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[RC] 100 miles in 1 day? Swanton Pacific, my first 100 miler - Part 1A of 3 (toolong) - sandy . l . holderWhere to begin? Well, I can’t say at the beginning because you’d probably be asleep before I got to the real story so I’ll start with why the 100 miles in 1 day title. You see, at the AERC convention, my daughter was so excited about my first attempt at Tevis that she bought (ok, with my money) a decal representing the title above. Of course, she said we couldn’t technically put in on the trailer until I actually had DONE 100 miles in one day. As most of you already know, completing Tevis on my first attempt at a 100 was not to be (something about me pulling Tally at Foresthill when his trot out revealed a grade 2 lameness – but sound as a bell 4 hours later –a good decision I think). So in our tack room the decal sat while I contemplated how my new addiction for 100’s would be “fixed”. Ah, that’s right, the famous “The Most Beautiful Trail in the World” and Barbara McCrary’s Swanton Pacific 100 (SP 100). Guess I’ll have to victimized (oops), I mean see if Katie will ‘volunteer’ to crew for another 100 miler! Having a daughter into endurance (good thing for me she’s not into 100 milers yet) is really terrific. But the stars weren’t shining too brightly so to speak for the two days ahead of the ride. Four seriously major crises occurred, one of which by itself could have been overwhelming (a family friend with breast cancer will be coming to live with us until she’s healthy again). I won’t go into any more details but when you head into a ride like the SP100 with terrible challenges hanging over your head, your confidence level is, shall I say, a bit depleted – at least mine was. In fact, I acknowledged to my husband that there was probably only a small likelihood that I’d actually finish. He to his credit, bless his heart (particularly since he’s a non-horsey type) simply remarked that it wouldn’t be called ‘endurance’ without some challenges! I think I’ll ask him about ‘endurance’ midway through his Iron Butt rally (11 days on a motorcycle with potential routes all the way from Alaska to Florida back to Colorado)! And it wasn’t getting any easier traveling to the ride, a late start and the Hwy between Gilroy and the coast shutdown. We arrived at ridecamp, as you might imagine, late in the afternoon, and me with a heavy heart. It was here, unbeknownst to me at the time, that our luck began to change. Driving into camp, it appeared that all the ‘good spots’ were pretty much taken. Into the meadow we headed where the vet in area is, stopping to unload my precious Tally boy so he didn’t have to endure a bumpy ride, hoping to find a spot to squeeze into. With a sigh of relief, we noticed a really beautiful spot and as it turns out, right between our good friends Don and Pam Bowen and JULIE and BOB SUHR!!! Ok, maybe I should take out the capitals but you’ll know why I kept them in by the time you finish the story! ~,zƧǫN+b{kj{&^v+"קuh\azܭbrƝvZٚ'r߉ק&jwkz^&|z·+,݊ )ڶ*'- Z)ɧ-➷zhb)ߢ*'o*^'ޞح(קukyȩkם!z+vb)ޮ+W(֜^zuץz隵jWf&^q )z ,h7kzXם&Xʖw'
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