I panicked and thought, "Oh No! Not a repeat of last year!!" That was the impetus I needed to get my butt moving. I got the dogs bootied and hooked up, the vet was on my brake, when I realized I'd left my parka in the tent. Shoot! The dogs at first, weren't too thrilled that we were going again, but when I went to the tent, they started to bark and howl. That made me smile! I signed out, stepped on the runners, pulled the hook...and promptly slid off my slippery drag (it had been buried in the soft snow and got icy). The dogs were moving, but I was dragging on my face...not letting go. Folks grabbed the team, got em stopped. I unceremoniously got up, shook myself off, and with a red face (thank goodness no one could see due to my neck gaiter and hat), got situated and took off again. Or tried. The dogs came to the last straw beds on the way out and stopped to sift through the straw for "goodies." Man! A volunteer dragged the leaders out and we FINALLY got moving.

The wind was howling as we crossed the Big Susitna River bridge and continued to slash at us for 10 miles. We did get a reprieve for about 4 miles, when suddenly a vicious crosswind came out of the south. It whipped and howled at us for a good 5-7 miles. Feather and Dusk were superstars! Here I was, on the back of the sled, crouched down and pulling off to the left of the sled in an effort to keep it on the trail, and up ahead are my two heroes, crouched down, almost crawling through that wind, clawing to keep from getting blown over. At one point, the wind gusted really hard, pitching me and the sled off of the trail. Luckily, there wasn't a drop off, so I was able to manhandle the sled back onto the highway. SCARY! We made it through that doing about 2-3 mph...but hey, it was forward movement, so who was I to complain? I stopped the team in the first sheltered spot and snacked them all, loving on them and praising them. Right on! We began moving at a decent pace....not fast, but we were trotting along. Halfway up one of the never ending hills (my name for these hills that seem to climb forever), Feather & Dusk sat down and told me they'd like a break from leading, please. After all, she and Dusk had led the entire race. Well, I tried Chevy with Feather...but nope, Feather wasn't having it. Then, I saw Zen barking and lunging, wanting to go. I thought, "Hey! This girl knows where we are!" So, I tried Zen with Feather. We went about a mile...but Feather wanted a break. So, I put Dusk back up with Zen (Just was already too tired, and told me so by doing his prima donna act...ask me about it later). That was the perfect combination. Those two dug in and soon had the whole team moving smartly up the hills. I did start giving them little "rest breaks" by stopping the sled for a minute on particularly long climbs. I pedaled and pushed doing my part as well. But by then, the wind was coming at us straight on...it was really taking it's toll on all of us. My saviour, Zen, kept the team rolling and before we knew it, we saw the lights of the finish line. We came loping in at 12:58am....taking us 6 1/2 hours to do that last leg. Phew!!! Jodi and Joe were there waiting, whisking us to the truck, unhooking, unharnessing, putting the sled away. I gave all the dogs one last glyco snack....then Jodi gave them a good feeding and watering. I was wiped, so once I'd saw that all the dogs were fed, I climbed in the truck. Later that night, Jodi and Joe drove the dogs home, as we just didn't want them to spend one more minute in that nasty wind. They'd earned their own houses filled with wonderful straw...their own beds.

We finished 27th overall out of 32 teams. Not a stellar performance by any means....but not bad either, all things considered. Hilti is resting in the house now, recovering nicely. Good prognosis that he'll be back in the team next season...so that's GREAT news! A couple of the dogs are a bit sore, but their getting massages and rubs to help with that. Manny will be taking the team out next weekend to do the Solstice 100 makeup...he should be soooo set up for this race...the team in good condition, ready to go. Sorry for such a long winded post....but folks wanted the "low-down" and I hope I didn't disappoint. It's hard to talk about some of it...but needed to be said. I'm off for some much needed sleep. Take care all. I hope you enjoyed this little journey with us Rogues. More to come as we move forward with the season. Same Bat time, same Bat channel. Until next time....

-Were you a Rogue today?