Re: RC: rail to trails

[BMcCrary27@aol.com]

In a message dated 3/31/99 9:29:44 PM Pacific Standard Time,
guest@endurance.net writes:

<< I recall  that a man named
 Jefferson Spivey who rode across the U.S. in the early 80's
 was one of the originators of the "rails to trails" concept. Does
 anyone remember him ? >>

Very much so.  He basically pioneered the multi-day ride.  His accomplishment
fascinated most of us in the early days of endurance riding (of course Tevis
was way ahead of us all).  Julie Suhr managed to invite him to a Castle Rock
ride in the early '70s as a speaker, and the Castle Rock Horsemen's Assn.
donated a bit of money to him for his cause.  He was just an average guy who
accomplished an above average feat.  I've never known what happened to him
after that.  
I do remember his answer to a question in an interview after his ride.  The
question was something like this, "What would you do differently if you had to
do it over again?"  His answer was, "I would chose and older horse to ride
it."  He was loaned a horse from an Eastern breeder, a 4 year old gelding
named Rose Araby Mr. Sol.  Sol performed well for him and had a good deal of
sense.  Once they became trapped in a railroad cut as a train was approaching.
Unable to outrun the train, and unable to go anywhere as high banks were on
either side, he backed Mr. Sol against the bank with hind feet up the bank and
head facing the train, and the horse stayed cool.  Scares me to think of it!
There were some beautiful pictures taken of them in the surf at the end of
their ride.  I can't quite remember whether he started on the east coast and
came west, or vice versa, but I think it was west to east.  He was invited to
Washington DC to speak afterwards, and to schools to speak to children.  He
was a visionary, ahead of his time, and I'm afraid much of his goal was lost
in time.  He really wanted to call attention to the need to preserve trails so
adventurous people could have the freedom to roam this country.

Barbara


Barbara McCrary


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=