Thinning out

The back of the packers are thinning out around the MG checkpoint.  One by one the teams are headed up the trail.  The team here is eating like a bunch of piggies, Ross has fed them 3 full coolers of food so far and has them all buried in the straw with blankets on.  They should sleep well tonght, and i am sure Ross will too.  I leave here in the morning headed back to Anchorage.  It would be fun to head the other way and witness this epic race first hand.

Hayashida and Thurston left here this afternoon, i hope Tom’s team can pull together and find success.  Dont be surprised to see him take short runs, myabe 4 on 4 off.  Hayashida’s team was pumped up leaving here, barking and screaming.  He is a little disappointed with his run this year.  His team is slower this year than he is used to, maybe becaus he is without his 2 best leaders who failed to make the team due to minor injuries prior to the race start, i wish my friends Matt and Tom a strong race to Nome.

Celeste Davis hit a tree inthe gorge, her nose is broken and her face looks like she got run over by a truck, she said a little girl ran away from her scared in Nikolai.  No picture for you, just this note so that you can appreciate her determination, her nose was still bleeding when she arrived her in MG this morning.

As for the front of the race, we have a horse race going on for sure.  The other bloggers who may be able to see it first hand can maybe comment better than i can, but i will try to offer a little insight.  I dont have the experiance of racing in the situation that Lance and Jeff are in but i can speak about what i have told by a former mentor.  When you are in a situation like the one Mackey is in, you need to be very patient and not cut too much rest too soon.  If you noticed Mackey cut 1hr of rest in Cripple, this might be too much too soon.  If he could take smaller increments with each rest than he could maintain a touch more speed and inch away at King, almost without king knowing it.  In 2006, the Mackey role player was Swingley.  Swingley didnt cut rest while chasing King until on the yukon.  King rest in both Galena and Nulato, Swingley rest in Galena and then blew through Nulato altogether, this may have been too mush too soon.  Swingley held on to King until the coast but the lack of rest taken while trying to catch up took its toll.  My point is that if Mackey gets too impatient, it may bite him later on.  Like I said in an earlier post, Mackey could very well blow what i have jsut said up in smoke, the guy is an animal and we all know what he can do.

On another note, there are two teams in the top 20 that I wish I was driving right now.  Not that I could do a better job than these two legends that i am about to mention, but I want to give these guys a nudge and see them in the top five where they belong, if not in the lead. Swenson and Sonny Lindner have two of the strongest most durable toughest teams in the race.  Both of these guys are heros and legends and pioneers in this sport, and they are both in their late 50′s.  I would pay almost anything to be able to jump on the runners and race one of their teams.  If a younger, hungrier more athletic musher were driving one of those teams, i feel the team would be at the front of the race and could win.  But in the end, perhaps the knowledge and experience of these two legends overrides the lack of athletisism and youth.  Who knows, I would just like to see these two teams cut some rest and push for the front.  Maybe they will?