Hi From Alyeska Alaska

We registered for the up coming Junior Race on Jan.1st. Leanne is also registered in the Adult class on the second and third. To have such good racing two weekends in a row is excellent for us to have. This trip is really good for the yearlings. One more day of skiing tomorrow then back to Anchorage to prepare for the races. " races" for us means to participate with the young dogs. The dogs have not been prepared to go top speed for any week end racing while we are in Alaska. We just did not get the training in we needed for that. Ben and Rachel have been busy with other activities this season that kept them away from the kennel more that usual. We have lots of time before our first main competition. I am not sure what race that may be. We can come back here to race the World Championships in Feb. I hope there is some racing to do In Jan. somewhere. That is the news here in Alaska.

training

Yesterday we went to the tozier track in Anchorage. Track holds many popular races throughout the yr. Ben and Rachel hooked up and trained three dog teams all consisting of eight dogs. That took care of all on the truck. After our crazy tour to Valdez on our way to Anchorage Christmas day our dogs have been off schedule. Constipation, loss of appetite etc. Today they are all back to normal. Took a while to get them on a schedule. The runs Ben and Rachel had proved that the dogs are feeling better. The teams looked good and allot of poo to pick up around the truck.
After training it was off to Alyeska ski resort as promised. We are here at the resort now. The kids all went skiing last night and I am sure they will start again early this morning. Weather is perfect I am looking forward a good rest here

At home in Anchorage

What good friends we have here in Anchorage. They have been very helpful to us during our stay. their two girls Hannah and Morgan are dog mushers as well. They live right in the city of Anchorage in a 500o sq/ft. home up on a mountain side. Amongst many other dwellers. It makes it hard to believe that they are able to keep dogs. With so many people in the area and with all the fancy houses it just seems odd.
Deb and Nevin Summers are the owners of this great place. They are keeping 12 dogs. Their neighbors do not like dogs so they keep the dogs very quit.
Everyone lounged around today and then we are off to the race track in town to train tomorrow. We go to alyeska to ski after the dogs are done their training. This motivates Ben Rachel Morgan and Hannah to get their training done so they can ski. Great motivator. Dogs need to run in the morning so they do not get restless and start to misbehave. We are looking forward to that. Talk to you all later.

North to Alaska

What a trip so far. We left Christmas Day at around three P.M. We packed up and hit the road to Anchorage Alaska. We made it past the Tok cutoff. Leanne started to drive and missed a turn off. When I got up from my rest and started to drive I noticed we were somewhere I was not familiar with. We had a race for the kids on the 26 in chugiak alaska. This is just outside of Anchorage. When I started to drive the truck again I was heading down a steep pass. I did not recognize any of this area. Then I came to the bottom of the pass and I was in Valdez of all places. Leanne accidently missed the turn to Anchorage. It was six a.m. the morning or the race. I had but a few hours to get the kids to the race. The truck proved to be awesome and I managed to get to the race with a few minutes left. Leanne and I ended up for 36 hours by the time the racing on the day was done.
The point of the race was to get as many of our young dogs out as possible. which Ben and Rachel managed to do. Young leaders ran in lead through tunnels etc. The 27 found us back in chugiak to race the adult class where LEanne ran the four dog and the six dog class. Leanne ran more young dogs. Mission accomplished. It is unfortunate that we do not have any fast runs on the dogs yet this year. It is important not to run to fast even in these preliminary races. The dogs are so young yet and you do not want them to experience somthing that is not fun. So we took it easy on them and it was very warm during these races.
The dogs are off schedule as well after such a long drive. SO they are not running well nor eating and drinking well. They will come around soon.
This week will find us taking the kids to the ski hill where we will over night and ski.
We are staying with some very good friends in Anchorage and are enjoying their company. It is a great place to be such nice people. Anchorage such a nice area for dog mushing as well.
The dogs will get some training runs down at the track in Anchorage then off to the ski hill for three days. Races start again on the first of January.
Talk soon

TIME TO HIT THE ROAD...... AGAIN

Hi we are unable to race down south this dec/jan. One race has been postponed to next year. The one that was after this one. Taylor B.c was moved to March. We will be racing in the Arctic winter games at this time. Soo... We decided to head North to Alaska. We will go to Anchorage Alaska and stay with some really good friends. While we are there we will go to Aleska ski hill/mountain. SO Ben and Rachel will get to go snowboarding.
While we are there we will train and race as much as possible. The trails in Anchorage have tons of traffic and hazards so it is a good place to train dogs. We hope to race two races while there but do not know which ones yet.
The winter has been going good so far. The younger dogs look awesome this year. The older ones are right on pace some have retired this year. We are all excited to see how they are doing in comparison to other teams. All this preparation is for one race and that is the arctic winter games in Alberta this year.
I hope you are all following again this season. I have not been blogging much lately.
We have changed dog trucks from Ford to Dodge. The dodge is a great truck with awesome mileage and great amount of power. GReat dog truck and is loaded with all the comforts to make travel as best as can be.
Today we will train some faster runs. Depending on the trail conditions and the temperature. We will then watch our speed/average in the runs to see where the team is at and eliminate any dogs that are unable to make that speed. we won't have many that won't make it this year due to the young age.
Talk to ya later with the next update.

WOW am i ever behind on the posts. SORRY

I don't know where to start. The summer was good we were too busy. Meaning I don't think we spent enough time in the kennel. It is hard to spend the time the dogs need in the summer. We all enjoyed fishing boating and traveling.
Things are changing. Ben is 16 and talking about ending his dog mushing career. He is thinking of many other things and has a harder time staying focused on the dogs. We will see how things work as the season gets busy. It is easier to stay focused when you spend more time in the kennel and get in the swing of things. Rachel is 13 now and still likes to devote time to the kennel. I may have a musher here for quite a while with Rachel. We know that this year both will be racing again.
Our focus this year will be the Arctic Winter Games in Grande Prairie Alberta. These games usually gives us the best competition. We hope to go Alaska as well. It all depends on our budget and sponsors. The dogs do need to race as much as possible in order to get ready for the A.W.G. so we will do our best to get to the races.
We switched trucks this year. We bought a nice DODGE ram 35oo diesel from friends of ours Tom and Mandy Green. I have spent allot of time switching the dog box from the older truck to the dodge truck. It has a flat deck so it was pretty straight forward except the wiring and plumbing in the dog cooker. It is ready to travel now so we will be ready for our first trip.
Our first race will likely be in Taylor B.C. There will not be a race in Ft. Nelson this yr. we do hope to be in Ft. Nelson at the Steepers kennel to train at least. This way the dogs see other dogs and different trails. I hope to get at the blog more often again and get everyone update.
Talk to you all later.

Activities at home

  While we have been back home we have been busy. Ben managed to fall while snowboarding and has a green stick fracture on his collar bone. This has put him out of the action for awhile. We sure miss his help around here.

 Rachel has been harness breaking puppies. Mom and Dad help out to make sure the pups behave properly and to help Rachel to learn how to harness break the pups. It isn't hard to do but there are some things that we have always done that I would like to see Ben and Rachel learn as well. I think Rachel and Ben know pretty much how to harness break the pups but what you do early in life with them seems to stick for the rest of their lives. Doing it right the first time is pretty important for future runs. This litter of pups just took off running. No problems with running forward and pulling hard. One of the pups is so excited it bites the one beside it. Rachel had to stop and correct the dog for biting it's running mate. This happens often but you don't want to let it continue until puppies are fighting one another.  They are the best litter of pups we have had for a long time. These pups should have as many runs as possible on them before the snow is gone. This way it makes it so much easier next racing season to run them. The pups will already know how to behave. This makes the next season so much easier with the pups.

   Last years yearlings really came into their own this year. We have super dogs out of that litter. It looks good for the next four years. Raising the cash to keep racing is the problem now. 

  Rachel Ben and Leanne have been keeping the race dog in good shape as well. The family and kennel had a super season.  We will do what ever we can to get ready for next year.

  talk to you all later.

Fairbanks Jr. North American Championship. Rachel Kinvig 1st Place 4-Dog

Junior Yukon mushers hit the podium in Fairbanks

Thursday March 12, 2009
By Tom Patrick
Submitted Photo/Yukon News

Eric Engman/Fairbanks News-Miner… Rachel Kinvig drives her team out of the starting chute during the four-dog class on day one of the 2009 Junior North American sled dog races on March 6 at the Jeff Studdert Racegrounds in Fairbanks.

Three weeks ago, Ben Kinvig took gold and his sister Rachel took fifth in their respective fields at the Junior World Championship Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska.
Last weekend they both made the podium.
Racing in the Junior North American Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska, Rachel, 12, finished first in the four-dog event while Ben, 15, took third in the six-dog competition.
“I had a much better race (than in the World Championships),” said Rachel.
Anchorage’s race last month took mushers through an urban setting that caused both Rachel and Ben complications, with dogs being distracted by spectators. Rachel also encountered setbacks with her dogs hesitating to cross bridges or enter tunnels.
“My dogs didn’t stop (this time),” said Rachel.
In the days leading up to the Championships, Fairbanks had about 20 centimetres of fresh snow dumped on the trails, causing difficulties for both Ben and Rachel.
“Going out of the start chute it looked like a Ski-Doo trail - there were Ski-Doo trails all around the field,” said Rachel. “I didn’t really know where I was going cause the trail didn’t look like a trail. But my dogs took me the right way.”
“It made the trail a lot deeper and punchier and it’s a lot tougher for them to run fast in it,” said Ben. “So the first day was pretty slow going.”
Deep snow continued to be an issue the second day when one of Ben’s dogs went off the trail and sunk deep into the white stuff.
“One of my dogs fell into the deep snow at the side of the trail and all my dogs ended up getting tangled up,” said Ben. “But I was able to untangle them pretty quickly and get going again.
“The last day I had a pretty clean run and everything went well.”
However, Mother Nature’s influence was not limited to weather. Ben was forced to use a different dog-team than he did in Anchorage, leaving three of his female dogs at home because they were in season.
“They’ll try to get bred while you’re racing them,” said Ben. “That wouldn’t be good.
“For the dog team I had, I thought it was pretty great.”
Winners in Fairbanks were determined by adding up mushers’ times from the three days of racing. Rachel raced 7.2-kilometres the first and second days and 9.5 on the third day. Ben covered 9.5-kilometres the first two days and 12.7 on the final day.
Currently they are undecided whether they will attend, but Ben and Rachel might be competing at another meet in Taylor, BC, called the Taylor Sled Dog Races at the end of the month.
“It’s against adults and they sometimes race that one,” said Darren Kinvig, president of the Junior Association of Mushers in the Yukon and father of Ben and Rachel. “It’s usually held in December, but it was postponed due to lack of snow.”
Then at the start of April they might travel to Tok, Alaska, for the Junior Tok Race of Champions.
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com

Running Away

Now, now we haven' t really run away, but isn't that a catchy title?? sometimes, we might want to run away too. ..... But the dogs were doing the running yesterday. Ben and Rachel trained 6 miles, 8 dog teams each. It was a slow run, which is what Dad said to do. Ben put Gee Whiz in lead. She is a yearling and running well. Ben said she ran well with Willow. Willow is an awesome dog and her pups will be running the races next year. These "pups" (they are not quite 1, but are still called pups to us)..........anyways, they will be harness broke in the next few weeks with some runs on before the snow is gone.........awwwwwww just when we get going, it is over just like that. The kids are in good training routines and have enjoyed going to races in alaska and seeing all their Alaskan friends. Rachel ran Slick and Overtime in lead and did well too. Ben ran the second team of 8 while rachel prepared the food for the dogs. Right now Rachel is making some popcorn, and we are having a movie night. She also made milkshakes, too bad Dad isn't home to join us, but we think of him all the time. Tomorrow the kids want to down hill ski and train their dogs after skiing........stay tuned for the further adventures of Ben and Rachel.

Wolf Bait

Ben was busy today trying to get the snowmachine going. The one normally used wouldn't go, so he used the smaller Bravo. It did the trick, but Ben says he almost got stuck out there. The groomer was full of snow, so Ben went to lift it and the heavy groomer with snow, landed on his legs. He said it was really difficult to crawl out, but he managed. "I thought I'd be wolf bait if I didn't get out", Ben said with a chuckle.

We had a significant dump of snow last night and while mom went to town for groceries and errands, Rachel and Ben stayed home to look after the dogs and groom the trail. They are hard working kids and did a good job of looking after the place while mom and dad were gone. Their hard work shows at the races. Most kids have their parents to train their teams and do all the trail grooming and looking after the dogs. Ben and Rachel manage to do this themselves. Way to go team!

Back home

We are all back home and the kids are on spring break. This will give them time to do some cleaning and organizing around the dog yard. The dog yard and feed shack need attention. There are some options for the next few weeks. Taylor, Tok. Back home then to Tok again. The Taylor race did not happen during our time in Ft. Nelson. It has been changed to 20/21 of March. The kids will be racing adults for money. I don't think that Leanne is able to go. We might have to miss that race. Then there is the Tok race of champions. Adult races. Leanne has spoke of interest in going to this race. She will race the kids dogs. Then the kids would go to the Junior Tok race of champions in April. The kids would be able to race the same dogs as Leanne on the same course. The dogs may have a big advantage over other dogs by doing this, they will all be familiar with the race track. That would be the end of the racing season.

I want to go to them all of course. After these races it is back to feeding dogs to go no where to race. It is sad how fast the season goes by. Money, health and time are all factors to getting to the races. We will do our best to do as many as possible.

There is many pups to train. We have a litter of seven that need to be harness broke and ran as much as possible before it gets to hot. I think Rachel and Ben are looking forward to this. We are going to remain as active as we can with the dogs this summer. The free running will be very good for the dogs. The only problem is that the kids cannot ride the four wheeler fast enough to keep up to those dogs! We are all looking forward to training all season.

We are in the process of looking for a new food. The food that we started with has gone through the roof. It always does. We have changed so many dog foods for this reason. A new product will come along. People selling the product will be excited to have you use it, prove it then they sell lots of the product. As soon as it becomes popular the price goes up and it becomes too expensive. We have been treated really well with our dog food producer. We will wait until we purchase our next pallet to see what it costs. He has been sponsoring the kids by providing so many bags free a year. We would like a full sponsorship someday. That would make a huge difference to our budget. It would make it possible to race more often. That is the whole point is to get to the races.

Rachel got her report card back and her marks have gotten better! That is good after missing all that school. She can do it on the road. The best thing to do would be to home school so we can stay on the road without coming home so often. That would be great! We shall see what the future brings.

It is winding down and we have pups that are a week old that will need our attention as well. Ben and Rachel look forward to seeing these pups run. If they run like Natty, the mother, then there will be no stopping Rachel and Ben in the future races.

I am away from the kennel until next week so I hope that it will be a little more organized when I get home. For now I will enjoy my trip to Sask.

on the way home

  Hi we are on route home. We stayed the night at Arleigh and Donna Reynolds house last night. We had a good visit and learned more about dogs. Rachel had borrowed Neo, a leader that Arleigh lent her for the race. He also lent me a work mate work bench to make it easier on the back for waxing. They are really nice people. 

  We have stopped in Tok Alaska for a bite to eat and then we will drop the dogs and take off for home. We are still six hours from home. Yesterday we had stopped at the ice sculptures in Fairbanks. Ben, Rachel, Leanne, Deb, Rachel, Morgan, and Baily walked around to look at the ice sculptures. I made a nice bed in the back of the truck and rested until they were done looking. 

   Ben and Rachel sold a dog named Slapshot to the owners that we had bought her from. She was a tiny little dog but a good leader. The Callis family were short on leaders so she bought her back from the Ben and Rachel. Slapshot would not have made it for the limited class teams that Ben and Rachel are running. She has a good home that is for sure. SO we are home soon. Talk to you all later.

The banquet

  The banquet was quick. There was no eight dog teams this year.  All the other classes are dwindling down to hardly any kids. The smaller classes are filling up. The one and two dog classes have more kids than usual but the older and bigger the class the less kids. It was sad to see the starting area with hardly any trucks parked there anymore. It would be sad to lose it all. That is what has happened in Whitehorse Yukon.  I don't know what to do. The sport is very important to us. We don't want it to die off. What to do ? I just don't know. Maybe I can blame it on the down turn of the economy. The price of fuel and dog food has gone up allot in the past few years these may be reasons but not cures for the problems  facing the sport of dog mushing. It is a sport that takes the whole family to participate in racing. I guess not many families want to be together in the way that it takes to run a kennel. What ever the reason the key is to find a way to boost it up again. 

  The meal at the banquet was spagetti. And a cake at the end. Lots of fun and we hope we are able to come back again to race soon. Talk to everyone later.

day three and final day of Junior North American championshipsionships.

     Hi everyone. The race is done. Rachel was first today and had a great time. Rachel's team looked awesome on the way in off the race trail.. The mileage was a mile or so further today. This really shows who was training in the dark days of mid winter. The times when no one wants to go out and train with their head lights on. It can be difficult for sure. Getting the team out on a regular basis is hard but we stick with a schedule during the training season. It can be very difficult telling the kids to get training when the temp is cold or windy.  Getting the dogs out and trained is the key to being successful. Rachel had a clean run and is the North American champion. Congratulations to you Rachel.

  Ben had troubles all week-end and we struggled to keep his team together. One dog was lame and we worked on her for hours. Rubbing her foot. We walked her lots. Gee-whiz (the dog) did not want to put weight on her left leg . Just before race time Ben walked Gee-whizz  and I looked at her and told Ben she looked better and she could probably run. I left the decision up to Ben. He decided to run Gee-whizz and she did awesome.  A Little sore today but she made it OK. His leader who is the oldest dog in the yard and probably running his final year led Ben to his great finish today. Ben was in fourth. He was having troubles moving up from fourth and was stuck in a rut. I kept telling him little things he could do to make a difference in his team .

  Today the six dogs ran further as well. Now the time Ben spent out training when he didn't want to will pay off.  The teams that missed training will suffer on the third day and will travel slower. Ben had a good run didn't have to shut down. Ben and his dogs ran a clean race and Be n moved up to third. ON the podium sort of speak. Awesome great week- end to Ben and Rachel. Thank to all the volunteers and trail groomers. The volunteers put allot of work into the trail and putting on the race. We all had a good week-end.  Talk to you all later.

day two in Fairbanks Alaska

  Well it was another day come and gone. The days fly by when we are out racing. The kids did the same today. Ben had to stop his team shortly after he left the starting chute. Not sure what happened.  The stop cost him third place today. His leader is barely hanging in due to a bite on his shoulder less than a week ago. The bite happens to be right under his harness. not good. Another dog came up lame today on his team so he will likely start with five dogs tomorrow. His team is just hanging on. Ben has to run farther on Sunday so it will be interesting how they look on their way in.

  Rachel had another strong run but had to stop today also. The dogs took a wrong turn. Thanks to our friend Areleigh Reynolds the dogs are running good. He gave a leader to Rachel to run with. Rachels leader is in heat and the only other leader is a male. This weekend has been fun but we have had alot of things not go our way.  Some organizing at the truck will help also. The Callis's are running strong and Gracie is winning by a long shot. Congrats. to Gracie Callis.  I will let you know how things go tomorrow. Talk to you all later. 

Rachel Kinvig drives her team out of the starting chute during the four-dog class on day one of the 2009 Junior North American sled dog races Friday afternoon, March 6, 2009 at the Jeff Studdert Racegrounds.

day one in Fairbanks

   Day one is in the bag. Windy, snowy day. The snow has fallen. There is lots of snow and more on the way.  The groomer started working at 2 am to get the trail in shape. He has a big tracked machine. Something that you would see on a ski hill. There was so much snow that it even got stuck. He did the best he could and it ended up to be a pretty good trail considering. Slow but better than what we imagined

   Rachel ran the four dog race. She ran two new leaders. One we borrowed the day before the race from Arleigh reynolds and the other one is one that ran on lead in training but then the dog was taken out of lead for various reasons. She also ran a yearling on wheel with an older dog. We were not totally sure about these two either. Rachel had a great run all the dogs did great and looked good on the way home today. The team ran a 4.9 mile. Rachel won it today. Can' remember the time. I think it was 16 minutes and change. 

Ben also ran a good race with six dogs. There is five in his class of racing. He had a pretty clean run but poor overtime had trouble with the speed. The trail is soft after all the snow that fell and the dogs struggle to hold speed on it. Overtime is an older dog and was a team dog most of the year. He leads okay but his best position is closer to the sled. He struggles on lead the most today. Ben's main leader is willow and we left her at home because she is in heat. His world championship team this is not. It is the best that he thought he could put together for the Jr. North American Championships. He was in fourth today but only a couple of seconds back from second and 55 seconds off of first. If the weather cools off and the trail gets hard it will be better for Ben's older leader. It is suppose to cool off and the snow has slowed down now. He ran the race in 21 minutes which is slow for 6 miles. That distance is usually ran in 18 minutes and change. Ben may change out his leaders tomorrow and see if that helps his speed any. The race is not won on day two so the kids will have to bear down and keep up the speed. We know the dogs can handle the speed and the distance so it is not unfair to ask it from the dogs. 

   I will let you know what happens tomorrow. 

Trip to Fairbanks

  The drive to Fairbanks went well. We stayed at Tok Alaska last night and drove here in the morning. The drive went well today until we hit the snow. It snowed and snowed. It has snowed 6 to 8 inches since eight am this morning. 

We stopped to see a friend Arleigh Reynolds in Salcha. It is about 30 miles from Fairbanks. He gave Rachel a well needed lead dog to use. He also gave us some Vet supplies and some egg powder that we have been using this season. The chickens that produced the eggs have been injected with diseases. This made the chickens make antibodies. The chickens then produce twice the  antibodies in their eggs. The eggs are then made into egg powder which is mixed with the dog food. The dogs receive the antibodies through their food. This then strengthens their immune systems so they don't pick up any sickness on the racing circuit when the dogs are exposed to so many other dogs with sicknesses. IT works, we have not had a sick dog all year which usually isn't the case after this much exposure to other dogs. 

   Ben and Rachel race tomorrow. The race itself starts at noon. Rachel and Ben  will go sometime after noon.  Ben is in the six dog. Two dogs from his world championship team are at home. Anna and Willow. They stayed because they are in heat. Rachel is in the four dog. She will have the best team we can possibly put together. Not sure yet what Ben or Rachel is running for dogs but should know by tomorrow morning or by the last time the dogs are dropped (let out of dog  box). They should be able to field two pretty strong teams. Rachel is taking the chance by using a dog she doesn't know but her other option is to use a female with a male on lead. The female is starting to come into heat so it isn't worth the problems that she could have. She will take the chance of using a new leader. I will do my best to keep everyone informed as to what the races hold as the week-end proceeds. Talk to you all later.

Jr. North americans next

  Hi everyone. We have been home training. Rachel has been working to make a new front end for her team out of what ever leaders she can find.  We  have females coming into season faster than we can count them. This is really changing things. Rachel might have to run all males and Ben all females or something like that. It is near imposible to mix any females that are in season with males in the same team with out a big problem. Ben and Rachel do not need any accidental breedings while in the middle of their race.

  Natty just had six pups last night four males and two females. Nice litter. Unfortunately it was unplanned. She had ate her way threw a fence to get at a male. The male happened to be Spare. Spare has bred many of our females to produce some of our best dogs and dogs that have been successful in the quest and iditorod.  So as far as Spare goes he seems to be somewhat proven as a sire. Natty is from excellent breeding and is very tough headed.  What a eater and drinker. Never misses anything to eat ever. She may be a little on the small size. Spare usually produces nice size dogs so the pups should be a good size. 

  We did some small training runs at slow speeds to maintain the teams during our time at home and the teams look ready to travel to Fairbanks for the Junior North American Championships.  I will try and update the blog from Fairbanks. Talk to you later.

Dogs that Fly

Ben SPEEDING past camera

GO BEN!

RACHEL FLYING OUT OF CHUTE

GO RACHEL!

Our way home.

Tues. Feb. 24

This morning we said good bye to the Summers in Anchorage. What a great family to stay with. I don’t know how they do what they do living in the city with sled dogs and loading in their truck every day if they want to go training or racing. The bylaw says that the dogs have to be kept quiet. The dogs are only allowed to bark for 10 minutes at a time or a complaint to the city can be launched. Then your kennel license could be taken away from you. This makes it difficult as you are always after the dogs to keep them quiet. With limited space, time and knowledge the Summers have a fantastic Dog team and Morgan is the one to watch in the future. Morgan and Hanna share the kennel. Hanna is oldest and has a tremendously busy life and will be done with the sled dogs soon. Morgan on the other hand has a mission to start winning with her dogs. Like she has something to prove. I like that. That attitude is the attitude that will get you out training dogs when you are tired or the weather is bad. Etc. Lots of reason not to train but is totally necessary. 

  We had to got to Eagle River to see a wonderful Friend named Randy Lutes. He had a four wheeler we were to pick up and take home with us. Randy came out every day of the race to watch Rachel and Ben. His wife and grand daughter also came out to see the dogs. It was great to see Randy out at the races. I had alot of good laughs with him.

  After getting the four wheeler I went back in to Anchorage to get some lotto tickets being sold for the Rowdy sled dog races. Then we were on our way at around noon. It didn’t take long when while climbing a steep grade the back passenger wheel exploded and we were stopped on the side of the road. We worked away and got the spare put on and were on our way. When we got to Glen Allen we stopped and put a used tire onto our rim and continued on with it as our new spare. 

  We pulled into Tok Alaska at around 8:30 and grabbed a hotel room for a good nights sleep. We are not far from Haines Junction Yukon at this time and will be home later tonight. Thank to all our supporters out there it is great to see so many help Ben and Rachel get to and from the races and also helping us out while we were staying there.

Aleyska

Time to Ski with friends.

Mon. Feb.23

Today we all went to Aleyska ski resort 45 minutes south of Anchorage Alaska. Hanna and Morgan Summers went. As well as Rachel,Ben, Leanne and Darren. The four kids went skiing and Leanne and Darren went to relax.

I have to say that this ski resort made the best hamburger I have ever had by Far. It was the black angus burger. This burger was made from the best grade A beef and that is it, pure tasty beef. The best beef I have ever had. Wow was it ever good. Leanne and I looked after the dogs for the kids while they spent the Day skiing in the beautiful sunshine in Alaska. It was a beautiful day.

Come to think of it the whlole three days that we raced were beautiful as well. We have raced in Alaska before but never in such great conditions. Warm but not too warm for the Dogs. The slight breeze that blew on each day was cool enough for them.

anchorage world championships

Getting Race Ready

Hi everyone. Our three day race here in anchorage is now over. Rachel had more problems with her team again today. It was worse today because now the leaders would stop as they got to the bridges and tunnels where the team dogs would stop and make the leaders stop. Basically the team dogs stopping trained the leaders to stop as the trouble continued. Rachel worked after the race on the second day to make her team dog go over the bridge and through the tunnels. THis dog did good today but the leaders just thought that they were stopping at the tunnels and the bridges. The leaders were also stopping at the crowds of people watching the race. Rachels times were very good considering the trouble that she had. This race is very difficult for dogs because of all the obstacles that they have to go around and by. It was a good training experience for the dogs and Rachel.

Ben is now the 2009 7 dog world champion and ran a clean run today to win it. He ended up running after some ones pet dog out on the trail. He lost some time but not too much. Winning over all by less than half a second. It was very close in the end. Two very competitive teams were in 1st and 2nd. The times were a little farther behind in third and so on. Congratulations Ben. He works hard and puts his time in with the dogs but does not often finish that high in such competitive competitions. It is really nice to see him win here in Anchorage.

As for Rachel I tell here there is more lessons in losing than winning and she must take the good with the bad. She is focused on making a team for the Junior North American championships in Fairbanks in two weeks. We had a good time seeing lots of old friends and making some new ones while we were at it. Ben Rachel Morgan and Hanna go skiing tomorrow and we head home on Tues. Talk to everyone later. Bye for now.

World championships Anchorage Alaska

   Hi from Anchorage. What a drive. It always is like that. We drove straight through to get here and recover before the race. We left at six a.m. and got to bed at 2 a.m. It is a slow drive in allot of places. Not a easy haul. Thanks to Leanne we made it without a overnight. 

  We landed in the super 8 Anchorage the first night. Got to bed at 2a.m. Up early to look after the dogs and track down our billets. Evan and Debra Summers. Daughters Morgan and Hanna. Nice place and we settled right in. Great people. We stayed here on the thursday rested the dogs and made them a good early supper. 

  The final training runs at home prior to the trip left Rachel in need of a older leader to come with here to lead her team. Not the best choice but the only one that she had considering the age of her young leaders. Rachel's younger leaders were not ready to race with so many obstacles here in Anchorage. We did do our best to peak the team and get them ready for the Worlds by laying off and running less and less distance. 

  First day of the WOrlds Rachel ran Dini her old leader. Leader is about nine and ready to retire a while ago. She ran this leader in her Arctic Winter Games team last year. She raced for three gold metals. Still this dog is ready to retire. It was Dini Overtime. On lead Single point dog was Gypsy. Then on wheel was Slick and a yearling called Rusty. 

  The first day of competition brought warm weather but a great hard fast trail. Some new snow. near zero c. some cool wind out of the North was blowing. Rachel Left the chute in 7th position and was running 5 dogs. She came back with a 3rd place finish but had lots of trouble with the young dogs laying down at the tunnels and the bridges stopping  the team.  Not much time separates first from fifth. 1st 20.59  2d 20.37 3rd 20.35  4th 20.47. 5th.  20.52  Very close race.  Second day Rachel has the same problem even after taking the troubled dogs to the tunnels and walking them through the tunnels until they felt better about being there.  She slipped to fourth. She was very disappointed. Her old leader is barely keeping up if at all but at least she is going in the right direction. Day two. 1 st 18.07  2nd 19.23 3rd 19.30 and Rachel ran it in 19.44 with all her problems. She is trying to figure out what to do. Her overall time is 40.31  3rd is 40.05 2nd is 40 even 1st is 39.06. She can still move up.

  Ben in the seven dog did fantastic. was third on the first day. 28.32   1st was 27.00 2nd was 27.47 . Today Ben was first with a time of 27.22 and first overall with a time of 54.47 second is 55.09 3rd is 100.09  Some good racing here at the world's as expected. It is a dog race so you never know what could happen so we will see tomorrow the final day of the race. 

  Ben and Rachel worked their butts off this year training through thick and thin. The third day should show this by the toughness of their teams. If anyone was on the xbox instead of training will regret it on the third day.  So I will let everyone know what happens on day three sometime after the race. 

  It is very exciting to watch and to see Ben and Rachel reap the rewards from a job well done. Talk to you all later.

Hello again

   Well we leave tomorrow. Not much to report. Ben and Rachel continued to work with the dogs in spite of the lack of racing. I was happy to see this. The enthusiasm was low, even for Leanne and I . Today is different. Ben and Rachel are happy today and excited to go to race. 

  Ben has the best team I think. I wasn't allowed to change anything this year with the teams. This was the first time. I usually divide the dogs so they each have the best team possible. Ben is running in the seven dog class at the worlds. 

  Rachel on the other hand is struggling with leaders. All young leaders. It is difficult to train new leaders with new leaders. This is what has been happening because Rachel's older leaders are running too slow to stay ahead of her team. Then the new young dogs make mistakes and teach each other to make mistakes. It is good to have a reliable well trained leader to teach a new one. As far as speed the teams are a little slow. The overall average speed is too low. I am not sure if it is  because Ben and Rachel are holding the teams back too much. We will find out when they race. I hope that they are happy at the end of the day with the teams that they have trained this year. We are staying at some friends house. Ben and Rachel are going skiing as well for a day. It will be a good trip and all will have fun. I will keep in touch as the races happen so everyone can find out what we are up too. Talk to you later 

good day

  Hi everyone. It is our final few training runs before the worlds. The snow keeps on falling and the trail keeps getting softer. It has been hard to get the speed from the dogs lately. So many variables that you just have to do the best you can and forget the rest. 

  Ben and Rachel are having some slow averages from their teams. I am not sure exactly why. It is easy to blame the trail conditions all the time but there is always more reasons. I know Rachel has had some leader problems lately. Her main leaders just won't do it this yr.  Rachel has been busy training new leaders. Young new leaders. This can take a season to make a good pair of leaders. They do not become good leaders without going through some races successfully.  This is another problem. We have not been racing enough because there is no place to go race this yr. that matches their race distances. To be out racing is about the best training you can do to prepare for your big races.  The training has been steady but a little on the slow side is all. The dogs get sour on the same training trail all the time also. This slows them down because a lack of enthusiasm for the area that they run in.  After the last run the dogs got sore feet from the punchy surface of the trail. This is because of the big dumps of snow that we keep getting. I need a blade that pushes snow off the trail.  In any case Rachel has what she has and that is what she has to race with. 

   Ben's team is strong. He has the biggest dogs to use. I am not sure how that happened except he usually gets the biggest dogs because of his size. He needs more power to pull his heavier frame around the trail. He ended up training all eight of the biggest dogs. His dogs seem to be moving quite good and power through even the bad trail conditions. Ben's average speed is down a little also because of the training. We have to speed up these teams somehow. If the trail won't allow it then it is hard to do. You can''t go down the road with the dog teams so we have to be happy with the trail we have. It is nice and flat and smooth just soft on the top. 

   Ben and Rachel train today after school. We will be looking for some high speeds today. Hopefully the trail set up hard. We all will be getting ready by packing and getting all the little details ready for our trip. The world's are held in Anchorage Alaska. We are all looking forward to our time there. 

  Buddy and Terry Streeper are there and just finished racing the Exxon Open championship. Buddy won the open class with 18 dogs I believe. He set the new track record and averaged 20.2 m.P.H over 15 miles. WOW> This sport just gets faster and faster every year. It is almost impossible to catch up year after year. The breeding program has to be perfect and you have to breed for five years down the road.  A person needs to have allot of puppies every year to add to and improve your team. It is a fun but expensive program. 

  We are waiting on a answer from one sponsor.  We have a place to stay in Anchorage with some friends and We are getting some gas money from a friend who wants us to pick up his four wheeler. This all helps out for the trip. We are all looking forward to our races and we will keep in touch as things get closer to race days.

  

Dogs are lookin good

  The weather has co-operated lately so Ben and Rachel could get some good training in.  The dogs are ready that is all I can say. They have never looked so good.  It makes it difficult now to keep the team ready for the next race. We are doing some maintenance runs. The only way this can happen is to decide what is 75% of their top speed.  There is no reason to run them at 100% when we do our training.  Ben and Rachel reach near top speed on their intravels. Not when they are running their six mile runs. When the world championships are nearer we will taper the training and peak them before the race. 

  With out racing Ben and Rachel have untried leaders to race at the worlds. This is something we  are not used to. We usually prepare by participating at more races so the leaders know what they are doing. This just hasn't been possible this year. Oh well it is different every year. You try to keep your season's consistent with each year as far as how many races you go to and your training but there are variables that are not in our control. 

  Ben and Rachel have been supported by many sponsors this year. Grandma and Grandpa Kinvig. Grandma and Grandma and Grandpa Labbie. Paint en Place. This is an auto body shop and friends of ours. Smith drill bits. This is a company that supplies drill bits to drilling rigs. They are also friends of ours. Minconsult. A mining consultant from B.C. They work in the Yukon. Donald Banks. Another friend here in the Yukon. Kal Tire Yukon. They work hard at keeping tires on the truck and keeping it running.  Sport Yukon has just recently came on board to help Ben and Rachel. We have many many friends that help out.  All these sponsors are key to getting us down the road to the races.  We appreciate them all. 

  Not long now to the World championships. We are hoping that Anchorage gets some snow for the World Championships. There wasn't any there not long ago so here's hoping.

  We will keep in touch as the world's gets closer and fill everyone in on the preparation. Then on the trip and finally the results. We are looking forward to that.

  Talk to you later

beautiful weather

  Hi everyone. beautiful weather. Yes but a little on the cool side. Mind you we will take it rather than rain. The snow fell again since my last blog. around an inch and a half. The weather is cold in the morning, around 30 below. It is okay because by the time Ben and Rachel are ready to train it has warmed up to 24 below. If they are training after school then it cools off quite a bit more by the time they get the runs in. On the week-end the temp in the afternoon is perfect. Maybe a bit on the cool side. I am scared of that warm weather ! 

  The dogs are taking some days off. The trail will be worked because of the new snow. The stick men that are on the trail will get new cloths and some ribbons put on their arms. They will also be moved to a new location.  I got this idea from the Streepers. What we did is made some people out of wood that stand up on the trial. The dogs see it and think it is something scary  the first time they run by.  Some dogs know right away it isn't going to hurt them  others act as though it is all the time. Why is probably your question. I think it has everything to do with the dogs personality. Not what they see. Or whether they are smarter than the other dogs and learn that it won't hurt them , quicker than the other dogs. Some dogs are just nervous and everything they see that is not there before becomes stress to them. It could be a stick with a flag  blowing and some dogs that seem to be more nervous than others bark like it is going to kill them when they go by it.  It is not to say that if you make your scare crow as human like as possible that dogs do not recognize it as something that has a human profile they just learn it isn't going to hurt them quicker if they have a calmer personality. I don't know if it is a calmer personality but a different personality than other dogs. They are all a little different from each other. I would rather see my dogs bark at it and run away from it as to stop and go visit every time they see something on the side of the trail.

  The point of this exercise is to get your dog team used to going by strange things they see on the trail. This could be allot of things but most things they see are photographers standing in all kinds of different positions to take pictures. If you can duplicate things the dogs will run by then in a race they will run by it without being so bothered by it.  I like it and it is funny to see some of the dogs reactions to the surprise visitors on the side of the trail.

  We would also like to duplicate a bridge and a tunnel. The world championships will have both obstacles at the race. If the dogs see and run over a bridge and through a tunnel enough times they get used to that as well. One of the problems if they see these obstacles at a race for the fist time is this. The dogs are running in the race and suddenly they are half way across a bridge when they realize it. They start to panic but the momentum of the team gets you off the bridge. If the experience startled them bad enough they will remember it. They will remember where it happened on the trail and try and stop in the same area the next day in the race when you cross the bridge again. During a race can be a difficult time to teach a team that it is Okay to cross the bridge or go under the tunnel. Most of the time if you have a well trained dog team they will manage during the race. It is better if you can get them used to it first. Why make it a bad experience for them during a race ?

  All this and other ideas for training is what makes it so much fun to train dogs. You have to think of how to duplicate what they will see at a race. If you can duplicate as many conditions you see on a race trail at different races then the dogs will be ready for it no matter where you go and race. 

  Ben and Rachel will take some more time off and train mid week or so. Then again on the week-end.

 Bye for now.

hello everyone

  Well we are back in the training mode and the dogs are moving great. The dogs are ready to race. The trail is good. It has taken some work but it is the best it has been this year. The teams are divided into three eight dog teams. The first two teams are Ben and Rachel's racing teams. The third team is running with some of the older dogs in it with some of next years dogs. We will be adding some more younger dogs so we may be running 4 or 5 teams soon. Right now the Gps is saying that the average is moving up to 18 mph. This is what we are looking for. Now that the  trail is fast and the dogs are ready for the speeds Ben and  Rachel will see the slower ones. It is looking right now that they are all lookin really good !  The worst thing is there is no races in  the Yukon to go to ! This is a bad year. We have not heard about three races and whether they will be on this yr. or not. It doesn't seem so.

  This is becoming the biggest problem here in the Yukon. There is one new race that is more of a get together for friends than a race. The rules are different than anywhere we have been and the age grouping for kids and distances they race is not like anything we have seen. So really it doesn't match any other races we would train for or go to.  The few races that are established in the Yukon are dying out.  So unless we work and put on a race for Ben and Rachel to go to there isn't much going on. 

  We do enjoy going to Alaska to race. It is just becoming more and more expensive every year. I don't know what will happen in the future. It is hard to keep sled dogs when there is no races to go to. It just takes allot of traveling to and from different areas of Canada and Alaska. 

  The dogs are ready and we are ready to go and race ..........somewhere.  We look forward to 

the next race. Bye 4 now .

hip hip hurray

  It snowed! Yes ! This is very good. It snowed four to six inches. It cooled off and the forecast is for colder weather.  Our helper has been working on the trail.  The trail is shaping up. Ben and Rachel will be training again on the trail tomorrow.  It will be good for the dogs to get back out running again. We have seven pups that are eight months old that will need to go for free runs behind the ski-doo. The kids will be running these dogs next year. These pups need to run 2-3 times a week. The hope is that all the pups will be able to run 6 miles by the end of the season. 

   Here is hoping for better weather for the rest of the season. This way we can keep the training  up. This year you never know what the weather could be. We will be back on the trail soon.

   All the best everyone. talk to you later

Weather

    The weather remains warm. The trail needs to be groomed with our steel groomer. The helper went out and ran around the trail with the groomer to shave the ice off the top. This was yesterday. Today we had another warm day so I don't know how the trail is. It started to snow while we were driving home later this afternoon. It has cooled off a bit but not much. The snow will make a world of difference as it will freeze on top of any ice that was left on top of the trail.  Once snow freezes on top it makes a surface that the dogs can run on without slipping.

   Ben and Rachel kept their teams off the trail while it has been warm. The surface of the trail has been soft so it was better to stay off. Ben and Rachel's teams can wait until the weather stabilizes a little. We have been doing our best to keep any dog foot punch holes out of the surface so when it does freeze again we don't have to fill all the holes in. When the trail freezes with punch holes in the surface the dogs can really hurt themselves by stepping in the holes while running 20 mph. We do our best to keep it safe. Training at home is a real poor time to injure the dogs. If it is going to happen better it happens in a race not at home training. 

  Ben and Rachel will have their work cut out by culling all the slowest dogs from their teams. This is not easy because some of the dogs are only .5 mph too slow. The dogs do let you know when they are not comfortable at those speeds. Ben and Rachel will then sell those dogs to friends that are racing else where. If their friends do not buy them then some go to local long distance racers. The money that they can make from their dogs go into some expenses for this years racing or next years racing. 

  The next training runs will involve intravel training, some slower average runs about 85 percent of their max. speed. Then some fast runs trying to keep the average speed near 18-19 mph. During the higher average speeds the GPS comes back with speeds spiking around 23-26 mph. These speeds are too fast to make the dogs maintain but Ben and Rachel find a way to go that fast. Once the speeds average in the area of 18-19 mph it is easy to see which dog cannot make the team. 

  It has been worrisome to see the weather turn so warm but I think the forecast is correct and it will snow and cool off.  Ben and Rachel can continue where they left off in their training without too much negative effect on their teams. We will keep you posted. That is all 4 now. 

  

More melt down

It has been warm again with the blowing wind being the snow killer. We need some cooler temp. The training trail is getting very icy as well as the yard. This is hard on dogs feet in the yard and on the training trail. We will have to fabricate a drag to pull behind the skidoo to scrape the ice off the surface of the trail.
Yesterday Ben and Rachel ran a team each. They are now running eight dogs each. This makes it easier to train. There is a eight dog team left over for Florian and he trains them. This way Ben and Rachel only have to hook up once each on a training day. Helps a bit for their time schedule with other activities makes it hard to train two teams each. If they intend on racing into the future it will not be this easy for them. When they race bigger teams this means more dogs to train up for each racing season. This will be the future for them if they stay at it. Time will tell. For now we will be happy with a decent trail and some steady training leading up to the Junior World Championships.
Two teams will go today, conditions willing. Ben went skiing today again and will train later today. Rachel is home and will train her team this morning and another one with the new dogs.

Talk to ya all later. Here is hoping our trail stays.

Warm weather

It has been warm here. It feels like it should be March not Jan. The weather got well below freezing at night. This made the trail very hard for training today. Florian ran a eight dog team today again. Today we tried to run them faster coming home. I told Florian to hold them back until the turn around coming home. He did and it made a difference in his team's performance on the way home. Florian is running an older leader that did really well today even with the speed of the team. I was impressed with the old guy.
The trail is the best it has ever been. We have some overlapping activities this weekend so we all have to figure out the best schedule for training. Rachel needs to start training some new dogs that we got while in Ft.Nelson. They all look good but not too sure how they will run. We will find out soon. Everyone is going skiing in the morning and training dogs in early afternoon. I hope that this happens both Sat. and Sun. We will know after we talk to Ben and Rachel and see what works best.

Another successful training day.

Florian ran a team of eight here today. Ben and Rachel each ran 8 dogs. The weather is warm and the snow is getting soft. We hope the warm doesn't stay too long. Florian ran a four mile to day. Some of the dogs I think were nervous having a new driver. That will get better the more he runs. The trail is in excellent shape. We have been looking after it on a daily basic now that Florian is here. All the snow that we had has packed down nice. The warm weather will tighten the snow up so it is even harder.
Ben and Rachel will need to train their teams hard this month to prepair for any races that are looming around the corner. We are looking forward to going to the races. Some races are hard to get info from. We will be looking to find the next best race to go to.
Ben ran his team of eight six miles. It was very warm but the team did well. Whenever I saw the dogs they all looked great.
Rachel ran her team today as well. They looked alittle sick of the routine at this point. They need a slight atitude adjustment. Other than that the teams look great.

Home again

  We left Toad River at 7 am. It had snowed that night about 3 inches. Great, now the snow to deal with. We got up early. Had a great breakfast and hit the road. It was slow going. No plow trucks out yet. Lots of snow on the road. We slowly wound our way through the mountains until we made it to the liard hot springs. I stopped there to rest while Ben, Rachel and Florian went into the hotsprings for a swim. I was hoping that some plow trucks make it out while we are stopped at the hotsprings. 

  After the swim we made our way up the highway and stopped to feed dogs. It was nine p.m. before we made it home. Leanne, Florian. Ben and Rachel unloaded the truck and put the dogs into the dog yard. 

  Today was a total rest day for me. I never left the house and rested as much as I could inside on the couch. I needed the day of rest for sure. We have dog trail to break in the morning and it has to be groomed for training tomorrow. I see that A truck has been out on the trail so it will need to be repaired. What a mess to come home to. Lots of snow here now. 

   Ben and Rachel need to take the dogs out this week for some six mile runs. We brought new dogs home from Ft. Nelson that need to be trained. The next race maybe some local races around the area then off to the world championships in Anchorage Alaska.

  The dogs all look good, we just need some races to go to now. There has been some cancellations down south so we will go North from now on. The cold weather has had an impact on some of the races. Some are a go but no prize money on the races. We are going to go to as many races as possible that is all we can do.  All are happy to be home

back from Ft. Nelson

  What a nightmare in Ft/ Nelson. This town is sad. Not a nice place. Sorry residents. I was stuck there since Weds. Night. After breaking down in Toad river and meeting some very nice people who saved us. We finally got a tow truck to pick up the truck and dogs.

  The shop was notified and the owner stayed up late to meet us in the Tow truck. My helper Florian and I rode in the flat deck truck with my dog tuck on it to Ft. Nelson. Ben and Rachel stayed behind at Colin and Heather peakes place near Toad river. We have been waiting in town for three days to get it fixed. Florian and I looked after the dogs. Well I should say Florian looked after the dogs. I gave the orders. 

  The air pump which was just fixed quit spinning. The shop had to order the right air pump and idler pulleys. This turned out to be a hassle as nothing fit proper. We finally got all the idler pulleys and air pump fixed. It was very expensive. I couldn't believe the bill. Florian and I just made it back to toad river where the kids stayed. Everything went good for the kids. What nice people.

   While we were in Ft. Nelson Florian ran Ben and Rachel's teams. There were four teams of six to run and they are all done. I am very happy that the dogs were run and we are all back together. Thank god for all these nice people that live in the north. 

  My truck runs really good now. The mechanic also noticed some other issues with the truck which he fixed. I think that it may get better mileage now that it is running better. 

  Tonight we will shift some meat around from the truck to the horse trailer and head home in the morning. Organization is the main thing for the truck tonight. I want to leave early in the morning..

failure to arrive home

 This has not been a great day in some ways.  We left Ft. Nelson at 6 am heading for Whitehorse. Yesterday I had the truck in to get looked at. The pulley on the  air pump on the power brakes was sticking. I had it looked at in Ft. Nelson. The mechanics said it was A OK. 

  While we were on our way the pulley stopped and the belt broke. All systems were down. 38 below and a 20 mph wind. No power brakes no power steering no alternator no water pump. We were stopped on the side of the road 205 km from Ft. Nelson in the middle of no where. The closes place is Toad river lodge. Which is closed

  I was stopped working on finding a way to drive it far enough forward to get it off the road when a highway plow truck pulled up to ask what was going on. I told him I need a tow truck he said he would phone for one. I worked on getting a rope around the pulleys to run enough stuff to move the truck or at least keep Ben and Rachel warm inside the truck. A gov. truck pulled up and heard the news. His name is Colin leake. He said he would take Ben and Rachel back to his place. I was nervous about that but something about him told me it was Ok. So away they went back to toad river. Florian and I stayed behind  to look after the dogs. The same highway truck driver came back and picked us up to go back to toad river. We have been here and feeling quite at home. It has been great. I met Heather leake their daughter and Herb stumpf here at their home. This is the way that it has been a good day!

  The tow truck will be here in the morning around 11 a.m. to pick the truck up. I hope that we will be able to drive with the truck to Ft. Nelson. We have to be with the dogs when the truck goes to town for repair. We hope that it can be done tomorrow?  Then another night in Fr. Nelson and home on Thurs. This is if every thing goes good.

  Colin Leake went with us to the truck to feed dogs. After the dogs were fed we unhooked the horse trailer and Colin pulled it back here to his house in Toad River. This way we have our supplies with us and don't have to deal with the trailer when they tow the truck. I hope that this is not a sign of things to come. 

  Ben and Rachel are such a big help when it comes to this kind of thing it makes me pretty proud to see how they can cope with adversity at their age. This is what life is all about.

 I often wonder where my new truck is ? Maybe that isn't the answer. We had a friend that has a newer truck and he is broke down in Ft. St. John with a blown head gasket? 

  I am ready to end this day. I will talk to you all later

A sucessful weekend

  The weekend in Ft. Nelson is over. It was cold again today . 30 below with a wind. Rachel finished in fourth place and sixth place yesterday. Ben finished seventh and third yesterday. It is a mass start race. This means that it is very difficult to get a true feel for how your team is running. All the teams leave the starting line at the same time. It ends up that four or more teams run side by side. This is a major distraction to the dogs. It means that they do not run to their full potential and is frustrating for the dog driver. It is also frustrating to the parent watching the race. As a matter of fact I cannot watch the race until Ben and Rachel and the  dogs are near the end of the race. The whole race is visible from the starting area but I cannot watch it all. 

  Our helper turned out to be good help for the weekend and I hope he can stick it out for the rest of the winter. He seems to be distracted by things back in Germany. Ben and Rachel were given three dogs from the winner of the six dog team. The more the older mushers see the work that Ben and Rachel put into their teams the more they want to help them out by giving them good dogs. We leave Ft. Nelson with 27 dogs on the truck. 

  The truck needs to see a mechanic tomorrow. This is due to a air pump that is driven by the fan belt of the truck. The air pump helps to boost the brakes on the truck. The pulley on the pump is not turning and the belt is slipping over the pulley. The brake light comes on and the brakes fail to work. This problem was just fixed. The truck ran all weekend to keep everyone warm.  I started to hear some grinding noise and belt squealing noise coming from the engine compartment. Then the brake light started to come on. I hope to leave here by Tuesday morning the latest.

  We went to Terry Streepers for supper after the race. It seems to be an annual thing to do after the race. Deb Streeper and family looks after everyone who was there to race. Just a great time. 

  I met the Erharts from the village or Tanana. This a village is northern Alaska. Great people and a pleasure to meet. I hope that they stop by when they are heading north through Whitehorse. 

  We had a great weekend as usual when we come to the Canadian open in Ft. Nelson B.C. We are now qualified to race in the event next year when they have a very high purse to race for.

  Ben and Rachel did an excellent job with the dogs. It is amazing what they do with those dogs. Not even the cold weather can stop them from racing their dogs. To say that I am proud of them is an understatement. 

   We were planning to go on to a race in Taylor B.C. but the race has been cancelled. So we will head back north to Whitehorse in search of races to prepare for the World Championships in Anchorage. Not the original plan. 

 We will be in touch again when we are home.

Sat. day one

  Today Rachel and Ben raced and it was 37 below C. It was cold. I mean cold. I told Ben and Rachel that it was totally up to them whether they ran or not. I almost said stay and not run. They really wanted to so I let them go.

  Ben and Rachel ran in the six dog race. The race was approx. six miles. Ben was third. He had a great run. Rachel was held back to sixth place due to trouble passing. It is hard because this race is mass start so every team leaves at the same time. This style of race does not leave the fastest team to win. IT is the one that has the least trouble with passing and being crowded in by other teams. Rachel was okay with the results. Rachel also ran new young dogs. The point of this race is to give the dogs experience. That was done and done well. Today was a success for both teams and the young dogs in each team.

  Tomorrow is the same trail and Rachel and Ben can switch dogs for the second day. I hope it is a little warmer tomorrow. 

  Talk to you later on

Better late than later

 Sorry I have been out of the typing mode. I will do my best to catch up.  We now have our helper Florian Hill.  He has done some helping of other kennels. This can at times be a problem as some of this kind of helpers have their ideas about how they should do things. This idea comes from what they have learnt from other mushers. We are in need of help that can learn our way of doing things. This would be the same for any other musher. Everyone of us do things somewhat differently. 

  Florian is great so far! I do not fore see that changing. He is patient enough for Ben and Rachel.. He even listens to Rachel tell him things to do. It is great so far. He stays busy and is very manner full around the rest of the family. He seems very interested in learning every day. What a big help for Leanne, Ben and Rachel. It sure makes a difference to have the help.

   Our friend stopped by on Monday night They were off to the same races as us. Arleigh Reynolds and his helper stopped by. We had a good visit. He wanted to get away early in the morning. When Arleigh went to start up the truck it started no problem but it soon died. IT would not start again. The whole system acted like it was dead. We talked to everyone in town that was booked solid until the end of Jan. for ideas. I then tested the batteries and they were low on power.  I went to town and picked up two new batteries and an alternator.  

  I have not talked to Arleigh yet but I am hoping he made it from our house to Ft. Nelson. I didn't see him on the hi-way from Whitehorse. We all made it to our destination in Ft. Nelson and we will prepare for the race this coming weekend.

    We had a good trip and are looking forward to the weekend of racing. I will do my best to keep in touch with you all as things unfold