by elsietee » Tue Mar 12, 2024 10:35 am
Quick impromptu interview with Ryan Redington in Koyuk:
Ryan: It has been a roller coaster of highs and lows - we're still doing OK but it's been a tough one for us.
Katti Jo Deeter: sometimes mushing is a mystery..
R: From the beginning I tried new lines and harnesses - and the #1 rule is don't try new things in a race. It worked well until the 2nd day dogs got tangled - so it was a lot of stop and go. I changed the lines back at Rainey Pass - thankfully I brought my old lines along. So I was tipping the sled over more often than any race before. I bounced off the dead moose, was bouncing off trees and bounced off a parked car in Nulato, flipped sled - my cooler was upside down.
I've had a lot of fun, with good memories, but dog mushing is tough.
This is the champion team from last year's race, but it has been difficult. We had a bad year of training - it was too warm after Christmas and we had no snow (he's in Wisconsin). The temps were in 40s-50s°F... so I came up to AK in January when the leaves started showing up on the trees in WI.
So I'm taking it one run at a time, giving them the rest they need. A lot of stopping, a lot of petting, just having fun.
KJ: Is it more fun when you 're no longer competing?
R: No, I want to be racing, so not fun for me. <laughs>
Ryan: I want to ask you some Qs? How's your experience been doing the Insider coverage?
KJ: This is really Liz's (Failor's) job (she's sitting it out this year with a new baby). If Jeff does well this year and is amped about it, then I'll let him take the team again - half the dogs in that team are mine, half his. Doing the Insider coverage, the race goes a lot slower - lots of hurry up and wait.
R: You learn a lot from that side of things, though...?
KJ: Well, I haven't been creeping too much, so haven't gained too many industry secrets. <laughs>
R: Well, you kicked my butt in the Kusko, so I can learn from you. <laughs>
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KJ's personality is infectiously cheerful - she's really good at maintaining an upbeat manner and good at interacting with those around her, and drawing the mushers out. Both she and her "co-worker" Dylan have been having a lot of fun at the checkpoints, enlisting the local kids and generally messing around. They are a good addition to the Insider team for the less serious viewer (and good for filling in the dead-air when nothing is happening at checkpoints).
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elsietee AT ponyhill DOT org
Repotted english person in the Sierra foothills, CA
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