[Tom Lee]

http://www.cainsquest.com/

Check out the teams in this years race. This is a true test of man and machine under real world conditions. Team #11 is from my home area. There are teams from Quebec and the USA particpating this year. The race has been extended to 2000 kilometers this year, up from 1200 km last year. Good luck to all the racers and stay safe.

[nytro23]

Check out the WORLDS LONGEST TOUGHEST SOWMACHINE RACE!!!

www.irondog.org 1976 miles long!!!

[08NitroRTX]

Hey Mark want to load up the Irondog sleds and head east after the race .... We could run the Cain's Quest as a cool down run! Yamaha might like that!! Finishing the 2 longest and toughest races on the planet with the same sleds!

[nytro23]

Maybe we'll just drive there from here ( on our machines )...LOL

[Jack_Shaft]

You boys think CQ is easy? The Iron Dog is no walk in the park, but the terrain is rougher out our way.

I dare you both to try it, we'd love to have you out here for a week ;)

[08NitroRTX]

I wasn't implying that at all Jack_Shaft! I know Canes Quest would be a challenge! I would really like to run that race! My post was more a jab to nytro23 to get him to think about it. As many miles and as much time, effort, & money as we will have into our sleds this year getting ready for the Irondog heck it might make some sense to run both races. That would trully be a statement to finish the longest and toughest two races with the same sleds. Yamaha would be proud!

But to say your terrain is tougher than ours might be a stretch! There is no way Cains Quest is more remote than the Irondog! Honestly there is right at a 200 mile (320k) section that other than the IronDog and the Iditarod there is NO ONE that lives in that area winter OR summer! I would guess of the 1976 miles (3180k) of the Irondog course has less than 50 miles (80k) of road near by, the rest is remote trail system and not much of that!! Less than 2 miles is groomed! Zero of the Irondog trail is accessable from the main road system of the state.There is NO rail road near any part of the race except the start and the finish. (I think we cross under a railroad bridge once about 50 miles from the finish. The only roads (if you can call them that as they are not maintained year round) consist of small roads leading into in and out of some villages or towns.

But YES all in all Cains Quest would be a fun race to participate in!

[Jack_Shaft]

Alright... I'll let you off with it this time ;)

The terrain is equaly as remote this way dude. The Trans-Labrador Highway is just a gravel road and the race comes close to it at only four points; Lab City Checkpoint, Churchill Falls Checkpoint, Goose Bay Checkpoint and on the return leg through Ranger Lake. The Western runs from Miron River to Wishart and back down to Simms River and then the Eastern runs from Orma Lake to Seal Lake to Nipishish Lake and back down to L-6 are as remote as the Alaskan areas. Also differing from the Iron Dog is the lack of little communities along the way. Other than the three checkpoints listed above, there is no civilization along the route.

Add to that fact that we are below the treeline for most of that run and there is no Iditerod trail to piggy back on and you have one very, very challenging route. Groomed trail? Good one. You won't find that around here either.

Check out the route in detail if you like at www.cainsquest.com

FYI I will be doing the GPS routing for the IronDog this year just as I did for Cains Quest last year (and for this coming year). You will be able to load all the waypoints as one file into your GPSr now rather than by hand.

[nytro23]

Out of 31 teams last year only 11 finished......and the terrain is what took
out those teams! Heck we had a section of 120 miles with NO SNOW dirt and frozen tussocks the whole way. Or how about the year before where it was warm and we were water skipping on the open ocean for mile or longer sections!!! AT NIGHT... heck we spent 5 hours in safety sound ( ocean inlet ) up to my waist in water pulling two other teams out of the water ( they were over there windshields ) Then I got in over my handelbars.
Or running 95 mph on the Yukon River at night when it's 30 below and hitting an ice jam ....held together on that one I don't know why.
A Viking Proffessional would have a hard time finishing the Iron Dog.

[08NitroRTX]

Both are extreme races and just finishing is an acomplishment in it's self!!!

Jackshaft I have been watching your Cains Quest for the last two years. I don't know if it was ran before that or if it was called something else. IF it wasn't 5000 miles (8050k) away I would seriously think about running it! But logistic just to get sleds there and back would be an ordeal!!

nytro23 is right attrition is big during the Irondog. Most of the young guns ride too hard and fast and end up taking themselves out by distroying sleds and equipment before the finish line. (know this first hand! lol)

[Jack_Shaft]

Different terrain, different conditions. You guys have lack of snow and tundra/ rivers to deal with; we have too much snow in tight, heavy woods and eskers/hills/gorges/ravines to deal with.

To answer your question, no Cains Quest has never been run before 2006 and it is the first cross-Labrador snowmobile race.

Our event sees many retirees in the first 1/4 of the race for the same reasons; terrain too rough, riders pushing too hard, too early.

As for thr VK Pros finishing, that was only really the first year that they finished at the front and there was a LOT of deep snow to work against that year so they were the only sleds that could make it through without a trail. In 07, the snow was harder and teams with Renegades and Summits could pass with with more speed.

There is a team (or two) of Nytros scheduled to enter CQ 2008, you two should trade notes on sled prep, it may benefit you both. They are sponsored by the Local dealer in Wabush, Labrador and I'm sure they'd give you some contact info if you called them.

[asrx600guy]

[08NitroRTX]

lol The water skipping nytro23 is refering to isn't for the faint of heart!

There is no rescue teams or support if you sink! This is in an area you are NOT familar with. These Irondog racers would blindly hit open water (this isn't a creek crossing, a swamp or a lake, this is a inlet of the ocean!) in the dark and your headlights can pick up NOTHING but pure blackness as far as you can see. The only thing you know for sure is from shore to shore is about 30 miles!! You hope there is ice out there, you hope you have set you sled up so it can handle "trail" like this! Now I'm NOT saying there is 30 miles of open water as there is plenty of ice out there you just have to find it before the water finds you and decides to say HELLO! More than one team has scratched because of misshaps in this area over the years!! The thing is it's like 30 miles across and over 50 around. Giving up 20+ miles is like giving up the race.

Again both races are very challenging and would be fun!!

[06RSRAGE]

That would be great!!! I can see the headlines now

"ON THE SAME YAMAHAS THE SAME RIDERS WIN BOTH THE WORLDS LONGEST SNOWMOBILE RACE (IRONDOG) AND CANADA'S LONGEST SNOWMOBILE RACE (CAIN'S QUEST)"

Jeff/Mark is that (and having all the Yamy teams come in 1st-5th) too much pressure? LOL

[06RSRAGE]

I couldn't find the 2008 roster on the Cain's Quest site?

[Jack_Shaft]

Registration has only just started, it will be online soon.

Look for a complete Cains Quest FAQ thread soon in the racing section.