Jeanie and Pam said they would meet me about 3 miles down the trail. That
wasn't too far! :) Malik resigned himself to the fact that we were continuing on
and picked up a slow and easy trot. He was stopping to poop a lot which I wasn't
all that unhappy about...I would prefer he be able to poop and pee without a
problem! But he insisted on stopping for EVERY poop...they were small but
frequent. I knew there were two more riders yet behind me and wondered when they
would catch me. They had gone slow throughout the ride but I thought they might
push now to get in before dark. I figured even if I had to WALK that last 22
miles, I would still make it before 6 a.m. and I still had one more 30 minute
check 12 miles from camp. The mile markers went by MADDENINGLY slow!!! Every
time I thought for SURE this time I must be about 3 miles out, I had only gone
another mile. About 45 minutes out, the last two riders blasted up on me. I had
heard them talking and laughing behind me but didn't realize they were coming
that fast. The girl in the lead hollered out that she was passing on the left
AND she was on a STALLION. I hollered back that so was I and she said something
like "Oh, shit" and passed anyway almost forcing me off the single track. Malik
trotted steadily on and ignored their rudeness. The other girl hollered SHE was
passing now (at least she slowed down a bit first) and that SHE was on a MARE.
Yeah, so what? Anyway, a few hundred yards up the trail we came out on the road
and there were our pit crews waiting for us. A lot of sense THAT all made! Fair
warning to future blasters. Please do not TELL me you are going to pass. Please
ASK. Let me get OFF the trail FIRST. I'm happy to let you by. And it isn't
necessary to try and intimidate me with the "I'm riding a stallion" line (never
did see any equipment on that horse!). I am a nice person but I am not going to
let people endanger me or my horse and if it were any other horse besides Malik,
it could have been a bad scene!
And so we were all off and Malik gallantly started cantering after them. They
were not going to be caught and I finally asked him to trot again which he was
quite thankful for. A steady trot will get us a lot farther when we are tired
than a blistering gallop! He listened and so we continued mile upon maddening
mile. We only had about 7 more miles to the vet check after that but I thought
it felt like 70! Jeanie and Pam met us again, cheering us on and encouraging our
weary minds and souls and refreshing our bodies with water. Malik always perks
right up when he gets that drink and a slosh bottle splashed on his neck, even
if he's not "hot". They met us one more time before the check and Nelson was
there with them. He had made it back with some Maggie supplies. Like another
Vicodin, a long sleeved shirt and more bug spray (did I mention the bugs are
horrendous in the Upper Peninsula this time of year???). And GLOW STICKS. Though
I still thought I could make it before it was too dark, I wanted to be
prepared!
