Thread: Who's the Leader?

[tanglefoot]

so stoked you guys use the word stoked too, that one of my favs along side yipeeeee! haha ahem...stoked! ...... dude

[Domer]

It appears as the front of the "we already took our 24" pack is about 30 miles from Cripple. Think they will run through without a break?

[Breeze]

With the number of teams in Cripple right now, I would be thinking sign in, pick up anything I needed if I had a drop bag there, grab straw and GIT OUTTA DODGE!

Cripple is really nothing more than some wall tents and a big dogyard, there is more peaceful camping elsewhere!

Breeze

[Skip95]

Definitely like the idea of discussing who's the leader. Very interesting to see 2 very clear groups: those 5-6 strong teams taking 24 at Cripple and those 3 strong teams the 24'd in Takotna. The winner is one of those 9, I'd stake the Yukon gold on it. So, that means the top 9 we'll probably start to see in about a day is (in no specific order):
DeeDee, Gebhardt, Steer, M. Buser, Iten, Ken Anderson, Lance, King and Backen. 3 others could make pushes and appear strong: Zirkle, Gatt and Swenson. Some others might still make a push, but the speeds really drop off as do the #s of dogs. Some of the top 9 I mentioned are down a bit in #s as well, so we'll see how this heat affects them as they push on during the heat of the day while those at Cripple are resting. That's why I think Zack and Rohn will probably end up falling out of the top 10 and probably out of the top 15. They're losing dogs quickly and still trying to keep up. In this heat, that'll compound the problem and then if they get that stomach bug like DeeDee's dogs had, it could knock them right out of the race all together. Hopefully Martin will tell Rohn to get some rest and ease up a bit, I'd like to see Rohn finish well. My money's really on those 24ing in Cripple at this point. They'll be waking up to start their next run well-rested and in hopefully cooler temps and faster snow. But then again...this is the Iditarod and we're all in front of computers and not out on the trail, where things are a lot different than they may appear, plus the dogs have their own say in this as well.....

[Domer]

Those who are on their 24 in Cripple at the moment will be heading out somewhere between 7am and noon. It has already started to warm up by then, so if the heat is still a concern not a great time of day to be heading back out. I am real interested to see if the king, mackey , backen, gatt group keep moving through the heat of the day today. 2 of the 3 (with GPS's) appear to be stopped at the moment, snacking or camping...hmmmm

[Domer]

it appears that mackey and backen are resting after about a 8 hr run. If they rest for 8 (max) then back on the trail to Cripple sometime by 9pm. Into and through Cripple around midnight with 6+ hrs on those who are taking their 24 in Cripple. What about king? If He runs to Cripple (on his current pace) he should get there around 5pm. That would be around a 12 hr run.
So many numbers spinning around in my head...I knew I should have payed better attention in 3rd grade math

[Breeze]

Its OK, Domer, its just time for brownies!

This part of the race is always the "foggiest" when we are dealing with 24's and tired minds!

We also have to remember that "anything can happen and usually does", just as it happened to Paul Gebhardt today.

I so hope that some sleep and some food bring Paul to a better state of mind tomorrow.

Breeze

[MHutchens]

From my calculations. King is in Cripple and should leave 5 to 7 hurs before Dee can leave. I bet Becken and Lance along with Burmeister Kleedhan and Seavey all blow through Cripple and rest once on the way to Ruby for their manditory 8. IMO when it all shakes out the Cripple drivers will be trailing the leaders by about 7 hours once they all take their 8s on the Yukon. This should be a hollova dog race to the coast. You might want to keep an eye on Jim Lanier. He is smoking up the trail and has a big team in front of him. Unless I miss my guess, he is gonna have his best finish by far this year.

[Quadsquad]

Looks like Jeff King caught the express bus from Ophir coming off his 24....better than 2 hours faster than anyone in front of him, and it had to be in the heat of the day. Don't think he would have done it if the dogs didn't really want to, but was it too fast? Guess we'll see, but if he didn't drain the tank, he's positioned himself nicely.

[Johncn]

Lance is in the lead, and here comes the rest of the 24 crowd....Jeff King, Kjetil Backen, and Mitch Seavey....

Regards,

Johncn