A friend many years ago told me that Sundays were special because we were allowed to have a little something special in our coffee.  I have stuck by this rule.  This morning’s addition to the ritual coffee is kahlua. And, not just any store-bought kahlua – this is a home made brew, far better than any commercially available product.

My friend Ami and I made this special brew according to her sister’s recipe.  It takes a lot of Everclear, an enormous amount of sugar, coffee an vanilla.  Let me just say that sipping straight kahlua before bed is a recipe for a sleepless night wrought by a constant sugar rushes.   But in the mornings, especially Sundays, it is like a nectar from some far away land.

Sundays are also a wonderful day for a relaxed dog run.  This year, my life has changed quite a bit.  After racing seriously for around 6 years, I have decided to go back to school, and racing is taking a back seat.  This has been a difficult decision, because by nature I am competitive.  Now I will just have to compete against a very tight deadline to get my Masters in Renewable Energy completed.

In order to take a step back from racing, I decided to reduce my kennel numbers.  I do not sell dogs so I gave all of the dogs that I had previously purchased,  to fill out my kennel, to friends and homes who had competitive teams, and would give the dogs a fabulous home.  One of the dogs, Miriam, went to my friend Ami Gjestson.  Ami had stated that she always wanted a kangaroo in her team.  She not only got that kangaroo, she also got a nice leader/wheel dog/swing dog.  Miriam is versatile, and very enthusiastic!  I guess Miriam is having a little bit if a rough time adjusting to life in paradise.  But, hopefully she will learn to be part of the pack.

Miriam’s sister Kate, after destroying my friend Derek’s house in Anchorage, she has now moved to Sara Elzy’s house.  Kate is a special girl, and Sara loved her from day 1.  Sara comes to my house during winter and takes all of the retired dogs skijoring.  It is kind of like a carnival side show.  Her Jeep Cherokee can hold ten dogs!  Sara runs teams of two, three and four dogs skijoring.  It is very impressive!  Kate is very happy eating other dogs poop at her leisure, and has discovered the delicacy known as cat shit.  She is in heaven.

Star went back to Jeff and Sara Conn.  She will love it there with Ben to play with and all of her siblings.  Star is a very sweet little girl who gets along with everyone.  It was a pleasure having her here but she will get more exercise there.

I recently have Sparky and Nickie to a young couple who want to get into skijoring.  Christina is a former high school skier, and now wants to play more with dogs.  So far they are deliriously in love with the two dogs.

So, all five dogs I have re-homed are extremely happy in small families, with lots of one-on-one attention.  I have 15 dogs left in the kennel, including the three legged Bridget!  That will give Sara enough dogs to play with all season, and me 7 racing dogs if I so choose to race.

The pups have grown into some of the nicest dogs I have ever seen.  Their body shapes, drive and talent are truly amazing. I have never seen such natural talent since their mum – Jolene.  Jolene from the get-go was a leader.  There was no other place she wanted to be.  These pups are going to be leaders.  Their father Eiger, from Arleigh Reynolds, is also a super star, driven and enthusiastic.  That combination makes for an excellent breeding.

Little Sabrina is now over 50 lb and is all grown up, kind of!

Little Miss Anya is getting to be a great little sled doggie.

So, with that, it is off to run the doggies on this gorgeous, snowy Sunday.  Fueled by coffee and kahlua, and an English muffin with ‘man cheese’ (Beechers No Woman cheese), it will be a great day!

Frankie is black and white, his front legs and chest are white, one leg completely.  He has a white spot between his shoulder blades, his tail curls.

He is very scared right now, and will likely run off if you try to catch him.  Please contact me at 978 0305 and stay with him till I get there.  He has been last seen on Goldstream Rd near the peat moss ponds, and earlier that day on Geist in the middle of the road.

Thanks!

This season I proposed an idea to my friend Jeff Conn, the idea was to go Euro-style.  The Europeans forged a style of racing whereby the mushers team up, pooling their dogs and drawing from that pool to make the best teams.  This looked very attractive to Jeff and I as we both came into this season with around 7 really good dogs on each team.  With only 7 dogs each we could not really compete at the top level, but teaming those up – we have a better chance.  With this new larger team, I will focus on running the 8-dog races, and Jeff the 10-dog.  It will be really fun to see how the season develops!

This weekend was our 3rd race using this style.  The first race was the open class at the Annamaet Challenge Series #2.  Jeff placed 1st with the B team, and I finished 2nd  with the A team.  This made me laugh.  We still had a few kinks to work out.

The next race was more successful.  I ran the 8-dog at Montana Creek and we won by 3 seconds and set a new track record.  The team was half of my dogs and half of Jeff’s dogs.  The leaders were Jeff’s amazing Saturn – a really strong, big boy who is not distracted by anything.  Clara, my #2 leader was up with him. Back from there is what started to pique the interest of the other mushers.  Some of my dogs were yellow and some brown!   I have been known to have black dogs, and the sudden splash of colour started rumours and a flurry of questions.  We tried really hard to keep it a secret, but it was hard.

With half of Jeff’s dogs, we now have access to very strong, fast dogs.  Mix his open class veterans who are used to long runs, and my best dogs and we have a super rocking team.

Byrd-Conn 8-Dog team at Montana Creek Championships two weeks ago (Photo by Ryan Brooks)

The team is trained together, and we discuss every dog’s performance.  Jeff is very analytical, so it is really fun to get all scientific.

This weekend is the 3rd race in the season for us.  I came to Montana Creek alone as the plan was to just run the 8-dog.  Jeff stayed home, ran the remaining dogs and spent time with his family.

This weekend the race conditions are vastly different to that of the previous race.  The trail has received around 4 – 6 inches of heavy new snow, and the swamp on which the trail runs is starting to act a little strange.  I ran 4 of Jeff’s dogs and 4 of mine.  I have his leader Saturn, two great team dogs in swing (Comet and Mars), and one wheel dog, Sprite, who is incredible.  My dogs included Clara in lead, Jolene and Miriam in the team position and Frankie wheel.  It s a great combination and it is very fun to racing such a strong team.

Today heat left us in 3rd place.  The trail conditions and the heat were very taxing and stressful on the dogs.  I am hoping it will cool down tonight, and hope the track is a little smoother tomorrow.  The groomers have done the best job they could with all the additional snow.  It was rough, soft, hard and bumpy.  The dogs have been out for a walk and leg stretch and now they are settling in for a nice long nap.

Tomorrow is another day!  We will do our best to move up a spot or 2, but staying the same position in these conditions will be fine too.

Hopefully I will have time and energy to write tomorrow after the long drive home!

Well, we have started this season out very well.  A second place last weekend, and our first championship win of the season – and our first 8-dog win!

The team ran flawlessly.  The temperatures were cold, like -10f.  This bode well for the high speeds, as even though the air and snow temperatures were cold, the snow was record breaking FAST!

We drew a terrible position for Saturday’s heat.  We were going out dead last (14th) with some slower team ahead of us, we could have possibly encountered them.  The great thing was the trail was firm and likely to hold up with the traffic before me.  As we took off, I knew there was no one behind me, so no need to worry about being passed.  I just had to look ahead.

We started the run at a blistering 22.5 mph.  I had a foot on the mat trying to ease the team to a slightly slower pace, and managed to settle into 21mph.  I figured we might be fast enough to be in the top 5 and, for a first championship race, it is a respectable position.  We ran around the very very fast course, and never slowing.  Overall, our average time was 20.7 mph.  Incredible.  We ran the twisty trail, kind of imagine slalom or Formula One racing. At about the 6 mile point the dogs went into overdrive, and it was an amazing surge of power.

As we came to the finish I saw the team in front of me parked at her truck, but I had no indication of our position.  I was guessing 5th, and that would have been ok.  Before they read the results, I had people congratulating me and the team.  It is very strange to be the last to know that you won.  And, Ami came rushing out of the clubhouse to let us know it was by 1 second!! I had a 1 second lead on 2nd place (Ed Arobio), and a 6 second lead on 3rd (Christian Taveau).  Oh boy, talk about tight racing!

The dogs looked great at the finish, ate and drank well, and we let them stretch their legs after dinner.  They had worked so hard, and had been such honest dogs.  A thrill to be a part of.

At dinner we were reminiscing  about being in that same position last year.  Three of us winners, and all having a lovely social evening.  Andy Seitz decided it would be a great idea to end the night with a bottle of Chianti.  As we indulged in this bottle he told us how the wine was held in a bottle called a fiasco.  The bottom of the bottle was rounded, and therefore would tip over.  So, they made a woven basket around the bottom to allow it to stand up.  Anyway, all who drank from the fiasco had a fiasco on the track the next day!

Jeff thought it would be a hoot if we had another bottle of Chianti in a fiasco.  I was very opposed and drank a glass of merlot.  Those who drank from the Chianti last night I was sure would be cursed.

We started out the 2nd day in first position.  This was great because there would be no passing, and nothing out there to see besides wide open trails.

I eased the dogs out, not letting them reach top speed until they had a chance to loosen up.  The first mile was our slowest.  After that, the dogs maintained an average of 20.3.  I looked at my GPS a few times along the trail, and ended up just watching the dogs instead.

The GPS is a great tool to gauge your speed, you can use it to help you keep the speed and keep it to a manageable level – to or (if you are in a shorter race) see how fast tour team can go, and what top speed is! I use the GPS to make sure we are not going too fast to soon, and just to keep tabs on where we are on time, speed, and distance.

The team was rock solid.  They kept up their amazing speed, and I just watched in awe.  We finished strongly, and being only 1 second from 2nd place, and 6 from 3rd, I could be taken out very easily.  As it happened, Christian Taveau beat me on the second day by 3 seconds, which meant I beat him overall by 3 seconds!!!  Now, that is racing!

The Montana Creek 8-dog 1st place trophy!

My friend Ami Gjestson won her 6-dog class too!  Check out the results below!  As it turned out, the Curse of the Chinati was broken!!!

Jeff Conn finishing on day 1 at beautiful Montana Creek!

We raced in the Annamaet Challenge Series race #2 today.  We did the Open Class because the 8/10-dog was going only 9 miles and I wanted to keep our miles up.

The dogs did really well, despite the warm weather. The trail was beautiful, with some minor areas of soft snow.  Unfortunately for us, the trail groomers have taken out really aggressive equipment which in heavy snow would do good for the trail, but in conditions like we currently have – it will destroy our trail.  A few friends and myself have spent many hours out on the trail volunteering our time and money to get the trail in great shape.  I am beyond upset that this equipment has been sent out.  I can only imagine what the trail will look like tomorrow. Well, what’s done is done.  Now we can only hope for snow, though there is none in the forecast.

I have one to two training runs before the next race, the Montana Creek Championships. (visit my race schedule page for my complete line-up).  This is an 8-dog race with pretty decent prize money.  It will be the first money race of the season. So far the season is off to a great start!  We raced in the open class today and came in 2nd out of 11 teams (see full results here).  The temperature was warm, and the pace was slower than normal.  The dogs did great though.  I am super excited about this season.  The dogs look great and are happy and healthy. I have no photos from today, by more to come in the future:) Do your snow dances!

There is no rest for the wicked, or at least the busy.  I started out the new year by waking early and getting a load of water. My friend Sara came by and she loaded up the retired dogs to run at Creamers Field.  I decided to load up the puppies and follow her.  Sara drives a Jeep, and it is amusing to see her fit 9 dogs in her car.  It is a little squishy, but the dogs are perfectly happy to squeeze in as long as they get to run afterward.

We got to Creamers, and I hooked up my two trusty leaders Avril and Miley, and put in Anya and Sabrina.  The puppies knew exactly what to do.  This would be their 2nd run in harness, ever!  We took off and they ran like champions. Around 1/2 a mile into the run, Anya started to play goofballs with Sabrina.  Sabrina just focused and ignored the sill girl.  They both got legs on the wrong side of the lines, but both got themselves untangled without assistance.  I have never seen puppies so aware of themselves before.

Future Champions

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We ran just over 3 miles, and Sabrina started to raise her tail threatening to poop, so I asked everyone to keep moving, and so she decided to do whatever she was going to do on the run!  She pee’d!!!!  I have never seen a sprint dog pee on the run.  But, I guess when you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go!

The run finished perfectly, and the puppies have made me so proud of them yet again.  It is wonderful to see these little guys blossom into real little sled dogs.

Sara ran 3 teams, including a 3-dog team made up of my retired hounds, and  4-dog team!  Sara skijors, so 4-dogs is a lot.  BUT, when 3 of those are around 10 years old, and the one 6 year old generally does not work too hard.  It seemed that Lucy, the hound dog ended up working the hardest out of all 4.

We saw my friend Peggy out there as well.  It was an amazing day.  Nice to have a day to just relax.

We are racing at Mushers Hall tomorrow – so if you are in town come on out and cheer us on!

Have a wonderful day, and hope 2011 brings you everything you have ever dreamed of.

It has been 5 days since Bridget came home and she shows no symptoms of any illness.  So, Bridget has moved back into the big yard.  She is very very happy.  Her yard mates include her daughter Rita, a new boy toy – Sparky!  Sparky is delighted to have a older older woman to hang out with.  They have both had the snip, so it is even more fun!

It is snowing now, so the photos are not the best.  Yay for Bridget.  Every day I marvel at her tenacity to survive.

Newsminer image by Sam Harrel

Well, it has been a wild couple of days.  I still have to take a double-take when I see Bridget.  It seems just yesterday that she lived here, before she went to join the couple on Chena Ridge.  Now she is back, and really, the three years have not really taken their toll on her.  She is happy, energetic, and playful.  We did quickly realize, though, that she really needs carpet when inside as the slippery floor is not great for one front leg.

One Happy Dog

The puppies thought she was great, but just does not understand the whole ‘not being able to wrestle’ concept. I am excited to see that she remembers her name.  And, remembers how to sit, and how to take a cookie gently. I will keep posting about Bridget’s recovery.  She is really one lucky girl.  And, obviously one tough cookie!

Already her good wrist has lost the swelling.  I think we will make a full recovery!  Bridget will become the newest-old house dog!

After a beautiful start to the mushing season, and then an unseasonable rainy spell ruined the beautiful trails we had.  After a huge volunteer work effort, we got the trails into trainable and race-able conditions – and then Mother Nature decided to make it too cold for us to race.  Our temperature cut-off is -25F.  This is actually 10 degrees colder than my training cut-off, so I am actually glad that the weather is -30 because -25 is really cold and then throw in the wind-chill created by running at +20mph…