Re: Elevation at PAC

["Joan Dowis" <jrd@foothill.net>]

Angie, Tevis has approximately 17,000 feet of ascent, and 23,000 feet of
descent.  Even with trail changes from time to time, these numbers have not
changed appreciably.

Joan Dowis
WSTF Board Member

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rides 2 Far" <rides2far@juno.com>
To: <katswig@earthlink.net>
Cc: <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:36 PM
Subject: RC: Elevation at PAC


First, lest I seem to be talking about something frivolous let me say
that our school principal came over the intercom early this morning and
told us to turn on the TV, the World Trade Center & Pentagon had been
attacked.  I've watched the coverage all day and am listening to the
radio now since I can't get TV at home.  I'm looking for a diversion till
it's cool enough to bushog my field so I'm gonna talk elevation
comparisons. Heck, I may just clear it with a sling blade to blow off
frustrated anger.  Right now I feel very brotherly towards any American,
East, West, whatever.  And...maybe I'll ride with Israelis too so long as
they promise not to have vehicles drive along beside them on the course.
>sigh<

I'm not sure why we're suddenly comparing the Vermont course to Tevis.
Maybe because that's the measure everyone uses to tell if a course is
incredibly tough.  I looked at the Tevis profile again, and tried to add
up the gain.  Even using a lenient estimation on the fractions of 1000 ft
increments, it looks like about 7500 feet of gain?  Do I think that means
Vermont was tougher? Well, I don't know what it felt like to my horse to
do those climbs, but I'd say Tevis looks more unpleasant.

 I have at least as much respect for downhills as uphills (very rough
estimate looks like 12000 ft descent).  I've seen plenty of horses after
Biltmore that were still OK on uphills, but couldn't do any more
downhill. Biltmore just has about 4500 ft of gain/loss I believe, but is
steeper.  I think that mattered too by the way and is hard to compare
with numbers.

 I think we all train harder for the uphills.  The climbs on Tevis seem
to be combined together and long.  Maybe it requires walking (does at
Biltmore)?  The road beds in Vermont made speed possible in many
places... did that help the horses or hurt?

Footing can make a climb worse. Heat...lack of shade... humidity...lack
of water...  All you can count on is that the course is the same for all
the horses on it, so whatever course you use works since if it's easier
they'll just crank up the speed enough to make it hard.  Perfect footing
on the flat for 100 miles would be a real killer in my opinion...very
dangerous.

I've never done Tevis. I've never done Old Dominion. The reason I've
given for not doing OD is that I have no urge to see what my horse can
live through. (though I'm close to succumbing to peer pressure) From what
I hear people say about Tevis, you have to sort of wonder if you're going
to die, or if your horse is when you head out on those narrow trails
along the drop offs, especially after dark. From what everyone out here
says Sherman's Gap is no picnic either.  Things like that may test your
fortitude more than your fitness.  Maybe they test your sure- footedness
& night vision, or maybe your luck, and lack of imagination.

>From what I read in Endurance World (first time I've read it, a free copy
from the PAC) you go 36 miles at Tevis before you get a vet check.  In
Vermont we had vet checks often and the grass was the things dreams are
made of.  Would Tevis test your horse's survivability better? Probably.
Is that the thing I look for in a ride personally. Mmm, nah.  I just have
one horse, no room for error. >g<

I thought the course at Vermont was great.  Wish more of it could have
been off-road, but other than that I thought it was a super championship
trail. It was the same for all the horses...tough, but an enjoyable kind
of tough.  No fear of watching my horse tumble down a precipice, no
watching my horse go without water, just a fit horse proving he had done
his homework and using the muscles we'd built to tackle the trail.  There
was a little dust at the start...first time I've ever had to deal with
that since it's so humid here a truck on a dirt road can hardly raise a
plume.  There was just enough to make me think of you guys out there with
your dusty starts.  I guess that was the price I had to pay to discover
the joys of low humidity but can't say it's something I envy you for.

As far as "10' increments of measure" running up the number. I don't
think so.  The terrain wasn't rolling, it was up, up, up, down, down,
down. Not up down up down.  You didn't get the luxury of making it to the
top of anything without high heart rates. There was about one
climb/descent every 5 miles.

I didn't hear anyone after the ride saying, "I can't believe I finished
that".  We were saying, "What a great trail, that was great!"  Granted,
we had even better weather than the Vermonters are used to.  Do I wish
I'd done it on a hot day for bragging rights? Heck no.  I doubt either
Red or the horses from Virginia were missing the rocks from back home
either. :-)

Angie


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