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[RC] Torres Del Paine - EnduranceX - Part 2 - Steph TeeterI woke up just minutes before the alarm went off (I always do this, I wonder how our sleeping brain knows that stuff...). It was still dark and I spent a little time doing email and trying to get caught up and a little more organized. I wasn't really sure about the start of the 80km (the FEI ride), when, where and all that stuff. The riding meeting last night was in Spanish and I had to fill in the blanks in places... But I wandered over to breakfast around 7am, the officials and riders were there, and I eventually found out that the start was in a different location, the horses had been transported the night before, the riders and officials would drive out to the start - so I found a ride and grabbed my camera and away we went. Back down that endless 7km of road, across the bridge and around the lagoon to one of the little stables set up for horses and rides.A spectacularly beautiful morning! Bright, clear, cold, there was frost on the ground, the puddles had a layer of ice. The mountains slowly lit up and began to glow with the sunrise. The riders saddled up in the cold, with Los Torres turning pink in the background. So beautiful!! And still, not a breath of wind. It felt like a classic fall morning in the rocky mountains. I hiked up a hill to get photos of the riders as the started off, and sat there waiting for them, taking in the cool air, the mountains, rivers... this place is something else. Off they want, I snapped a few photos and ran back down to join the group and head back up the long 7km road, back into camp. Just in time for the start of the 60km ride, I took some more photos, and then that left another hour before we started the 40k. It find Liliana, all of her family was there for the race, and of course she knows everybody, so she can't get very far before she finds somebody else to say hello to. I went down to the stable without her, asked about 'Mateko' ? Everybody was busy getting other horses ready, and I wasn't sure if they would get the right horse :) There were two black criollos which looked very much the same... is this really Mateko? si! here, toma - take him. I still hadn't found Lili and wasn't sure about saddles, etc - but they rounded up an old Chilean saddle for me. oh boy, this is going to be interesting! They saddled him for me, cranked the girth down tight (those saddles are not terribly form fitting and tend to shift). Found a bridle, ok - ready, toma - Mmmmm.... maybe puedes montar primero? My Abu Dhabi run-away mare last year left me with a few jitters about climbing on horses for the first time (and I still wasn't totally convinced that this was the right horse) - si, no problem. The little gaucho sprang into the saddle, black horse's head went up - ready! He looked like a goer, but sane, and stoppable! I got on, the stirrups were short, but when I lengthened them they were too long, so I settled for short, rode around a little (cautiously) and then more courageously. He actually felt a whole lot like my horse Jaziret - a horse with the throttle always on, always always wanting to go forward, and a little hard to stop sometimes! I tied him back up and went to find Lili - she was in a large group of people, she saw me and escaped and we went to get her horse ready. She was just a little anxious too, new horse, second endurance ride, all the family, all that stuff. But as soon as we were both on our horses and ready to go everything was perfect. It was a classic start! A classic 'LD - 25 mile start'! Lots of really ready to race horses and riders. They put the juniors up front by a few minutes (nice idea) and then - the ladies! So we moved up in front of the men, and away we went. Full gallop, mud flying, horses passing, being passed, looking for position. I was out in front of Lili somewhere, but didn't want to take my eyes off the trail to look back for her. It quickly got very technical, single track, mud and creeks, climbing, and as soon as the trail demanded attention, the horses settled in to work, and the riders focused. It was pretty darn fun! I'm generally the type who likes to be in mostly full control, but it was a lot more better to just go with the flow and worry about where the horse was going rather than how fast. Tons of fun! And I had been a bit worried about the saddle - it's very different, the stirrups are set forward, the seat is basically layers of leather and wool padding, not much of a tree. But it was just fine, and really pretty good to ride in for technical stuff - I could brace against the stirrups with my legs, and keep a fairly deep seat. Lili finally came up behind me and we cruised along. The yahoos went out really fast and we settled into the middle of the pack. A few came flying by but mostly we just settled in to happily moderately zooming along the trail. What a fantastic ride! She knew this trail by heart, it climbed up over the ridge (she had to concentrate on following the ribbons rather than going the way she always goes) - into a deep forest, trees with leaves in various stages of fall foliage, or no foliage. It was quite wet and muddy on the trail. She said she had never ever seen it this wet here. Changes... After the hilly forest we dropped down into the 'Enchanted Forest' - Bosque Encantado (she named it when she was 14, and had picked out a spot to build a cabin to live there with her white horse and white dog... what a dream world for a young girl!). Then we rode across the 'we always gallop through here' meadow. A couple miles of meadow, some forest sections, some water crossings, at a good brisk gallop! Not exactly endurance pacing, but a great run. Mud splashed all over us and the horses... Riders come back against our direction, the 60's and 80's coming back into camp. Lots of smiles and mud flying. We got to the cabin where the turn-around point was (this was an out- and-back trail) and stopped to chat with the gauchos who were taking numbers as the riders came in. Lili and the guys swapped stories, and smokes - an obligatory puff - and just relaxed for a bit. It's a good thing they didn't bring out the matte - we'd probably still be there. We headed back to camp and slowed down quite a bit, more relaxed. Lili said they always did it this way - gallop to 'Pueste Cerran' and then stop for a social time - and eventually ride back more leisurely. As we rode back she told me about the various gauchos that had lived there - Pueste Cerran, basically a line cabin - a lonely outpost for the gauchos who took care of the cattle - vacas - in that far section. She told me about the old fellow who lived there for years working the cattle, but drank too much, and he eventually died there alone having mixed too much medicinal alcohol and sugar for his relief from loneliness. And the other gaucho who spend his spare time painting the rocks around the cabin white, because he thought it looked more beautiful that way. And one fellow that would go to town once a week and spend all of his money on drink and women, or more accurately drink so much that the women took his money and they all had a grand party. But hey - what else would the old man spend his money on out at the cabin. Life there was simple - matte and bread and beef... the binges were probably worth it! The ride back in was just as enjoyable - until a few miles out Lili thought her horse felt odd all of a sudden. Sure enough, he had lost a shoe. We'd just slow down and try to get a new shoe put on when we got to camp. I told her about Easy Boots! she had never heard of them - but thought what a great idea! We slowed down a little, but still made pretty good time. Horses vetted, new shoe, ready for the next trail. - more in a bit, Steph =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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