Valley teams lead Iron Dog

BIG LAKE — After months spent preparing for the 2015 Iron Dog, Tyson Johnson and Tyler Aklestad were finally at the starting line listening while their pre-recorded biographies played thanking sponsors, family and friends for getting them to the starting line to compete another year.

Moments before the countdown began, Johnson swung his leg over the seat of his sled and walked the few steps to the orange snow fence to hug a worried-looking woman, later identified as girlfriend Alexis McCarty.

Though teams do everything they can to prepare themselves, their gear and their sleds for the 2,031-mile trek through the Alaska wilderness, still this is a race with real risk of injury, like frostbite, broken bones, sprained ribs, or worse.

Less than an hour later, Team 8 would be sidelined with a blown engine on Aklestad’s sled about 30 miles from the start line. Johnson towed Aklestad back and the pair worked on the sled for a couple of hours before making the call.

Riding conditions along the first part of the trail are the most difficult this year and continuing after a six-hour delay to change the engine would have meant navigating in the dark with no plane support and no other teams to help.

Team 8 informed friends, family sponsors and Facebook followers of the decision about 3 p.m., Sunday.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce that we are packing up and headed home. 2k15 was just not our year,” the post from Team 8 reads.

Sections of the route include open water this year that requires riders to “skip” their machines to reach the next solid section of river ice, Johnson said. Leaving Big Lake after changing out the engine would have set up a situation where the team had to navigate this open water, skipping to solid ice in the dark, he said.

Johnson said their practice sleds ran flawless with close to 2,000 miles of training. But Aklestad’s race sled didn’t.

“No telling if it would of just had the same issue again,” he wrote in a Facebook post to fans.

Although the veteran racers on Team 8 were first to scratch this year, they’ve since been joined by four others. As of Frontiersman press time Monday evening, five teams had officially scratched. Team 28 (the Fairbanks duo of Jason Gundersen and Josh Norum) and Team 34 (John Bahnke of Nome and Christopher Collins of Kotzebue) scratched out of Big Lake and team 27 (Anchorage’s Tyler Delimont and Larry Jones) and team 31 (Chad Dow and Tim Lessard of Maine) scratched in McGrath.

As of Frontiersman press time Monday evening, an all-Wasilla team was one of two duos on an eight-hour layover in Galena. Andy George and Brad George (Team 6) reached Galena at 6 p.m. Monday. The George team was four minutes behind the leader, Team 7 (Anchorage’s Aaron Bartel and Soldotna’s Scott Davis).

A pair of Valley riders, Wasilla’s Scott Faeo and Palmer’s Eric Quam, led the 2015 Iron Dog out of Poorman Monday afternoon after completing their 14-hour layover in McGrath.

Monday evening, Faeo and Quam (Team 20) were part of two teams on an eight-hour layover in Ruby. Faeo and Quam reached Ruby in a tight battle with Team 17 (Big Lake’s Allen Hill and Anchorage veteran Marc McKenna). Hill and McKenna reached Ruby at 4:36 p.m. Monday, just one minute ahead of Faeo and Quam.

The first teams checked into McGrath around 8:30 p.m., Sunday and were back on the trail to the finish line by mid-morning Monday. Faeo and Quam were the first into McGrath just before 8:30 p.m., Feb. 22. Faeo and Quam own the fastest race time from the restart in Big Lake to McGrath. McKenna and Hill took the lead from Faeo and Quam during the 162 miles from McGrath to Poorman.

McKenna and Hill departed Poorman 3 minutes ahead of Faeo and Quam, who left at 3:27 p.m.

As of press time, another eight teams had checked out of Poorman and were en route to Ruby. Nine others were out of Ophir on their way to Poorman.

Of the 35 teams that left the ice in two-minute intervals at the Big Lake Restart Sunday, 16 teams represent the Valley.

Open water, glare ice and bare ground made trail conditions the talk of the Big Lake Restart where spectators navigated several inches of standing water mingled with slush and glare ice to cheer on riders heading out on the 2,031-mile trail.

Among Valley riders is the youngest member of this year’s pro class is Colony High School senior Jonathan Sindorf, 18. He’s racing on Team 23 with his dad, Iron Dog veteran Paul Sindorf.

Early in the race, veterans Todd Minnick and Nick Olstad (Team 16) had a broken A arm and steering trouble before reaching the Skwentna Checkpoint. Olstad rallied on to Skwentna to radio their support team of the needed parts, before returning to the trail to wait with Minnick.

Joshua Plumb and Jordan Starr (Team 9) reached Skwentna by cabling up and towing the broken sled into the checkpoint. After a new piston for a sled was flown in and installed, they continued their race and arrived in McGrath at 10:48 a.m., Monday.

Valley teams in the 2015 race: Team 2 Shane Barber and Ryan Sottosanti; 5 Chris Carroll and Ray Chvastasz; 6 Andy George and Brad George; 8 Tyler Aklestad and Tyson Johnson; 11 Tyler Huntington and Todd Palin; 14 Mark Tope and Wayne Wold; 15 Brian Jurenka and Charlie Potter; 16 Todd Minnick and Nick Olstad; 17 Allen Hill and Marc McKenna; 18 Chad Gueco and Andrew Zwin; 20 Scott Faeo and Eric Quam; 23 Jonathan Sindorf and Paul Sindorf; 25 Mark Carr and Micah Huss; 33 Conner Kyle and Donald Koontz; 39 Cody Barber and Brett Lapham; and 49 Klinton VanWingerden and Kris VanWingerden.

Other 2015 teams: 3 Steven Boney and Doug Dixon; 4 Rachel Kidwell and Ashley Wood; 7 Aaron Bartel and Scott Davis; 9 Joshua Plumb and Hordan Starr; 10 Mike Morgan and Chris Olds; 12 Robert Strick and Steffen Strick; 13 Rick Lie and John Schaeffer; 21 Stan Brown and John Dean; 22 Randy Gravatt and Dieter Strobel; 27 Tyler Delimont and Larry Jones; 28 Jason Gundersen and Josh Norum; 29 Stanley English and Larry Levine; 30 Geoff Crouse and Jerrod Vaugh; 31 Chad Dow and Tim Lessard; 32 Jerry Alward and Tim Kanady; 34 John Bahnke and Chrstopher Collins; 36 Ryan Folsom and Tony Greene; 40 Archie Agnes and Arnold Marks; 41 Cory Davis and Ryan Simons; 42 Rurik Lindner and Sonny Lindner; and, 48 Wayne Dyer and Chris Kruse.

Contact Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.