A ROOKIES JOURNEY - RACE SYNOPSIS
by Eric Rogers © 2006

Man what a ride! You will have to wait for the details, but I worked harder than I ever expected. There was no place on the trail that I could call fun, but it was a very rewarding experience. While I saw some very challenging conditions, I missed the worst of the extreme cold in Cripple (it was only -30 when I was there, not -45) and the extreme winds (we only saw about 50 mph winds at worst, not 75).

Briefly the first 100 miles were pretty easy. I had been to Skwentna before (although it looked a lot different with Iditarod than the Knik 200). The trip to Finger Lake was a slow trail, but not too bad. From Finger Lake to Puntilla Lake (Rainy Pass Checkpoint) I rolled the sled more than I ever had. I knew the steps were bad, but the entire trail was very challenging, mostly due to the ruts the previous drivers had carved out with their brakes. Most were 2 to 3 feet deep, but I swear some were closer to 5 feet deep. Always on steep downhill runs with turns. I rolled the sled more times than I have in the rest of my life!

We were in the wind most of the time from Rainy Pass checkpoint until almost Safety, and went over Rainy Pass, Topkot, and through the Solomon Blowhole in nearly white out conditions from blowing snow. Lycos and Bass did Rainy Pass in excellent fashion, and after I dropped Lycos in Ophir, Bass stepped up to the plate and lead the rest of the bad sections in single lead. He really earned his kibble!

I deviated from my plan 4 times. The first was the long rest at Ophir. When we pulled in Lycos had caught a bug, vomited on the trail, and was running a fever. We worked on him for 12 hours trying to control the fever, but with the long run to Cripple the vets really wanted to keep Lycos at the checkpoint because of the possibility of aspiration pneumonia.

The second time was the long run from Cripple to Ruby. The winds picked up again and we were unable to find a camping place out of the wind to rest between Ophir and Cripple, and then we were in the wind at Cripple. I wanted to get the dogs out of the wind to rest decided that if we got halfway to Ruby in 5 hours I’d drive straight through. Little did I know that the challenging part of that trail was the last 25 miles and it took much longer than I thought it would.

The third time was in Koyuk when I rested about 20 hours. At this point I was having trouble getting enough calories down the dogs and some were getting very thin. One of the vets had me cook a hot fish soup with kibble and everyone ate that with relish. So I stayed to put 4 meals down the dogs and get their weight back on track. I also caught a stomach bug there that I am still fighting.

The fourth time was the long rest at White Mountain. I tried to leave that checkpoint three times, but by now I was sick, had diarrhea, and was not able to eat properly. So this rest was for me. I turned out for the best anyway – we had a tough crossing over Topkot with 45 to 50 mph side winds and blowing snow obscuring the trail, but Bass and I together managed to get the job done and get to the shelter cabin between Topkot and the blowhole. The 4 teams that left before us were at the cabin and had been stuck since 7 AM (I got there at 4 PM). There was no place to get my team out of the wind at the cabin, and most of the other teams were pretty much in the wind the whole time there. The winds laid down some and we snuck out at 7:30 PM (I wanted a 4 hour rest, but with the wind and fading light I went with the others when word came that the blowhole was “doable”. If I had left White Mountain earlier we would have been stuck there with everyone else. It was much nicer being in the checkpoint for the extra hours, even if I was leaving my “mark”.
It didn’t really strike me until I heard the siren as we drove into Nome that I had really done it, but the siren almost brought tears to my face. I told Bass that that siren was for him and the great job he had done helping me get these young dogs to Nome and my voice broke as I said it. It was a very emotional time for me.

The trail as a whole was much harder than I expected. After that first easy 100 miles, I was always working either, to stay on the trail, climb the hill, keep the dogs motivated and moving (and keep my attitude positive), or fight the wind. When they asked me at the finish what was the hardest part I said “All of it”.

There was not a single time that I thought about scratching; although there were several times I realized that things beyond my control could stop me from finishing the race. There was not a single time I was scared, although there were several times I knew that if things got any worse I could get into real trouble if I wasn’t careful. I just kept repeating my mantra “God is with me. God is guiding me. God is helping me”. When I tell the whole story you will see time and again where seemingly bad luck kept me out of trouble later. Finally there was only one time I prayed to God to give us a break. Topkot was a series of climbs and descents with a nasty side hill and cross wind that took a lot out of the dogs and I. We hit the point where I didn’t think we could climb one more and I said “Dear God, please let this be the last hill.” And you know what – it was! But that was the only time it was bad enough I had to pray for relief.

I got home early Wednesday afternoon the 22nd and it was a very funny feeling. It was two days before it felt like home. The time on the trail with the dogs was so intense that that seemed normal and living in a house felt strange and somehow not right. I’m one of those people who checks his email on the way back to bed at night and I didn’t even log on for two days. Contributing to that was the fact that I had this nasty bug and a severe case of the punies. I could work for ½ hour and then had to rest. After a couple of days I could work for 2 hours before having to rest. Now I’m starting to feel better, but still lacking the energy that I had at the start.

What are my plans from here? Thanks to the generous support from my friends and family I pretty much covered all the race expenses, but as you know I lost my job just after signup last year and have been living off of savings. So I need to find some way to generate enough money to cover not only the race, but the general kennel expenses and pay the mortgage. I’ll give myself a month (and try to start writing the book I’ve promised) to see what I can do. By May, if I don’t have something working, I’ll have to start looking for a full time job to cover those expenses and that will likely rule out a 2007 Iditarod. So keep your fingers crossed that I can put some kind of package of sponsorships, promotions, endorsements, speaking engagements, story telling, and writing that will pay the bills and I will be back next year to play “Crash Test Dummy” again!

Everyone always wants to know how their favorite dog did, so the list is below.

• Balu – leader - Dropped in Ruby for not pulling. Balu turned out to be anemic with a suspected ulcer
• Basil – apprentice leader - Finished.
• Bass – Main leader and MVP. After I dropped Lycos in Ophir Bass lead all of the narly parts by himself.
• Belle – dropped in McGrath for not pulling. At home we found small tumors on her chest that might be responsible.
• Dash – apprentice leader - finished
• Dukat – dropped in Koyuk with possible pneumonia
  Jewels – dropped in Cripple for not pulling / happy
• Keiko - finished
• Lycos – number 2 leader – dropped in Ophir with potential pneumonia
• Mocha – finished (youngest dog on team at 19 months). Once I got her weight stabilized in Koyuk Mocha was a happy dog and became one of my chearleders.
• Picard - finished
• Platinum – number 3 leader – finished, but would not lead into the wind after an hour
• Rom - finished
• Sisco – dropped in Kaltag – not happy / felling well