By HARRIETT HAMILTON FENERTYAll teams are throttling to the coast…..Norton Sound, Unalakleet to Nome……racers have created their own flurry…..tools and scrambling for parts has replaced the flurries that hampered the race start on Sunday.The chatter on the Group Page has been phenomenal…..lots of fact, probably a little bit of fiction, but for the most part, timely and full of insights.Per Tyler Akelstad, his McGrath repair list was, “rear suspension mount brackets, rear torque arm, accelerator rods and snow flap”. (on the clock repairs, less than 2 hours) made up some course time as they timed out and made it to KAL just 50 minutes behind the leader…..that is some riding skill….385 miles on the toughest part of the trail and making up about 60 minutes of lost time due to the repairs…..Team 32 sat for a very long time on the trail between Ophir and Poorman…..upon reaching Ruby they filed their report: “Busted rails slowed us way down but we got parts now so we're gonna keep at it starting at 442 in the morning.” ON TRAIL AS OF THIS WRITING….in Galena….on the move!!!!New Scratches last night:Micah Huss 9 PM Monday night Scratch report“We’re ok. I broke a center shock and Wes broke a rear arm on our way to Poorman. Took my shock out and we kept moving till my motor burned up. Made it to ruby and motor would run anymore. Tried to tow to galena to get parts when Wes’ motor blew up. Made it back to Ruby. Bummed out. We had a great run though. We’re pretty bummed out but very happy to be safe under the circumstances and how hard we were pushing through some pretty gnarly terrain. Hats off to everyone out there still in it.”Team 26…..No report on the reason for the scratch as of this time!!!!7 team scratches of 24 starters (30%)….compared to last year where it was three teams of 27 starters (10%)>>>>>>>>>>>>There is some GREAT RACING going to happen today….between 11 and noon today….the top six teams will depart Unalakleet…..glad that it is the light of day…..you will see many of the teams that come off Galena and Kaltag layovers bypass UNK completely today trying to get closer to the White Mt Checkpoint which is only 75 miles to the Nome halfway finish line……it makes for a very long run, but certainly not impossible and certainly a lot nicer than doing it in the dark of night tonight…..When the leading teams leave UNK later this morning…..it is approximately 5 hours to NOME….approximately 270 miles…..last night we saw some almost triple digit racing…..we might see some of that again today,,,,where the site lines are straight and a racer is looking for smooth ice…..PING SCHOOLThe Iron Dog fans base on the Group Page grew by 1,000 in four days….that is a lot of interest…..I saw several posts from racers sitting on the sidelines….they are learning about us fans….sometimes it is harder to watch on a computer screen than it is to be pounding across 2,000 miles on the world’s longest toughest snowmobile race……“Dieter Strobel17 hrs ·I can’t quit watching the Irondog tracker😂I might as well just race by all the time it’s consumingHeather Tuckness Sottosanti11 hrs ·I just have to say...spending this Iron Dog with Ryan Sottosanti is already proving to be entertaining. He’s glued to those screens addicted to GPS pings as much as anyone I’ve ever seen. #irondogaddict#pingschool”THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS, FANS AND FAMILY!!!!We know that there is no way to cover this race without all the incredible volunteers that help along the entire course!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR your willingness to share, inform, fill in the blanks….being able to see the race unfold from checkpoint to checkpoint is happening because of you!!!!PC: Sons of Thunder Team 49!~~~ hlf #denmother#irondog2019#irondog#save2019#alaska#irondogmaiden#irondogstoryteller#someonenamedharriett
All teams are throttling to the coast…..Norton Sound, Unalakleet to Nome……racers have created their own flurry…..tools and scrambling for parts has replaced the flurries that hampered the race start on Sunday.The chatter on the Group Page has been phenomenal…..lots of fact, probably a little bit of fiction, but for the most part, timely and full of insights.Per Tyler Akelstad, his McGrath repair list was, “rear suspension mount brackets, rear torque arm, accelerator rods and snow flap”. (on the clock repairs, less than 2 hours) made up some course time as they timed out and made it to KAL just 50 minutes behind the leader…..that is some riding skill….385 miles on the toughest part of the trail and making up about 60 minutes of lost time due to the repairs…..Team 32 sat for a very long time on the trail between Ophir and Poorman…..upon reaching Ruby they filed their report: “Busted rails slowed us way down but we got parts now so we're gonna keep at it starting at 442 in the morning.” ON TRAIL AS OF THIS WRITING….in Galena….on the move!!!!New Scratches last night:Micah Huss 9 PM Monday night Scratch report“We’re ok. I broke a center shock and Wes broke a rear arm on our way to Poorman. Took my shock out and we kept moving till my motor burned up. Made it to ruby and motor would run anymore. Tried to tow to galena to get parts when Wes’ motor blew up. Made it back to Ruby. Bummed out. We had a great run though. We’re pretty bummed out but very happy to be safe under the circumstances and how hard we were pushing through some pretty gnarly terrain. Hats off to everyone out there still in it.”Team 26…..No report on the reason for the scratch as of this time!!!!7 team scratches of 24 starters (30%)….compared to last year where it was three teams of 27 starters (10%)>>>>>>>>>>>>There is some GREAT RACING going to happen today….between 11 and noon today….the top six teams will depart Unalakleet…..glad that it is the light of day…..you will see many of the teams that come off Galena and Kaltag layovers bypass UNK completely today trying to get closer to the White Mt Checkpoint which is only 75 miles to the Nome halfway finish line……it makes for a very long run, but certainly not impossible and certainly a lot nicer than doing it in the dark of night tonight…..When the leading teams leave UNK later this morning…..it is approximately 5 hours to NOME….approximately 270 miles…..last night we saw some almost triple digit racing…..we might see some of that again today,,,,where the site lines are straight and a racer is looking for smooth ice…..PING SCHOOLThe Iron Dog fans base on the Group Page grew by 1,000 in four days….that is a lot of interest…..I saw several posts from racers sitting on the sidelines….they are learning about us fans….sometimes it is harder to watch on a computer screen than it is to be pounding across 2,000 miles on the world’s longest toughest snowmobile race……“Dieter Strobel17 hrs ·I can’t quit watching the Irondog tracker😂I might as well just race by all the time it’s consumingHeather Tuckness Sottosanti11 hrs ·I just have to say...spending this Iron Dog with Ryan Sottosanti is already proving to be entertaining. He’s glued to those screens addicted to GPS pings as much as anyone I’ve ever seen. #irondogaddict #pingschool”THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS, FANS AND FAMILY!!!!We know that there is no way to cover this race without all the incredible volunteers that help along the entire course!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR your willingness to share, inform, fill in the blanks….being able to see the race unfold from checkpoint to checkpoint is happening because of you!!!!PC: Sons of Thunder Team 49!~~~ hlf #denmother #irondog2019 #irondog #save2019 #alaska#irondogmaiden #irondogstoryteller #someonenamedharriett