Snowmachine racer Mike Morgan was in a storage in Nome final Thursday afternoon prepping for a coaching run as much as Kotzebue and all the way down to Unalakleet.
“We got stiffer springs up front, we redesigned the rear suspension a little bit,” Morgan mentioned exhibiting off the latest Polaris Cross Country 600 sled.
He’ll be racing that mannequin on this yr’s Iron Dog, which begins on Feb. 17.
Morgan switched for a younger mannequin in selecting a race accomplice this yr, too. He break up together with his longtime teammate Chris Olds, 52, of Eagle River. The pair gained the race in 2018 and 2019, and completed second in 2022. But now Morgan—the one entrant from Nome within the professional class—is racing with Bradley Kishbaugh, 25, who placed sixth his rookie yr and fifth final yr.
“I’d run for 12 years with Chris and was kind of ready for a change,” Morgan mentioned. “Chris will keep racing Iron Dog ‘til he’s 85-years-old. He’s got no end in sight, so I had to make a move. Me and Bradley went on a long ride last season. He’s fast and he’s young and he’s hungry, and that’s what we need to win.”
Olds saved crew nr. 10 and Morgan/Kishbaugh can be racing as crew nr. 6.
Kishbaugh grew up back-country snowmachining in Kenai and bought into cross-country racing a couple of years in the past. His former accomplice Kelly Sommer can be racing with Olds.
Now in its fortieth yr, the Iron Dog will kick off on Feb. 17 when 24 groups of racers within the professional and 38 riders within the expedition lessons go away Big Lake and head off for the Alaska Range. They’ll journey to the Yukon River and towards the Bering Sea coast, turning north at Koyuk towards Kotzebue. Race organizers added an additional 470-mile loop to Kotzebue a couple of years in the past. After a compulsory maintain in Kotzebue, opponents are anticipated to begin reaching Nome on Feb. 20. They’ll have a wrench day on Feb. 21 within the Nome City Garage and a Halfway Ceremony and Banquet within the Mini Convention Center. While the expedition class ends their journey in Nome, the professional class will head again to Big Lake on Feb. 22. In whole, the professional finishers will traverse 2,500 miles of powerful terrain.
Last week, Morgan and Kishbaugh have been keen to take a look at the ocean ice circumstances off Elim, Koyuk and Shaktoolik. Morgan hoped they’d be capable of make good time within the race by reducing throughout the ice between checkpoints. He mentioned he’ll must regulate the climate and the ice circumstances because the race approaches. But his greatest technique for achievement is numerous coaching down on the southern stretches of the Iron Dog course, the place mushy snow and moguls make for a bodily difficult journey. He and Kishbaugh have been coaching out of Big Lake, going so far as they’ll on the path each weekend.
“The big thing I learned doing Iron Dog is if you don’t train down there in the big bumps and the big physical stuff, you ain’t gonna do nothing in Iron Dog,” Morgan mentioned. “After the first day you’re going to be hours behind the guys that train down there. 200 miles down there in the big stuff is like doing 400 miles up here on the coast.”
Competing within the expedition class is Nome’s crew nr. 88 consisting of Howard Farley Jr., Harvey Farley and 16-year-old Kevin McDaniel-Farley.
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