Yukon Quest '09

I hope Brent so time to himself to relax. Get all is energy back. I love is attitude of running and poling to help the team... I think that will ultimately win him lots of races. I'm thinking of buying a sled like his and I wondered if he really likes it?

Go Brent GO!!!!
 

GO BRENT! It must be a heck of a task getting by Sebastian and all his hair, but I have faith in you and your team.
 

What a bunch of greyt looking dogs!

Go Wild and Free!

roooo, roooo, roooo,
your fast fans at the Greytworks
Grayson, Terry, Blue Eyes, Bogey, Jedi, Ray, Eagle, Tiger, Ex, Bravo, Sam, Emmy, Gee, Dee, Billie, Fuzzy, Yona, Mandy, Piper, Annie, Kickoff, Woody, and Moose
 

A delayed update from Dawson.
Sorry that I didn't write anymore updates last night after Brent left Dawson, but I was sleep and food deprived. Kyla and I went back to Brent's camp at 10:00am after getting back to bed from the 4am feeding around 5:30. If you schedule in time to drop the dogs in the truck, and maybe some time to brush your teeth, we didn't get more than two hours or so. We were at Brent's camp from 10:00am until he left at 3:15. From there we scooped all the poop in the driveway to the restart shoot. Since we had walked all of Brent's dogs and stretched them out, none of the Wild and Free kennel pooped on the road, but as Mark and I are both Eagle Scouts, we feel the need to leave things cleaner than what we found it. On our way back to Brent's camp some 300 yards of poo filled road, one local woman and her husband stopped to talk to us, and she wanted us to tell Brent that she thought he should win the most hospitable award for always stopping to talk to people and sharing his thoughts on the trail. I know this is something that Brent cares about as we left his camp for the start line 15 minutes before he was scheduled to leave just so he could chat with people there and still get out on time. Something this woman said none of the previous departees had time to do. It was a very nice thing to hear, and I'm sure it will make Brent happy to know that people recognize his willingness despite being cold, feeling rushed, desperately hungry and tired beyond compare that he still has something to say to everyone. Maybe he's more like his Dad than he thinks:)
After scooping the poop we started taking down the camp with the help of Laura Brosius, a friend of ours from Fairbanks who had volunteered along the trail from Whitehorse. She left today with Mark and Kyla and another person wearing a UAF sweatshirt trying to get back to Fairbanks. Looks like a Wild and Free taxi back home.
By the time we had everything taken down and cleaned up it was about 6:00pm and we all came across the ice bridge back into Dawson in seek of food and rest. I tried to write a short update then, but the wireless at the hotel wasn't working for me, and I was too tired and hungry to figure it out. Our jam packed day helping massage the dogs and get Brent ready to leave didn't give us anytime to get more information out to you guys and so I apologize to everyone who was refreshing every five minutes not able to understand why we couldn't say something about what was going on.
After a short nap and some food at the only place still serving anything besides soup at 9:00pm I wandered into Diamond Tooth Gerties the local gambling dance hall that is only open thurs'Fri/Sat in the winter to find much to my surprise that Mark Sass, was not only having a beer at a gambling table but also engaging in a little reckless fun. My money would have been on him drinking a coke and watching others loose their money, but it seems the sleep deprivation got the best of him too, and let to some wreckless gambling one would never imagine out of Mark Sass. I'm sure he didn't loose more than $5.00, in fact with his luck he probably came out ahead. Either way it was good to see him out having fun.
I stumbled home from the bar around 2:00am and slept until noon. Mark, Kyla and the taxi left around 10:00am for Whitehorse. Hopefully they will have a safe trip back to Fairbanks and then up to Circle. For me, I am destined to stay here in Dawson for a few more days. While I am no longer working with the Japanese film crew that I was assisting in Whitehorse, they will remain in Dawson until Yuka Honda leaves tomorrow, and then I and Steven Stoller will drive back the rental as they and Josh Horst fly to Eagle and then into Fairbanks. The road to Whitehorse is extremely icy since it rained about a month ago, so I'm not looking forward to driving back with a snowmachine trailer and two snowmachines in tow. If I can think of anything else to report before I go, I will write another long and drawn out blogging. If anyone has any questions please ask and I will do my best to answer them for you. There is no reason to wonder when you can know.
So to answer Joel Mercier's question about whether or not Brent likes his sled. Brent is using a Prairie Built sled in this years Quest the same as he used last year. While he finds it adequate, he has mentioned that it is wider than he would like and he often finds himself widening the trail and making his dogs work harder. I believe it is his intention to try and have Cody Strathe of Dogpaddle sleds build him a custom sled for next years Quest and other shorter races.
Currently I am having Cody build me a freight sled that I will be able to use for back country trips using some of Brent's retired or yearling dogs.
To add additional comment to Greg's mention of trying to pass Sebastian and his giant mess of hair: During the mushers meeting in Dawson, Sebastian was sitting next to Brent on one side and Martin Buser on the other. When Sebastian sat down, it was his first time seeing Brent since arriving about 25 minutes in front of him into Dawson. When Sebastian arrived he looked tired and declined to give a media interview and just wanted to bed down his dogs. I thought it interesting, but didn't think too much of it. The reason that Sebastian was so tired was because Brent was unknowingly on Sebastians heels all the way into Dawson. Seeing Brent right behind (five minutes or so) Sebastian had to turn off his giant headlamp so Brent couldn't see him and wouldn't (hopefully) be motivated to catch him. So when Sebastian got his seat next to Brent he friendly grumbled something of "you son of a gun, making me kick and pole for 40 miles, damn youngster" to paraphrase him. Brent found it hilarious, and vowed to be doing more of the same as he would be taking off out of Dawson a little more than 40 minutes behind Sebastian because of start time differential. I think Brent is really looking forward to trying to catch and run with Sebastian into Eagle and maybe all the way into Circle.
He seemed a little bummed that Hans Gatt scratched from the race, as I know he really wanted to see how he stacked up to Hans and Lance, and it's somewhat disappointing to not have those guys running. Either way, that won't change his desire, and determination to help bring the Wild and Free kennel to a fantastic finish in hometown Fairbanks.
Thom
 

Thanks for the update Thom!
I just need to repeat a few lines so that Brent gets the pleasure of reading them twice!
"...he still has something to say to everyone. Maybe he's more like his Dad than he thinks:)" I haven't spent enough time with Brent to know two things about him, but I sure wasn't going to tell him the ONE thing that I observed! Thanks for taking care of that Thom!
"...Mark Sass, was not only having a beer at a gambling table but also engaging in a little reckless fun." Huh, I'm sure he was buttering up to another potential sponsor (rolleyes).
"...grumbled something of "you son of a gun, making me kick and pole for 40 miles, damn youngster"" I'm sure he is the only guy grumbling those words out there! HA!

Back to the trail Brent. I've got my entire class checking the site now at the start of each hour. It's like trying to fight my way through the gauntlet just getting to my desk!
 

Some questions about the pics in this post - who are the dogs in the very bottom picture. and then in the pic just above it, Brent is with the 2 dogs behind the white dogs - who are they? Thanks!

-Pat
 

Pat, to answer your question of who are the dogs in the photo: The two that Brent is with in the second to the bottom photo are Rocky (sitting) and Heckle.
In the bottom photo, that is the lead dogs you are looking at in front, so I will start with the them, and then give you the whole line-up from his departure from Dawson City. Silver and Rosie in lead, The Dude and Walter in swing, Maude (wearing black jacket) and Molly, they are the two white dogs, Heckle and Rocky, Ling-Ling was running alone in the gangline, and in wheel was Taco and Budget.
Brent had originally put Walter in lead to go out of Dawson, but before we left his camp he decided to change to Rosie, because he wanted to pair The Dude with his brother Walter because they act silly together. They start making this weird growling/howling noise at each other and then start barking at each other and it is so funny and ridiculous that Brent wanted that type of atmosphere for his team when they were leaving. It was a way to help excite his team by just pairing the right two dogs together. Similar to what he has done in the past two Quest's with York and Ross.
In case anyone is wondering why Maude is the only dog wearing a jacket leaving Dawson, the reason that she is wearing it is to protect her belly from harness rub. After running so many miles through such varying terrain the bottom of harness's can get icy and stiff causing some rubbing to occur in the dogs armpits and bellies. Maude is a short and stocky dog who has had a litter of puppies in the past and so Brent put on one of the active style (thinner and lighter than the thick fleece ones) jacket on her to preempt any potential for harness rub on Maude.
The Dude, Walter and Maude are all the children of Madonna, so they have the ability to step up and provide the leadership, and savy that Brent will need now that Madonna is out of the race. We even put Madonna's harness on Walter. I made sure to let Walter know that he has big shoes to fill as he is wearing his mother's harness and somewhat taking her place.
Rosie is also the daughter of Madonna, but from a different litter. Her dad is Silver, so you know that she has the best of the blood lines. She has been somewhat hampered by bad feet in the past, so keep your fingers crossed for Rosie's feet. If they stay in good shape, so should Brent.
Thom