# Dirt Dog Derby



## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

In a few weeks I'm taking Kaytu up to Big Bear for mushing races. Denali is coming too but won't be mushing. She likes it but in the way that people like to jog for exercise, whereas Kaytu loves it and wants to do marathons and become an Olympian. It's her thing. Denali has agility, Kaytu has mushing.

I just filled out the registration form. There was one box I was not expecting: Name of Kennel/Dog Team. What? I have to come up with a cool team name?? I asked my husband for help and he said I always come up with good names. It takes me forever though! We started throwing around Kaytu's nicknames and words we use to describe her. Nothing was quite working, one of her nicknames is Flop Dog and that was the best we had but it's silly, and while I like silly I wanted something more dramatic for a race team name.

I turned to Wikipedia to brush up on my knowledge (well, Wikipedia "knowledge") about K2, the mountain she's named after.

I read this:
"The Italian climber Fosco Maraini argued in his account of the ascent of Gasherbrum IV that while the name of K2 owes its origin to chance, its clipped, impersonal nature is highly appropriate for so remote and challenging a mountain. He concluded that it was ...[13]*... just the bare bones of a name, all rock and ice and storm and abyss. It makes no attempt to sound human. It is atoms and stars. It has the nakedness of the world before the first man – or of the cindered planet after the last."*​How's that for dramatic? Now I had too much to choose from! Those first words though, bare bones, that seemed eerily fitting in many ways as did the rest of the description. She has her simple name. We have a simple setup, nothing fancy. And we're both skinny! The entire description offered by Maraini suits her. No attempt to sound human. Rough around the edges. Naked- she had nothing when she was found, and was emaciated and filthy dirty. Remote- she was distant and didn't pay attention to us at all when we got her. Challenging. We started from bare bones, in every way.

I do come up with good names, if I may say so myself. 

Name of Kennel/Dog Team: Bare Bones.


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

Training, training, training! We got a GoPro the other night so yesterday had to test it out. This was our entire run, 3 miles.


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

Oh my gosh, we had so much fun!!! Kaytu and I came in 3rd place in the bikejor event and it was a really close race for top 3.

Here's a video of our race Sunday, Saturday was the same thing but I didn't get the camera on in time.





I wrote a long blog post about the whole trip but here are a few pics.

Here's my facebook album, and here is a better album which hopefully you can see.

Kaytu and I









Nearing the start line









Nali wanted to be a "dirt dog" too.









"Can we mush yet? Pleeeeease?"









Post-race flop in the shade with a bowl of water









Couple with hubby


















In the bikejor event, Kaytu and I got third, the woman in the middle and her dog Marceline (yes, Adventure Time!) got the "red lantern" award given to the last place person and actually did receive a small red lantern but it was all bubblewrapped so isn't in the pic, and the man on the right and his dog got 2nd. First place winner had to leave after getting his award to go break camp before checkout.









My bike was FILTHY dirty and dusty, as was everything and everyone.


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

Oh and I used a still from the vid to make a new facebook cover photo because I'm so in love with Fosco Maraini's description of K2.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

Sibe said:


> Oh and I used a still from the vid to make a new facebook cover photo because I'm so in love with Fosco Maraini's description of K2.



Nice cover!  That has got to be a blast!


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## Shoul (May 8, 2012)

Looks like so fun! ... and also pretty terrifying!


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