While Aliy's father, Doug Zirkle, was here last month around the time of the Copper Basin 300, he put his lifetime of engineering expertise to work in helping to design and fabricate the SP Kennel "Denali Doubles Double Sled." In this video, he gives you a full briefing about what, why and how. Plus, you'll get to see the sleds in action… for at least a few seconds as they zoom out of the dog yard on their very first test run! Hang on!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Denali Doubles Double Sled
We know you have been looking forward to seeing the sled configuration we're going to use on the Denali Doubles race this week. Now that it is so close to race time, we're confident our competitors don't have time to abandon their designs and copy ours… So, here it is!
While Aliy's father, Doug Zirkle, was here last month around the time of the Copper Basin 300, he put his lifetime of engineering expertise to work in helping to design and fabricate the SP Kennel "Denali Doubles Double Sled." In this video, he gives you a full briefing about what, why and how. Plus, you'll get to see the sleds in action… for at least a few seconds as they zoom out of the dog yard on their very first test run! Hang on!
While Aliy's father, Doug Zirkle, was here last month around the time of the Copper Basin 300, he put his lifetime of engineering expertise to work in helping to design and fabricate the SP Kennel "Denali Doubles Double Sled." In this video, he gives you a full briefing about what, why and how. Plus, you'll get to see the sleds in action… for at least a few seconds as they zoom out of the dog yard on their very first test run! Hang on!
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12 comments:
Looks ingenious! Good luck on the DD!
Thanks, I was wondering what configuration you were going to use for the DD. When you have some time, can you post videos of the different configurations used by other mushers at the race? Good luck to Allen and Bridget, Aliy and T.Rose!
Best wishes to the SP kennel on your upcoming race. Hope everyone is fast during the race, well and healthy when it's over. Go dawgs=go humans!
Also, do you know if there will be any official online updates (oter than yours) like they had at the copper basin 300? Since this is the first race, I can't find anything
Thanks
I will try to shoot/post photos of other sled configurations...
I don't know of any online race updates, but I would suggest you keep an eye on the race web page to see if something shows up...
http://www.huskyhomestead.com/Denali_Doubles_Sled_Dog_Race.htm
Cool design! I can't wait to see the teams in action!
Very cool... thanks for posting this.
Are basic one-person sleds buy-able and usable out of the box, or is even noncompetitive mushing built on a musher's engineering skills?
Thanks much!
The man is brilliant! Great design AND explanation. Should be an exciting weekend ~ Best wishes to all!
Thanks for posting the video. Best wishes for a safe and enjoyable race for the SP Kennels Red and Black teams! Dave in NC
So .... Now that the DD is finished, how would all team members evaluate the sled configuration?
I noticed that at the race for the finish with Allen and Bridget, the 2nd sled was weaving back and forth with some force. Did this action slow down the dogs?
From what Allen said....... the video of the ridiculously close finish was the ONLY time that the rear sled weaved. That was because they were running at 20+ mph down that hill. The mainline and most of the tug lines on the dogs were not tight - everyone was running full out! When your tow strap is loose there is "play" in the sleds. As Cim's team passes the camera you can really see the slack in his mainline.
The "play" was accentuated more when Allen pedaled hard on one side of his sled. This action pushed the rear of his sled drastically in one direction which made BJ's sled weave drastically out the other direction. You can see Allen pedal just as the video starts and that's when BJ hangs on for dear life!
Overall... the sled design worked great!
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