The “Greenhorn” Catches Some Air!
Once you start, just keep looking forward. On January 28, 11:40 a.m., I was out of the chute. The people didn’t even know me, and they were cheering and clapping and yelling. It was an exhilarating feeling. And those dogs, well—they knew they had a greenhorn on the back of that sled, and they were heck-bent for election to get rid of me before they got a mile down the trail.
It’s intimidating to start something new, not knowing what to expect. How many of you members have felt that? Of course! Who cares? If you want something bad enough, you go for it. You don’t worry about anything else. You don’t worry about how it’s intimidating to you. You just grab onto those bars, stay clenched into your purpose, and just go for it!
I went through this chute, as I call it, and around an S turn. There was a road we had to go up and over, and it was frozen. I was on the brake trying to slow down the dogs. They were so pumped up, they were so excited, they had this greenhorn on the back, and they knew they were going to get rid of him.
So they were bookin’ it. I saw down the road where there was a berm [a narrow ledge or shoulder]. I saw it coming fast and was trying to get on that brake and slow down the sled. When the dogs hit that berm, it felt like we were going 100 miles an hour. And the sled with Gary went airborne for 30 feet! Oh, wow, you think that old heart got a workout that time? You’d better believe it!
