GERA ride story

["Tina Hicks" <hickst@nichols.com>]

Finally getting a minute to write about my ride this past
weekend at the GERA classic in Dawsonville, GA.

In a word, it was fantastic!! When I pulled in Friday
afternoon in 95 degree heat and who-knows-what humidity I
was beginning to question my sanity as I have been less than
industrious over the summer about conditioning - tho Tony
was racing fit this spring and has a base - so I had already
decided to just piddle along...My real goal is my first 100
in October.

So...with all that in mind...back to the ride. After going
for a short ride and being very thankful Tony had pads on as
rocks abounded, I went to vet in - and promptly turned back
around - seems there were lots more folks than they expected
and currently only one vet working - so the line was a
little long. Oh well, what else do I have to day the friday
before a ride :) In the meantime I hooked up with two ladies
from FL - Catherine and Leslie - we got along famously and
decided to sign up for the team competition - you didn't
have to ride together - just sign up before the ride.

Vet in and riders' meeting are uneventful. Next stop is the
ride start. The vets set 6:30 as start time to beat the heat
but ended up starting about 10 minutes late so we'd have
some light. We started like we always do - by standing back
and watching everyone else go - with Tony's HR at a roaring
32 I asked him to walk on out down the trail. We were
probably 2 minutes behind the pack of 35 50 milers....We
soon picked up a nice forward but in control trot and the
ride was on.

The trail is beautiful - lots of rocks, a few climbs, and
lots of scenic meanderings along and across the river. VC
one was uneventful - we came in at a walk, came down quickly
and went thru the line. I ditched my HRM as the electrode
wouldn't stay put - oh well, I wasn't riding fast enough
that I was worried about knowing the instant he was down.
Holds were 40 min and off we went again. 2nd loop again very
scenic and went by quickly - tho I knew when we did it again
later it would be very hot...The electrolytes were working
now and he was draining the river each time we crossed it.
Side Note - I used the time of pre-mixing the E. and putting
them in a squeeze honey container and just putting that and
a syringe at the check - much better way to do it than
anything I've tried to date.

Vetted thru easily but due to an injury on the trail and one
vet taking care of that the 40 min. hold was taken in the
vet line. Samm's husband Lance had been crewing for me which
was a real treat as he is a great crew so I was at least
able to take care of the necessities before going back out
again. Loop 3 is a repeat of 1 - but the hills were longer
this time :) Tony still felt good tho and we cantered the
last 1/2 mile or so in, vetted thru fine and was able to let
him rest in his pen for a while which is always nice. Last
loop - it's now about 2 pm and HOT and HUMID - ick I think
to myself - and I paid to do this :) Last loop goes well,
tho about 15 minutes slower and a zillion degrees hotter
than the others but we cross the finish line in good shape
and vet thru easily. The only negative mark we received was
a B- on our final gut sounds - tho he was eating and
drinking just fine.

Turns out we came in 16th out of 35 (with a ride time of
just under 8H) even after starting late - which thrilled me
to no end - I think we passed a good number of folks in the
vet check which is always encouraging.

The trail was marked so you could almost follow it by
holding your hand out and feeling the ribbons :) Really a
nice ride all the way around. Mgmt did a great job handling
all the riders and everyone seemed to have a good time in
spite of the heat. Most everyone rode smartly as there were
just a few pulls.

And....<drum roll please>.....Catherine, Leslie, and I were
the wining Team!!  We each got a cute bucket and some horsey
treats - that was a nice end to the day. 

I started out the ride wanting to do about an 8 hour 50 so
my pacing system <g> is pretty close to being on target
which is good to know. 

A good time was had by all as they say....

Next stop - Big South Fork.

Tina & Tony (and Andy the Dalmatian who never gets mentioned
in these stories but dutifully watches over my rig all day
and quietly sleeps the miles away to and from the rides)
hickst@nichols.com