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8 Dec - Going, going, gone?
The past week has given us four days of constant strong winds, enough to divert planes from the local airport. The wind has been one thing, but the outside temperature has also been a good few degrees above zero. The sand and gravel surface of the dog yard has broken through, and half the garden is now grass, rather than snow. The roads are a mixture of bare tarmac and ice, and the sled trail has all but disappeared. Very depressing, particularly as this time should be the main time for training.
6 Dec - Tanaløpet
Tanaløpet is the first local race of the season - 3 rounds of just over 8 km in birch scrubland and over fields, with some demanding corners thrown in for good measure!
It was a good experience for 6 young dogs: Milla and Pirjo in lead, Susi, Katie, Ruusa and Seppo. Lot of noise before the start, as expected. Each team had to be ready at least 10 minutes before their allocated start time, so it meant a good deal of waiting before we could start. All the dogs had drunk well at home, but 3 of them got so worked up whilst waiting to race that they wanted to grab mouthfuls of snow as soon as we set off.
The plan was to hold the dogs back on the first leg, so as not to burn them out for the remaining two legs. We had start number 9. With start intervals of two minutes, it doesn't take too long to catch up a slower team - something we did in style on the first leg, galloping past Team 8 on a country lane. We had the rest of the first leg to ourselves. Great training for the dogs as they came towards and through the finish area, with lots of cheering and shouting, loudspeaker commentary and camera flashes.
About a third of the way round the second leg, we caught up with Team 6. We waited until we were past a tricky technical section before mushing past. Team 6 kept contact with us for a while, but we gained more and more distance when I asked the dogs for more speed. And speed I got when we broke out of the woodland onto a long stretch over fields! There ahead of us was Team 7, and my dogs had spotted them! We gallopped over the first field to close the distance, took the next few hundred yards quietly, then let rip. Team 7's musher said afterwards that he never heard us coming. Suddenly, we were there and passing him! My young lead dogs are, however, unused to running in front of other teams, and since Team 7 stayed in contact with us, my dogs lost a bit of urge.
I let Team 7 pass us shortly after the start of the third leg. I don't think the team was faster, but I wanted to give my team something to chase. We kept contact for two-thirds of the way round, but they got away before we reached the open fields. I decided not to chase. I was more than happy with how the dogs had performed, and didn't was to over-push them. In the end, we beat them anyway, finishing in 10th place of 19.
I'm proud of the way the dogs ran for me, always giving more when I asked for it. Milla and Pirjo were full of responsibility for the rest of the team. Well done, dogs!
Thanks to the school students who helped out before the start, holding the lead dogs in place and trying to speak soothing words to stressed younsters! 3 Dec - Round and around...
An evening's test run in the Tana race trail. The trail was several yards wide and well-prepared by machinery. Three times around the trail - should have been a doddle...
I am, however, the queen of taking wrong turns in the Tana race trail (although not actually during the race!)... Last year's trial run ended up with me, sled and dogs in the middle of a housing estate, where the only was out was along a slippy and newly-sanded road. Not great for sled runners.
I knew that this year's trail was slightly different towards the finish, but wasn't prepared for just so many right turns. There's only one right turn, remember? Not so. On the first round, I rightly avoided the turn to the housing estate, then, feeling pleased with myself, chose to ignore the remaining two right turns. Wrong! That just put us back on the main trail, having taken a short-cut.
Second time, more luck? Not so here, either! This time, we took the middle of three right turns. It sort of felt wrong, and as the familiar sight of roof-tops came into view, it was time to turn the dogs around and try again. I began to think that we'd never make it back to the van, but would, instead, be locked into a sort of time-and-motion continuum on the Tana trail.
The third right turn proved to be the one. We made it past the van, through the finish, and round the trail once more. At least we ran the correct trail at least once out of the three attempts!
16 Nov - Bowled over!
A Sunday morning walk for the pups. Clear skies over Varanger, minus 8 degrees and crisp snow. Fantastic to be able to enjoy all this....
WHAM!
CRASH!
What on earth?
Suddenly I'm lying flat on my back in the snow. 
Amazing what a 15 kg pup can do when she crashes full pelt into the side of your leg. Thanks, Leila! At least she checked to see I was okay!
22 Sep - Strange beasties!
Have recently seen several examples of the rare Varanger Camel. Local folk say that I've seen elk, but since they also say that the elk is the king of the forest, and there's NO FOREST here, then the said animal can't be an elk. I stick with the camel theory.
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