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[RC] Ride Rpt CC/LBL LD - Roger RittenhouseShort ride report. Spent the last week or 11 days riding and camping with my horse. Went to two ride venues and did 4 LD competitive events or rides. We had a great time. Chicken Chase was tough but doable. No wonder many of the great riders who condition there go on to big things. Rode the 10 mile loop on Fri then both LDs. Weather was great Day one LD was moderate. Trails were well marked. Only had one major climb, ran down on foot and crawled up. Placed 5th and BC Day 2 rode a different long loop, this one was a bit harder. I did lots of ground work. Took a bit longer Placed 10th (they only take Top 5 for LD BC) Stayed over at Bill Wilson's farm a few days. Rode and unmarked the 10 mile loop on Tuesday. Amy W and her staff along with the Daniel Boone Riders did a great job. Will go back there again. Left for LBL on Wed - in the rain. LBL - What a nice place. Great camping. Omni did NOT like the high line or his pen around the poles .. in the mud and rain. He ran around all night. I walked him at 9, 12 and 4 am. He lost some weight. I put him in a stall on Thrus and that fixed the problem. Along with spending a few hours in a great grass-clover field. Rode both the LDs in the rain and mud. Trails are good not all that tough- lots of river stone and mud but not as bad as it sounds. The mud had a bottom. Day 1 - since the mud was soupy we made good time. I did hold him back. We were walking in the last 1/2mile on foot and were passed by 3 riders. Did not know we were in TT at that time. No big deal. 4 of us finished - pulsed down- at the same time- ended up in 12th. Spent allot of time in the grass clover field to get his weight backup. Started the ride at 990. Light for him. Finished at 1010. Day 2 no real rain. I rode with Susan Reid. We had a great ride. Took our time. But kept ahead of the crowd. We ended up in 16/17. Weight came back to 1020. Diane and Jerry did a great job with this ride. Even the Park Service personal were great. There was no hassle from any of them. I think they allowed allot of leeway pertaining to the 'stabling' of the horses at the camp site. I will go back there again. I may go up just to ride. They have 100 miles of well marked trails This was a great adventure. I got to ride 4 rides. We rode according to his level of condition (ability) on that (each) day, for that trail. He finished each ride in great shape ready to go again. He rode a total of 120 mile over the 2 weekends (counting the 2- 10 mile 'pleasure' loops) I rode the LDs since I like them... and he does well. If I rode the 50 milers ( We could have ridden any of them), we would have only done ONE of the rides and only ONE venue. By supporting the LD rides, I provided dollars to TWO ride managers and AERC, for riding 4 LD rides. In addition, I had a plan, get him in shape (and me) to ride another 50. I kept my focus on the objective, did not let anyone harass me into doing the 50 miler. My horse is stronger and now ready for the next ride. I am confident he will do well. Next Biltmore 50 Weather looks GREAT Roger Rittenhouse www.vmaxept.com 800 655 8629 pictures http://community.webshots.com/user/psdendurance pictures (new) at http://ImageEvent.com/vmaxept PS I have added more and new pictures at the NEW photo site. Pictures on the 'webshots' site will be moved over ============================================================ The air of heaven is that which blows between a horse`s ears. ~ Arabian Proverb ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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