Please do. I am not sure I want to look at them for a day or two. At
least I only have to unmark 50 miles of trail once instead of the two or
three times I had to mark it. I now know the problem areas and think I can
avoid them next year.
One very interesting observation from this ride is how the weather affected
the ride times. On Saturday when it was rainy (and pretty miserable) at
the start the riders and horses seemed to be almost depressed. The 50 was
won in 7 and 1/2 hours (by a junior I might add).
On Sunday Darleen Krell won the 50. I ride a lot with Darleen and know
exactly how she rides. Her horse is young and she does not race him - even
at the end. She rides a steady 8 to 10 miles per hour. I had predicted
she sould finish in between 5 and 1/4 and 5 and 3/4 hours. She finished in
5 and 1/2 hours. This restored the faith in the odometers on the trail
bikes and map wheel we used to measure the course. The weather on Sunday
was absolutely perfect - 40 degrees at the start, warming to 70 in the
afternoon, sunny and low humidity.
But the interesting point is why was the course so slow on Saturday. I
would appreciate anyone with any theories to share them. Since this area
doesn't have any mug, the rain could only help by packing the sand. So one
would think the course would have been easier on Saturday. But that sure
wasn't the case.
Dwight Hooton did quite a job with the vet crew. The vet crew was very
helpful to the riders - helping them understand what was going on with
their horses and how to avoid problems. Of over 90 riders in the total ride
there were only 8 pulls. Craig Brinkman pulled one horse and treated it
for a minor "tie up" at 30 miles. He clearly caught it in time since the
horse was fine later in the day. While part of the high completition rate
can be attributed to the weather - most of the credit goes to the riders
who rode well within the limits of their horses.
Now if you would excause me I need to find a psychiatrist since the body is
not yet cold (not to mention I haven't caught up on the missed sleep) and I
am thinking about how to route the trail next year!
Truman
---------------- Original Post ----------------
>I have the results for the Florida classic (March 2-3) and will post
>them hear if you are interested. I will try to get them on the
>endurance riders page also. Quite a ride.
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The race is not always to the swift, but to those that keep running.
Truman and Mystic "The Horse from HELL" Storm
and Danson "The Demon in Training" Flame
prevatt@lds.loral.com - Sarasota, Florida
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