My dad, Bob Walz, passed away May 17th, 2008 at the age of 86. He had a stroke about 6 weeks previous & just didn’t recover. We are going to have a party in his honor (that's right, he requested a party!) following the Tevis BBQ on Wednesday, July 16th at the fairgrounds. It will start at 7:30 PM approximately. It will end when we're done honoring the man with stories & memories. Donations made on RavensEndurance.info will go toward buying a mile of Tevis Trail as a memorial for my dad. The Bob Walz Easy Ride Mile! Thanks to Garrett Ford and Easy Care for the kick off donation! I am going to deeply miss my dad. He was an amazing man. My Tevis crew chief every year I rode it. My adviser & ultimate authority on horses & endurance. He started the New Jersey 100 Mile Ride in ‘62 when I was just 7 yrs old. He took my brother, Roy & I to many east coast endurance rides when we were young. He was the first to adapt Polar Heart Monitors for horse use. He designed & made the Easy Ride Stirrups for years before he sold the rights to Garrett Ford & EasyCare. He was AERC member #1520 with 8690 lifetime miles… lots of pre-AERC miles, too! He was 86 & continued to ride up to 2 years ago. He had just bought a new horse with hopes of riding again. My dad was a great guy, a giver and an innovator, creating a few of the most prolific and important products to hit the equine industry in decades. He deserves to be honored in a fashion equal to his impact on all of us horse folks.