ridecamp@endurance.net: FW: Flatwoods fifty ride report

FW: Flatwoods fifty ride report

Nick Warhol (nick.warhol@kla-tencor.com)
Thu, 10 Jul 1997 13:07:55 -0700

>----------
>From: Nick Warhol
>Sent: Monday, July 07, 1997 10:13 AM
>To: 'judy'; 'endurowest'
>Subject: Flatwoods fifty ride report
>
>Saturday, July 5th! Bears reported overrunning Northern California
>endurance ride campground! Thousands flee as bears destroy.......
>Hold on- I'm getting ahead of my self here. This past weekend we ventured a
>long way up north to attend the Flatwoods fifty for the first time. It was
>located about 2 hours north east of Redding which makes it a 7 hour drive
>from the bay area. Long, hot trailer ride through the valley, but at least
>there are some nice rest stops along the way on highway five. We arrived on
>Friday afternoon and set up camp in a nice big field with lots of shade
>trees. I brought Shatta along for his sixth fifty this year, but Warpaint
>is still in the shop. Judy took him to Davis last week and found he has no
>tendon or ligament damage (thank goodness), but he has either an injury to a
>splint, or, heaven forbid, a very unlikely tumor in his leg. We will have a
>better idea in a few days, but hopefully the huge swelling will go down.
>Another 2-3 months off. Sure gets old......
>Judy rode one of Donna Snyder Smith's mustangs named Falcon, who trailered up
>with his buddy Mustang Hawk ridden by Pam Loftus, who might be one of the
>smallest featherweights around, but still bounces with the best of them.
>(more on that later, also) Hawk was pulled at his last ride a couple of
>months ago for a lameness, so this was a nice slow ride to make sure he was
>ok. Pam and Hawk won a fifty this year, so this is no lolygagging little
>range pony- this guy can jam! Other netters- Dom was there on the little
>brown Fadjurs, Kirsten Bernsten (got the name this time, K!) was there, Julie
>and Bob Suhr were in attendance, and I think that's about it. 48 started the
>50, 10 started the 25.
>
>The ride started at 6 for a 25 mile loop back to camp. After a short run up a
>wide dirt road and a stint along side a paved road the course went into 20 of
>the nicest miles I have seen in a while. Perfect moist footing, no dust,
>wide roads through the forest. The last part of the loop got rocky for a few
>downhill miles, but the course was marked well (no ribbon, by the way. It
>was marked only with lime on the ground, and it worked great). The roads
>were mostly level- safe and fun at any speed. Judy was having a blast, since
>Falcon is a whole bunch more controllable than her nutty Appy. She was
>sort of sick early in the ride, but felt better as the day progressed. I
>was walking along on Shatta next to Pam while she was giving the speedy Hawk
>some bending lessons when he decided that was enough of that, by golly. He
>was a bad boy and bucked her right off! She did a perfect slow motion flip
>way up in the air over the horse and onto the ground. Ouch! She landed on
>her side and only received a huge bruise for her flight. She gave Hawk a
>quick "lesson" in bucking after she got up- that was the first time he has
>ever done that since Pam has been riding him. And much to my delight she was
>wearing her helmet. You never can tell.
>
>Lunch was at 25 miles- we rested up and went back out for a 15 mile loop,
>which would come back to camp once again. Up a nice single track trail, up a
>slight climb, more neat roads- then it started getting rocky. NOt Death
>Valley or Las Vegas rocky, but still much more than the first loop. We
>walked most of the rocky sections, and came up to the climb. It was a three
>mile uphill, but was nothing like I am used to expecting when someone says
>there is a BIG climb coming. The top of Mt diablo is a big climb- this one
>was not terribly steep, but very constant. I got off and led Shatta all the
>way up for conditioning purposes (Me, certainly not him!) I'm going to Tevis
>in 2 weeks, so the high altitude climb was nice. We reached the summit and
>began the 2 or 3 mile trot down the other side- nice easy descent, with some
>rocks. The trail joined back up with the first loop and went down the same
>few rocky downhill miles. It was sure cool to come around a corner and see
>Mt Shasta right there, all covered with snow! I did not want to walk all the
>way back down the hill with Judy and Pam, so I hopped off and jogged along
>side Shatta all the way from the top to the camp. I trotted right into the
>check to see how he would recover. A drink of water, to the P&R- 56. Cool!
> We vetted, and went to the truck for a 30 minute hold. Judy and Pam came in
>about 10 minutes or so after I did, but Falcon took a few minutes to come
>down. By the time they got their P&Rs I was ready to go, but I stuck around
>an extra 40 minutes with them while Shatta ate. He is getting so much better
>at eating during the rides! Off we went near the end of the pack on the
>short 10 mile third loop. Back up the same trail, but this time we turned
>left at the steep climb and headed back down. I was walking along on Shatta
>in front when I came around a corner and saw what I thought was a goat on the
>road. It turned and looked at me- it was a bear! IT stood up on its hind
>feet, roared, and charged us! We ran for our lives! AAEEEEEE!!!!!!!
>
>Not really, but it sounded good. The bear was indeed large, but it saw us,
>turned and started jogging down the road. Shatta just looked at it the way
>he looks at cows. I called Pam and Judy- they saw it run down the road about
>a hundred feet from us and turn a corner. Thats when We saw the 2 bear cubs
>go flying up a tree! Ever seen bears go up a tree? Man, they were fast!
>Swoosh! they were up, then they turned and blazed down the tree. Great-
>here we are with road separating up from mom bear and 2 cubs. We waited a
>while until the cubs split into the forest, then cautiously crept down the
>road. All clear- we left the area very excited. That was my first bear
>spotted in the wild, and 2 cubs to boot! What a neat development.
>
>back down the loop to the finish- more rocks, but not terrible. We made it
>in late in the day and vetted in. Uh-oh. Shatta was a little off at the
>trot! NO! I got a completion, but there was indeed a little something
>there. I was bumming about it until I found a small rock wedged between his
>foot and his sneaker shoe. It looks like he just got a little foot sore- I
>sure hope. He looked a ton better that evening, and even more so the next
>day. Whew! I'm going to give him some time off before his next ride just to
>be safe- he has done 8 rides this year, so I don;t want to push it. I had a
>lot of fun on this ride on him - zero spooks, but a couple of "serious looks"
>at stuff. That's Shatta- he wont spook at a helicopter landing, or a bear,
>but he once jumped ten feet at the sight of a cute little cotton tail bunny
>in the bushes.
>
>Cool news! Kirstin won the ride! She said she was just having a perfect day
>all day. She started out quick, but just kept going her pace with a strong
>horse. Congratulations! How cool. Jazon Wonders snuck in for second place,
>and got BC. Dom finished in the top ten, fifth, or sixth I think.
>
>There was a neat pot luck after the ride- what a fun way to end the day. I
>like these smaller rides a lot- it was fun to see good friends (like Scott
>and Beth Wockenheim, I bet I spelled that wrong) Long drive home- Shatta
>drank twice on the way home at the rest stops. I love it.
>
>See everyone at Tevis!
>
>Nick Warhol
>
>Hayward, Ca.
>
>
>Shatta Who saw the bear and didn't spook.
>
>Rowan Who's going to Silver Lake this weekend while Shatta rests!
>

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