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The third Shine and Shine Only ride of 1997 went off as scheduled last
weekend, but was certainly not a traditional laid back SASO ride. Ride
manager and all around endurance wiz Becky Hart was out of town, leaving
the management to the capable hands of Judith Ogus, who definitely had
her hands full. The first anomaly was the turn out! The American River
ride is usually held on this same weekend, but was moved to October
this year due to flood damage to the trails. All those riders came to
San Jose! There were something like 90 plus starters on the 50, and a
bunch on the 25. There were so many rigs at the camp it was like trying
to park at an In and Out Burger joint at lunch time! (West Coast joke
there, guys) This is about twice as many riders as normally attend
these rides.
The second anomaly was the rain. Friday afternoon at 4:00 it started
pouring hard in the Bay Area, but apparently it poured everywhere but
the Quicksilver Park area. It was raining so hard when I was loading up
I had to move the truck to avoid standing in a pond! No way is this
ride going to happen, I thought. We had dinner and began calling to see
if the ride was a go, and much to my surprise it was! We pulled into
camp at 10:30 pm, and were lucky to find anywhere to park. We checked
in and vetted at 5:45 am, the start is at six-thirty. RUSH! Once
underway, it turned out the trails were in fantastic shape. It rained
just enough to soften everything up, but without mud. I told Judith she
couldn't have had better traction if she had called
1-800-Endurance-Footing and tried to buy it.
Judy and I started out at the very end of the pack again, for 2
reasons: that was our plan, and we were so late in the morning we didn't
have much choice. The air was nice and cool in the morning as we
trotted the 13 miles to the first vet check. I stopped for one disaster
just before the check- long time Northern California rider Gloria
Vanderford took a fall and injured herself. We heard a report later she
broke some ribs, but was fine other wise. The first vet check was a
madhouse! This spot is not designed for that many horses, but the ride
workers did an unbelievable job of keeping order. The hold was bumped
to 30 minutes, which made it possible for everyone to get through OK.
Good job by the P&R people and Vets! The other bummer here was Judy and
Warpaint were pulled for a muscle cramp in his rear end. He was moving
well to the check, but got cramped up a bit standing in line. It could
have been us at fault as well- we forgot to dose the horses with
Electrolytes in the morning before we left. It was VERY humid, and
getting warmer by the minute. Warpaint walked out of his cramp- in fact
Judy rode him on a long ride on Sunday- he seems fine. The bad luck
that follows Warpaint should be bottled and shipped somewhere very dark.
Judy did manage to have a lucky break, though. Her waist pack opened up
while she was flying down the trail, scattering everything behind her in
Warpaint's wake. (including her ride card, easyboot- all her stuff.)
She managed to recover all of it on her next pass, before the vet check,
with the exception of her Granola bar. Some happy raccoon was no doubt
waiting for her to come around again.
The first loop ended without incident, except for one bizarre episode I
had. I was riding with a lady who asked me "I have to ask. Why are
you only wearing one chap?" (I wear those little shorty leather half
chaps held on by velcro) I looked down- my right one was gone. "Whoa,"
I said, "I must have lost it, but never even noticed!" She looked at
me and asked "Then why do you wear them, if you didn't notice it was
gone?" I thought for a second, trying to come up with an answer. "Uh,"
I said, "because I've always worn them?" She shook her head no. "How
about they keep the gravel out of my shoes when I run?" "No gravel here
today," she said. "They keep my ankles warm?" I was really stretching
it now. She shook her head no again. She had me. I took the other one
off at lunch, finishing the ride without them. One less hunk of tack to
remember now!
The second loop was once again the same as the first, but it was
getting hotter. The back of the course was so humid in places it made
me think I was in Florida. Hey Truman- how do you guys ride in that
stuff? Yuck. Everyone slowed down a bit as a result. I had one more
little episode where Shatta spooked at yet another of his trail goblins
which don't exist, depositing me neatly on the ground beside him. The
good thing about this horse is he stops when he does this, rather than
take off. Thank goodness. I toppled off him, got back on, only loosing
about 30 seconds in the process. We finished again in great shape with
a ride time of just under seven hours, for 34th place. He looked great
again at the post ride check- that's what I'm looking for this year. He
drinks better with every ride as well.
There were tons of netters' in attendance, the Northern California
chapter Internet group called "Endurowest" was well represented.
Endurowest administrator Dom Freeman was there, but not on Fadjurs this
time. She was riding the 25 on a first time horse- she got through
fine, although I think she had to hold him back a bit. Jennifer
Hickson-Laymen was working the ride since her neat little mare is having
some foot problems. Val Weizer was also working the ride while her
significant other was riding.
Helen Harvy was there, Judy Ethridge, Karen Chaton, and Kristin
I-can't-remember-your-last-name rode as well. Donna Snyder Smith had
her small herd of Mustangs at the ride, with the speedy Mustang Hawk
taking third place ridden by Pam Loftus. David Jenkins won the ride,
Marcia Smith took second. Don't know any more- sorry 'bout that. It
was another fun ride for most folks. Next stop- Castle Rock!
Nick Warhol
Hayward, Ca.
Shatta- Who has been around this same damn loop six times now in the
past 10 weeks.
Rowan- Who only rode this ride once five years ago, and got pulled.
But- he got to ride in Rio's Race of Champions trailer!
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