Oh what a day!! There are so many things to talk about that I am going to have to put them into 4 stories for you!! The excitement and the sound of barking dogs on a sunny morning? Well, no better place but to be in Anchorage for the Iditarod Ceremonial Start.
The morning began, for me, at about 5 am. Pete came up to me yesterday and asked, “Do you want to ride the tag sled?” “Uhhh…” Hmmm! I was kind of thunderstruck until I asked myself, “Why not? What’s the worst that could happen!” So a flurry of excitement in preparation for the start of today’s race.
Up at 5, pickup Ron and Janet at Tillie’s place and then rush up to hop in the waiting trucks to take the two Teams into downtown Anchorage. Calm as could be, Pete now has a system that puts everything in it’s place, ready to go. Niklas, however, was sleeping with the butterflies and his first visit to the Starting Line was a bit nervous for the usually mild mannered Norwegian. He was joined by his brothers Mette and Patrick and his father, Mort. They are a boisterous trio and I’m sure shook away Nik’s nerves.
With bib number 9, it means that Pete and the Team would be leaving quickly after 10. Instead of the long morning, waiting for the call, it was just a short time before it was time to go. Pete was loving the fact that we got to get on the trail early. “It was fast, but so much more relaxing!”
Before we left, Pete met with his sponsors, and took photos with visitors and chatted a bit, but it wasn’t long before the race official was saying, “You gotta go now!”
For me, my system was completely out of whack! I have a system as well and usually am attaching cameras, taking photos, and getting interviews. This morning, though, I had my own bundle of nerves! I’m going to save the gory details for a story all it’s own, but suffice it to say, that I didn’t get my normal plethora of photos. A few sponsors, and then it was Pete saying, “So, let me show you how this will work…”
After years of photographing Teams leaving, it was tug, tug, tug, and off we went, down the street towards the Starting Line.
Pete is so awesome, and our handlers had a complete handle on the Team. All I had to do was figure out how to HANG ON!!
The day was picture perfect. Just a little cool breeze that turned into sunshine and loads of well wishers and fans waiting to see their favorite Team and Musher.
Even the snow was perfect on the streets. Sometimes, in the rain, the snow is almost like heavy sand. This morning it was truly snow and easy to stay on the runners. We made our way up to the Starting Line to hear, “Up to the line we have Peter Kaiser, from Bethel, Alaska!” Then before you knew it, 3-2-1 GO!!!
I’ll tell you it is a totally different experience to ride versus watch! And let me tell you, my biggest fear was making Pete and the Team look bad! After so many years writing about them, I didn’t want to let them down. (Well I’ll tell you more about that later- Haha!!)
Here are the photos from the Starting line. Since I was actually on the trail we are going to have 4 stories from this morning. The three that will follow were shot by my new apprentice, Zoe Anelon. I knew I couldn’t shoot, so I said, “You know anything about camera’s?” Kind of out of the blue. To my pleasant surprise her face lit up and she said, “YEAH!” She got really excited and did a great job as you will see shortly!
Many thanks to our sponsors, friends, and fans who always show up in droves. Team Kaiser includes all of you!
Go Team Kaiser!!
