WEBVTT - Iditarod Part 2 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.080 Welcome to car Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio's 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:07.760 How Stuff Works. Hi, and welcome to car Stuff. I'm 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:11.600 your host Scott Benjamin, and I am another host, Kurt 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:14.440 garn And we have a third arm in the room, 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:17.200 and that is that's true. My name is Ben Bull 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:21.759 and I am I am a Coco host here I believe. 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:25.800 And this is part two of our of our two 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:29.120 part series on the I did a rod the race, 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:33.160 not the trail. If you have you're just tuning in, 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:36.599 now do yourself a favorite hit pause. We'll wait and 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:40.840 listen to part one of the series, wherein we dive 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:43.839 into some of the history, a little bit of the 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:48.440 nuts and bolts about the race, and then only then 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:53.400 push play on this one because now the rubbers hitting 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:55.000 the road, or I should say the rails are hitting 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:59.160 the snow. Yeah, oh thank you. Yeah. Stayed up pretty 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:01.600 late working on when so I'm glad you guys can 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:04.959 find you guys are into that. Uh. Today we're going 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:09.120 to dig into, i would say, some of the science 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:13.200 behind the equipment, a little bit more about the race itself, uh, 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:18.360 and of course the lovable, hard working dogs that make 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:21.880 the entire thing possible. The race itself. When last we 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:25.200 left Scott you were telling Kurt and I about the 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:29.160 two different routes and we were talking about why these 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:31.840 might change or alternate from one year to the next. 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:38.000 Let's let's pick up there. Because there are checkpoints for 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:41.679 the roots. That's how how the race works. Every team 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:44.880 has to hit certain points along the trail. There twenty 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:48.920 six checkpoints on the northern route on the southern route, 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:53.840 and when people hit those checkpoints, the mushers have to 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:57.400 sign in, they have to give throw their John Hancock 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:00.120 on something. This has a couple of different functions and 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:02.520 so if we're guessing, one would be of course safety 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:05.200 make sure that no one disappeared or something bad happened, 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.280 and to of course to prevent cheating, to make sure 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:12.160 that no one just tried to hot rod around, you know, uh, 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:14.600 and and somehow take a shortcut and they have to 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:16.920 sign in with their dog. Like the dog team that 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:19.480 they've got ploint of slide at that moment, because they 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:23.119 do begin to drop dogs as we go through this race. 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:25.480 So they start out the race maybe with twelve dogs, 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:28.200 and then they drop down to eleven dogs, and then 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:30.079 ten and then nine, and then eventually by the time 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:31.799 they get to the finish, they might be down to 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:34.800 as few as what six seven, eight eight dogs maybe, 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:39.760 um and Tosh, is that correct? That might be five 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:42.040 five cross the line. You're right, and these dogs are 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:44.400 all of course, well we can talk about the care 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:47.080 of dogs too, but um, the dogs are. When I 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:49.160 say dropped, I mean that they're you know, either carried 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:52.080 back and handed off to a handler that you know, 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:54.760 travels along with the race along you know, alongside of 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:58.040 the team. Um, not not during the race itself, obviously, 0:02:58.040 --> 0:02:59.400 but they go from town to town in a much 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:01.440 more efficient way and meet them there, or they have 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:04.160 them in place ahead of time. And you know that's 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:06.160 a dog that's worn out or injured or you know, 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:10.720 whatever the case. Maybe it just needs a break arrest. Yeah, 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:12.600 they right in the sled. Yeah, that's right. That's that's 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:14.320 part of the benefit of some of the different sled 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:17.320 designs is that they can carry dogs that are somehow 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:20.160 in need of that to the next checkpoint and safely 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:25.720 deliver them. Yeah. Good musher is like a combination cartographer, sledder, 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:31.480 dog trainer, veterinarian, right e n T. At some points, 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:33.799 you know, oh yeah, they wear many hats, and they 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:38.560 have they think that's important. They have drop bags that 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:41.120 they pick up at checkpoints, and these drop bags have 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:45.280 supplies that they use right to to replenish their stores 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:48.560 of food. But there's also a lot of stuff for 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:51.600 the dogs involved. Yeah, that's part of the equipment right now. 0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:53.680 That's another thing that I learned at that that camp. 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:56.160 We talked to a guy that was the guy that 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:59.000 was kind of running our dog sled that you know, 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:03.280 the wheel one that we're talking about. I'm this is 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:05.440 a long time ago, I think in The name that 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:07.840 popped in my head immediately was Mars, and I thought, okay, 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:12.560 who's Mars. There is a musher on the iditorad named 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:16.440 Wade Mars, and his his um career span is just 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:18.520 about the right time for when this was. So I'm 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:20.599 assuming that the person that I met and talked to 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.560 with Wade Mars. I'm sure that it was Wade Mars, 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:25.640 because it just popped into my head right when we 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:28.360 were talking about this. But one thing that he told 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:30.680 me that just stood in my head for for a 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:33.360 long time. In fact, I'm still thinking about it. The 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:36.160 dog booties. The booties that the dogs wearing their feet 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:37.760 and you think, oh, that's kind of funny. That's kind 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:39.760 of very Hollywood, right. You know, they're wearing little dog 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:41.920 shoes around. You know, it looks like something a little 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:45.560 poodle would wear on, you know, um, Rodeo Avenue when 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:48.080 they're shopping. It's not that way at all. These are 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:51.280 for These are to prevent um, you know, injuries from 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:53.520 ice and rocks and you know, things like that that 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:56.279 they might encounter on the trail or abrasions. Um. It's 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:58.880 these little sacks almost as they put on and they're 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:02.400 held on with is it leather or velcrow or something 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:05.120 like that, right, just just like little socks they put 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:08.560 on every dog's foot and of course they throw these 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:11.960 off while they're racing, whether they're running. So these guys 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:15.600 will go through the the mushers will spend a significant 0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:18.440 amount of money on dog booties every year in the 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:21.119 training camp in you know, the race itself and other races, 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:24.039 you know, qualifying races or whatever, you know, because the 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:25.919 idea route is not the only race they're gonna be 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.520 in dog race for the year. That that's just not 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:30.680 the way it works. But they will go through. They 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:34.560 buy thousands of dog booties every year. For every team, 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:38.200 which I thought was incredible. Thousands of dog booties every year. 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:40.840 It's got to be a huge expense. Yeah, because you 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:43.400 think about it, you can't just if you want them 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:45.960 to be comfortable, you can't just give them those dog 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:49.159 booties during the race. They have to wear these weird 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:53.599 paw shoes during training as well, so that it becomes 0:05:53.600 --> 0:05:57.400 a normal customary thing. And you know the supplies that 0:05:57.400 --> 0:05:59.680 you were talking about that their ship to each checkpoint. 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:02.799 There's limits on this, but I think, and I'm pretty 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:04.120 sure that I read this in the rule book. I 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:05.840 can verify this in just a little bit when you 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:08.920 get to this, but I think it was like sixty 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:11.880 pounds per package is what they what they send, and 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:14.600 that's like it's dog food. That's everything that they need. 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:16.520 The musher needs. Of course, because they got to carry 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:20.680 everything with them, they'd be self sufficient. Um. But the 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:23.240 dogs eat a tremendous amount of food and it's this 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:26.159 really high energy. Um I don't I don't know what 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:27.560 they put in it to make it so high energy. 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:29.560 I'm sure's a lot of protein, probably a lot of fat, 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:31.240 if I had to guess, because they're gonna be burning 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:34.359 so much energy. But a lot of this is dog food. Now, 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:37.640 imagine that you've got to ship sixty pounds of supplies 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:41.320 to twenty six or twenty seven different checkpoints. That that, 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:45.480 right there is a pretty huge logistical nightmare. Yeah, and 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:49.240 gets expensive quickly. That is a lot of that's pounds 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:51.640 of stuff that you gotta get ready ahead of time 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:54.080 and know where you're gonna need it and make sure 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:57.640 it's there. Yeah. And they are already carrying gear with 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:00.840 them that stays with them the entire time. Headlamps for 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:05.920 night travel, tools and parts to repair of sled. Can 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:12.160 you imagine how terrible batteries of course for the lamps 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:15.200 and and you know nowadays people are carrying radios with 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:18.560 them and you know, maybe they're listening to their favorite podcast. 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:23.680 Yeah they probably, yeah, maybe they are, Maybe they are. Uh. 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:26.960 The interesting thing is this reminded me a little bit 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:32.560 about some of the restrictions placed on long haul truckers. Uh. 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:38.320 Every team has three mandatory rest they have to take 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:40.680 during the iditar Rod and this is in the rules. 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:43.560 It is, yes, yeah, they have to take it. Is it? Well, 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:45.520 there's a twelve hour laver and then there's a twenty 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:47.760 four hour layover. Is that right? Well, there's a twenty 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:50.440 four hour layover that they can take at any point, 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:54.160 at any checkpoint. It's a strategy game. Yeah, they decide 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:56.320 when the dogs need it, when they need it, what 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:58.840 the weather is doing. All that that plays into when 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:01.200 they take that twenty four hour break right, and then 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:05.679 they have two mandated eight hour layovers they have to take. 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:11.040 One is at any checkpoint along the Yukon River, and 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:14.320 then the one that never they can never move is 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:19.360 the eight hour stop at White Mountain. Okay, So there, 0:08:19.400 --> 0:08:22.240 I think you make a fantastic point. There's Scott. With 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:26.600 the flexibility of those two other places, there are there 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:31.560 ample opportunities to uh, to give yourself that last burst 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:36.960 of energy to recover from a particularly arduous leg. But 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:41.120 there are also opportunities to fall behind. Because what if 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:43.400 you are in the lead, you know what I mean, 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:46.120 And I don't know whether this has ever happened, and 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:49.400 you're like two checkpoints away but you haven't burned your 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:52.960 twenty four hour layover yet and you have to sit 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:54.920 there again. I don't know if this has happened, but 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:56.640 can you imagine like you have to sit there for 0:08:56.679 --> 0:09:00.480 some reason and you're watching there, watching the four number 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:02.800 two and the former number three, neck and neck, and 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:06.400 you're thinking, maybe I should ask him to pause for 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:09.920 like twelve hours. Yeah, you don't have like that pause 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:12.280 button for them, right, I mean, it's only your your own, 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:14.280 your own account. And you know, I think I said 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:16.719 twelve hour lay over a mistaken You're right, it was 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:19.480 eight hours. But yeah, that's gotta be frustrating to have 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:21.800 to take that time, that downtime for some of them. 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:23.920 Others might wish it was more, and I think others 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:26.160 do take more. It's all up to you. It's just 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:27.920 how quickly do you want to finish this? And this 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:31.440 is a race of days? And you know, it's not 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:33.920 like a race of you know, hours and minutes. It's 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:37.600 a very long drawn out process right where you have 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:39.480 to play the long game. I mean the long game. 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:41.280 We're talking more than a week. It's a it's a 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:47.040 long it's a long journey from Anchorage to Nome. And they, 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.640 I mean they have to kind of account for the unforeseen. 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:52.440 Maybe that's the way they have to do it. So 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.360 if you take that break early on, what happens if 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:57.480 there's a blizzard, you know, up ahead that you don't 0:09:57.520 --> 0:09:59.440 know about her, you're not aware of that's it's on 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:02.320 its way that you know, suddenly cuts your visibility to 0:10:02.400 --> 0:10:06.400 zero and you know the temperature is eighty below zero um, 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:09.240 that's fahrenheit. That's not well, I guess would be worse 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:12.600 for celsius. Right, Oh, maybe it's not that bad then, right, 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:16.160 eighty blow fahrenheit. That's if there's ad blow Celsius. Look out, 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:18.720 that's like, that's like you're on neptune or something. No, 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:20.400 I'm just kidding that, but I mean that's a really 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:26.640 important point though, that people there are three mandatory minimum 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:31.760 layover times, but anything can happen, so people end up 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:34.960 taking extra time. This is like this like pit strategy 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:38.680 and racing right or refueling strategy or any Every race 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:41.040 has its own strategy and how people like to run it, 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:43.040 even like horse racing or something like that. You know, 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:44.920 like you do you hold back and then give it 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:46.280 the all out there at the end of the last 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:48.760 stretch or do you just consistently go or you know, 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:50.160 how do you do it? How do you play it? 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:52.920 Do you sand bag and then uh or at the 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:55.439 end um or just just go for it right out 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:57.400 of the gate. I mean, it all depends on the horses. 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:00.000 I guess it depends on your team, your dog team, 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:02.760 and your ability. You know, you're you know, you know 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:05.640 how how much you can take. And again this is 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:09.240 a true test of human endurance as well. Um not 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:12.200 many people are are fit for for a trip like 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:14.000 this really when you think about it, I mean, I 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:15.760 get cold walk into my car right now. It's the 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:18.720 mid it's mid thirties here in Atlanta, and I don't know, 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:20.560 I guess I've become kind of a weather wimp, you know, 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:23.520 like it's cold, it's colder at night, you know, I 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:25.480 gets down to the twenties, I don't want to take 0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:27.080 the dog out to go to the bathroom out in 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:31.240 the backyard or something. It's uncomfortable. I don't want to 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:34.920 be uncomfortable anymore. And look at them there, I mean, 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:38.960 really blizzards eighty they I think they've recorded temperatures as 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:42.160 low as one hundred below zero. And that's that's wind chill, 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:46.680 of course, windschill. But have you ever felt like forty 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:49.760 below zero? Uh, you know, wind chill. It's it's awful. 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:52.160 Like they tell you not to expose your skin to it. 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:53.640 They tell you that you can't go outside of Man, 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:57.800 are you not supposed to breathe? It's it's forty below 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:00.880 is cold meth. We've talked about the Midwest and like 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:03.160 I remember, my dad went out to his older cars 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:05.120 that had you know, vinyl seats, and you sit in 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:07.160 them and they crack all the hell. It's like you 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:09.280 broke a chocolate bar that's been in there for a 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:11.720 freezer or something. You know, It's like it's like that. 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:14.320 I mean, it's that brittle. So can you imagine what 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:17.200 a hundred below feels like? And they really do race 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:21.160 through that. It's it's insane. I feel it feels like, 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:23.160 you know what I would do it to say that 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:26.800 I had had that experience. What if it kills you, well, 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:28.640 then I won't get to say that I had that. 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:34.040 Ben had one third of that experience and that's when 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:37.120 and that's how it ended for him. We would be 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:41.839 left to spread the word have been You're gonna say 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:49.720 his ashes on the Wow, this escalated pretty quickly, guys, 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:53.640 But let's let's stay with the trail. Let's let's talk 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:56.400 a little bit about this because we know that it 0:12:56.480 --> 0:13:00.200 can be dangerous. There have been canine deaths, especially, A 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:05.440 lot of the rules are focused on safety. Those those 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:09.560 layovers are not just to make things interesting, you know 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:13.079 what I mean? Uh, this is I believe, as as 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:15.440 we said at the top of part one, this is 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:21.280 an incredibly brutal experience, right, Definitely, it's a race of endurance. 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:23.560 There's a lot of factors that go into being a 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:25.880 top performer versus being just one of the people that 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:29.120 are there to finish this. This race we keep saying, 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:32.040 a test of endurance or physical challenge, or you know, whatever, 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:34.640 however you want to label that you were this The 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:38.960 idea will routinely come up on lists of the ultimate 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:42.000 tests of human endurance of how much can a human stand, 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:45.880 whether it's heat, cold, time, you know, whatever the case 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:48.600 may be. And there's a lot of absurd world records 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:50.760 that people have said that are tests of endurance, and 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:52.480 I don't need I don't think we have a chance 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:54.439 to go into all those, but that the contest, the 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:58.520 test that the people routinely do year after year, those 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:00.360 are the ones that I find probably the most interesting. 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:01.840 And I did a ride. It happens to come up 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:04.040 on every list that I looked at so far, and 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:05.400 a couple of them, just so you get an idea 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:08.240 of what is on these lists. There's there's the Race 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:12.760 Across America UM, which is a bicycle ride that goes 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:15.559 across the United States all the way across all three 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:18.599 thousand miles and it's essentially like a they call it 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:21.200 a like a one leg bicycle race. It's it's just 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:25.360 this intense right across the United States. As fast as 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:27.360 you can go, people do it and something like I 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:29.520 think the maximum you can do it is in twelve days. 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:31.760 The person who has done it the fastest was like 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:34.480 seven days. Can you imagine riding your bike in seven 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:36.960 days from coast to coast in the United States and 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:40.240 we're talking, you know, again, over three thousand miles in 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:43.040 that this in that time UM. That was back in 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:46.440 two thousand and fourteen. There's the Marathon de Sable, which 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:49.560 is happening or Sabelle and I don't know Sable in Morocco, 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:52.920 and uh, that's the one that you have to be 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:56.280 entirely self sufficient. It's an ultra marathon. The first race 0:14:56.320 --> 0:15:01.120 was held in and it's essentially a race across hot sands. 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:04.280 I mean it intensely hot sands. You're racing across the desert, 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:09.520 and then that's that. Um, you know, these are really 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:13.280 really dangerous. There's Ramsey's Round in Scotland. There's the Iditarod Trail, 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:15.160 which we've been talking about all day. We can you 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:17.240 can find out the details, and that there's something called 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:20.040 the Jungle Marathon that happens in Brazil, which I think 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:23.360 is really interesting. And one thing that okay, this is 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:26.080 the last thing I'll mention about this endurance thing, but um, 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:30.160 maybe for now. UM. They at one point that they 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:32.440 pointed out in this National Geographic article that I was reading. 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:34.440 He says, the winner of the two thousand fifteen race 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:38.080 is um named Thomas Witwick of Germany, was stung by 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:40.920 a sting ray before the race even started, and then 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:44.840 he went on to win in forty hours and ten minutes. UM. 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:47.760 This is a race that has running at forty degrees celsius. 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:49.600 I don't know what that temperature is, but it's hot. 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:53.760 It's the jungle, um humidity. It's a hundred and fifty 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:57.040 eight mile course that goes through um and of course, uh, 0:15:57.080 --> 0:16:02.000 you know, swamps and rivers and steep descents, trails, beaches, climbs, 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:06.000 there's it's just crazy. Of the people drop out ever 0:16:06.080 --> 0:16:09.040 before reaching the end just because of exhaustion. Did you say, 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:12.240 did you say forty degrees celsius? Four degrees celsius. It's 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:15.800 a hundred of four degrees they're running and what essentially 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:18.280 is an ultra marathon. I guess in uh a hundred 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:20.320 it's a hundred and fifty eight miles through the jungle 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:24.120 in Brazil with you know, they say anacondas they've got 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:28.400 piranhas in the rivers or jaguars in the trees. Different. Yeah, exactly. 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:30.320 I mean the winner that year in two thousand fifteen 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:32.560 got stung by a sting right before the race. And 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:36.440 still I mean, that's that's nuts. So yeah, these these 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:38.760 testsain endurance, like they're not for the faint of heart. 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:42.040 And the Iditarade is something that just when you when 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:44.840 you ponder what it takes in your head to to, 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:47.480 you know, take off from that start line and know 0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:51.520 that your destination is a thousand miles away through that territory. 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:55.360 It's it's pretty shocking. Most people who perform well in 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:59.200 the Iditorade are from northern states in the United States, 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:04.640 are Arctic states. Yeah, something you have to kind of becca, Yeah, 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:08.600 are we gonna have like a like a cool Runnings 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:12.840 kind of moment? You know, Oh yeah, you know Jamaican 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:14.600 team is going to show up there in Alaska and 0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:19.760 well maybe not when, but it's fun doing stuff. Relay 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.080 team go up there and do it. Yeah, you have 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:25.359 relay teams and I did Rod. I know you have 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:27.280 to be a single single it has to be a 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:30.440 single musher and the team is already signed up ahead 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:32.080 of time and the team. Oh that's another thing. That 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:35.760 dogs are all chipped, and of course there's careful veterinary 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:38.720 care along the way. You know, beforehand, there's all the vaccinations, 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:42.400 there's everything that they need to have for the medically 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:44.919 is done ahead of time and during the race and 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.320 then after as well, they after care sure when they 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:51.560 make their stops, they do during those stops. The chipping 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:53.920 is important because that shows that you're not swapping out 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:56.439 dogs that you know, weren't there at the beginning. You 0:17:56.480 --> 0:17:59.160 know exactly who's who when they get because it's tough 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:01.720 to say like, well, of course that's uh, that's my 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:04.199 dog milky way there. You know that's happened before and 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:07.080 that's why or whatever. Yeah, I mean, that's another fight. 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:09.159 Look at the list of names of the dogs on 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:11.480 the teams. They're all pretty funny. But but imagine you've 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:13.560 got a name, you know, twelve dogs a couple of 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:15.919 times a year, you know, yeah, litters of dogs that 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:17.760 you then select your best team from, you know, the 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:20.239 training camps. And so when I was there, they were 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:23.320 naming dogs like by groupings. Like they named them, uh 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:25.520 like fashion names or you know, it could be like 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.040 Nike and Adidas, and you know, like that's the names. 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:29.520 Like they kind of run out of names. They can't 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:32.960 name them like here's you know, Ben Scott and Kurt 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:35.959 it's they do, but um, you'll run out. So they 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:39.320 were naming them like candy bar names, and they I 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:41.600 don't know, they come down to like star names or whatever. 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:43.480 You know. It's it's like grouping, so it's easier to 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:46.440 remember them all. Um, but imagine you have to name 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:48.760 like thirty six dogs a year. That's hard. I used 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:52.040 to I used to volunteer at this animal shelter, and 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:54.040 the one thing that irked me about it was a 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:57.280 great place. Um, then support your local animal shelter. The 0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:00.840 one thing that urged me about it was that someone 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:05.679 had this prestigious job where they would name animals and 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:08.520 they were just terrible at it. Now, you know, it's 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:11.520 a person who had been working there for years, so 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:13.240 he's trying to be fair. And I was thinking, you know, 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:18.120 maybe at some point this person just ran out of names. 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:21.560 It's like, I don't think this cat's name should be umbrella. 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:24.560 But look, I just volunteer here, you know what I mean. 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:29.120 I think that's gonna come back to haunt the cat whatever. 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:32.359 But cats don't care what their names are. The kaiser 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:46.040 say thing, Yeah, yeah, yeah, Let's talk about the dogs 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:48.600 a little bit more, and then let's talk about the 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:51.880 actual sled sounder. Yeah of course, all right. So there 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:56.440 are several types of dog breed that are used. Pure 0:19:56.480 --> 0:20:01.040 breads are common in the most northern reaches of the hemisphere, 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:04.520 you know, a Samoyad, Siberian huskies and so on, and 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:07.880 Alaska Mala mutes would be another one. But most racing 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:12.320 and sled dogs are a mixed breed called Alaskan Huskies. 0:20:12.760 --> 0:20:16.120 About ten the breeds like ten thousand years older. So 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:19.280 according to um I did aad sources, it's not an 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:23.600 officially recognized breed, but they're known for a couple of things. 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:28.560 They're known for having very tough feet. They're also known 0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:33.720 for having a good weather proof coat, and they're known 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:39.040 for just loving pulling sleds as I've seen, I've witnessed it, 0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:42.040 and it's weird because, you know, for a lot of 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:46.480 people who criticize the practice of dog sledding, you know, 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:50.280 like Peter and folks of that nature, and even people 0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:54.320 were unfamiliar with working breeds of dogs, it may seem 0:20:54.520 --> 0:21:00.320 incredibly cruel, but it is also a natural inclination. It's 0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:04.000 kind of like, have you guys ever seen hurting competitions 0:21:04.280 --> 0:21:09.880 with working breed dogs. It's really weird because their natural 0:21:09.960 --> 0:21:15.280 inclination seems like such a specific behavior. Any living creatures 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:19.840 natural inclination to be finding a herd of sheep or 0:21:19.880 --> 0:21:22.879 something and then just like not attacking them, just walk 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:27.080 making them go weird places. That's to me, that's weirdly specific. 0:21:27.280 --> 0:21:30.880 That's also something that these sorts of breeds seem acclimated 0:21:30.920 --> 0:21:32.760 to doing. Have you ever been around a dog that 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:36.160 is a hurting dog that is not anywhere like anywhere 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:38.960 near a farm. Yes that it was born hurting dogs, 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:42.520 but born like maybe in the city somewhere and you 0:21:42.520 --> 0:21:43.840 you know, you you take it out to the park 0:21:43.920 --> 0:21:48.640 or whatever, and that dog will show hurting characteristics, will 0:21:48.680 --> 0:21:52.560 trying to hurting traits, trying to kids. They will, they 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:54.720 really will. I mean, it's I've seen it with my 0:21:54.720 --> 0:21:57.560 my brother in law's dogs and uh and they do 0:21:57.600 --> 0:22:00.960 this and they have never ever herded sheep as far 0:22:01.040 --> 0:22:03.080 as I know, or cattle or you know, whatever. They heard. 0:22:03.119 --> 0:22:05.320 They just want people to move together. They do. They 0:22:05.320 --> 0:22:07.439 want it's like they want order and they're gonna make 0:22:07.480 --> 0:22:10.080 it happen, you know, that's what. It's just little dogs 0:22:10.080 --> 0:22:11.240 and it's like, what are you what are you doing? 0:22:11.320 --> 0:22:13.000 You're trying to force me to go the way that 0:22:13.040 --> 0:22:15.800 you want me to go, But they do. It's it's 0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:19.199 just it's completely instinctual in these dogs, and they do 0:22:19.240 --> 0:22:21.440 get excited about it. Like you said, it's not it's 0:22:21.480 --> 0:22:24.159 not what people think. I mean, I I guess I 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:26.320 had my own preconceived ideas that you know, this is 0:22:26.359 --> 0:22:28.040 a little bit mean to make these like, these dogs 0:22:28.080 --> 0:22:30.400 aren't gonna pull seven people in these sleds, or even 0:22:30.400 --> 0:22:33.080 one person or a thousand miles on the sled. They're 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:36.280 not gonna like that. But when you see the excitement 0:22:36.400 --> 0:22:38.920 and the and and the energy that they have, they're 0:22:38.960 --> 0:22:41.920 just jumping all over each other to to pull that sled. 0:22:41.960 --> 0:22:43.800 They want to go, they want to run, and they 0:22:43.840 --> 0:22:47.360 really do. And if you don't buy my version of this, 0:22:48.119 --> 0:22:51.000 go online to any of these training camp sites where 0:22:51.000 --> 0:22:53.560 people have gone and had the same experience and read 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:57.479 the comments. They'll say how excited and and just pumped 0:22:57.560 --> 0:23:00.080 up these dogs are about running and the and how 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:02.720 much they love doing what they do. They really enjoy it, 0:23:03.160 --> 0:23:05.480 and it's it's such a foreign idea to us because 0:23:05.520 --> 0:23:08.119 we think, oh, that's mean making them pull people around, 0:23:08.119 --> 0:23:11.560 and you know there's these toys. It's not to them, 0:23:11.600 --> 0:23:14.640 it's it's sometimes bred into them and they love it. Well, 0:23:14.680 --> 0:23:16.560 this is a race, but we have to remember this 0:23:16.680 --> 0:23:22.680 race only exists because dog sledding was the primary means 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:25.000 of transportation for a lot of people. So if people 0:23:25.080 --> 0:23:27.840 object to the race, that's totally within the right to 0:23:27.920 --> 0:23:32.679 do so. But even abolishing this particular race would not 0:23:32.800 --> 0:23:36.639 abolish the practice of dog sledding because for some people, 0:23:36.920 --> 0:23:41.840 even today, it's a better means of transportation. And with 0:23:41.920 --> 0:23:45.480 these dogs also depend on what side you see about this. 0:23:46.119 --> 0:23:50.040 It's no secret that the endurance test, which is punishing 0:23:50.119 --> 0:23:53.119 to human beings, to the mushers, is also punishing to 0:23:53.200 --> 0:23:57.120 the canines. So yes, over the years, I think as 0:23:57.200 --> 0:24:00.600 recently as a few years back, uh, five dogs had 0:24:00.640 --> 0:24:03.080 died in the course of this. And those kind of 0:24:03.119 --> 0:24:05.760 deaths are you know, some of those things that can't 0:24:06.280 --> 0:24:10.639 be predicted very well. Diet, as you mentioned, is huge. 0:24:10.760 --> 0:24:13.920 These bushers are dedicating a lot of time to taking 0:24:13.920 --> 0:24:17.200 care of their dogs. Uh So they even even that 0:24:17.440 --> 0:24:21.199 high energy density food they get, they supplement it with 0:24:21.320 --> 0:24:26.159 They add water, meat, fat, vitamins, even digestive enzymes to 0:24:26.600 --> 0:24:30.400 I guess, take the inner work of digesting, smooth it out, 0:24:30.440 --> 0:24:32.680 a little bit less work that their body has to do, 0:24:32.920 --> 0:24:35.920 and they could focus more energy on running. Really yeah, 0:24:36.000 --> 0:24:38.280 and you know, when the more I read about these 0:24:38.359 --> 0:24:40.800 dog teams, the more I was You guys know, I 0:24:40.840 --> 0:24:44.480 love comic books and comic book movies. My girlfriend says 0:24:44.480 --> 0:24:48.320 it's because I have terrible taste, but whatever, uh whatever. 0:24:49.240 --> 0:24:53.320 As I was reading about the composition, the position and 0:24:53.359 --> 0:24:58.240 the roles of the different dogs, I felt more and 0:24:58.280 --> 0:25:00.720 more like I was watching when of those films where 0:25:00.720 --> 0:25:03.320 there's a heist crew getting together in the movies and 0:25:03.320 --> 0:25:07.639 then it's like, oh, it's you know, uh, that's uh 0:25:08.280 --> 0:25:12.800 slippery Jimmy he's the safe cracker and scumbag Pete he 0:25:12.880 --> 0:25:15.840 drives to get away from. And they got their own specialty. Yeah, 0:25:15.920 --> 0:25:19.199 they know their specialties, right and uh. And the dogs 0:25:19.200 --> 0:25:23.200 are like this too. There are the lead dogs. Because 0:25:23.200 --> 0:25:26.240 you'll notice when you see the dogs do have certain rules. 0:25:26.640 --> 0:25:31.240 The lead dogs understand these different commands that the mushers 0:25:31.320 --> 0:25:35.040 make and they respond. And I think, um, we had 0:25:35.040 --> 0:25:37.280 talked a little bit about some of those commands off air. 0:25:38.000 --> 0:25:43.520 You mean like g yeah, yeah, Hall means left turn, 0:25:44.040 --> 0:25:47.280 and Jeeves out said, you know, I gotta be honest, man. 0:25:47.320 --> 0:25:49.320 If I'm on the sled and we have to take 0:25:49.359 --> 0:25:55.639 that right turn, I'm just gonna start yelling right and 0:25:55.840 --> 0:25:58.760 dogs will be like the scott guy's in the amateur 0:26:00.280 --> 0:26:02.160 I thought they just like cracked the whip and y'ell 0:26:02.240 --> 0:26:05.680 mush right right. That's what I see in every cartoon, 0:26:05.720 --> 0:26:07.680 and I mean that's that's you know, well, I've seen 0:26:07.680 --> 0:26:10.560 it on many documentaries. I guess there's this one documentary 0:26:10.800 --> 0:26:13.840 Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Yeah, yeah, there's a there's 0:26:13.880 --> 0:26:17.800 a prospector who has a team and uh, Cornelius I 0:26:17.840 --> 0:26:20.840 believe is his name. Do you remember that the doctor 0:26:20.920 --> 0:26:25.639 they did this is like like y R yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:26:25.760 --> 0:26:27.359 He would flip his you know, pick X in the 0:26:27.359 --> 0:26:28.800 air and then pick it up and like it kind 0:26:28.800 --> 0:26:29.960 of licked the end of it and decide if there 0:26:30.040 --> 0:26:32.720 was gold or silver there. Yeah, he's a good guy. 0:26:32.880 --> 0:26:38.320 Those uh, those claymation, those claymation features from you know, 0:26:38.440 --> 0:26:42.360 the fifties through the seventies. Some of them are pretty intense. 0:26:42.680 --> 0:26:45.119 Even watching them again as a kid, I thought, you know, 0:26:46.520 --> 0:26:49.840 my parents were letting me watch this three. I love it. 0:26:49.840 --> 0:26:53.040 You You've gone soft, Ben, I've gone soft, and I 0:26:53.119 --> 0:26:57.080 need to take an identarade trip. Yeah you get back. 0:26:58.400 --> 0:27:02.280 You know, it's weird because some of these dogs also 0:27:02.440 --> 0:27:05.880 are considered not the lead dog. And I didn't think 0:27:05.920 --> 0:27:08.119 about this for some reason. I always pictured the dogs 0:27:08.160 --> 0:27:11.199 being like raised together and trained together. But some of 0:27:11.200 --> 0:27:15.639 them are at different levels of experience and familiarity. So 0:27:15.800 --> 0:27:20.240 dogs that don't understand the directions that just like, who 0:27:20.320 --> 0:27:24.159 is this Kurt Garing guy yelling g at me? Uh? 0:27:24.320 --> 0:27:27.040 Those dogs you would think or put towards the back right, 0:27:27.400 --> 0:27:31.280 but not really. Some dogs have not learned these commands, 0:27:31.280 --> 0:27:34.400 but they're still used as the lead dog because they're 0:27:34.520 --> 0:27:39.320 especially good at discerning trails even when it's blown over 0:27:39.359 --> 0:27:42.520 with snow. Because the good folks at the Identarods are 0:27:42.600 --> 0:27:45.959 are pretty transparent. They say, you know, we will go 0:27:46.119 --> 0:27:50.080 and break the trail beforehand, but due to weather, we 0:27:50.160 --> 0:27:54.720 can't guarantee basically that you're going to be able to 0:27:54.800 --> 0:27:58.200 see the trail itself. Try to put up markers, but 0:27:58.280 --> 0:28:01.119 it's on you. So there are dogs that specialized just 0:28:01.400 --> 0:28:04.639 in finding that trail, and directly behind the lead dogs 0:28:04.640 --> 0:28:08.760 are the point or swing dogs. They're essentially backup leaders, 0:28:09.119 --> 0:28:11.959 second in command. Like if the lead dog is Captain 0:28:12.000 --> 0:28:16.200 Picard in Star Trek, then these are the Lieutenant Rikers. 0:28:17.440 --> 0:28:21.639 Does that work? You've lost me? Yeah? Yeah, I was 0:28:21.680 --> 0:28:24.200 attempting in Star Trek man, I'm I'm I'm out with 0:28:24.280 --> 0:28:26.960 Star Trek. I'm not a Star Trek fan. Yeah yeah, yeah, 0:28:26.960 --> 0:28:28.600 I never happened. I never claimed to be. I think 0:28:28.640 --> 0:28:30.240 on the show we've talked about that man, or maybe 0:28:30.240 --> 0:28:32.679 it was a Jonathan Overn tech stuff. It sounds like 0:28:32.680 --> 0:28:34.800 more of a conversation he and I would have. But um, 0:28:34.840 --> 0:28:37.240 are you big star trek fan? I mean, I I 0:28:37.280 --> 0:28:42.600 like the idea, but I'm not gonna go. Uh yeah, 0:28:42.640 --> 0:28:44.480 I guess so was a bunch of fan of other 0:28:44.520 --> 0:28:46.800 something about you, Kurt. I never got anything. I just 0:28:46.840 --> 0:28:48.800 thought of something. You know what we're talking his space? 0:28:48.840 --> 0:28:53.480 The Final Frontier? Right, yeah? Yeah, Alaska, the last Frontier. Yeah, 0:28:53.760 --> 0:28:55.680 isn't it the last Frontier? And they referred to it 0:28:55.680 --> 0:28:57.680 as the last Frontier? Yeah? Okay, well there you go. 0:28:57.880 --> 0:28:59.280 That's the tie in. There you go, there we go, 0:28:59.360 --> 0:29:02.600 we start it all. We made it so sort of 0:29:03.000 --> 0:29:05.480 so right, So we're on the sled right right in 0:29:05.560 --> 0:29:09.000 front of the sled. The dogs directly in front of 0:29:09.000 --> 0:29:12.160 it are called the wheel dogs. Traditionally, these were the 0:29:12.200 --> 0:29:15.360 dogs that were on the larger side. The average weight 0:29:15.400 --> 0:29:17.800 of a dog there, most of them is going to 0:29:17.880 --> 0:29:22.320 be between forty five and fifty pounds. Um. The wheel 0:29:22.320 --> 0:29:24.960 dogs are gonna be on the bigger end because they 0:29:25.000 --> 0:29:28.760 helped provide that initial power. They're bigger dogs. Yeah, would 0:29:28.800 --> 0:29:33.280 you say they're a little husky? Oh man, I have 0:29:33.480 --> 0:29:38.440 no regrets. That just came to me was reading the 0:29:38.480 --> 0:29:47.200 tag on my jeans. Husky. It's weird because off off Mike, Uh, Scott, Scott, May, 0:29:47.320 --> 0:29:49.840 Kurt and I be quiet for a second, and we 0:29:49.840 --> 0:29:52.480 we just sat here awkwardly in silence for eight minutes. 0:29:52.520 --> 0:29:54.960 That hopefully got cut was Scott ran and got his 0:29:55.000 --> 0:30:01.320 post it note with that joke on it. Uh just 0:30:01.360 --> 0:30:04.360 all relied on you saying bigger dogs. That's all talking 0:30:04.360 --> 0:30:06.360 about the fat dogs. I should have got there earlier. 0:30:06.400 --> 0:30:09.480 But yeah, so we've got the dogs. What about the uh, 0:30:09.960 --> 0:30:11.840 just real quick way, what do we know about this? 0:30:12.000 --> 0:30:16.360 The sleds. The sleds are relatively fascinating. Your modern lightweight 0:30:16.440 --> 0:30:20.520 racing sled generally weighs about twenty to thirty pounds that's 0:30:20.640 --> 0:30:24.560 nine to thirteen point five kilograms, and um most sleds 0:30:24.560 --> 0:30:27.680 are made of ash lash together with leather or nylon, 0:30:28.000 --> 0:30:30.280 though there's a trend to start to make the sleds 0:30:30.280 --> 0:30:33.120 out of more composite materials, which I'm surprised that that 0:30:33.160 --> 0:30:35.960 hasn't taken effect sooner. I bet it's I bet it's 0:30:36.040 --> 0:30:40.440 much more common in competitive sledding, competitive events, you know 0:30:40.440 --> 0:30:42.440 what I mean. I mean, that's a traditional sled that 0:30:42.440 --> 0:30:44.560 we're talking about, right, The ash wood that's lashed together. 0:30:44.560 --> 0:30:46.560 I think it's the one we've can all picture too. 0:30:46.800 --> 0:30:49.280 Is that, you know, the typical wooden sled and geez, 0:30:49.280 --> 0:30:51.200 I mean to be honest, to twenty to thirty pound sled. 0:30:51.320 --> 0:30:53.400 That's not bad. These are big. These are big items. 0:30:53.480 --> 0:30:55.840 They're they're not small. They have to carry all the 0:30:55.880 --> 0:30:57.720 gear that you know we've talked about. And there's a 0:30:57.760 --> 0:30:59.920 couple of different types too. There's the toboggan style. I 0:31:00.000 --> 0:31:02.640 think most people can picture a toboggan with kind of 0:31:02.680 --> 0:31:05.240 the open design. I suppose that's what you said. And 0:31:05.240 --> 0:31:07.320 then there's the other type that's the basket style, and 0:31:07.320 --> 0:31:10.560 that's one that has more of a nose cone look 0:31:10.640 --> 0:31:13.160 to it, like a nose cone of a plane or something. 0:31:14.080 --> 0:31:15.920 And uh, and that one, to me, that makes the 0:31:15.960 --> 0:31:18.120 most sense for this type of race because I've I've 0:31:18.120 --> 0:31:21.400 read that you know, in uh, really really bad weather, 0:31:21.960 --> 0:31:24.440 um or maybe not even and just just normal weather 0:31:24.440 --> 0:31:27.720 they're in Alaska, Uh, the musher can then take their 0:31:27.720 --> 0:31:30.400 sleeping bag and tuck that inside the basket and sleep 0:31:30.400 --> 0:31:32.600 in there and use it as a tent almost, so 0:31:32.600 --> 0:31:34.440 that's where they sleep. The dogs, of course, have their 0:31:34.440 --> 0:31:37.840 own natural protection against weather. And the elements like that. 0:31:37.880 --> 0:31:39.920 But and they do carry straw and things like that 0:31:39.960 --> 0:31:42.480 for them to bed down on at night for the dogs. 0:31:42.560 --> 0:31:45.720 But um, a couple of different designs are possible. And 0:31:45.760 --> 0:31:48.480 you know, we've we've seen other designs of sleds too. 0:31:48.560 --> 0:31:50.720 I mean there's the real, real simple ones that look 0:31:50.800 --> 0:31:54.840 like um, you know, the old old style stadium chairs 0:31:54.880 --> 0:31:58.160 that look like um uh, look like folding chairs almost. 0:31:58.160 --> 0:32:01.480 There wouldn't very very simple to designed, very very small, 0:32:01.480 --> 0:32:03.720 look like match sticks almost. You know that they built 0:32:03.720 --> 0:32:05.960 this chair out of there's that kind I think I 0:32:06.000 --> 0:32:07.600 can't remember the name of it now, but it's a 0:32:07.680 --> 0:32:10.200 very small sled, very short. It's just two skis and 0:32:10.240 --> 0:32:13.960 a seat in front basically, and the musher will stand 0:32:14.440 --> 0:32:16.800 behind the chair with their hands on top of it 0:32:16.880 --> 0:32:19.120 and that's where they guide it from. But lots of 0:32:19.160 --> 0:32:22.440 different types of the dog sleds are possible. But these 0:32:22.520 --> 0:32:25.239 racers have to have some common safety features too, right, 0:32:25.840 --> 0:32:28.400 So when I saw at this this camp was the 0:32:28.400 --> 0:32:31.800 emergency break, which surprised me, right, because the dogs, the 0:32:31.840 --> 0:32:34.040 dogs will take off on their own and pull the 0:32:34.040 --> 0:32:37.560 sled to the next location. They've got some kind of uh, 0:32:37.560 --> 0:32:39.720 well you know I said, they love to to run. 0:32:40.520 --> 0:32:42.640 They'll take off without a musher and go the full 0:32:42.640 --> 0:32:45.040 distance they'll go. They'll go to the next town unless 0:32:45.040 --> 0:32:48.320 they're caught without the musher, and that's happened before. Right. 0:32:48.360 --> 0:32:50.160 You know, they have to send out a team, you know, 0:32:50.200 --> 0:32:53.520 on snowmobiles or snow machines to go out and rescue 0:32:53.560 --> 0:32:56.200 the sled. I guess from the dog teams running away, right. 0:32:56.240 --> 0:32:58.719 And this foot break that they have, think of it 0:32:58.760 --> 0:33:02.400 like a series of laws put activated clause. They also 0:33:02.400 --> 0:33:04.200 have a problem the metal claw, which is called a 0:33:04.360 --> 0:33:08.200 snow hook that can temporarily keep the team station. That's 0:33:08.240 --> 0:33:10.680 the emergency break that put the hook. And the hook 0:33:10.800 --> 0:33:13.400 looks like, um, something you'd catch a whale on or something. 0:33:13.920 --> 0:33:16.960 It's it's this massive dual claw thing that when the 0:33:17.000 --> 0:33:19.800 dogs pull, they actually pull it deeper into the ground, 0:33:19.800 --> 0:33:22.520 into the snow or the ground or whatever. It's um 0:33:22.840 --> 0:33:26.479 it's very effective, but it looks like this massive, massive 0:33:26.520 --> 0:33:28.440 hook thing that has to hold back the entire team 0:33:28.440 --> 0:33:30.800 of dogs. The one that you're talking about is the 0:33:31.120 --> 0:33:32.800 it's called a drag mat and I thought this is 0:33:32.960 --> 0:33:35.600 very clever of them. It's if you can picture a 0:33:35.640 --> 0:33:39.280 piece of conveyor belt that is flipped upside down with 0:33:39.400 --> 0:33:41.640 like you know, the the ridges for the conveyor belt, 0:33:41.640 --> 0:33:44.600 the rubber conveyor belt. Maybe it's you know, two ft wide, 0:33:44.680 --> 0:33:47.440 whatever it happens to be. The span of the skis 0:33:47.480 --> 0:33:50.760 hangs down in between the driver's feet. As the riding 0:33:51.160 --> 0:33:52.800 they can you know, raise it and lowered if they 0:33:52.800 --> 0:33:54.520 want to, But all they have to do is then 0:33:54.600 --> 0:33:56.440 kind of step on the mat to kind of feather 0:33:57.000 --> 0:33:59.360 the speed because you actually the dogs are going so 0:33:59.400 --> 0:34:02.000 fast you have to slow them down and not necessarily 0:34:02.080 --> 0:34:03.760 stop them every time. You can hurt them if you 0:34:04.400 --> 0:34:07.520 stop abruptly, or if they're trying to take a mountain 0:34:07.560 --> 0:34:09.400 pass and the dogs are pulling too fast and you know, 0:34:09.400 --> 0:34:11.120 I think they're gonna go over the edge or you're 0:34:11.280 --> 0:34:13.360 i mean down going downhill too, I would imagine the 0:34:13.400 --> 0:34:16.600 sled picks up quite a bit of speed run up on. 0:34:16.840 --> 0:34:18.759 You know, you want to keep the tension right. A 0:34:18.840 --> 0:34:20.239 very good point. Yeah, And they said that you know 0:34:20.320 --> 0:34:23.280 you can even drive um, you know, nuts and bolts 0:34:23.280 --> 0:34:25.480 through that matt to add kind of some some biting 0:34:25.520 --> 0:34:28.120 strength to it. Uh. There are other types of breaks 0:34:28.120 --> 0:34:30.920 that that can be used but they are not necessarily 0:34:30.920 --> 0:34:33.080 favored on these types of sleds because a lot of 0:34:33.120 --> 0:34:35.080 the racers will race in the same path as the 0:34:35.120 --> 0:34:37.520 person in front of them. It's like a warm path. 0:34:37.680 --> 0:34:39.360 And if you use a different type of break that 0:34:39.480 --> 0:34:42.239 operates where the rails are, where the skis are, you 0:34:42.280 --> 0:34:44.560 will leave deep ruts. Then that the next rider will 0:34:44.560 --> 0:34:46.680 have to have to deal with, you know, where um, 0:34:46.840 --> 0:34:49.200 the sled will bottom out or it will you know, 0:34:49.600 --> 0:34:51.520 lurch to one side or the other, depending on where 0:34:51.520 --> 0:34:53.799 the break was. So these drag mats seem to be 0:34:53.840 --> 0:34:56.520 the key and the whole thing. Pretty smart, smart design, 0:34:56.600 --> 0:35:00.320 pretty smart. And there's another thing. When we talk about design, 0:35:00.840 --> 0:35:03.719 it's not just the design of the sled itself. We 0:35:03.800 --> 0:35:08.080 shall also talk about the design of the race, which, yes, 0:35:08.360 --> 0:35:11.680 I do mean to refer to the rule book that 0:35:11.719 --> 0:35:17.480 you mentioned, Scott, she read the whole thing. I looked 0:35:17.520 --> 0:35:21.440 at it. I didn't, That's all right. I read some 0:35:21.480 --> 0:35:24.319 parts more closely than others. About did you read did 0:35:24.360 --> 0:35:25.879 you read any of the rules at all? I haven't 0:35:25.920 --> 0:35:28.239 read the rules, okay, so I don't know why I 0:35:28.280 --> 0:35:30.680 found this interesting. I I thought I was going to 0:35:30.760 --> 0:35:32.520 be bored to death with the whole thing, right, because 0:35:32.520 --> 0:35:34.719 it's fifteen paid as the rules about a dog sled race, 0:35:34.760 --> 0:35:37.319 and I'm not a dog sled racer, I'm not a musher. Um, 0:35:37.360 --> 0:35:38.880 I don't have much to do with it other than 0:35:38.920 --> 0:35:45.520 we were doing this podcast I started Scott, that's right, 0:35:45.600 --> 0:35:50.440 me and Smokey eunuch. So anyways, I um, I kind 0:35:50.440 --> 0:35:52.080 of looked at it. I started to look at the rules, 0:35:52.080 --> 0:35:54.560 and I got more and more into these rules because 0:35:54.560 --> 0:35:58.000 there's some really obscure, odd rules in here and very strict. 0:35:58.640 --> 0:36:00.839 They're very strict, and of course they're all serious, they're 0:36:00.840 --> 0:36:04.040 all and some of these rules are just so out 0:36:04.080 --> 0:36:07.279 there compared to different races and things that were more 0:36:07.320 --> 0:36:09.920 accustomed to around here, you know, and in other races 0:36:09.920 --> 0:36:12.560 and other parts of our life. But it's just real briefly, 0:36:12.600 --> 0:36:14.960 I mean, the rules are fifteen pages long, and you 0:36:15.000 --> 0:36:17.040 can search this online if you want to look at 0:36:17.080 --> 0:36:20.239 them for yourself. There amusing and interesting and you know, 0:36:20.280 --> 0:36:22.680 informative and all that. It's worth, you know, ten minutes 0:36:22.680 --> 0:36:25.120 of time just to scan them, if nothing else. Just 0:36:25.160 --> 0:36:28.000 search for I did to ride rules and it'll come 0:36:28.040 --> 0:36:30.799 up with a full final list rules. Just to give 0:36:30.800 --> 0:36:32.520 you an example, like a lot of them are about 0:36:32.560 --> 0:36:34.680 the mushers themselves. A lot of them brought the equipment, 0:36:34.800 --> 0:36:38.279 the sleds themselves. There's a whole group of rules just 0:36:38.360 --> 0:36:40.520 about the treatment of dogs, and those are like rules 0:36:40.560 --> 0:36:43.319 number thirty eight through forty eight, and they're thirty seven 0:36:43.320 --> 0:36:45.959 through forty eight, and they're all kind of clustered that way, right, 0:36:46.120 --> 0:36:48.160 And I mean these include things like you know, the 0:36:48.200 --> 0:36:50.520 dog care and the and the food shipping and all that, 0:36:50.600 --> 0:36:52.760 and the amounts and you know, the requirements for shots 0:36:52.800 --> 0:36:55.440 and all that stuff. Very important rules about the dogs 0:36:55.480 --> 0:36:57.759 of course, and the and the mushers and you know 0:36:57.800 --> 0:36:59.520 what they're allowed to do, what they're not allowed to do, 0:36:59.560 --> 0:37:01.480 even to ring and things like that. On the trail 0:37:02.239 --> 0:37:06.120 um there were some really fascinating ones. And I chuckle 0:37:06.160 --> 0:37:08.239 about a couple of these, but you really shouldn't. I mean, 0:37:08.320 --> 0:37:10.520 some of them are again dead serious and there's reasons 0:37:10.520 --> 0:37:12.359 behind this. But one of the funny ones that came 0:37:12.400 --> 0:37:16.440 across initially was a rule number thirty four. So if 0:37:16.440 --> 0:37:19.040 you look at rule number thirty four, it's about the 0:37:19.120 --> 0:37:23.000 killing of edible game in that you you're it's necessary 0:37:23.080 --> 0:37:25.440 in order to protect your life or your equipment or 0:37:25.480 --> 0:37:27.360 your team or you know, whatever whatever that happens to 0:37:27.360 --> 0:37:29.759 be your your life or your property. I guess in 0:37:29.880 --> 0:37:33.160 defense of that, and it has happened on the trail before. 0:37:33.239 --> 0:37:35.239 The fact is that when this race is run in 0:37:35.360 --> 0:37:38.520 March of every year, there's a lot of snow up there, 0:37:38.600 --> 0:37:40.960 and of course as a lot of snow, and that 0:37:41.000 --> 0:37:43.759 will often force the moose out onto the trails which 0:37:43.800 --> 0:37:46.480 are less wooded, and it's easier for them to get 0:37:46.520 --> 0:37:49.120 around to forage and to you know, just just to 0:37:49.160 --> 0:37:52.560 get to a point A to point B for the moose. However, 0:37:52.560 --> 0:37:54.640 you come around a corner and there's a mad moose 0:37:54.680 --> 0:37:57.520 in front of you, they start charging your dog team, 0:37:57.560 --> 0:37:59.919 which they do. They get angry. There have been time 0:38:00.000 --> 0:38:02.120 in the past. In fact, I think the first woman 0:38:02.160 --> 0:38:05.360 who runs who uh no, and I'm sorry the second 0:38:05.360 --> 0:38:07.759 woman woman to win the race in nineteen I want 0:38:07.760 --> 0:38:11.959 to five missed it only missed the wind in the 0:38:12.000 --> 0:38:16.040 previous year only because a pregnant moose was around one 0:38:16.040 --> 0:38:18.040 of the corners that you came around, and it charged 0:38:18.040 --> 0:38:20.520 her team killed two of her dogs. That the moose 0:38:20.560 --> 0:38:25.480 did injured another one and another writer eventually came upon 0:38:25.560 --> 0:38:27.840 them This is like twenty minutes later came upon them 0:38:27.920 --> 0:38:30.479 and shot and killed the moose. Then there's a rule 0:38:30.680 --> 0:38:32.840 in the in here, this rule number thirty four, about 0:38:32.840 --> 0:38:35.319 what you have to do once you kill the moose. 0:38:35.440 --> 0:38:38.640 This is interesting. Let's walk through this rule thirty four, 0:38:38.760 --> 0:38:41.520 not the famous Internet rule thirty four, which we won't 0:38:41.520 --> 0:38:45.080 mention because this is a family show. Uh. Rule thirty 0:38:45.120 --> 0:38:50.400 four for the iditarod is is the following killing game animals. 0:38:51.800 --> 0:38:55.760 The event that in edible big game animal i e. Moose, caribou, 0:38:55.840 --> 0:38:58.600 buffalo is killed in defense of life or property, the 0:38:58.680 --> 0:39:01.960 musher must gut animal and report the incident to a 0:39:02.080 --> 0:39:06.160 race official at the next checkpoint. Following teams must help 0:39:06.280 --> 0:39:09.960 gut the animal when possible. No teams may pass until 0:39:09.960 --> 0:39:12.319 the animal has been gutted and the musher killing the 0:39:12.360 --> 0:39:16.320 animal has proceeded. Any other animal killed in defense of 0:39:16.440 --> 0:39:19.480 life or property must be reported to a race official, 0:39:19.600 --> 0:39:23.319 but need not be gutted. Interesting, Now, what other race 0:39:23.360 --> 0:39:28.160 have you heard where that is one of the rules. 0:39:28.239 --> 0:39:31.600 You know what, it's probably gonna be in there that 0:39:31.719 --> 0:39:34.479 someone will bend that rule this year. Right? So no, really, 0:39:34.840 --> 0:39:37.120 that's an odd rule, right? I mean, so I read 0:39:37.160 --> 0:39:39.040 that and I thought, well, there's got to be more 0:39:39.080 --> 0:39:40.759 in there. There's gotta be other things like that. But 0:39:40.880 --> 0:39:43.719 the reason that they do that, and if anybody out 0:39:43.760 --> 0:39:46.680 there is confused, it's because it's edible meat. And so 0:39:46.760 --> 0:39:49.680 that you know, the nearest town of the nearest community 0:39:49.960 --> 0:39:51.880 will be able to come out, you know, via radio 0:39:52.040 --> 0:39:53.799 and know where it is and on the course come 0:39:53.800 --> 0:40:00.120 out pick up that you know that now gutted and 0:40:00.160 --> 0:40:02.279 be able to provide to the community. They'll give it 0:40:02.320 --> 0:40:04.520 to those who need, you know, those who need it, 0:40:04.560 --> 0:40:07.600 and whether that's sharing it among you know, the townsfolk, 0:40:07.680 --> 0:40:09.000 or you know, and they know of a family that 0:40:09.080 --> 0:40:11.680 needs meat for the season or whatever, that's what the 0:40:11.719 --> 0:40:13.800 reason is behind that. So you know, if it's another 0:40:13.840 --> 0:40:16.080 type of animal that you know, is not a game animal, 0:40:16.120 --> 0:40:18.360 not not one that people eat, and you still have 0:40:18.440 --> 0:40:21.200 to do that. The gutting rule, I guess doesn't apply 0:40:21.280 --> 0:40:23.320 to that animally, just you know, the caribou, the moose, 0:40:23.440 --> 0:40:26.360 and it was an elker, whatever that was. But I 0:40:26.360 --> 0:40:28.000 thought that was an interesting rule, and there's there are 0:40:28.000 --> 0:40:32.439 several others that are similar interesting items, maybe not quite 0:40:32.520 --> 0:40:34.400 as obscure as that as that one might be. But 0:40:34.880 --> 0:40:39.239 a specific rule. Number sixteen is a mandatory items list 0:40:39.280 --> 0:40:43.120 that the mushers must carry, and and that's important. I mean, 0:40:43.120 --> 0:40:45.120 everybody has common sense, you know, about what they need 0:40:45.160 --> 0:40:47.439 to wear, you know, the number of layers, the type 0:40:47.480 --> 0:40:50.239 of jacket or gloves or whatever. But this one has 0:40:50.400 --> 0:40:52.920 mandatory items that you have to carry in order to 0:40:53.040 --> 0:40:56.799 be cleared for um, you know, for for competition. Some 0:40:56.920 --> 0:41:00.080 of it's basic and some of it's pretty impressive. So 0:41:00.200 --> 0:41:02.840 of course the sleeping bag duh, yeah, but with a 0:41:02.840 --> 0:41:06.320 minimum weight right right, minimum must weigh five pounds minimum, 0:41:06.760 --> 0:41:12.600 and an ax uh snowshoes specific dimensions for those any 0:41:12.719 --> 0:41:18.200 promotional material provided by the race organization. Eight booties for 0:41:18.320 --> 0:41:21.400 each dog in the sled or in use, so it's total, 0:41:21.840 --> 0:41:24.560 so they need at least four that they're wearing at 0:41:24.600 --> 0:41:27.360 all times, and a backup. So you got twelve dogs, 0:41:27.440 --> 0:41:30.719 you need eight booties for each dog. Do you can 0:41:30.760 --> 0:41:32.120 do the math, But that's a it's a lot of 0:41:32.120 --> 0:41:35.280 booties to carry around initially, and then that number declines 0:41:35.280 --> 0:41:37.080 of course as you go through them and drop off 0:41:37.080 --> 0:41:39.640 dogs and things like that. And then if this was interesting, 0:41:39.680 --> 0:41:42.879 this impressed me a veterinarian notebook because when you get 0:41:42.880 --> 0:41:46.960 to the veterinarian checkpoint, you have to have It's essentially, 0:41:47.000 --> 0:41:49.480 you know, like if you're a responsible car owner, you 0:41:49.560 --> 0:41:52.640 keep a repair log and you have your mileage and 0:41:52.719 --> 0:41:55.520 you have the you know, like your yearlies and all 0:41:55.560 --> 0:41:58.359 that stuff, your thirty care or whatever. Uh. They kind 0:41:58.360 --> 0:42:01.520 of have that for the dogs, right, which I thought 0:42:01.680 --> 0:42:06.080 was responsible. And then they have to have dog coats. Uh. 0:42:06.120 --> 0:42:09.319 They they've got They've got several specific things here. I'll 0:42:09.360 --> 0:42:13.200 tell you one thing that I was curious about that 0:42:13.280 --> 0:42:15.200 I didn't find out until I went to the rule 0:42:15.280 --> 0:42:20.480 book was well, you know, I'm a cheap skate. Ever 0:42:20.520 --> 0:42:23.040 since we did this, I'm still I'm still really a 0:42:23.120 --> 0:42:27.520 cheap skate. It's impairing my relationships. But I looked into, uh, 0:42:28.080 --> 0:42:30.000 I looked into how much it would cost to get 0:42:30.040 --> 0:42:34.920 going right, not counting equipment, not counting dogs. Dogs are 0:42:34.920 --> 0:42:39.200 the biggest expense. Equipment is a second right. The entry 0:42:39.280 --> 0:42:44.000 fee alone is four grand. It's pretty expensive. It's just 0:42:44.120 --> 0:42:47.400 it's not I'm saying this because we need to establish 0:42:47.520 --> 0:42:49.799 This is not a thing where you can just like 0:42:49.960 --> 0:42:54.239 fly up a few weeks before March and say, you know, hey, 0:42:54.280 --> 0:42:59.160 how much is a sled going around me target or something. Uh, 0:42:59.400 --> 0:43:02.120 you have to it, you have to. That's four grand 0:43:02.360 --> 0:43:08.000 if you submit before December two. After that you have 0:43:08.120 --> 0:43:12.600 to pay an extra nonrefundable fee. So it's eight grand, 0:43:12.960 --> 0:43:15.800 eight thousand dollars just just to enter. That an extra 0:43:15.880 --> 0:43:19.359 four grand. Yeah if you go late yeah and yeah 0:43:20.200 --> 0:43:23.160 yeah steep it is a steep late feet and really 0:43:23.160 --> 0:43:25.640 when you think about how much it takes too. I 0:43:25.640 --> 0:43:28.200 mean a lot of these you know runners at the 0:43:28.200 --> 0:43:30.359 Wade Wade Mars, the guy that I was talking about, 0:43:30.360 --> 0:43:33.279 he runs his own kennel now, so he has, you know, 0:43:33.320 --> 0:43:37.279 the dogs on his property that he has grooming for 0:43:37.320 --> 0:43:39.839 this whole thing. And of course there's gonna be you know, 0:43:39.880 --> 0:43:41.839 speaking engagements that they can do and make a little 0:43:41.840 --> 0:43:45.080 money here and there. Last I heard, the payoffs weren't 0:43:45.760 --> 0:43:48.719 terribly great compared to what you invest in order to 0:43:48.800 --> 0:43:51.320 run in this race because the sleds are expensive. The 0:43:51.360 --> 0:43:53.680 equipment is expensive. We all know. I mean, try to go, 0:43:53.719 --> 0:43:57.120 try to buy a really nice jacket, just asn't a 0:43:57.160 --> 0:44:01.520 simple example, just one jacket. Yeah, that's a expensive item, right, 0:44:01.520 --> 0:44:03.400 so you're gonna buy that. You gotta buy you know, 0:44:03.480 --> 0:44:06.120 the all of the gear that is arctic gear, you know, 0:44:06.160 --> 0:44:09.040 stuff that's I mean, we're talking really really heavy duty 0:44:09.080 --> 0:44:13.000 camping gear for for you know, the coldest temperature you 0:44:13.040 --> 0:44:16.719 ever you've ever felt in your life. And keep the 0:44:16.760 --> 0:44:19.400 dogs healthy, You keep the keep the equipment in operation, 0:44:19.560 --> 0:44:21.040 keep all you know, make sure that you have all 0:44:21.080 --> 0:44:23.920 these things shipped. You run a team of people you 0:44:23.920 --> 0:44:26.080 know that are at different checkpoints to help you along 0:44:26.080 --> 0:44:28.360 the way and to pick up dogs and to transport dogs. 0:44:28.400 --> 0:44:33.040 And it's just the logistics of this race are mind boggling, 0:44:33.120 --> 0:44:34.440 you know when you think about what it takes to 0:44:34.440 --> 0:44:36.560 put it together. And it's not something that, like Ben said, 0:44:36.600 --> 0:44:38.400 you can't go there a couple of weeks ahead of 0:44:38.440 --> 0:44:40.280 time and expect to enter the race. This is something 0:44:40.280 --> 0:44:43.640 that you get ready for gears in advance, plan for 0:44:43.840 --> 0:44:47.239 train for you have to qualify for UM. You have 0:44:47.280 --> 0:44:50.880 to get another musher that is already you know, a 0:44:50.960 --> 0:44:54.120 veteran musher to write a note of recommendation for you 0:44:54.200 --> 0:44:56.919 as somebody that they trust if you're a rookie UM. 0:44:57.280 --> 0:44:58.759 You know that's part of the rules too, that you 0:44:58.840 --> 0:45:00.600 have to Yeah, you have to to take a drug 0:45:00.640 --> 0:45:03.920 test thirty days before your dogs have to take a 0:45:04.000 --> 0:45:07.680 drug test during the during the competition as well at 0:45:07.760 --> 0:45:13.719 at points when they decide when they determ So no random, yeah, 0:45:13.760 --> 0:45:15.840 like any athletes. Yes, you're not gonna have You're not 0:45:15.840 --> 0:45:17.560 gonna have a chance, you know, to warm up with 0:45:17.600 --> 0:45:20.840 some brandy along the course there if you want to 0:45:20.400 --> 0:45:22.800 do maybe you can have a tiny little bit of brandy. 0:45:22.800 --> 0:45:25.040 But that's about it. And they check the dogs as well, 0:45:25.239 --> 0:45:28.240 and it's completely random. They may say, the first grouping 0:45:28.320 --> 0:45:31.279 of fifteen mushers that enter this town, we're going to 0:45:31.360 --> 0:45:32.919 test all of them, you know, with the spit test 0:45:33.040 --> 0:45:35.760 you're in, test of blood test, to hair test, whatever 0:45:35.800 --> 0:45:38.239 it is. We're gonna test the dogs. Or they may 0:45:38.320 --> 0:45:41.680 just randomly select one person. They may it's it's really 0:45:42.160 --> 0:45:44.160 as they see fit. I guess when they do it. Okay, 0:45:44.160 --> 0:45:46.600 So that's where there's oh man, that's another thing, you know, 0:45:46.719 --> 0:45:50.720 the drugging of dogs for added performance. That's that's another rule, 0:45:51.280 --> 0:45:53.520 which is rule number happens to be number thirty nine. 0:45:53.600 --> 0:45:57.120 I believe of the substances that you had talked about before, 0:45:57.120 --> 0:46:00.680 you know, no diuretics, no muscle relax just for the dogs. 0:46:00.800 --> 0:46:04.560 Thing that can suppress signs of illness or injury. They will. However, 0:46:04.600 --> 0:46:07.279 I thought this is interesting. Let them use steroids on 0:46:07.320 --> 0:46:10.600 their paws, a certain type of steroids that are approved 0:46:10.800 --> 0:46:13.319 through the through the medical office. They're ahead of time 0:46:13.400 --> 0:46:16.799 the veterinary office uh for injured pause so that they 0:46:16.840 --> 0:46:20.400 heal quickly, because you know they do. That's they're taking 0:46:20.760 --> 0:46:22.799 a ton of abuse on that On that course, you know, 0:46:22.840 --> 0:46:24.680 the ice and snow and rocks and all that. You know, 0:46:24.680 --> 0:46:28.360 the debris is there. Uh, and the dogs are evaluated 0:46:28.440 --> 0:46:32.839 pretty thoroughly by a veterinarian before entering the race. There's 0:46:32.880 --> 0:46:36.000 one other drug they're allowed to use, uh for an 0:46:36.200 --> 0:46:43.520 estrius suppressant. It's called ovavan is the U it's super creative. 0:46:43.600 --> 0:46:46.080 Well it gets kind of specific, right yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:46:46.239 --> 0:46:50.040 I believe that drug is specifically meant to keep the 0:46:50.080 --> 0:46:54.520 dogs out of heat. Oh, stay focused on the race, 0:46:54.800 --> 0:46:57.759 on the mission. Stay focused. Dogs stay focused. So Uh, 0:46:57.920 --> 0:47:02.000 it's strange because like many like many other uh competitive 0:47:02.000 --> 0:47:05.719 sports or other races they did have in the I 0:47:05.800 --> 0:47:08.720 did rod a bit of a doping scandal in recent 0:47:08.800 --> 0:47:12.600 years because there were some dogs that tested positive. Well, 0:47:12.600 --> 0:47:15.320 that's why they're pretty specific about it, right, And what's allowed, 0:47:15.360 --> 0:47:16.840 and if you look at the list, it does have 0:47:17.000 --> 0:47:19.839 the uh, the feeling to me that like every year 0:47:19.880 --> 0:47:22.560 that list probably grows a little bit like someone tries 0:47:22.640 --> 0:47:24.840 something new, you know what I mean, Like they detect 0:47:24.880 --> 0:47:28.080 something that is somehow an enhancement to that dog's energy 0:47:28.160 --> 0:47:31.560 level or the the oxygen um you know, carrying capability 0:47:31.560 --> 0:47:33.080 of the blood level and that dog, you know that 0:47:33.120 --> 0:47:35.520 type of thing. It's just like you said, it's like Nascar, 0:47:35.800 --> 0:47:38.399 the way that Nascar changes every time. Also, one thing 0:47:38.440 --> 0:47:42.120 I love about really specific rules like this. Anywhere you go, 0:47:43.239 --> 0:47:46.840 whether it's a department store or whether you're putting together furniture, 0:47:46.840 --> 0:47:50.520 and look at the instructions there. The weirdly specific stuff 0:47:50.960 --> 0:47:54.319 always tells a story between the lines, you know what 0:47:54.360 --> 0:47:58.160 I mean. Like even when you see those bizarre laws 0:47:58.200 --> 0:48:00.480 that are still on the books in different U States, 0:48:00.920 --> 0:48:03.880 it's like, imagine you're putting together a couch and it's like, 0:48:03.920 --> 0:48:07.680 all right, step four attached the joist from point A 0:48:08.040 --> 0:48:11.920 to the uh you know, to the this part of 0:48:12.120 --> 0:48:15.319 point B. And then like the next step is like, 0:48:15.719 --> 0:48:22.279 under no circumstances, attempt to entirely eat joist and digest them. 0:48:22.920 --> 0:48:28.319 Uh if if you do so contact medical professional immediately. Uh. 0:48:28.400 --> 0:48:32.359 Please note that the joist should no longer be considered usable. Uh. 0:48:32.440 --> 0:48:36.160 Please see Appendix A for full details. And you're like, oh, 0:48:36.320 --> 0:48:38.520 eight part of this, you know what the equivalent of 0:48:38.560 --> 0:48:41.040 this is here in the office, Like if you know, 0:48:41.080 --> 0:48:43.960 suddenly an email comes out about something that you've just done. 0:48:44.280 --> 0:48:47.480 You know, yeah, you burn you burn something in the toaster. 0:48:47.600 --> 0:48:49.840 It's like, you know, and an hour later the email 0:48:49.880 --> 0:48:52.720 comes out to everyone, you know, for all the future 0:48:52.800 --> 0:48:55.120 users of the of the toaster, you know that type 0:48:55.120 --> 0:48:57.560 of thing. You know, so um, you know exactly there's 0:48:57.600 --> 0:48:59.840 there's one person that has has screwed something up in 0:49:00.000 --> 0:49:11.520 case that rule to be enacted. Unfortunately, if you go 0:49:11.560 --> 0:49:13.879 down a couple of rules farther down to forty two, 0:49:14.400 --> 0:49:17.280 there's a rule about expired dogs, as we talked about before, 0:49:17.320 --> 0:49:19.240 and then the treatment of those and what has to happen, 0:49:19.320 --> 0:49:22.200 and just so everybody is aware of this, when a 0:49:22.360 --> 0:49:25.080 dog does expire on the trail, which does happen, um 0:49:25.360 --> 0:49:27.839 and for for whatever reason they determine the reason, they 0:49:27.880 --> 0:49:30.000 do a quick UM. I don't think they call it 0:49:30.080 --> 0:49:32.640 an um. An autopsy is called like a necropsy. I 0:49:32.680 --> 0:49:35.640 think or something like that. They run that they have 0:49:35.719 --> 0:49:37.600 you know, veterinarians check it out. They do the blood 0:49:37.600 --> 0:49:41.920 samples and everything. The musher is held in the next checkpoint, 0:49:42.320 --> 0:49:45.400 you know, after the dog is delivered, you know, unfortunately deceased, 0:49:45.520 --> 0:49:48.239 to figure out exactly what happened, to find it, to 0:49:48.280 --> 0:49:50.920 determine if there is any abuse that was there, or 0:49:51.040 --> 0:49:53.879 drug overdose or you know, whatever happened to that dog. 0:49:53.920 --> 0:49:57.080 They find out the cause of death and either um, 0:49:57.120 --> 0:49:59.920 you know, either pull that musher from the competition if 0:50:00.000 --> 0:50:02.640 there is something suspect in there, or they allow the 0:50:02.719 --> 0:50:05.200 musher to continue if it's deemed as you know, a 0:50:05.320 --> 0:50:09.319 natural death, if something an unpreventable hazard enacted. So yeah, 0:50:09.360 --> 0:50:11.040 it's a it's a hazard of the race. And I 0:50:11.040 --> 0:50:14.760 mean it does happen. It does happen. You know, someone 0:50:14.800 --> 0:50:17.520 will point to a human marathon and say that if 0:50:17.560 --> 0:50:20.120 we had deaths in this human marathon at the rate 0:50:20.200 --> 0:50:22.759 we have in the I did a ride, would have 0:50:22.800 --> 0:50:25.120 a big problem. Right if if people were dropping in 0:50:25.160 --> 0:50:27.920 the Boston Marathon or the New York Marathon like they 0:50:27.960 --> 0:50:30.840 do in the IDDA Rode. And it's not like dogs 0:50:30.840 --> 0:50:32.880 are dying every year by any means, it's just it 0:50:32.920 --> 0:50:35.320 happens occasionally, and it seems like for a couple of 0:50:35.400 --> 0:50:39.520 years there was a like a grouping where it happened often. Um. 0:50:39.560 --> 0:50:42.919 But anyways, that's something you can investigate on your own. 0:50:42.960 --> 0:50:45.400 But um, there is a rule about expired dogs and 0:50:45.440 --> 0:50:47.879 about you know, what has to happen there. Unfortunately, it's 0:50:48.000 --> 0:50:49.879 it has to be there, it has to be there. 0:50:49.920 --> 0:50:52.719 But also it's uh, it's prefaced with the iddar Rod 0:50:52.760 --> 0:50:55.520 holds firmly that no dogs should suffer harm or death 0:50:55.560 --> 0:50:58.480 in connection to the race. And it's good that they 0:50:58.520 --> 0:51:01.479 have a process in place to make sure that there's 0:51:01.520 --> 0:51:05.160 not some unscrupulous musher out there. Absolutely, but you know 0:51:05.160 --> 0:51:07.319 what you talk to, you know people that do this, 0:51:07.360 --> 0:51:09.839 and they they love their dogs. I mean they are 0:51:10.440 --> 0:51:16.239 they're they're part of their family. I mean it's now 0:51:16.280 --> 0:51:19.960 they really do they love these animals. So um, anyways, 0:51:20.000 --> 0:51:22.520 that's well, we'll move on past that. There's another couple 0:51:22.520 --> 0:51:24.280 that I want to mention here that I think we're interesting. 0:51:24.600 --> 0:51:26.680 There are rules about passing which I thought were interesting. 0:51:26.680 --> 0:51:30.719 That's ruled number twenty six passing. There's some interesting right 0:51:30.760 --> 0:51:32.960 of way type situations that happen where you know, if 0:51:32.960 --> 0:51:36.040 somebody is approaching you from behind, you need to let 0:51:36.080 --> 0:51:37.719 them pass, and there's a certain amount of time you 0:51:37.760 --> 0:51:39.920 have to wait and before you retake the trail, and 0:51:39.920 --> 0:51:41.960 you know that type of thing. So there's passing rules 0:51:42.239 --> 0:51:43.960 if you wonder how that works. So they're not getting 0:51:43.960 --> 0:51:45.360 next to each other and you know, like trying to 0:51:45.400 --> 0:51:47.279 knock each other out of the way like had Max 0:51:47.320 --> 0:51:49.759 style or something. I'm not saying that doesn't happen. You 0:51:49.760 --> 0:51:51.719 know that there's not somebody out there that's doing that, 0:51:51.760 --> 0:51:53.239 but do you think they would be reported and the 0:51:53.280 --> 0:51:56.759 next you know, the next checkpoint of course. Yeah. The 0:51:56.800 --> 0:51:59.640 way it works is if someone's coming up behind you, 0:52:00.400 --> 0:52:02.839 they can say get out of the way, and you 0:52:02.960 --> 0:52:05.400 have to you have to stop your team and you 0:52:05.440 --> 0:52:10.040 have to hold the dogs for sixty seconds or until 0:52:10.200 --> 0:52:15.279 the other team is passed, which ever happens first. That's interesting, right, 0:52:15.360 --> 0:52:21.160 But the team that gets past can't repeat that action 0:52:21.640 --> 0:52:24.479 until at least fifteen minutes have expired. So you gotta 0:52:24.480 --> 0:52:26.880 stay behind the team that passed you for a minimum 0:52:26.880 --> 0:52:29.319 of fifteen minutes and then get out of the way. 0:52:29.560 --> 0:52:31.640 Then get out of the way. Well, you got that 0:52:31.719 --> 0:52:33.759 sixty second breaks. You got all that energy, right, you 0:52:33.800 --> 0:52:36.120 can you can last past them, right. I wonder if 0:52:36.160 --> 0:52:38.840 dog dog slads don't have rear view mirrors. So I 0:52:38.880 --> 0:52:41.040 wonder if it's sort of a surprise when someone y 0:52:41.080 --> 0:52:44.880 else behind you. I don't know why that sounded so profound. 0:52:44.960 --> 0:52:47.479 That sounds like what you're talking about with the lead 0:52:47.520 --> 0:52:50.879 dog thing earlier. That sounds like something I would see 0:52:50.880 --> 0:52:54.080 on a bumper sticker. And it's like dog SAIDs don't 0:52:54.120 --> 0:52:57.560 have rear view mirrors. It's not really a life lesson. 0:52:57.600 --> 0:52:59.759 It's just that's just a fact. But it sounds like 0:52:59.800 --> 0:53:02.640 about something it could be. You know, I'm gonna work 0:53:02.640 --> 0:53:05.279 on that. There's got to be something that works, okay. 0:53:05.280 --> 0:53:06.680 And the last one that I wanted to mention, the 0:53:06.760 --> 0:53:09.640 last rule um and of many many rules in this 0:53:09.680 --> 0:53:11.919 book um are is number twenty three. There's something called 0:53:11.920 --> 0:53:15.440 the Good Samaritan rule. And the Good Samaritan rule is 0:53:15.440 --> 0:53:17.040 pretty interesting to me, Ben, I don't have it in 0:53:17.120 --> 0:53:21.000 front of me right now due to a computer failure. 0:53:21.120 --> 0:53:23.440 Rule number twenty three. The Good Samaritan Rules states that 0:53:24.040 --> 0:53:27.480 a musher will not be penalized for aiding another musher 0:53:27.560 --> 0:53:31.320 in an emergency incidents must be explained to race officials 0:53:31.760 --> 0:53:34.480 at the next checkpoint. I love this rule. You know 0:53:34.600 --> 0:53:36.680 this this goes back to you and I talking about 0:53:36.680 --> 0:53:40.200 how we would occasionally, and I guess i've we've slipped 0:53:40.239 --> 0:53:42.560 out of this, but would help someone somebody, you know, 0:53:42.560 --> 0:53:46.040 with the tire, a roadside assistance, you know, like of 0:53:46.040 --> 0:53:48.600 of another citizen. How that's kind of gone away. Now 0:53:48.760 --> 0:53:52.560 we don't necessarily do that anymore here and there. Maybe yes, 0:53:52.640 --> 0:53:55.640 you know, in certain circumstances, but the good Samaritan rule 0:53:55.760 --> 0:53:57.759 ensures that you know, someone's stuck out there in the 0:53:57.800 --> 0:54:01.319 wilderness with a broken uh you know, dog sled ski, 0:54:01.480 --> 0:54:03.239 or you know they're having a trouble of some kind, 0:54:03.360 --> 0:54:07.080 or you know, a moose situation, who knows, whatever it is, 0:54:07.120 --> 0:54:09.799 the good Samaritan rule comes into play that you have 0:54:09.880 --> 0:54:13.840 to aid the other, the fellow contestants, the fellow mushers, 0:54:14.400 --> 0:54:16.120 And I think it's a great rule to have. I 0:54:16.120 --> 0:54:17.840 mean that you know, you can't just ignore them and 0:54:17.920 --> 0:54:19.920 leave them out there, because in this case, you know, 0:54:19.960 --> 0:54:23.359 you ignore them, there's a good chance they might die 0:54:23.400 --> 0:54:26.200 out there. Yeah, the whole team. I mean, it really 0:54:26.200 --> 0:54:29.080 could happen. There have been no human deaths that I 0:54:29.160 --> 0:54:31.720 know of to date from nineteen seventy three until present. 0:54:32.160 --> 0:54:35.560 A few dog deaths here and there, but no human deaths. 0:54:35.560 --> 0:54:37.440 And I think the Good Samaritan rule probably has a 0:54:37.440 --> 0:54:40.200 lot to do with that, being, you know, just helping 0:54:40.200 --> 0:54:43.080 out your fellow man. It seems like that's just the 0:54:43.160 --> 0:54:44.799 right thing to do. Anyway. I think most people would 0:54:44.840 --> 0:54:46.880 do that regardless if there was a rule number twenty 0:54:46.880 --> 0:54:49.560 three if there wasn't, so, I guess the accumulated total 0:54:49.600 --> 0:54:52.120 time kind of the time clock stops when you stop 0:54:52.160 --> 0:54:55.360 to help someone. So before this rule, I mean, I 0:54:55.360 --> 0:54:58.279 would imagine that maybe the drive to yeah, and I 0:54:58.320 --> 0:55:00.640 think it it might come to in a position to 0:55:00.840 --> 0:55:03.200 you know, the one coming to the aid, yeah, is 0:55:03.239 --> 0:55:05.960 not penalized a position versus the other one, because I 0:55:05.960 --> 0:55:07.520 think when they, you know, if they get back on 0:55:07.560 --> 0:55:09.680 the trail, maybe they determine how, you know, what the 0:55:09.719 --> 0:55:12.360 gap should be in that type of thing. So without 0:55:12.400 --> 0:55:16.239 knowing the specifics of every situation, you know, it's tough 0:55:16.320 --> 0:55:19.080 to say, but I think that they're just generally, which 0:55:19.120 --> 0:55:21.560 is nice to say, they're generally fair about things, which 0:55:21.600 --> 0:55:24.600 is good. There's an etiquette to this to the race, yeah, yeah, 0:55:24.680 --> 0:55:28.279 And uh, and a bit of um, you know, I 0:55:28.320 --> 0:55:30.839 mean they're women, and women participate also, but it's kind 0:55:30.840 --> 0:55:34.160 of a gentleman's rule. Well, there's not any um, there's 0:55:34.239 --> 0:55:37.759 chivalry to it, right, and there's there's not any I 0:55:37.760 --> 0:55:40.560 would see. Most of the people racing, they're not there 0:55:40.600 --> 0:55:44.680 to become millionaires off of it. They're they're racing because 0:55:44.840 --> 0:55:49.920 they enjoy the journey and they enjoy the competition. And 0:55:50.000 --> 0:55:55.239 part of the competition is a really enjoyable competition has fairness. Oh, 0:55:55.320 --> 0:55:57.319 this is a generational thing too, right, I mean, well, 0:55:57.320 --> 0:55:59.040 if you look down the list of winners from nineteen 0:55:59.160 --> 0:56:02.439 seventy three till present, you're gonna find that a lot 0:56:02.480 --> 0:56:05.439 of these, uh, the winners of the Idea Rode are 0:56:05.560 --> 0:56:08.000 either you know, I think there's a father's son, there's 0:56:07.800 --> 0:56:10.120 the brother. There's a lot of brothers and even sisters 0:56:10.160 --> 0:56:13.239 that you know, have raised and um, it's just it's 0:56:13.280 --> 0:56:15.960 a it's it's fascinating to look down the list of 0:56:16.400 --> 0:56:18.719 repeat winners and see who's won, you know, three, four 0:56:18.800 --> 0:56:21.359 or five times. It's kind of interesting. You know. Then 0:56:21.360 --> 0:56:23.080 there's always going to be the first, you know, like 0:56:23.120 --> 0:56:27.160 the first father son you know, uh, years apart obviously 0:56:27.239 --> 0:56:29.080 or maybe the next year or whatever. But then you know, 0:56:29.120 --> 0:56:30.440 the first person to win two in a row, the 0:56:30.440 --> 0:56:33.840 first person to win three in a row, um, you know, repeats, 0:56:33.880 --> 0:56:36.600 the first woman, the first uh whatever, you know, there's 0:56:36.600 --> 0:56:39.480 always first of everything. This is one of those sports. 0:56:39.520 --> 0:56:42.000 You It's interesting to me about this, this type ration 0:56:42.160 --> 0:56:45.239 is it's one of those competitions that probably will never 0:56:45.360 --> 0:56:51.040 have autonomous vehicles involved. There probably will not be uh 0:56:51.120 --> 0:56:55.440 electric electrics sled race there probably there there are, but 0:56:55.480 --> 0:56:57.760 it won't be the idea rode and then probably won't 0:56:57.800 --> 0:57:01.040 be you know, a computer at the other end of 0:57:01.080 --> 0:57:04.920 the sled that's yelling. It's you know. Before we finished 0:57:04.920 --> 0:57:06.759 this up, I want to point out that what do 0:57:06.840 --> 0:57:09.560 we say that the first race was one and it 0:57:09.640 --> 0:57:12.600 was like it was like twenty days, that's right, yes, 0:57:12.680 --> 0:57:14.640 twenty days and some out hours, and we were gonna 0:57:14.680 --> 0:57:17.760 we were gonna tell our listeners how that how that 0:57:17.800 --> 0:57:20.040 time has been cut down and cut down and cut down, 0:57:20.080 --> 0:57:23.520 and of course it's incremental, right, twenty days, zero hours, 0:57:23.720 --> 0:57:27.560 forty nine minutes and forty one second. Okay, so twenty 0:57:27.800 --> 0:57:30.800 days is how long that first first competitor was out 0:57:30.840 --> 0:57:32.760 there and all the teams behind him, and that was 0:57:33.000 --> 0:57:35.160 that was the fastest. Everybody else is out there a 0:57:35.160 --> 0:57:38.720 lot longer, right, Okay, So in I only have the 0:57:38.800 --> 0:57:42.720 numbers for number seventeen. Actually, you know what, I shouldn't say. 0:57:42.720 --> 0:57:44.920 I only have the numbers. I have the course record 0:57:45.200 --> 0:57:49.560 which was broken in ten and nineteen didn't produce the record, 0:57:49.600 --> 0:57:52.720 didn't break a record, but seventeen. Uh, the winner was 0:57:52.760 --> 0:57:56.480 a guy named Mike CV, and that's the musher and 0:57:56.800 --> 0:57:59.360 Mike CV. I think he's a repeat winner too, he wasn't. 0:57:59.560 --> 0:58:03.600 This is at first first win. Get this, Ben and 0:58:03.760 --> 0:58:08.840 Kurt get this. Eight days, three hours, forty minutes and 0:58:08.960 --> 0:58:12.160 thirteen seconds. So they have cut down from twenty days 0:58:12.480 --> 0:58:15.760 down to eight days, and not even not even like 0:58:15.800 --> 0:58:19.200 eight and a half days. It's like just over eight days. 0:58:19.240 --> 0:58:21.240 So that's unbelievable to me. I mean, how do you 0:58:21.280 --> 0:58:24.360 cut that much off of the winning time in order 0:58:24.400 --> 0:58:26.280 to in order to break the right? I mean that 0:58:26.280 --> 0:58:28.320 that is a shattered record right there. But I know 0:58:28.720 --> 0:58:31.160 that over the last well, gosh, how many years is 0:58:31.160 --> 0:58:33.800 that now? It's forty plus years, right, forty six years 0:58:33.840 --> 0:58:36.640 now that they run this thing. It's gone down slow, 0:58:36.680 --> 0:58:38.520 you know, slowly. The course record is then, you know, 0:58:38.640 --> 0:58:41.360 nineteen days, eighteen days, you know, it jumps down like that. 0:58:41.400 --> 0:58:45.360 But to get from twenty to eight that's pretty remarkable. Really, 0:58:45.480 --> 0:58:47.240 something's up? I mean, is it better dogs, is it 0:58:47.320 --> 0:58:50.160 better sleds, is it better mushers? Is it faster snow? 0:58:51.520 --> 0:58:54.760 The weather? It was a southern route because it was 0:58:54.760 --> 0:58:57.920 an odd number year, right, Yeah, so maybe the route 0:58:58.120 --> 0:59:01.800 has some sort of role. Um. Yeah, I don't know, 0:59:02.200 --> 0:59:07.160 it's over the years. In the big picture, it's probably 0:59:07.200 --> 0:59:09.640 just the stature of the event and the way that 0:59:09.680 --> 0:59:12.360 people approached it probably just got more and more competitive 0:59:12.400 --> 0:59:15.480 as as things now. See. I buy that too. I 0:59:15.520 --> 0:59:17.840 think that you know, early on, um, you know, I 0:59:17.840 --> 0:59:19.400 think that it was like we're all going to do 0:59:19.440 --> 0:59:21.160 this and it's going to be a good time. But 0:59:21.200 --> 0:59:23.960 no one is like, you know, training in the off 0:59:24.000 --> 0:59:26.040 season in order to lose weight in order to make 0:59:26.080 --> 0:59:28.160 their sled lighter, and no one is you know, looking 0:59:28.200 --> 0:59:31.120 at alternative materials for their sled, and they're not feeding 0:59:31.160 --> 0:59:33.520 their dogs, you know, like super high energy food and 0:59:33.640 --> 0:59:36.800 the right types of medical drugs that they can give 0:59:36.840 --> 0:59:38.880 their dogs that you know, help them to grow bigger 0:59:38.920 --> 0:59:41.240 and stronger and you know that are still legal, you know, 0:59:41.280 --> 0:59:43.560 for the dog race, their dog sled race. But it 0:59:43.560 --> 0:59:45.560 seems like, you know, people get more and more competitive 0:59:45.600 --> 0:59:47.800 about things, and I think money is probably a bit 0:59:47.800 --> 0:59:50.200 of a driver because there is a bigger personnel than 0:59:50.240 --> 0:59:52.120 there ever was. You know, it really wasn't a race 0:59:52.120 --> 0:59:57.080 about money to begin with, was it lifestyles and established sports. So, 0:59:57.480 --> 1:00:00.160 I mean people make their living doing this s these 1:00:00.160 --> 1:00:03.840 types of races. I'm sure that plays into it. Yeah, 1:00:03.880 --> 1:00:05.760 I just I mean, I know that people start to 1:00:05.760 --> 1:00:08.040 take things more and more serious. But it's kind of like, um, 1:00:08.120 --> 1:00:11.800 I see this. I guess a correlation of this is that, 1:00:11.840 --> 1:00:13.280 you know, we talked about how hard it is to 1:00:13.880 --> 1:00:16.720 you can't just show up and do this. There used 1:00:16.760 --> 1:00:18.520 to be there are some types of auto racing that 1:00:18.520 --> 1:00:19.960 you could do the same thing for right, you can 1:00:20.000 --> 1:00:21.720 just show up and race and you know, you pay 1:00:21.760 --> 1:00:23.880 your entrance fee and you've got the same equipment as 1:00:24.040 --> 1:00:26.320 you know the semi pros do that are already there. 1:00:26.800 --> 1:00:28.960 Everything seems to go this way, seems to get this 1:00:29.000 --> 1:00:30.680 way that you know, then if you don't have you know, 1:00:30.720 --> 1:00:32.080 now you're at the point in a lot of series 1:00:32.080 --> 1:00:34.640 where if you don't have two million dollars to start 1:00:34.680 --> 1:00:37.280 and and eight cars you know in the in the garage, 1:00:37.560 --> 1:00:39.120 You're not gonna be able to do it. And it's 1:00:40.040 --> 1:00:43.720 in a way simpler for the dog's letters to compete, 1:00:43.800 --> 1:00:46.760 but it also takes more time and more preparation and 1:00:46.800 --> 1:00:49.160 more understanding of what it was all about in the 1:00:49.200 --> 1:00:51.240 history of in order to to do this. I think 1:00:51.560 --> 1:00:53.439 it feels like we could talk about this all day, really, 1:00:53.480 --> 1:00:56.240 I mean, how these different shades of gray I guess 1:00:56.240 --> 1:00:58.280 of of why people do it and how they get 1:00:58.280 --> 1:01:00.960 better at it, and and I don't know, because you 1:01:01.000 --> 1:01:05.760 can't ride moose. Let's be honest. Dogs are great. Would 1:01:05.800 --> 1:01:08.240 you want to see a moose race? I would want 1:01:08.240 --> 1:01:10.880 to see a moose race? I really would. I would. 1:01:11.080 --> 1:01:14.800 I would they? Would you wear a saddle? Not you? 1:01:14.840 --> 1:01:17.840 I mean, I mean with the moose wear a saddle? Uh, 1:01:18.080 --> 1:01:20.360 that's the thing. Apparently I zoned out for a little 1:01:20.400 --> 1:01:22.480 bit because I was thinking about this, and I just 1:01:22.600 --> 1:01:26.400 checked on it off Mike, and apparently it's very difficult 1:01:26.400 --> 1:01:31.320 to ride moose. They don't care for it. Yeah, they're 1:01:31.360 --> 1:01:34.560 pretty big, Yeah they're they're they can be angry too. 1:01:34.640 --> 1:01:37.120 From what we've heard in the in this did I 1:01:37.160 --> 1:01:40.400 tell you? Yeah, I went. One of the things I 1:01:40.480 --> 1:01:42.640 was doing when I was up in Alaska is I 1:01:42.680 --> 1:01:48.320 interviewed a lovely lady who uh in her she was, 1:01:48.480 --> 1:01:51.760 she's retired, she's elderly now, but even just a few 1:01:51.840 --> 1:01:55.720 years ago, she actually got in one on one fight 1:01:55.800 --> 1:01:59.840 with a moose that was attacking her husband. Well she 1:02:00.120 --> 1:02:02.680 a dog there too, that was trying to chase the 1:02:02.720 --> 1:02:05.360 moose off. But she had to grab a shovel from 1:02:05.360 --> 1:02:09.640 a pickup truck and just start wailing on it. And eventually, 1:02:09.680 --> 1:02:12.920 I think, I think the thing is the size difference 1:02:13.000 --> 1:02:17.520 was so big that eventually the moose just became inconvenienced 1:02:18.200 --> 1:02:22.320 and then decided to leave. You know. Yeah, I was 1:02:22.360 --> 1:02:24.640 just like, well, this is not what I signed up for. 1:02:24.960 --> 1:02:26.560 This is and we've all been there, you know what. 1:02:27.120 --> 1:02:29.480 That's how I am with laundry. I got it. I 1:02:29.480 --> 1:02:31.320 wonder what the moose is going after her husband for 1:02:31.440 --> 1:02:34.000 though I don't know, but a mad moose is a 1:02:34.080 --> 1:02:37.440 very dangerous thing because, you know, occasionally when they perceive 1:02:37.520 --> 1:02:40.760 humans as threats, their initial like any wild animal, their 1:02:40.800 --> 1:02:43.400 initial idea if they think you're a threat, is going 1:02:43.440 --> 1:02:46.120 to be to either is to flee, but then the 1:02:46.200 --> 1:02:50.800 second option is to fight. So moose are giant, you know, 1:02:50.800 --> 1:02:55.080 they're huge. Camping and Clarney, Canada and uh, when we 1:02:55.280 --> 1:02:58.200 were headed to go camping and Clarny, Canada and it 1:02:58.280 --> 1:03:03.440 was it was probably around early and we're headed up 1:03:03.440 --> 1:03:07.200 and this is in like north of Michigan in Canada, 1:03:07.840 --> 1:03:10.520 and uh, it's pitch black. It's night. We've been traveling 1:03:10.560 --> 1:03:12.080 all night and now we're in this man event. It 1:03:12.080 --> 1:03:14.400 was in Ford Arrow Star, so back then, you know, 1:03:15.160 --> 1:03:17.320 revenans minivans. So we're up kind of high and we're 1:03:17.320 --> 1:03:21.160 on a gravel road, no lights anywhere. It's pitch black. 1:03:22.040 --> 1:03:24.440 My friend Mark slams on the brakes and we skid 1:03:25.040 --> 1:03:27.040 pretty significant distance. We were going too fast, but we 1:03:27.120 --> 1:03:30.800 skidded along long ways gravel and there we are eye 1:03:30.840 --> 1:03:34.000 to eye with a baby moose and it's big. I 1:03:34.040 --> 1:03:36.120 mean it's like it's seven ft tall. You know, if 1:03:36.160 --> 1:03:38.200 if it felt like it was seven ftall's probably six 1:03:38.240 --> 1:03:42.360 feet tall. But um, it had you know, the nice, 1:03:42.400 --> 1:03:44.880 big wide body, you know, like the big fat belly 1:03:44.960 --> 1:03:46.600 and everything. It's just what you would think, you know, 1:03:46.640 --> 1:03:52.320 like a baby. But it's clearly a baby, gawkish, awkward. 1:03:52.400 --> 1:03:54.439 It's like the legs shouldn't hold them up. The body 1:03:54.520 --> 1:03:56.320 is really big and their heads big and you know 1:03:56.320 --> 1:03:59.160 all that, and it was it was an awkward looking animal, 1:03:59.200 --> 1:04:01.160 but it's very calm and it just it just kind 1:04:01.160 --> 1:04:03.080 of stared us for a few seconds and we were 1:04:03.080 --> 1:04:05.200 all catching our breath looking at it in the headlights 1:04:05.960 --> 1:04:09.080 and just walked away. That's just strolled off to the 1:04:09.080 --> 1:04:10.600 side of the road. But we were lucky not to 1:04:10.640 --> 1:04:12.960 hit it because I think we would have done significant 1:04:13.000 --> 1:04:16.120 damage to the car. Oh yeah, last moose story. It's 1:04:16.160 --> 1:04:19.160 just something I've heard, so Alaskan residents right to us 1:04:19.320 --> 1:04:23.760 and let us know if if you've run into this before. Uh. 1:04:24.000 --> 1:04:28.920 I heard that people in in Alaskan towns around Halloween 1:04:29.200 --> 1:04:32.240 have a problem with jack Landern's because the moose love 1:04:32.320 --> 1:04:35.880 to eat pumpkins. So you'll carve a pumpkin and put 1:04:35.920 --> 1:04:38.280 it out and then some moose will come by and 1:04:38.360 --> 1:04:43.480 just sort of like lazily, uh, jaw on it. You know, 1:04:43.720 --> 1:04:46.400 what are you gonna do? They like pumpkins. How far 1:04:46.440 --> 1:04:51.000 are you willing to go to protect that? Don't don't 1:04:51.040 --> 1:04:53.040 push too don't put too much time into the carving 1:04:53.040 --> 1:04:55.560 of that pumping, And I guess that's what you're saying, right, Yeah, 1:04:55.640 --> 1:04:58.919 because you know what they say, guys, dog sleds don't 1:04:58.920 --> 1:05:05.120 have rear view mirrors. No, stop working. It feels like 1:05:05.160 --> 1:05:09.400 it's supposed to be, you know something. Maybe we'll figure 1:05:09.400 --> 1:05:11.919 it out. But that's the idea. Rod. Yeah, there's there's 1:05:11.920 --> 1:05:13.640 a lot to it, isn't there. And there's probably a 1:05:13.640 --> 1:05:16.160 lot more than we're talking. We just scratched the surface, 1:05:16.160 --> 1:05:18.480 I believe, I think so, you know, we just we 1:05:18.560 --> 1:05:23.360 just pawed the snow. But I I am fascinated by it. 1:05:23.520 --> 1:05:26.320 You know, the three of us have been fans of 1:05:26.440 --> 1:05:32.000 the outdoors. Um temperature dependent, right, Scott, No, it's getting cold. Yeah. 1:05:32.800 --> 1:05:36.080 Uh And I I for one, would love to would 1:05:36.080 --> 1:05:39.480 love to travel back up to Alaska, maybe in March, 1:05:39.680 --> 1:05:42.600 to just at least see the launch because they launched 1:05:42.680 --> 1:05:45.440 from Anchorage. Yeah, that would be cool. Yeah. How about 1:05:45.440 --> 1:05:47.880 the finish, I mean they have We didn't talk about it, 1:05:47.920 --> 1:05:50.480 but there's a listeners can check this on their own. 1:05:50.480 --> 1:05:53.000 But there's the borroled arch that they cross underneath. Yeah, 1:05:53.080 --> 1:05:55.160 there's a whole history behind that, and that's a pretty 1:05:55.160 --> 1:05:58.640 fascinating story. Too, but we didn't have time next time. 1:05:58.720 --> 1:06:01.200 How's that for a tease? Right? Wait, wait, don't have time? 1:06:01.280 --> 1:06:02.920 Maybe don't have time. But they're looking to look up 1:06:02.920 --> 1:06:05.040 the burled arch with the the Idea Rode and there's 1:06:05.040 --> 1:06:07.840 a story behind that and the original arch that was 1:06:07.880 --> 1:06:09.640 destroyed and now they've got a new one and it's 1:06:09.640 --> 1:06:12.120 really cool and maybe we can see that someday. Who knows. 1:06:12.160 --> 1:06:14.800 I mean, Atlanska is not like it's not impossible to 1:06:14.800 --> 1:06:17.880 get to anymore, right, pretty easy? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, 1:06:18.560 --> 1:06:20.640 unless something happened while we were in the studio. You know, 1:06:20.760 --> 1:06:22.720 flights daily. You can take a cruise there, you can 1:06:22.840 --> 1:06:26.080 drive there. I guess Kurt he's a bicycle or he 1:06:26.080 --> 1:06:29.000 could bike there. I'm sure he could. He's got a 1:06:29.120 --> 1:06:33.480 durance So so, uh, we want to hear from you 1:06:33.680 --> 1:06:37.040 have Are you someone who objects to the Idea Rode 1:06:37.080 --> 1:06:39.680 because of maybe concerns about the animals. Are you someone 1:06:39.720 --> 1:06:45.240 who supports this competition or you someone who has participated 1:06:45.840 --> 1:06:48.760 in the Idea Rode or any sled race. If so, 1:06:48.920 --> 1:06:51.040 we would love to hear from you. You can find 1:06:51.160 --> 1:06:54.120 car Stuff on Facebook. You can find us on Instagram, 1:06:54.240 --> 1:06:57.240 you can find us on Twitter, we're car stuff all 1:06:57.280 --> 1:07:00.320 one word or something, you know, derivation thereof. You can 1:07:00.360 --> 1:07:03.600 also find every single episode that Scott, Kurt and I 1:07:03.600 --> 1:07:08.360 have ever done on our website, car stuff show dot com, 1:07:08.400 --> 1:07:12.480 even even the first ones. Do you haven those first ones? Scott? 1:07:12.480 --> 1:07:16.439 And those were ugly? Boy? Yeah, I shouldn't have even 1:07:16.440 --> 1:07:18.480 said that on it might have said this one was ugly. 1:07:18.520 --> 1:07:20.080 But you know what, I think that we're getting better 1:07:20.560 --> 1:07:25.120 as as time goes on. We're like a fine wine then, yeah, 1:07:25.200 --> 1:07:28.920 you know, age like wine, not like milk. Well, when 1:07:28.960 --> 1:07:30.400 we look back, you know, in our in our dog 1:07:30.480 --> 1:07:34.240 sled review mirrors, well we find that the early episodes 1:07:34.280 --> 1:07:36.240 were a little tough going. They were they were a 1:07:36.320 --> 1:07:39.840 little forced, um, but we got there right. Yeah, I 1:07:39.880 --> 1:07:42.840 think the throughout our career with car stuff, you guys, 1:07:42.840 --> 1:07:45.480 we only have one episode that we were ever recording 1:07:45.600 --> 1:07:48.600 that we decided not to publish. You remember that way, 1:07:48.960 --> 1:07:50.960 I do. I can't believe you're bringing that up right now. Yeah, 1:07:50.960 --> 1:07:53.960 it's true, though I will never divulge what that is. 1:07:54.840 --> 1:07:58.200 Uh yeah, I'll tell Kurt later. He doesn't know. Uh 1:07:58.320 --> 1:08:00.560 so let us know. We hope you enjoyed the this episode. 1:08:00.600 --> 1:08:05.360 We hope you tune in for our future episodes. No spoilers, 1:08:05.520 --> 1:08:09.120 but we have an episode about spoilers. I'm kidding. We 1:08:09.160 --> 1:08:11.800 don't have an episode about spoilers yet. It's this huge 1:08:11.840 --> 1:08:15.240 treasure true of topics we want to cover, so we 1:08:15.280 --> 1:08:17.320 also want to hear from you if you have suggestions 1:08:17.320 --> 1:08:20.200 for topics you feel that your fellow listeners would enjoy 1:08:20.320 --> 1:08:22.400 in the future. And thanks for listening everyone, We'll see 1:08:22.400 --> 1:08:27.960 you next time. Car Stuff is a production of I 1:08:28.040 --> 1:08:31.040 Heart Radios How Stuff Works. For more podcasts from my 1:08:31.120 --> 1:08:35.320 heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 1:08:35.880 --> 1:08:37.880 or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.