Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

rain, rain, and more rain was the order of the day.  it started about 1:30 am saturday and rained most all day.  if you didnt get wet, then you were somewhere else.  hats off to jamie, eric and their tremendous group of volunteers for putting on a terrific ride in spite of awful conditions.  thundering hoofs turned the woods trails into absolute slop, with the graded roads becoming a welcom relief.  i would like to especially commend JOE SCHOEH  for stopping riders from going through a horrible mud bog.  joe's horse went down in the bog, and joe had to get off and literally pull his horse's head up out of the water.  his horse was bottom up, and couldnt right himself.  had it not been for joe's quick thinking and reacting,  this could have been a very bad situation.    there was some confusion about riders being turned back at this point in the trail though.  apparently ride management didnt get to the scene until a bit later.  kathi and i had just made it to the little pond before the bog and had turned back when we met eric ginter coming in on foot to check out the trail.  eric said he didnt know why riders were being turned back, and told us to continue following the trail.  well, we plunged ahead through the boggy mess.  the water was chest deep on the horses, and the footing was very slippery.  kathi made it through just fine on gorgeous george, the mustang, although he was slipping and lunging sideways due to the bad footing, but my mare, bolita, slipped, and went down on her knees, with her head completely under water!  i dont really know if any of the other 30 milers went through that horrible bog or not, but when we made it around the edge of the fields and back out to the main road, the spotters asked us if anybody told us not to go through there.  we told them that there was some confusion about it, that eric was there, and hopefully would take care of it.  well, long story short, both joe's horse and mine seemed to move fine in spite of falling in the bog, so we all made in back in. on the way in, we talked with joe, and he told us of his concern for the safety of the other riders coming behind him.  he did not want any one to get caught in the same predicament that he did.  if you know joe, thats how he is, he sure looks out for the welfare of others, often at his own expense.  so, joe, is you see this,   thanks again for your efforts in helping to keep others safe on the trail.

 it was the finish line for kathi and me, so we vetted out and completed.  joe was on his hold and went back out since he was doing the 60 miler.   i dont really know how things finished up.   we got the horses warmed up and dried off as best we could, then did the same for us.  since it was only a two hour drive, and it was still pouring down rain,  we loaded up and headed home.   we had a great time!  and how else would you want to spend your saturday?   cowboy ed