GERA Classic ReVisited: Part Two

[Howard4567@aol.com]

The sky continues to darken with cumulonimbus clouds overhead.  And then I 
hear thunder, loud and close enough to wake up the dead.  Lightning flashes 
above, right over ridecamp.  I see another bolt rip through the sky and 
strike a tree top three camping spots or so from mine.  It starts to rain 
hard.  Visibility reduces to a quarter mile.  No Witches will be flying here 
tonight.

I go in the back of my metal trailer, even though my tent might be safer.  
We'll find out if the tent is waterproof or not; I've never been caught in a 
heavy downpour at a ride before.  The good news is it just cooled off 20 
degrees.  My temperature gauge in the truck read 96 when I pulled into camp.  
It was in the low 70's now.

I see another bolt strike, close enough to get me out of my trailer and into 
my tent.  The floor is dry; this is a good thing.  Randy and Bernie are under 
the tarp that attaches to their two trailers, drinking a beer, looking like 
everything is perfectly fine.  I'm hoping Death is just playing with us since 
I know he's visiting this part of Georgia today.

It rains hard for 30 minutes and then the CB clouds move on, to the North (I 
think that's north).  I go join Bernie and Randy for a beer and a smoke.  
Randy is a delight to watch right before a ride.  He doesn't ride at these 
things but crews for his wife, Kay, who just rides and gets out of Randy's 
way if it's a crew thing that needs to be done with their horse.  He's a 
small Arab that flies at a good pace.  I know Kay has a chance of top tenning 
this ride.  I just want to survive the vet checks.  I plan on making Saturday 
a very long one for Rebel and me.

The funny thing about Randy is how jumpy he acts about this whole crew thing. 
 He has so much stuff, some used during the ride, some there for "just in 
case,"  2,000 gallons of water (I bought 5), enough hay to feed ten horses, 
several different bags and types of feed, and don't forget that 50 lb bag of 
beet pulp.  Horses eat well at endurance rides, especially the 50 milers, and 
especially Randy and Kay's horse.

I listen to Randy describe "their plan" and find myself wishing my wife would 
be my "Randy."  She'd get bored with crewing though and I think too many 
hyper horses might not be her idea of how to spend a fun day; Randy's a rare 
find.  My kid, Jennifer, adores Randy and Kay and they return the feeling.  
The kid probably should be here, but she's high maintenance, and if she was 
here she'd be riding and I wouldn't.  Selfish of me, sure, but this is my 
week end.

I have a new neighbor, her name is Marie.  She recognizes me from that SC 
ride, the one where Dance Line almost died.  Marie is, also, a buddy of that 
woman from north Georgia, the one that I can't talk about anymore.  But I bet 
Marie and I end up doing just that.  And, eventually (doesn't take long), we 
do but you won't read about that in this story.  haha.

I sit down and chat with Marie, a woman whom I discover is actually quite a 
bit older than I would have guessed.  She's read a few of my stories and 
starts dissecting my thought process right away.  I find Marie quite 
stimulating, but I'm not sure what she thinks of me so far.  At least she 
doesn't pack up her stuff and move to another spot, that's a good sign.

Thursday nite turns into Friday morning and I get up early.  I start up the 
propane burner and make real coffee, bacon and eggs.  I bought a lot of food 
and take some over to Randy, Kay and Bernie's spot.  A few other people are 
there, Bernie even has a girlfriend, Kim, with him this ride.  She and Bernie 
are fun to watch together, snipping at each other in a humorous fashion,  and 
I find myself glad that I'm flying solo this trip.

They eat all my bacon but only Kim is brave enough to try my brown looking 
eggs, even though I try and convince them it's from the bacon grease, not 
horse manure, that makes it look like that.  I bring over the coffee pot and 
they empty that real quick.  Fresh coffee, not instant, is a big hit here.

Almost everyone, but Bernie, is going out today for a quick look-see on the 
trails.  I plan on joining them hoping they won't try and sneak off without 
me.  Rebel has to have a horse to follow or he's a real pain and I like the 
company, especially of the women that are going out today.  Kay, Michelle, 
Jackie, and Kim (not Bernie's Kim) are my favorites to hang out with.  Jackie 
and Kim are doing the 25, the rest of us are doing a 50.  Sandy, I call her 
St. Sandy cause she saved my butt a couple of times at these things, might 
join us.  Sandy has also picked up the pace of a 50 a notch or two and is a 
contender.  I'm so outclassed here it's not funny.