Turn and burn back north.  That is what we had to do.  Right after the race we headed north again. First break was smithers.  Then we went all the way back to Whitehorse one drive.  Stopped at home and dropped off some dogs. Loaded some and headed to the IFSS world championships on North Pole.  SO far I think Rachel was having fun.  Racing different races along the way. It has been a different yr that is for sure.  We left on Feb 26th for our drive to North Pole. We wanted to get in a training run.  That run was going to be on the Weds. SO the dogs could have a day off on Thursday and race Fri. Sat. And Sun.  We made it no problem. With the bed in the back of the truck and a few drivers it makes a big difference getting to our location in time. 
  We found our hotel.  Hotel North Pole which is just a block or two from the race start.  We settled in and the following day went over to the track and Rachel went for a training run.  Buzz who was the race organizer was there and was nice enough to lend us a snowmobile and we went ahead of Rachel as she ran the six mile with some of her race team. Not all of them but at least the leaders saw the race course.  Thursday we were busy getting chips put into the dogs so they could identify the dogs during the race so no one could change dogs after each day of racing.  The humane society in Fairbanks did this for us. Then we were busy with the opening ceremonies.  We were meeting everyone and had a meal that evening. The next day the races started.  Friday the four dog went at noon and the six dog went at one pm.

   

   We now sit at home.  Hoping we can make a race.  Things are not that easy.  Health issues with myself and timing for Rachel makes all the difference on where we go and when we go.  There was a race we could go to and that was Ft. St. James.  This was a long drive south of us.  They had mass starts and that worried me a bit.  Thinking that if it works out okay we should be able to race and have clean runs there.  IF we did it would be a good lead in for the worlds.  Well not perfect but better than nothing.  I felt this would be important for Rachel and the team.  The drive was way longer than what I wanted to drive but we are used to that.  For the most part the dogs are also used to it as well.  Time would tell if it was too much.
   Rachel myself and her boyfriend drove to Ft. St. James.  I have a bed in the back of the truck so I spend allot of time laying down.  Matt did allot of driving and is an awesome help.  So we got down there and it was hot.  It was very hot and we had three females dogs in the truck in season. This was causing lots of problems amongst the boys. 
   When we got there Sam Perrino was nice enough to give us the use of his house and an awesome bed to sleep in.  Sam was also Race Marshal for the race.  IT was great to see him and his family.  Have not seen him and his family since the Yukon Quest when he was up in the Yukon to run it.

   Day one was pretty warm. It hovered around -3 to 0 degrees.  The six dog was Rachels first race.  About half way around the sun went behind the clouds and you could feel the difference in the temp. IT got suddenly colder.  Rachel got out in her heat first without any problems and had a clean run the whole way around.  It was a good run.  The four dog took all day before they ran it.  IT got hotter and the dogs were watered in the morning and we could not get them to drink again?  When it was time for them to run it was really warm.  Rachel put together a team of left overs from her six dog team and used some leaders she hoped would pull her around the course.  Rachel took off in her four dog heat and was out first. No problem she stayed in the lead but on the way home her leader would stop and roll in the snow and bite snow??  We have never seen this before but he was hot and didn't get enough to drink before his run? LOL it was kinda funny but Rachel wasn't very happy by his actions. We knew after that day we needed to water them later and hope the race could move along a bit faster to get to the race before they needed to drink again.
   Day Two. It was allot warmer today. Really warm first thing in the morning when we got up.   We watered her six dog team in the morning but didn't water her four dog team. She switched a leader in her four dog team as well.  Her six dog team went out just as good on day two as day one.  Rachel was out in the lead and held the lead the whole way round.  Her four dog team was watered closer to her race.  She put up a different leader and had a great start and awesome finish.  No problems with this team today. 
   Over all Rachel won the six dog by four and a half minutes over Dave's STREEPER TEAM. Rachel and her team also won the four dog race beating Dave's STREEPER TEAM.  it was close after having so many stops after day one.  AWESOME Job Rachel and dogs.
  Now we had to leave very quickly and get home.  This was my concern now is getting up to North pole Alaska for a training run.  It was a very quick run up north back home.  We dropped off the dogs in season loaded up a few more and took off for the IFSS race.
    I was quite concerned about the team after racing so hard in the heat.  I think it took allot out of the team. The question now would be,  Will  the team recover in time for the IFSS races?  We needed to give them good rest and have them as prepared as possible.  We also wanted to train when we got there and time only allowed us to train on a Weds and start racing again on a Friday.  This isn't ideal by any stretch and I knew that.  In my mind to get them out racing and to go have fun during Rachel/s last year was more important than having things fall into place perfectly so that is what we did we went out and did some racing and had a fun trip to FT. ST. James.  We really enjoyed our time there.  Great people and great race.

  Today we have received many requests for dogs and breedings from Rachel's dog team.  Her six dog team is made of five litter mates and one dog that is related to the dad of the five litter mates but a different mother.  I like those odds.  There are others that do too! LOL if anyone is still interested we can help you out  with a breeding from one of her males.  If anyone is rolling through Whitehorse on the way through south we have the male here for breeding.  You can contact us through email   derwood@northwestel.net   

  Okay welcome back to our blog.  I have been locked out for a year or so.  We had trouble with security and log in.  So now I will catch up on the whole season.  A bit at a time. 

    early in the Fall Rachel had announced that this would be her final season as a competitive racer.  It didn't come as a surprise to us as she had talked about it the year before.  The problem is how in the world do you do this.  We have no idea.  We had been in the sport for 25 yrs now and didn't really know how this would happen.
   The talk at the beginning of the season was to try something different this yr.  So we chose to race some of the adult races.  Usually we head north to Alaska to race the preliminary junior races and Leanne would race the adult races with Rachel's dogs because until this yr Rachel was not of age to be allowed to race in the adult races in Alaska.  We decided to head south of us and try some of the adult races.
   The season ended up starting very very cold and no snow.  Not much here for snow but Alaska had no snow and the season started out with race cancellations.  Our first race was down in Grande PRairie and it was a late start for us.  We headed down there and the trail was pretty crazy with lots of turns and places where a person could have problems if you are not used to racing on this kind of trail.  We are used to racing in Alaska.  Very Wide, very flat straight trails where speed is the determining factor to the outcome of the race.  Rachel had a leader that would run right off the trail before they noticed a sharp turn in the trail.
   This is much different than what happens north in alaska.  In the north the trails are there for dog mushing.  So they never change and they are always the same condition. The start to groom the trails at the beginning of the snow falls.  Down south the venues are used for different things.  So the trails can be changed last minute and they even had horses walking on the dog trails while they tried to prepare a race trail.  Kinda like comparing oranges to apples.

    After we left Grande Prairie Rachel felt as though she had allot of trouble and her dogs lost confidence and so did Rachel.  So we needed to go race where she could have clean runs.  No troubles no shut downs no bad passes nothing like this. 
  Her schedule conflicted with allot of the races so we never did much for traveling after Grande Prairie so we decided to try a local race. 
  The trail was very rough so she had to keep the speed down on her dogs incase she injured someone. It was also a bit longer than what we usually race but it was a one day race and the purpose was to have one clean run. 
   Rachel left the starting chute and it wasn't long and she ran into a woman waving her down.  Rachel stopped and the woman wanted to get into the basket and get a ride. Rachel let her ride on her runners until she came up to a team stopped on the side of the trail. The woman got off. Rachel took off and then ran into a loose team with out a driver and had to follow it all the way around the race trail.  Another disrupted run with all kinds of problems. 
   We then sit at home and train for weeks waiting for a race close enough and with the right timing to go too to race.