ridecamp@endurance.net: Oakland Hills Ride

Oakland Hills Ride

Nick Warhol (nick.warhol@kla-tencor.com)
Mon, 23 Jun 1997 11:01:21 -0700

Hi all-
We just returned form the annual running of the Oakland Hills 25 & 50
mile ride held in Redwood and Chabot Regional parks. I like this ride
since I consider these parks as one of my personal stomping grounds- it
really helps to know all the trails. The weather could not have been
any more cooperative- it was a perfect day for a ride. There were a
whole bunch of netters' in attendance- almost too many to list, but here
goes as best as my failing memory will allow. I was there riding Shatta
along with my barn buddy and conditioning partner Sally Abe on her
gelding Ahkiba. It was their second attempt at a fifty- they finished
in great shape. My wife Judy Long had yet another go around with the
little black bad luck cloud that follows endurance riders around the bay
area sometimes. It seems to bounce back and forth between Livermore and
Hayward, with an occasional stop on the Peninsula. She brought Warpaint
out for the ride to help in her Tevis conditioning plan. Poor Judy-
Warpaint has a swelling on one of his front legs, up near where the
Check and Suspensory ligaments live. He looked a little off, so she
opted to not start. She is heading for Davis and their excellent
ultrasound equipment next week. How about the rest? here goes: Ride
managers Laura and Gary Fend are on the net, and deserve a round of
applause for a superb ride. Dom Freeman was there and finished
somewhere, don't know where. Stasia Hurley was out on her first fifty,
and finished! Way to go! Sally and I passed Stasia about a third of
the way into the ride- they looked good. Congratulations! There's
nothing in the world like the feeling of finishing your first fifty. I
saw Kristin who-I-can-never-remember-her-last-name, but I don't know if
she was riding. Kathy Ruiz was there with both her horses- Alaarm
Clock, oops, I mean Fire Alaarm, and the one and only Tam. Kathy
finished on the big red horse, but they chose to pull Tam at lunch (I
think) to be careful of a leg situation going on. Karen Bottiani was
working the ride at the finish, and drafted Judy to help until we came
along. I never saw Pat Gay, but I saw someone who looked a lot like
her husband Otis. Were you there, Pat? I also think I saw Val Weiser
a couple of times, and she would have been on Copper if she was there.
Jim Mitchell from way down yonder in Bakersfield was there, but I don't
know if he rode, or finished. Janet Pucci and her hubby Ray Santana from
Australian Connection fame were there- Janet did the 50 and finished,
Ray the 25. Bob and Julie Suhr were there, which reminds me of a funny
story. At the last check five miles from the finish Bob was hosing down
the big beautiful Fadot, the Appy/Arab cross out of Sierra Fadwah.
Fadot's pulse was coming down, but it took a couple of minutes. The P&R
person took it, then turned to Julie's horse (Sorry Julie- I dont know
the name, but it was a grey) The worker looked a little startled and
said "forty four?" "Yes, that's right!" smiled Julie. The worker said
that was the lowest pulse she had seen all day. Pam Loftus took fourth
place on a horse she was riding for a friend of here- fast horse! Pam
does not weigh much more than a saddle- I bet the horse appreciates
that. Judy's and my endurance mentor Marilyn R. Russell was there
ridding her wild child Cresta, and finished after having some
"discussions" with the feisty mare in the morning.

The ride itself went very smoothly, at least as far as I was concerned.
Sally and I started at the back of the pack, and rode off with 120 some
odd horses. Nice turnout! The weather was wild- it was chilly in the
morning, it got real warm trotting along the first few miles, then it
turned to winter in the fog for a while. The Vet checks were crowded,
but looked worse than they were. The first check resembled like a
frantic auction, and with only a 15 minute hold I thought we were in big
trouble. Not so! it took me 9 minutes to go from P&R through the vets.
We left right on time, but then ran into the only trouble spot of the
day. We were trotting along down a nice trail when we came across 20 or
so other horses coming back. We all missed a turn a quarter mile back
or so, but found the course quickly. Other than that the course was
exceptionally marked, and I highly recommend to other ride managers to
make use of flour on the road and little round pie plate signs along the
trail. They really help!

Lunch was crowded at the vets- it took me 25 of my 60 minutes to clear
the vet check. back out on the trail the weather was still very nice
with bright sun and a splendid cool breeze. We did the big loop around
the edge of Chabot park, down to the golf course to do a quick nine
holes, along the lake, and then back up a short climb to the third
check. From here it is on the shaded roads until we got to a water stop
at the stone bridge, then the trail! We got to sail down the best
single track trail in the park for trotting- what fun. A loop around
the second golf course (have to finish the eighteen holes) brings us to
the last check, only five miles from the end. A quick 15 minutes pause
complete with bananas, and it was off to the finish, down a new but very
dusty trail. Sally and I finished at 4 PM, right on our schedule. The
finishers all got an Oakland hills ride tee-shirt, complete with a color
it yourself horse? The banquet was a welcome sight- I was starved.

I'll let Gary send out the official results, since I don't have a clue
how the top ten looked. I know there was a horse race to the finish for
10th place, where Skip Lehey beat Jack Enderly by a nose. (literally!)
All in all it was a great ride- I can't think of much else to say.
Except now Shatta is 7 for 7 in 1997!

Nick Warhol
Hayward, Ca.

Shatta- Who had yet another nice, slow ride. Instant recoveries,
looked great all day. What more can I ask for?

Rowan- Who is still retired, but has new shoeing with a shorter
breakover, and is looking great.

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