Akela’s Den 2010-2011 Racing Season
Many people have been asking us what’s going on at Akela’s Den? Are we racing, what are our results? Etc…
Well it has been very busy out here. We have had the pleasure of having my parents out here from Belgium for 3 months. Give them a taste of what mushing is all about. So we started with cleaning poop and feeding the dogs! Always start from the bottom and work your way up! I don’t think they’ll ever run a team, but they have sure been a big help, watching the girls and helping in the yard. We’ll miss them!
We have also been lucky enough to have extra help from Joël Potié, with everything from training, to chores, to getting things ready for races…Thanks so much Joël!!. We didn’t even scare him away yet…. Tanja and Joël trained the yearlings and they are looking very promising. I (Stefaan) wish I could drive them too!
Snow came at the right time. So we promptly put the quad aside for the sleds – yahoo! Soon after though, we felt we were jinxed, because our 2 training sleds broke about the same time. So we had to do some rebuilding. Then, after one training run with 3 teams, we had a bunch of dogs with shoulder injuries…. I was pretty down about that! From having a few extra’s we were down to the bare minimum. We gave them some time off and slowly eased them back into the teams again. It seems the majority of those injured are back and running. So let’s cross our fingers for the rest of the season!
We are half way into our racing season here, and we can look back at some nice results. Joël and I ran the Neckbone Race the 3rd weekend of January. We blasted Joël with a wonderful experience the 2nd day, with whiteout conditions on Montreal Lake!! I have never seen, in all my years of mushing, such high winds. We did well for the most part, but soon the trail markers were stretched out too far. Our young bunch of dogs lost confidence and wanted to go with the wind, instead of dealing with the side wind. So we walked our teams for a while, until Karen Ramstead showed up with a good old faithful leader that brought us the last few miles across the Lake. Thanks Karen and team! We eventually came in 3rd and 4th. Pretty good for such a young bunch of dogs!
I had a day to get ready, before I had to head to BC for our first 200 mile race (www.railtrail200.com). I entered the Rail Trail 200, which starts and finishes in Grand Forks, B.C.. When I entered I was told that much of the race was going to be on the old rail trail bed. Well I guess plans changed, and soon after we left the starting Shute on January 28th, we had to tackle a big hill. The dogs and I had a nice workout! The whole day it was ups and downs. Snow filled the dark sky at night and partway in the day. It was tough and slow going for all the teams. I was running it as a qualifier, so I made sure that I took it easy on this young team. Looks like my hard slow quad training was paying off, because our home trails do not have a lot of elevation changes, but you could not have guessed that with this team climbing 3000 feet. The team grew stronger and I saw some nice things happening. Unfortunately first time races do have some problems, and we did run into them here too. Because of heavy snowfall, no trailbreakers, and with such mileage errors, we were running behind schedule! So race officials decided to box the dogs and restart the next morning (at the next checkpoint) to be able to finish on time. That night it finally froze and the trail was set for a spectacular race between Steve Mullen and my team. He had enough time on me, but the way my dogs ran I wanted to do that 56 miles in one go. They were cruising nicely. After a few hours I realized that the last stretch would be a lot longer than planned, and it resulted in a 10 and a half hour run to the finish line!! What a day. I was very proud of this bunch of prairie dogs. They should be well seasoned for the Challenge now!
The day after our home coming, we were pleasantly surprised with the birth of our first 8 puppies of the year! It was evenly divided into sexes so that was a nice bonus.
Finally after 2 years of my absence, I could start my 9th 12-dog Canadian Challenge Race again. A lot of the trail is new to me, since I last ran the race. Unfortunately, I was missing a few of my good dogs that I had to replace due to injuries. Yet in the end, one of the “replacement” dogs surprised me, by leading a good stretch of the race and finishing strong! It is always great when the dogs pull through for the team.
Tanja was also back racing the 8-dog Challenge again. 5 of her 8 dogs were yearlings, with two 2 year olds. A very young team, yet with a lot of potential there. My team consisted of seven 2 year olds, and the 4 Quest veterans, with Yenta as a replacement. At the age of 10, he is probably running his last Challenge. Both of us kept our distances short and gave the dogs plenty of rest! Finishing was the priority. I was doing my 300 mile qualifier, so I had to be extra careful. At the last checkpoint before La Ronge I was down to 10 solid dogs, and Tanja finished with all 8 of her dogs. They looked good, and she had a great leader, so nothing was standing in her way to win this race. Well a bit of extra rest gave her position away temporarily, but luckily she was able to catch up again, to win the 8-dog Challenge!! The funny story is that she was also the only finisher in that class, so she had the honour of winning the red Lantern too (presented to the last place finisher)!
I still had 120 miles ahead of me after my 8 hour rest in La Ronge.
Some teams were showing their weaknesses but I found my team was getting stronger. So it was time to see what they could do and I did the 70 mile run in one go to Stanley. There we had a mandatory 5 hour lay-over. I was happy that we did not lose any ground in that run and that proved we were on the right track. Because I was not going to gain any positions and had to settle for 3rd place, I gave them an extra hour of rest! The last 50 miles to the finish were pretty uneventful, except the temps dropped to a cold -35*C! Seeing the finish line after 6 hrs of running was a warm welcome. It even felt warmer when I could see my dad standing on the ice and be greeted by my whole family. My parents from Belgium, my wife and kids, Bart and my Father-in-law! A well deserved plate of Bacon and eggs and later Bannock made this finish extra special!
We had not much time to recuperate, before our next race, in fact a week to be exact! Joël (our handler), running Tanja’s team with 2 out of my team, and myself with our 3 dogs we leased out, started the 200 mile Torch River Run. Last year they ran on mud, but this year the temps dropped down to another -30*C. Just can’t win with the temperatures. It didn’t take too long before I noticed I had no spunk in my team. Dogs weren’t themselves and the 3 recruitments did not pan out like I wished. So when we pulled into the first checkpoint, 80 miles down the trail, I loaded the dogs in the truck. I had no hard feelings about it. It was foolish to think they can jump between races like sprinters can. Mid-distance dogs need more time to recover between races. They had already shown what they can do in previous races, so I could relax and start taking care of the injured dogs.
Joël’s team looked awesome, he passed the front runner at the last checkpoint and made enough time to come in first. We had a happy ending!! In addition to that, we were very pleased with Joël for also receiving the best kept team award. An extra bonus, and often means more than the position you finished. It shows that the dogs still come first no matter what! Way to go Joël and team!!
Thank you also to Bart for taking time off work to handle and drive the truck and trailer for us during the Canadian Challenge Race and the Torch River Run – it was greatly appreciated!!
So with this, our racing season is complete. We learned a lot, and will sit around the table to evaluate the dogs, deciding who stays and goes. Our spring tea parties on the trail are coming up. So we can relax a bit now and spend some time with the puppies.
We are proud and excited to let you know that our trial of Akela’s Den Extreme dog food (34/25), was a success and we will be bringing it out for you to try this summer.
So keep a watch out this spring for some great dogs, new products, and a lot more.
Happy sledding…
Stefaan and co.
Akela’s Den Sled Dog Supplies & Racing Kennel
