Yukon Quest 2010

The first of the two long, long distance sled dog races of the season is getting underway today.
24 teams will run the trail from Fairbanks, AK for 991 miles (1594km) to Whitehorse, YT.
Last year's winner, Sebastian Schnülle, took 9 days and 23 hours to finish the race.
Good luck to all competing mushers and their teams!

For more information, visit the Yukon Quest's official website.

Think Spring, Think Dryland!

Yes, we know, winter still has the continent in its icy and snowy grip, and just like the rest of you mushers out there, we enjoy our time with the dogs in the pretty white stuff, BUT:
it won't be long before spring is here, and that means dryland season for most of us.
Time to start thinking about that new rig to train and race the dogs.

We'll be on hiatus for most of March, so if you're looking for that new rig to run once the snow is melted, it's time to place that order.

We have one more opening for February, so by the time Iditarod starts, you could be running your dogs on a brand new Arctis Cart!
Which one's it going to be? Candy Apple Red, Midnight Blue, Stealthy Black or maybe the latest addition: Anti-Freeze?

As posted on our recent website update, we're keeping the purchase price at the introductory rate, since the economy is still in recovery mode.
Our new freight forwarder provides us and our customers with great shipping rates throughout North America and as always, payment terms are flexible, so send us an e-mail or give us a call if you have any questions and get those dogs running!

First snow run of the season

Finally, time had come to make the trek up to the Eastern Sierra and go sledding with a bunch of SoCal "Urban Mushers". As always, we mixed and matched dogs and ran teams of 3 to 6 dogs on nicely groomed trails in the Mammoth area.
Unfortunately, we had to cut the trip short and skipped our last scheduled run in order to make it off the mountain before a major snowstorm hit. That area is expecting up to 10ft of fresh snow this week alone, which, hopefully, will leave enough for us to go back there in a few weeks.

Since most of us don't have snow conditions like this for most of the year, remember to check our carts for your dryland training, exercise and racing.





For more pictures, click here

4th annual (not so) Great Serum Run a great success!

Our SoCal mushing group's 4th annual (not so) Great Serum Run last Saturday was a great success! We had about 70 (yes, that's seventy!) teams competing in several scooter, bikejour and canicross races. After the races, we gathered for a fantastic potluck bbq, raffle and awards ceremony.
Most successful musher was Robert Stradley of Wrightwood, who, along with his boys, won in several classes. "Team Arctis" placed a surprising 3rd in the 3-dog 3-mile race and missed 2nd place by only 6 seconds, and a 4th place finish in the 3K canicross. Great job, puppies!

Here's a picture of us on our way to the finish line, trying to squeeze every second out of the run:

Many thanks to Rancy, who's heading the Urban Mushing group, as well as all volunteers to get this event organized!
Also, many thanks to Alpine Outfitters, Three Dog Bakery San Clemente, Laguna Beach Dog Park and Diggler Scooters for providing raffle prizes.

Please see the local Daily Pilot article here and a short video by the OC Register here.

Hope to see all of you next time around!

One week to go until our 4th annual (not so) Great Serum Run

After it had to be postponed, it is finally time to go racing!
Our local southern California mushing group is hosting its 4th annual (not so) Great Serum Run on January 9th at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa CA.

Races will be held in a fun and friendly atmosphere in the following classes:

1-Dog / 1-Mile Junior Scooter Race
1-Dog / 1-Mile Scooter Race
2-Dog / 2-Mile Scooter Race
3-Dog / 3-Mile Scooter Race
1-Dog / 2-Mile Bikejoring Race
1-Dog / 3-Km Canicross Race

For more information, registration forms and rules, please see UrbanMushing.com
Registration deadline is December 5th!

After the races, we will have a potluck bbq, raffle (including a brandnew scooter, courtesy of Diggler Scooters!) and carting demonstrations with 4- 6- and 8-dog teams.

We will have some of our Arctis Carts available for test runs as well.

Fairview Park is located in the city of Costa Mesa on Placentia Ave, between Adams Ave & Victoria St. within minutes of I-405, Hwy 55 and Pacific Coast Hwy

For driving directions, see map here

Excellent post-Christmas run

With continued cool temperatures in southern California, we're able to take the dogs out on slightly longer and faster runs. Only two more weeks until the re-scheduled (not so) Great Serum Run, so we better get them up to speed, plus our local sledding season is about to get going the week after and we want the dogs to be able to handle some decent runs while we're up in the mountains.

And while large portions of the country are currently covered in snow, remember that dryland season is almost year round, so check out our carts and the reviews on our Facebook page, and get your order in today!

Here are some pictures of today's run with the six-dog-team at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa:

Southern California Urban Mushing

Cooler weather in recent days was a nice motivator to get us and the dogs out on the trails for some decent runs at local parks. On Sunday, we met with 7 other scooter teams for a 6-mile run at Aliso Creek Trail in south Orange County. It had been awhile since I ran my three puppies by themselves and it was good to see them working well together. If only our clownboy Silver would rise up to his potential and carry his weight for the entire run.

For updates on our runs, please see the calendar or the Yahoo! Group at www.urbanmushing.com