AKIQPilot Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Well it's that time of year again. Racers are geared up and ready to head through the Alaskan wilderness on their trek to Nome and then back to Fairbanks. We have quite a bit of new snow in South central AK so cooling and lubrication won't be a problem but a rough wooped out trail may be. As most of you know this race starts in Big Lake (just west of Wasilla) and goes for about 1100 miles to Nome Alaska where the teams have a mid race layover of 24-36 hours. From Nome they race about 900 miles back to Fairbanks. Teams are made up of 2 racers on virtually identical sleds. Many teams will have a pilot and plane with some of the more critical parts on board. No outside assistance of any kind can be rendered unless it's considered an emergency. An emergency would be like if one rider broke through the ice and submerged his sled. They could organize locals to help them retrieve the sled and get it out of the water. Once it's out of the water the team is back on their own to get it dried out and back running. There are 35 Pro Class Teams this year. Teams have to take 28hrs of layovers on the run from Big Lake to Nome and 20hrs of layovers from Nome to Fairbanks. When and where teams take these layovers is part of their strategy. Often times that strategy is changed if they have a mishap on the trail. Every team hopes to make it to McGrath by the end of the first day. McGrath is 365 miles from the starting line over some of the worst terrain on the whole trail. As of a week ago there was lots of snow across the Farewell Burn but very little snow in the Alaska Range from Puntilla to Rohn. Here are some of the links to important Iron Dog information. http://www.irondog.org/ Iron Dog on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/snowmobilerace/ Pro Class Teams http://www.irondog.org/race-tracking/pro-class-2017/?view=teams Race Tracking using their GPS Transponders http://www.irondog.org/gps-tracking/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoslinger Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 (edited) that'd be fun. do they have to stay on the same path or is alot left to them to decide? your comment about falling through the ice made me wonder. Edited February 19, 2017 by Snoslinger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckf Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Thanks for posting, Tom. This was always one of my favorite threads of the year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKIQPilot Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 On Wednesday the Iron Dog Expo was held at Cabelas in Anchorage. All the teams gathered there to go through their pre race Safety Inspection. There were some really good looking and well prepared teams this year. Team 8, Aklestad and Johnson. Last years Champions. Lots of nice Cat teams this year. Team 10, Morgan and Olds. These guys already drove to Nome once during practice about 2 weeks ago. They are very well prepared again this year. Team 6, Brad George and Robbie Schachle. They have about 4000 practice miles this year. These are XRS etecs with the RS S-module and front suspension. A few teams converted to the RS front end this year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKIQPilot Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 9 minutes ago, Snoslinger said: that'd be fun. do they have to stay on the same path or is alot left to them to decide? your comment about falling through the ice made me wonder. They have to make it to each check point to refuel and get credit for the check point. With very few exceptions, they do not have to take the same path between checkpoints. That said, there is really only one path between Big Lake and Nome and one path between Nome and Fairbanks. You make be able to stray 1/4 to 1/2 mile off path if you think you have a faster line but there is really only one way to get from the starting line to the finish line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racinfarmer Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Team #13 racers both farm close to where I grew up and #22 is a business owner from the same area. Kind of interesting. #4 of Menne went from the Soo I-500 to the Winnipeg I-500 to this all right in a row too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKIQPilot Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 VanMeter and Gueco. Another RS converted etec. Barber and Spain. These XCR's are pretty bad ass. Team 14 are Rookies. Boylan and Leslie. They are very well prepared. Lots of trick billet parts on these two sleds. Got the Maine boys back again this year. Father and son team of Tim and Remington Lessard. I talked to them a few times over the last week. They got up here a few weeks ago to begin practicing and final sled set-up. They look very prepared. Watson and Zwink. These guys will be fast. Cory Davis and Ryan Simon. I talked to Ryan for a while. He said he has about 400 practice miles on this year. A young family and business has kept him pretty busy. His 400 miles is 400 more than Cory has, Haha. When you are as good as these two you don't really need that much practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoslinger Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 has todd palin recovered from that crash he had awhile back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainecat Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Thread of the year! Tnanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKIQPilot Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 (edited) Another young but well sponsored team. Strick and Moore. These guys have been together for a while now. Maybe this year they will catch a break and have some good luck. Menne and Thibault are very well prepared. Sleds looked beautiful. Conner and Crouse. Another very well prepared Cat team. This is one of the teams I helped this year. Folsom and Conlan. These are the best looking sleds on the property. I helped these guys out with shock work this year. They have about 3000 practice miles. They are running the bad ass Ohlin TTX shocks all the way around. Practice shocks are pictured here. Schwochert and Potter. I helped these guys with shock work this year. They are a low budget team. I'm just hoping they finish. Edited February 19, 2017 by Back Country Rebel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKIQPilot Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 3 minutes ago, Snoslinger said: has todd palin recovered from that crash he had awhile back? Oh yea. He is doing good. Sleds looked great. He and his partner Eric Quam will do well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKIQPilot Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Lots of Cat teams this year. Many are young but most are well prepared. Tyson Johnson with his 5 month old son. A good looking Doo team. Lots of billet parts on these sleds. A young Poo team. Some bad ass Walker Evans shocks on these sleds. Team 16, Minnick and Olstad. These guys are very well prepared and their sleds looked fantastic. They should be one of the top teams in the race again this year. Palin and Quam. Riding the new Switchback Assault. These sleds looked fantastic. These guys should do really well again this year. And the best looking sled at the show. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Contributing Member Jimmy Snacks Posted February 19, 2017 Platinum Contributing Member Share Posted February 19, 2017 Awesome thread Tom and great pictures...thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKIQPilot Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 The green flag drops in just under 2 hours. Teams will leave Big Lake 2 minutes apart. New this year is a $5000 prize to the team with the fastest time to the first checkpoint in Skwentna about 90 miles away. Most teams are in it for the long haul but there is no doubt snagging that $5000 is on everyone's mind. IN about 2013 Aklestad and Johnson made the 90+ mile run from Big Lake to Skwentna in 60 minutes flat. there is way more snow this year so I doubt anyone will be under 70 minutes. I'm headed to the starting line. See you guys again in a few hours. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ez ryder Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 with drone tech where it is now days no reason they cant be streaming this live with just a following transceiver in a few riders pocket . red bull or some one could pull it off very ez and get a ton of people live streaming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKIQPilot Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 2 minutes ago, Ez ryder said: with drone tech where it is now days no reason they cant be streaming this live with just a following transceiver in a few riders pocket . red bull or some one could pull it off very ez and get a ton of people live streaming. Yes. They could easily stream the start of the race. From there on out the drones wouldn't work. The sleds are long gone in under a minute. In past years they had choppers filming the race but that was very expensive. Right now there is zero visibility above 300' so most aircrafts are grounded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKIQPilot Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 PS. It's snowing pretty hard right now. Snow in the forecast for the next few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ez ryder Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Just now, Back Country Rebel said: Yes. They could easily stream the start of the race. From there on out the drones wouldn't work. The sleds are long gone in under a minute. In past years they had choppers filming the race but that was very expensive. Right now there is zero visibility above 300' so most aircrafts are grounded. not best buy drones real drones can fly over 15hrs . they can program to fly at what ever height they need . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKIQPilot Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 1 minute ago, Ez ryder said: not best buy drones real drones can fly over 15hrs . they can program to fly at what ever height they need . Right but the teams leave at 2 minute intervals. In 10 minutes the teams are 12-15 miles from the starting line. I don't think a drone can transmit live feed more than a mile or so. It would be good for the start but in just a couple of minutes the teams are long gone and traveling at 90 MPH. Drones used or live feed can't fly anywhere close to that speed. I suppose we could get some drones from the US military for this mission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKIQPilot Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 A little clip of last years race. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ez ryder Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Just now, Back Country Rebel said: Right but the teams leave at 2 minute intervals. In 10 minutes the teams are 12-15 miles from the starting line. I don't think a drone can transmit live feed more than a mile or so. It would be good for the start but in just a couple of minutes the teams are long gone and traveling at 90 MPH. Drones used or live feed can't fly anywhere close to that speed. I suppose we could get some drones from the US military for this mission. that is what I am saying . red bull team has a drone to follow them for the race . they get a monopoly on streaming it is gold for them . at starting and finish lines there support team can have drones filming action of the other racers but in field they own it. and remember we don't have to think f drones as only air . googel and tesla have cars out driving with no driver . not to hard to build a oblect avoidance all terrine chase drone programed to stay back 25 yrds from transceiver it is focused on filming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckf Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 Do they do a layover in Tanana? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKIQPilot Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Another good Iron Dog clip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKIQPilot Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 1 minute ago, ckf said: Do they do a layover in Tanana? Yes on the last day of the race. They will arrive in Tanana next Friday and leave for Fairbanks the next morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKIQPilot Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 Bobby Menne posted this helmet cam video from his race last year. This is the first day of the race. About 200 miles from the starting line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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