Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Well if you've never been to Blue Ridge, Georgia, you just don't know what you are missing.
My husband and I just got home from there after a wonderful visit/ training ride with Jim Holland and his "significant other" Joan Tipton. 
Blue Ridge is a quaint little town nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains about 4 miles from the Tennessee and North Carolina borders.

We took "Gorgeous George", my borrowed horse for Tevis, so that I could get in some serious mountain time before loading up for CA in a few weeks. 
What I didn't know was that Jim and Joan had our couple of days there planned  for a little of everything! We had the loft bedroom of their restored mountain home, they fixed breakfast and dinner for us each day, and told us that their home was our home while we were there (now that's southern hospitality for you!). They even treated us to dinner at their local Toccoa River restaurant which sat right on the banks of the Toccoa River deep in the mountains surrounding Blue Ridge. 
Joan was raised in Blue Ridge, so she gave us a whirlwind tour of the town after leaving the restaurant that evening. What a treat!

Of course the real reason for the trip was the training, and boy howdy did we train! Jim and I were on the horses at 8:30 on Wednesday morning for a ride up in "his" mountains which took us all the way into Tennessee on top of "Big Frog" mountain. (he plans to post after he reads this to fill in the details from his perspective! <G>). George handled the climbs like an old pro, and his heart rate barely got over 150 at any time. I guess being raised in the Nevada mountains as a mustang makes this trip a piece of cake for him...
I have taken him up to our "big" deep sand hills down here in Clermont Fla, and I can get his heart rate to 180 there (so for those of you who were asking how to prep a horse for mountains when you don't have them, sand is the way!)

Our ride traversed a few ridges along with a couple of climbs and descents and we ended up riding for 6 hours. The day was overcast and we were high enough on the ridge (about 3900 feet) that we were literally in a cloud and the mist hung so heavy you could cut it with a knife. It was absolutely surreal though, and I couldn't imagine too many other places that I had ridden that were so beautiful.
We guessed we only covered approximately 25 miles that day, but the LSD benefit George and I both got was why were were there.

On Thursday, we started at 9 am, and Jim planned to take me to "Bruce Top" mountain behind his house. On this day he pulled some more beautiful trails out of his bag, and a few "scary" ones too. 
They had recently had a month long drought and we must of brought the rain up from Florida; as it rained hard each afternoon and all night for three days. This left the trails on the mountain sides slick and a little mucky. Footing for the horses at times was a little scary as Jim took us on some "hug the mountain" trails that must be similar to what I will encounter at Tevis. If the horse slipped or took a wrong step, it was about an 800-1000 foot drop down the side! Fortunately, we were only on that trail for a short way, and the rest of the trails up on that mountain were absolutely gorgeous. We saw many signs of bears, but the only wildlife we saw up there over the two days was a hog. We ended up riding about 5 hours Thursday while covering another 14-15 miles.

Overall, it was a great four-day get-away, and George and I are stronger and more prepared for Tevis now. 

Thanks Jim and Joan for a fun time!
And for all you ridecampers who think Jim is an opinionated guy (he is), but he is the nicest most helpful fellow around!

Becky adn Gorgeous George- Tevis bound (leaving in four weeks!)