We’re back … not a lot of sun, definitely not in the 70’s, and the trails and pathways of Tucson are nowhere near.

As with every trip, the first few days or week after returning are a bit depressing.  The pattern of getting up, eating breakfast, and then cycling for most of the day are gone as the routine of life returns.

Indoor cycling just isn’t quite the same but it does give me the opportunity to clean and service the trikes as I pull them out of their travel boxes.  Alaska Airlines only damaged one trike, a broken spoke on one wheel, which I still don’t quite understand how they did it.  So first order of business was fixing the spoke followed by a general cleaning of the trike, refreshing the drive chain and adjusting the derailleur so that all 30 gears are back in working order.  I also switched out the tires to a more aggressive off road tread so I can start riding outside for the late winter / early spring season where snow and ice will be my friends for a few more months.

Next week I will work on the second trike.

One very “Alaskan” event did happen this week which involved the sprint dog racing championships.  The Limited North American Dog Race is an annual event where you can get up close and personal with dogs that simply love to run, and run fast.  The event has 2, 4, 6, and 8 dog races covering various distances over the 3 day event.  We watched day 2 on a somewhat cloudy day with temperatures around the 0 mark and a slight wind.

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Kelly IniguezDid you read the article recently about the man in the Iditarod who was penalized two hours because he improperly gutted a moose after killing it? It seemed the issue was that he didn't do a good job, but the article didn't say what he should have done. Who knew that you needed to put that in your training, along with the usual physical requirements! He did have a handgun, which he used when the moose attacked. There's something else I wouldn't be prepared to do. There's all kinds of level of toughness.
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2 months ago

Larry MitchellTo Kelly IniguezThe moose story was all over the news up here. My only guess was the he gutted the moose but possibly didn’t move the gut pile far enough away or only gutted the main body cavity and left some parts inside. Dallas is a long time Alaskan and he took the 2 hour penalty without argument.

All the mushers I personally know carry a gun when they run their dogs. A moose can do a tremendous amount of damage if it gets tangled in the lines although most moose run for the trees when they encounter dogs and mushers.

But we don’t have all those pocky, stinging, and needles things up here nor snakes or scorpions.
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2 months ago

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These dogs are fast.  In fact most teams were riding the brakes on the first turn simply to stay upright as the dogs reached speeds of 20+ mph on the straight always.  Most of the mushers wore helmets and one of the most notable observations are that the teams are extremely quiet and if you don’t see them, they will sneak up and fly by without much noise.

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Hopefully I will get to some cycling content this next week as the temperatures are supposed to warm up to an acceptable range for me.  No need anymore to prove myself and come back with frozen toes and fingers.