Johnny Hammersticks Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 Rudy is down 1 more dog after the grueling 75 mile leg from the Rohn Roadhouse checkpoint to the Nikolai Village checkpoint. He left Nikolai in 47th place. Fairbanks local, and 4 time Iditarod winner, Lance Mackey is currently leading the race. Apparently, the mushers need to take a mandatory 24 hour and 8 hour layover during the race. Only one musher has taken their mandatory 24 hour layover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Poojer Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 When you say he's down dogs..are the dead??? Rudy is down 1 more dog after the grueling 75 mile leg from the Rohn Roadhouse checkpoint to the Nikolai Village checkpoint. He left Nikolai in 47th place. Fairbanks local, and 4 time Iditarod winner, Lance Mackey is currently leading the race. Apparently, the mushers need to take a mandatory 24 hour and 8 hour layover during the race. Only one musher has taken their mandatory 24 hour layover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 When you say he's down dogs..are the dead??? No no no. They're RESTING. Pining for the fjords. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Poojer Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 (edited) phew..... ...seriously though, i didn't know if that meant taken off the team or that they had actually ceased to be....that's a rough gig.... No no no. They're RESTING. Pining for the fjords. Edited March 6, 2013 by The Poojer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 No no no. They're RESTING. Pining for the fjords. They're beautiful dogs, lovely plumage... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 When you say he's down dogs..are the dead??? Could be just a hurt paw. Or maybe the dog didn't wash his hands after going to the bathroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Hammersticks Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 When you say he's down dogs..are the dead??? They have dog "drop off" points at each checkpoint. Could be the dog injured its's leg, got ill, or just was unusually fatigued. Rudy made the decicion that they couldn't go on with the race. It is my understanding that they have veterinarians at each of these checkpoints. Each team starts off with 16 dogs, and must finish with at least 5 dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 No no no. They're RESTING. Pining for the fjords. Is that line from a movie? I often see it here and have no idea what it means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Poojer Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Could be just a hurt paw. Or maybe the dog didn't wash his hands after going to the bathroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Is that line from a movie? I often see it here and have no idea what it means. You don't know what you're missing! It's from Monty Python's Flying Circus. Pooj posted the Youtube link - it's awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowgirlsFan Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 No no no. They're RESTING. Pining for the fjords. I thought they had died too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Hammersticks Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 (edited) Cool video of a ride along with musher Christine Roalofs. Gives you a good idea of what it is actually like. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MTRi1-yTzg&feature=player_embedded The mushers have experienced better than normal weather conditions thus far. That is about to change, however, as there is a winter storm warning in effect for the lower Yukon Valley. Thursday's weather forecast for freezing rain and winds exceeding 50 mph, switching to snow in the evening. It's going to get pretty ugly out there Edited March 7, 2013 by Johnny Hammersticks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Hammersticks Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 After spending his mandatory 24 hour layover at the McGrath checkpoint, Rudy departed with his team of 12 dogs at 12:21pm Alaska time. Here's a picture of Rudy feeding his dogs in McGrath. From the Anchorage Daily News: "Rudy prepared a gourmet meal for his athletes – soaked kibble, lamb and beef. Twelve pairs of eyes watched every move Rudy made in preparing dinner. When he placed the bowls by each dog, it didn’t take any coaxing to get them to dive in." Rudy currently sits in 54th place, but is still going strong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Vader Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 After spending his mandatory 24 hour layover at the McGrath checkpoint, Rudy departed with his team of 12 dogs at 12:21pm Alaska time. Here's a picture of Rudy feeding his dogs in McGrath. From the Anchorage Daily News: "Rudy prepared a gourmet meal for his athletes – soaked kibble, lamb and beef. Twelve pairs of eyes watched every move Rudy made in preparing dinner. When he placed the bowls by each dog, it didn’t take any coaxing to get them to dive in." Rudy currently sits in 54th place, but is still going strong Keep going Rudy. BTW Johnny, are you changing your Icon with every leg of the race? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Hammersticks Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 Keep going Rudy. BTW Johnny, are you changing your Icon with every leg of the race? lol...no I think I'm sticking with Depp/Hunter S. Thompson for a while I think. Watched Fear and Loathing last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Hammersticks Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 Rudy still holding steady in 50th place after making the the 80 mile trek from Ophir checkpoint to Iditarod checkpoint. It took him 15 hours and 46 minutes which is pretty darn good for a 67 year old man. He's resting his team right now before leaving for the Shageluk checkpoint which is 55 miles away. After Shageluk, the next checkpoint is Anvik Village, which is where Rudy was born and raised. Hopefully he doesn't get into the home-brew with his buddies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Hammersticks Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 Just another update for those who might still be following along. Rudy checked in at the Eagle Island checkpoint after a 10 hour and 45 minute leg of the race. He is currently in 46th place, and is 592 miles into the race with 406 miles to go until the finish line. He is down to 9 dogs now, and that is not good news considering he needs at least 5 dogs in harness to finish the race. Rudy's obviously not a contender at this point, but I really hope he is able to finish the race. He's 67 years old, and just a really, really good guy. This will likely be his last chance to run the Iditarod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in San Diego Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 The 1,000+ mile sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska kicks off tomorrow and a friend of mine is participating. One of my favorite drinking buddies, 67 year old Rudy Demoski is competing in his 7th Iditarod race. He hasn't competed in 27 years, but decided to enter the race this year because he "wasn't getting any younger." His best finish was 4th in 1974, and he has also finished in 9th, 15th, and 18th place in his Iditarod career. Rudy is an Alaskan Native who is also a world renowned moose hunting guide. He has shown me pic's of him hunting with celebrities like Larry Czonka and Richard Petty. The guy has some amazing stories. Like the time in 1977 when he was leading the Iditarod after 20+ checkpoints, but stopped to get drunk in some village and had to drop out of the race. He also told me this great story about how he raised 2 Grizzly Bear cubs when he was a kid. He and his buddies woke the bears up from their hibernation (in the crawl space below his home) on New Years Eve, got them completely trashed on home-brew, and then (shocker) the bears proceeded to destroy his home. Truly a wild man! Here's a picture of good ol' Rudy... If you are interested, you can track Rudy's progress here... http://iditarod.com/race/2013/ Today (03/02) was the "ceremonial" start in Anchorage. The race officially begins tomorrow, as the mushers embark from Willow, Alaska. what happened to the bears? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Hammersticks Posted March 10, 2013 Author Share Posted March 10, 2013 According to Rudy, they eventually got the bears back down into the crawl space with some coersion (I won't elaborate). He said that in the spring he set them free. It's my understanding that he and his friends found the abandoned cubs...apparently someone had killed the mother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Hammersticks Posted March 12, 2013 Author Share Posted March 12, 2013 (edited) Rudy's really trucking along with his 9 dog team. Moved up into 42nd place as of the last checkpoint (Kaltag), and is now almost 740 miles into the 998 mile race. The leader of the race is now 4 time Iditarod winner, and 17 time top 10 finisher, Jeff King. From what I've been reading, he's going to be pretty hard to beat down the stretch. Edited March 12, 2013 by Johnny Hammersticks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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