Happy Canada Day!

Woohoo! and for more fun, see the first photos from the Yukon Meat & Sausage Races by clicking on the DPSAY link to the right and down a bit, where Interweb Queen Stacie Zaychuk has set up her photos on Flickr - what is that? the only Flicker I know of woke me at 5.30am by drilling on the window of a cabin I was (trying to be) sleeping in...and didn't let up until 8am...

Yukon Meat and Sausage Race Day Results

The main result was a RECORD turnout - 27 teams braved the anthills, the mud pit, the mosquito ridden swamp pond and "the notch" - thanks to eveyone for a great day out, fast fun racing, some crazy head on passing, a throughly relaxing BBQ, and thanks again to Race Host Stacie Zaychuk - see you next year!! (erm, well, a bit earlier than that, but next year for another race at Chaos Kennel!!)

In the Pet Dog, Keno and Heather Desmarais sent Asha and Jon Lucas for an early bath (in the swamp pond) and into second place, followed by Wilson and Wendy Morrision, with Aklak (let's chase all the other dogs after we pass them head-on) and Dave Desmarais.

The One Sled dog saw the pace approach suicudal on the bumpy, bouncy trail with the 90' turns through the trees but everyone stayed on (or kept quiet about it if they didn't). Baby Jesus (he's a very religious dog) smoked the opposition, pulling lightweight Susie Rogan to first in 4m 52s; Gaetan Pierrard with Ibex (veteran of the 2 x 35mile stage race Skijor at this year's Percy in Dawson) tied for second in 5m 3s with Cynthia Corriveau and Nahanni; Amil Dupois Rossi lost about 30 seconds at the start whilst very expensive Grizzly of Smokin' Paws Kennel made up his mind about which direction to go - follow the tyre tracks Griz - however with a good shove from Race Marshall Gene Ennis (and Griz knew better than to argue) Amil raced off, landing third in 5m 6s. Matthieu Renner took the red lantern (or would have if we'd had one) but Umiack is deaf (so doesn't really respond to her name, or any verbal command really) and it's commendable how she finished the course as a single dog team - perhaps she could give Grizzly some lessons in looking for the trail?

Knowing the technical aspects of the course, Host Stacie Zaychuk picked up her camera and sat out the two sled dog race with a quiet smile. With a strong field of 11 teams this became a fast and interesting race - head-on passing in quad tyre tracks amongst the trees was tight and....exhilarating. Darryl Sheepway tied first with Claudia Wickert in 4m 28s, although the Smokin' Paws No 2 Rider, Amil Dupois Rossi was less fortunate, spinning out and crashing, inadvertantly snapping the line and releasing both dogs. They had a great time free running till spoilsport Stacie caught them on her quad. Jon Lucas mistimed a head-on pass with Cynthia Corriveau and flew over the handlebars, snapping a brake lever in the process. It looked more fun when viewed later on the helmet cam. However Emma and Assman made up some lost time and "one-brake" (almost "break" if it wasn't for the body armour) Jon made it round the course in second place.  Fabian Schmitz cme in third with Banshee and Klein. Sebastian Schnuelle was the sole scooter enthusiast in all the races, with mountain bikes the preferred wheels on the bouncy trail.  Kyla Boivin was another flier, somersaulting the handlebars, for an exciting inauguration to dryland.

Laura Jane Lucas, flying the Jolly Roger from her quad took on host Stacie Zaychuk for a duel in the Formula One. Stacie roared off with a 6 dog team, chased by Laura and 4 dogs. However Stacie hadn't quite understood the term "home-track advantage" and sportingly hadn't run her dogs on the trail before the race. Consequently at the turnaround they wanted to go straight on into the river  - as they always have done. Into the tangle appeared Laura with Emma and Siggy desperate to pass, except the trail was a 6 dog and quad ball. Much good-natured untangling later and the Jolly Roger appeared first out of the mess and took first by a cool 5 minutes.

Enough writing - although it was a great potluck BBQ, thanks everyone - to the results:

Race Marshall - Gene Ennis

Official Timer - Jocelyne LeBlanc

1 Pet Dog

1 - Keno - Heather Desmarais - 5:19

2 - Asha - Jon Lucas - 5:27

3 - Wilson - Wendy Morrision - 7:52

4 - Aklak - Dave Desmarais - 7:58

1 Sled Dog

1 - Baby Jesus - Susie Rogan - 4:52

2 = Nahanni - Cynthia Corriveau

2= Ibex - Gaetan Pierrard - 5:03

3 - Grizzly - Amil Dupois-Rossi - 5:06

4 - Appleton -  Fabian Schmitz - 5:31

5 - Polar - Darryl Sheepway - 5:32

6 - "Sneaky" Peat - Dave Desmarais - 6:03

7 - Rico - Heather Desmarais - 6:46

8 - Harris - Stacie Zaychuk - 6:59

9 - Umiack - Matthieu Renner - 10:15

2 Sled Dogs

1 = Nemo & Hydro, Claudia Wickert 

1= Tippy & Coho, Darryl Sheepway - 4:28

2 - Emma & Assman, Jon Lucas - 4:41

3 - Banshee & Klein, Fabian Schmitz - 4:49

4 - Nina & Buddha, Valeri Bussieres - 4:59

5 - Nahanni (solo), Cynthia Corriveau - 5:18

6 - Tundra (solo), Susie Rogan - 5:19

7 - Kang & Pebbles, Kyla Boivin - 5:45

8 - Otto & Herring, Sebastian Schnuelle - 6:13

9 - Grizzly & Fry, Amil Dupois Rossi - DNF

Formula 1

1 - 4 dog Quad, Laura Jane Lucas  - 6:44

2 - 6 dog Quad, Stacie Zaychuk - 12:22

Next race - Phillipe's Bike Repair, Lee Kirkpatrick and Jim Hajash's Drag n Fly Kennel, Old Alaska Highway, Saturday July 25th, 6pm, and the First Mate Summer Freight Pull

(please bring cash if arriving by taxi)

Can we have more than 27 teams at the next one??

Newsflash - All you Canicrossers

To encourage the fledgling Canicross contingent, if three or more Canicrossers show on Sunday they will have their own 1 mile race without any of those pesky wheeled things getting in the way. Icy Waters Ltd has put up 5lbs frozen fillets for every canicross competitor and a hearty 10lbs for the first place finisher.

Think about it...that's quite lucrative....

now, where's that weatherperson...

RACE ON - YUKON MEAT & SAUSAGE

With the weather co-operating to make it nice and mild, with a touch of dampness, and the "BIG OK" from Race Host Stacie Zaychuk. the Races are ON.

See you all 6pm SUNDAY at Chaos Kennel, just the Whitehorse side of Mendenhall and on the opposite side of the road (follow the  balloons). Remember if you have dog and no equipment - there's plenty to borrow, Jon'll even lend his body armour out!

Bring something for the Pot-luck BBQ, and don't forget a refreshing Yukon Brewing T-Shirt for that apres-race relaxation.

The weatherman is presently on secondment to household chores, but watch this space....

Triple your Money at the Yukon Meat & Sausage Dryland and...

...have a large amount of fun; get your dogs out n about n socialising; socialise yourselves with other humans; have a great BBQ; and develop leader potential...who could say no?

Weather Network - perfect conditions for Yukon Meat & Sausage Hot Hounds, 6pm, Sun 28th June

	Saturday Jun. 27	Sunday Jun. 28	Monday Jun. 29	Tuesday Jun. 30	Wednesday Jul. 1	Thursday Jul. 2
	Cloudy with showers	Cloudy with showers	Light rain	Cloudy with showers	Variable cloudiness	Variable cloudiness
P.O.P.	60%	60%	70%	60%	20%	20%
High	15°C	14°C	11°C	18°C	23°C	22°C
Low	6°C	7°C	7°C	8°C	7°C	6°C
Wind	SE 10 km/h	W 5 km/h	W 5 km/h	N 10 km/h	N 5 km/h	S 5 km/h
24-Hr Rain	1-3 mm	less than 1 mm	5-10 mm	close to 1 mm	-	less than 1 mm

Yukon Meat and Sausage - you know it tastes good - Pet dogs are Keen to Race

Pet dogs everywhere are out training for the upcoming Hot Hounds races, some more excitedley than others!

"If I'm very, very still I can hypnotise the delicious sausage into my mouth. Who said running was involved anyway?"

"Take me! Take Me! I'm fast, look at my flying ears!"

"Forget the Husky Mutt, take me, I like sausages a lot more", "Martin, get off me, or you will be sausage meat"

Yukon Meat and Sausage - you know it tastes good - Trail News

For up to the moment veiws and news of the trail, look to the right of this info and scroll down below the sponsors to "My Blog list" and click on "Yukon Yahoos" where the interweb will magically whisk you to downtown Mendenhall and "The Track"!

Edit to add: Or you could just GO HERE!  :)

Also - go to the new DPSAY site for more info on the Dog Powered Sports Association of Yukon.

See you all Sunday!

Yukon Meat and Sausage - THE DELI - Dryland Race Sunday 28th July

With all the excitement (but not the pain, nor hangovers) starting to fade after yesterday's Kluane-Chilkat International Bike Relay the next big event is Sunday June 28th Hot Hounds dryland racing:

6pm, at Stacie Zaychuk's place, across the highway from Mendenhall, slightly to the Whitehorse side of the Mendenhall entrance. The driveway will be marked with balloons. Stacie's flattenned the anthills, filled in the ruts and set out an interesting 1 and 2 mile trail for our enjoyment. Yukon Meat and Sausage are supplying the main prizes, ably supported by Aurora Booties. If you're a member of DPSAY, then each race is just $10, otherwise you'll need to join (annual membership $15 single/$25 family).

Weather predicted to be cool and moist, which may make the Mendenhall clay a little slippery. 

Races:

1 Mile 1 Pet Dog

1 Mile 1 Sled Dog

2 Mile 2 Sled Dog

 - run*, bike, scooter, whatever you want (you can even carry little Fifi, so long as she runs across the start and finish line),  but the dog must remain connected to you at all times

2 Mile Formula 1

- 4-8 dogs and powered/unpowered quad

*if 3+ runners turn up they will have their own race

Newsflash - December Biggie, trail decided

After much thought and discussion, it appears every trail is going to be possibly short of snow, or ploughed in mid-December. Therefore the 100/200 miler will be Whitehorse to Haines Junction, and back ("A Race of Two Cities"  - how Dickensian). If there is no snow we will reschedule for January. This trail is great for volunteers and organisers, PR and publicity for dog sports. Mandatory stops at Mendenhall and Haines Junction for sleds, skijorers have no mandatories. Race start is Friday 18th Dec and it had better all be over by Sunday 21st Dec (because I have to go back to work!). If anyone is interested in helping out preparing the trail, and volunteering on any of the three race days, please contact Jon at grizzlysnowpigs@gmail.com

Thanks in advance. We will be setting up a linked seperate blog with all the details.

A few photos of competitive Meat Lovers keen to race at Yukon Meat & Sausages' Dryland on Sunday June 28th

"I'm gonna come at you like a spider monkey if we ain't racing for Sausages on the 28th!! Now get on that bike and you get training, d'ya hear?"

"I'm afraid, Mr Overweight Husky, not only has your diet of sugary soft drinks added pounds, but you have cavities - that tooth will have to come out before the 28th - drink 'diet' in future!"

"I'm going to snack on you..."

"Take me! Take me! I'm small and light you can put me in your pocket and bike like the wind!"

A Pet dog tries to explain to their owner, that they feel like a caged animal if they are not allowed to race, and it just ain't fair!

Yukon Meat and Sausage - THE DELI - sponsors July Dryland

That's right - enjoy a leisurely Sunday drive out to Mendenhall on June 28th, and race across the (flattened) anthills (dodge the angry giant ants), weave through the trees, and enjoy a gentle splash in the shallow (and getting rapidly shallower) ponds  for the chance to win very tasty goodies from 

Yukon Meat and Sausage 

 you know it tastes good!

Venue details - click on "race schedule" to the right and scroll down.