Home Current News News Archive Shop/Advertise Ridecamp Classified Events Learn/AERC
Endurance.Net Home Ridecamp Archives
ridecamp@endurance.net
[Archives Index]   [Date Index]   [Thread Index]   [Author Index]   [Subject Index]

Re: [RC] Oroville Ride - Ericka Nelson

about five years ago, i was riding the morgan springs ride up on the pacific
crest trail...what a beautiful ride that was.  it was maybe my 6th 50 and i
was riding a beautifully gated saddle bred mare (who turned out to be way to
smart for this beginning rider).  well, that mare could move out and we were
hauling a** on a single track trail.  we were having the time of our lives
and i was thinking, "man, we are going so fast!  this is such a blast"
well, i heard riders behind us and i'm sure they were having a blast to,
going so fast like that.  but, to be polite, i asked if they'd like to go
around.  that was when i met jazon and he politely said "yes, we need to
keep a 100 mile pace".
moral of the story...it ain't always what you think.
ericka
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ridecamp Guest" <guest-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2004 11:48 AM
Subject: [RC] Oroville Ride


Please Reply to: Erick Larson paradigm@xxxxxxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
==========================================

I just wanted to respond to the remarks about the Oroville ride.

It's too bad that someone had a bad experience with an LD rider.  My wife
and I rode in the 30 mile ride and had a wonderful time.  I found ALL the
riders to be courteous and helpfull.  It was the first completion for both
my young Tennessee Walker/Arab cross and for me.  We had been pulled at the
Oakland Hills ride earlier in the year after he tripped and came up slightly
lame.  My wife now has 3 LD completions on her 11 yr old Arab.  Next year
the 50's!  At Oroville I was told there were 128 riders with 50 riders in
the 30 mile ride.

For those willing to read my rant I thought I would post my experience on
the ride....

We arrived about dark on Friday.  I couldn't believe the number of trailers!
They were everywhere.  After parking WAY UP on the hill we quickly unloaded
the horses and ran down the hill to vet in before the vets left.  After
vetting in I took the horses back to the trailer and left my wife to attend
the riders meeting that was just beginning.  Wow, talk about just in time
scheduling.

Morning came early, especially since we were camped near a train track and
the train would come by about every 30 minutes all night long.  How nice of
them to blow the train whistle every time they came by!  That didn't seem to
bother the horses however.

The 30 milers started at 6:30am, but you needed to leave camp about 6:10 to
make it to the starting line by ride time.  We crossed the infamous rail
road tracks on our way to the start line.  How appropriate that my horse
stopped right on the tracks to leave a big pile of manure.  Good boy!

With the 50's long gone there was still a lot of horses milling around at
the start.  We stayed in back and let the pack zoom away.  In retrospect, we
should have been up front.

Those who zoomed away at the start quickly slowed down.  I do understand the
frustration of someone wanting to go faster and getting stuck behind
slowpokes.  I kept reminding myself: "this is an LD not a race".  Someone
needed to tell that to my wifes horse who tried to bite my horses butt for
the first 10 miles.

There is quite a bit of single track on the ride.  Almost without exception
when we wanted to pass the slower riders pulled over.  We extended that
courtesy to those wanting to pass us as well.  Even though it was single
track, it was not treacherous terrain and you could easily find a spot to
pull off and wave to your faster competitors.

By the 10 mile mark my wife and I hooked up with the top 4 riders in the LD
and we formed a group of 6 all moving out at the same speed.  We kept the
group together until the first vet check at the 15(?) mile mark.

Here's where I have my only criticism of this otherwise wonderfull ride.  At
the vet check they were SWAMPED with horses.  The 4 we were riding with went
right from P/R to the vet check line.  Those little smarties knew what they
were doing.  But my wife and I took our horses to water and food and grabbed
some food for us, then stood in line.  By the time we finished vetting we
were 10 minutes late out of the hold.  We never caught up.  Rats!

The second half of the ride was my favorite.  At one point they had us
blazing our own trail up the side of the Oroville Dam.  I would see a ribbon
in a tree and ride over to it.  Then my wife would see one on a bush and off
we went again.  Yee-haw that was fun, but I'm sure some people got lost.

There was another vet check about 8 miles from the finish at the top of the
dam.  I did not like all the pavement and hard gravel on the last climb up
to the vet check so we got off and walked that part.  It was here that we
were passed by two riders cantering and trotting on the pavement.  Sure
enough, both of their horses came up lame at the check and were pulled.

My wifes horse was barely breathing hard at the top and vetted right away.
My horse was blowing hard and I waited about 5 minutes to vet.  We vetted
fine, but I was warned to take it easy on the last part because my horses
respiration was slightly elevated.

To give my boy a rest I jogged the first 3 miles downhill from the last vet
check.  What a great trail!  It wound down the side of the dam through oak
trees and followed the river back to base camp.  Soon enough my horse was
eager to go faster than I could jog so I climbed back aboard and away we
went.

RIDER DOWN!  I hate those words.  It sends shivers down my spine and makes
my stomach sick.  Coming through the trees about 4 miles from the finish we
came upon them.  The lady we had been following on the first part of the
ride who was in the lead through the whole race was lying on the ground in
obvious pain.  Her friend was standing next to her holding both of their
horses and alerting anyone who happened by.

She said her horse had slipped or spooked going by a big downed tree and she
was thrown from the saddle.  She suspected her wrist was broken.  The other
2 riders in their group rode ahead to the finish to get help while her
friend stayed behind with her.  My wife and I stopped and offered our help,
but there was really nothing we could do.  Her friend urged us to continue,
so I said a silent prayer and we rode on.  What a shame.  I know that rider
would have been in first and her horse, an awesome grey, would have been a
strong contender for best conditioned.

About a mile further down the trail, we encountered a sweep rider.  We
stopped to give a report on the downed rider, but he already knew about her.
I confirmed to him that he could probably get his jeep to her and he left on
his rescue mission.  We would overhear the radio at the finish saying she
had been safely transported to the Oroville hospital.

So it was finally on to the finish.  The last 1-2 miles were on the flat
fire road along the river.  Fun, fun, fun...  We let the horses drink a
little from the river and let them go the speed they wanted back to camp.

Don't let anyone tell you your horse doesn't know where camp is!  Our boys
kicked it into high gear and cantered "tails up" back to camp and the finish
line.  Imagine our surprise to find we were the 3rd and 4th riders to
arrive.

After a final vet check and grabbing a plate of great BBQ chicken we loaded
up and headed to my parents ranch in Bangor, about 30 minutes away.  Since
we left early I don't know who won the 50 or who got best conditioned in the
LD or 50.  Perhaps another reader could help me with that???

My thanks to the ride management and scores of volunteers who did a great
job on this ride.  We hope to be back next year riding the 50.  So watch out
for Erick and Memphis and Teresa and Astros.  If we slow you down we'll move
over and if we pass you we'll always smile.

Gotta ride now, it's raining.

-Erick Larson-


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


Replies
[RC] Oroville Ride, Ridecamp Guest