This was my first 5 dog team on the rig since I bought it, and I was kind of nervous. Worried about the brakes not being enough or it being too crowded on the trail, etc.
We took off pretty fast, but I didnt let them go about 20 feet before I stomped all the way on the brake and tryed to maintain the speed at 12 mph or less. It was a good day, windy (gusts up to 40 mph!), chilly and clear blue skies, everyone sure was fired up. Last week on this same trail I had a mysterious blowout (I did find the holes but will never know what caused them) when I was running 3 dogs, and had put a new tube and new pin to hold the tire on (since I stripped the other one on mistake). I even had to borrow our neighbors tiedown to tie the rig on the back of the van because all of ours were in Amy's car all the way across town!
Needless of the weird things trying to hinder me from running, It seemed to have all came together nicely. Everyone loaded up fine, (in my new crates I bought) and the run itself was exceptional. Calamity and Storm flipped back their ears when I directed commands and took them with ease, and there was only a small injury to gloria's nail. I put booties on her back feet, but she lost one within 5 feet of taking off but managed to keep the other on all the way back to the van (on the foot with the hurt nail). We did come across about 5 dogs on the trail, but we passed the majority of them pretty well, although Calamity really needs some 'leave it' training. This is the first hookup Calamity has been on since she has been in season (2 months early, I might add) and I couldnt have expected more from her.
Coming back to the van we crossed two hills and I didnt have to peddle except two or three times when we were closer to the parking area. Gloria has fragile confidence but today was a good run and I hope it helped, by the time we got back to the van she seemed pretty content and hopped right back into the crate. She has such a shy personality, but once you hook her up and get going she puts her all into her work!
Just another good run. Wish we could be hitting that 10 mile mark, but I had too much to repair and fix so we had a very late season. Its already nearing the end, so I think I will just stick with 5-8 milers for the rest of the season. Hopefully next year I can break my 15 mile record and head straight for mid-distance dryland. A few of us on the SouthEastern Mushers Association Yahoo! board are talking about ideas of a 20 mile dryland race down here. Of course It had my full support :)
The greatest thing I heard today on the trail was two people walking past my team and they said "movin' to Alaska?" I replied, "Nope, Stayin' here" LOL
Conclusion:
Max Speed- 21.6
Average Speed- 12.1
Distance- 5.6 miles
Time- 28 minutes (averages to 5 minute miles)
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