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[RC] Diablo's Pistoleros Ride - Ridecamp Guest

Please Reply to: Lauretta tikitiki69@xxxxxxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Went to the ride this weekend; was a very beautiful trail, VERY 
good camp, and the staff was extremely friendly....HOWEVER, had a 
very big problem w/ the trail markings... they were very spread
out and it was very hard to determine where to turn in forked
places; I was lost about three times (once when out in front at 
the beginning, so I didn't have any telltale hoofprints in front
to tell me I was going the right way or not) and finally resolved
myself to just going really slow and having a completion. Turned
my 50 into a 65/70 with all of the backtracing, but Shaba, tho tired, held on 
like a trooper till the end. The management did
tell us that free range cows had eaten a lot of
the markers, but I don't think that accounts for all of it; 
talked to several other people that were also lost for some of
the trail, one that just gave up and went back to camp, so it seemed to be an 
issue for several riders...another problem was
that there was little communication between checks; I came in as
the turtle, and the folks at the finish were still waiting for 
riders that had been pulled at previous checks and no one had told them that 
they had pulled (the finish was about a mile and 
a half from camp). There were supposed to be folks with radios on
staff, but they didn't show, so this was not managements fault, 
they did all they could in this area. The only other thing I DID
have a problem with was that the ribbons were being pulled 
before the ride was over.  The sweep riders rode right next to 
me and pulled them as we went along...what concerned me was that
if I had chosen to ride ahead and AGAIN had the misfortune of 
missing a trail marker, by the time I retraced my steps there 
may not have been any markers left to follow, so I just stayed 
at their pace and finished..I know this is a new ride and they did
the very best they could under the circumstances (no matter how
well you plan, something can always go amiss on a ride) so hope-
fully these things will be worked out on the rides to follow.
Other than a the few frustrations mentioned, everyone was ex-
tremely helpful and friendly, met a bunch of new friends, and 
really enjoyed the scenery!!  Would try it again, and be a little
more careful watching the trail changes next time...

Lauretta and Shaba (BOY that was a long ride...but I got my fruit
pies when I was done!! So I forgive my mom for making me do extra
miles....treats make everything better)




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