Sunday training.

  Hi all. Rachel and Ben trained their teams of six today. Ben ran two teams with six dogs in each team and trained them for a distance of four miles today. Rachel ran two teams with six dogs in each team and trained them for a distance of four miles also.

 Rachel's teams                                            

     Team one                                      

    Slick   Dini            

  Honey  Slapshot                

  Junior  Sweety                     

  Team two

 Overtime   Nadie

  Sriker      Grenade

 Gypsy     Kelly

  Bens teams

 Team one

Finder Willow

Brownie Dan

Racket  Mac

 Team two

Outlaw  Butch

Geewhiz  Anna

 Rusty  Faceoff

  Today Ben and Rachel went a little too fast. What was discovered was so far there are two dogs that are not quite fast enough. Ben found that Mac was too slow and Rachel found out the Kelly was a little too slow.  

  Mac I felt as long as he was a puppy was a little slower than the rest of his litter mates. This is usually true for the rest of a dogs  life. He is a strong dog with great personality. He is very much into what he is doing. He is just not fast enough and shirley will never be. There are Kennels that would be happy with him and he will contribute to those kennels. Later he will be grouped with some of the slower dogs here. We will find him a good home until then he will continue to train with us.

   Kelly who ran in Rachel's team had some problems with speed in the later part of the run. She is a very nice dog. Real hound like with great bloodlines on both sides. She is very young and we have not had her long. I suspect she will be more comfortable in the future. She will come around I hope !!  This is my opinion and I have been proved to be wrong before. I am only taking an educated guess based on what Ben or Rachel have told me. Rachel suggested getting a helmet cam for me. This way Ben or Rachel could run the dogs while I see how the dogs are running. Great training tool.

  Today Rachel and Ben used different sleds. Ben was using an older style toboggan sled. This type of sled has two runners with a plastic sheet for a bed bolted to the runners. The uprights or stanchions are made of ash or oak. The sled also has bent Plastic Brush bow and Driving bow. The Brush bow is the half round bend in the front of the sled. Prevents trees, dogs and such from getting smashed into the middle of the sled and splitting the sled in half.  It just prevents dogs from being run over in case the sled were to lose control or in the event that the driver loses the sled and the dogs take off without the driver.  The wheel dogs (dogs closest to the sled) would then get bumped by the brush bow if the sled were to get to close to them

  The driving bow is a half round bent piece of plastic that is bent at the top of the wooden uprights that come up vertically where the musher stands on the sled. This is what the musher hangs onto, it's the handle bar.

  The difference in sleds from when I raced dogs till today is many. The biggest difference is the materials used to construct sleds. The materials such as composites and aircraft aluminum provides strength but also makes the sled much lighter. Sleds are getting lighter and much more maneuverable. 

  Hans Gatt is a local sled builder that has provided sleds for Ben, Rachel, Leanne and myself for many years. I have some sleds here that are all wood construction. The basket of the sled is  for tired dogs or equipment it is all wood construction. It is made with wood strips tied together to provide a flexible surface.  This style of sled was not that heavy and would move or stretch left or right when you apply pressure in one direction or the other at the driving handle. 

  Next Hans started to build sleds with one piece plastic baskets. Aluminum runners uprights (stanchions) and composite made these sleds. Added were steering cables that would run up the length of the sled to the line in which the dogs were tied to the sled. When you put pressure left or right on the driving bow it would pull on the cables leading the length of the sled to the line the dogs are attached to . This would pull the front of the sled over left or right giving the sled a steering effect. Not only were the sleds more flexible but as they flexed it also helped steer the front of the sled around corners. This made a huge difference in sprint racing. Hundredths of seconds can separate first from fifth. If you have a sled that would flex and steer it would make for very little sliding in the corners. Sliding in the corners causes friction and drag on the team. This in turn would slow the dog team down. It could push you down in the standings really quick. 

   For longer distance mushers Hans is building a sled with a caboose. The front is like any other  sled. If you were standing on the runners there is another piece of the sled that is behind you. It can haul equipment and you can sit on it as well.  A really good idea if you are traveling long distances. 

  There are many different sleds manufactures out there and all the sleds differ in one way or another. Today we run Danler sleds. These sleds have skis for runners and they come off the bottom of the sled. The sled then folds up for easy transport and storage. The advantage to this is that you can take the runners off the sled and wax them for even better performance. If you are at a hotel it makes it easy. The whole sled does not have to go into the hotel to be waxed. The Danler sled has a very aerodynamic design. The basket is covered with material that hold it's shape when the sled is ready to run. The basket and the sled are one piece. Other sled designs have sled basket bags that are held on to the structure of the sled with velcro. This leaves a bag that has air passing under the bag and the bag sags while in the wind. It just doesn't hold it's shape well and flaps in the wind. Is this better or worse ??? IT would appear that the Danler sled would be better than a bag added to the structure. It is merely an observation.

  The Danler sleds have different holders for your hook. The hook is used to keep the team stopped. The Danler also has handles you put your hand into as you push of pump with your leg while racing. These ideas are integrated into the design of the sled.

  Just a little bit on sleds. If you are interested you could look for sled builder sites to see the design differences. Goggle Gatt sleds, Danler and  Outlaw are all different sleds you could have a look at. 

 Bye 4 now