Anchorage, AK - Helmetlight, Inc., the manufacturer of the Lead-Dog Helmet Light has teamed up with the Iron Dog Snowmobile Race to help get the 2011 Iron Dog (www.irondograce.org) Ambassador Team to Fairbanks by way of Nome.
The Ambassador Team left Big Lake, AK last week in a blizzard, along with the rest of the Trail Class riders of the Iron Dog.
The Ambassador Team of Skip Boomershine, Mike Bedard and Mark Ivy are traveling the 2,000 mile race course on a "thanks and appreciation" run to all the volunteers and communities along the way. Kevin Kastner, in his rookie year as the new executive director of the Iron Dog, said, "This way we can personally thank each and every volunteer who make this race possible."
The Ambassador Team picked up a fourth rider, Nick Higdem, and it is no coincidence that Bedard is on the ride. Polaris Industries stepped up first to supply machines for the ride by sending 2012 Adventures to South Port Marina on Big Lake. Bedard is part of the engineering team at Polaris and said "This gives us an opportunity to test continuous every day operation in an outdoor environment, like getting on a cold seat in the morning after it has been outside all night, not in a shop, and the daily Alaskan weather, temperature and riding conditions."
The Ambassador Team hopes to visit with everyone along the course who volunteer to help with the event. You can watch them, along with the race, on Channel 2 (ktuu.com) with streaming coverage throughout the race.
The Lead-Dog Helmet Light is a helmet-mounted halogen spot, tail and brake light. Because it's mounted on the helmet, the light shines where you are looking, not just where your machine is pointing.