The Tevis 100, 2006

Oh, what a ride!

I looked at the Tevis this year as kind of a breakthrough ride for me. I have started this thing six times in the past and have only completed it twice. That’s not a great record as far as I’m concerned, but then again, this no ordinary endurance ride. Not by a long shot. Not by a longer shot. Take the longest shot you can imagine, double it, then add a few miles, throw in some more rocks, and you have the Tevis. It’s not that it isn’t possible to finish, because you can, it’s just harder than most other rides anywhere. That’s one of the things that make it so attractive, since over half of the starters don’t get to finish, and believe me; every starter out there wants to get to Auburn worse than just about anything. That’s the thing that makes it so important- the fact that the rider next to you wants to finish so badly it hurts. The rider in front of him wants to finish just as bad. There is a lot of sheer willpower floating around out in the air above Robie Park on Friday evening before the ride.

I was looking forward to the ride this year more than I ever had in the past. I got my new horse, Forever Dawn, (AKA Don), two years ago in July. He had not done any rides yet when I brought him home. I started the conditioning program that got him going on his first ride the following May. Since then he has completed eighteen rides out of eighteen starts, (all 50’s) culminating with his top ten and Best Condition at the American River 70 in April. My good friend Melissa Ribley, the head vet at the AM River ride, looked him over at the finish and asked if I was going to ride Tevis in 06. I had been planning on waiting a year, and doing the 20 Mule team as his first, but the way he looked after that ride told me he was ready, in fact, he was supremely ready. I may sound a little braggish here, but he’s really an absolute joy to ride. He’s one of those horses who really loves to go, but is as happy as can be to go whatever pace I ask him to. No fighting, no pulling, none of the antics that Judy and I have had to put up with Warpaint, the wonder Appaloosa, for so many years. You feel like you have gone 10 rounds with a heavyweight boxer after the first 25 miles of a ride on Warpaint. The last time I finished Tevis was in 1999 on Warpaint, and it was a lot of work in the beginning. Don is a very different horse- that much is certain.

Once again Judy was my crew, and I sure appreciate it. Every rider appreciated their crew, or at least they better! I sure do. Crewing this ride is a lot of work. Thanks sweetie! We hooked up with our gang in the overflow parking lot on Thursday afternoon and set up camp. Gary fend was riding the monster horse Annie, our ride and tie horse of a year ago. His daughter Jamie was on their horse Smokey, Karen Bottiani on Blues, and Brenda Benkly on Karen’s other horse Piper. Maybe I should not say this, but it was my first Tevis without the dust in camp. That gravel may not be as soft as the nice forest soil, but there is no dust! It was very nice to not have to live and breathe the dust in camp for 2 days. We did some shopping, visited with lots of friends, and had just a wonderful camp dinner with our group out in the forest. It’s nice to be there a couple of days early, since you can have a good time and not have to get up the next morning at 3:15 am. On Friday we did the usual stuff- wake up, feed my horse, go back to sleep, get up again, have breakfast- its so relaxed. And the weather? It was just beautiful out. Nice and cool. Two weeks ago we had the heat wave in Northern California that would have kept me from starting had it not gone away. 119 degrees in Danville? It really was that hot. We moseyed on down to pick up our rider packets, then returned with the horses to vet in. My buddy Rob Holden got to check Don in- he commented that he looked nice. We weighed in, got our number, and were done in no time. The ride volunteers are so helpful here; the whole setup is so professional. We would be number 199 weighing in at 202 pounds.

In the afternoon Gary and I, along with Victoria on Smokey (a friend of Gary and Laura who was helping crew) went for a nice pre-ride down the road where the ride starts. We went along about a quarter of a mile past the start and came to this little ditch about eight inches deep and a foot across. Don stopped, took a look, and hopped across it. No, let’s do that again. I turned him around and had him walk through it, and again back, which he did. That’s better. Little did I know this stupid little ditch would have such an impact on the start. We trotted the road for a while and stopped for about fifteen minutes to let the beasts enjoy some nice, green grass. We rode back to camp nice and slowly, back across the Grand Canyon, er, I mean the stupid little ditch. My horse felt perfect, nice and relaxed, as he always is, and was doing the Jamie Kerr Mantra that I live by- EDPP. (Eating, Drinking, Peeing, and Pooping) We spent Friday afternoon packing saddles and crew gear, then had another great camp dinner before we went to the riders meeting. Nothing really earth shattering to learn, except to be sure to go around the snow bank in the wilderness, and to learn about this new start routine. Tony Benedetti explained the new “three pen” start procedure in great detail. Basically there were three pre-determined groups of about 65 riders each that were separated into three distinct start areas, and would be let go in order to mitigate the insane congestion that always happens on that start road. He asked for everyone’s patience, which was good, since people were a little concerned. I have to give the ride management credit for trying to fix this problem, and although they don’t quite have it licked yet, they are making improvements. Next year should be the ticket. After the ride meeting we sat around the camp fire (oops, sorry, no fires allowed. It was a Coleman lantern) for a bit before turning in. It would be time to get up in 5 hours. We got a bit of a surprise to hear raindrops, of all things, on the camper roof in the early night. Would that be something to have enough rain to kill the dust? That would be too much to ask for, and no, it didn’t happen. It was just tiny sprinkles.

3:30 am- alarm goes off, oh, that’s just too early to get up, but my eyes were wide open the moment I woke up. We prepped for the start, got camp broken down and the trucks loaded up. At 4:30 we said bye-bye to the crews and led the horses off to the start in the dark. Once again- THANK YOU ride management for the no-vehicles-on-the-roads-before-the-start rule. That’s the best rule ever passed at the ride. Don is perfect, just walking along with me, looking around. There are horses screaming, some jigging, people stressed, but not us. We got to our designated pen, pen 3, which was located in the big vet in area, lucky for us. This part was absolutely great- we hopped on and started walking the horses around in a giant circle, everyone going the same direction in a nice walk. Oh, this is good. Very good. Lots of room, no hassles. We got to warm them up nicely, no crowds, no pushing, shoving, swearing, fist fights, nothing. We probably did a mile or more at the walk- I think I’ll sanction the ride next year as the new Tevis 101! They were supposed to release the pens in sequence to have everyone cross the start by 5:15. Didn’t work. We got released on schedule, (we were just about last in our group) but the walk behind the lead riders took too long, and we did not reach the actual start until 5:25 or so. There goes 10 minutes, but it was worth it to not have any of the road crowding hassles. Until we got to the Grand Canyon. How can a stupid little ditch like this cause so much trouble? We had just started trotting when we hit the backup of horses. Huh? Here we go again- a giant traffic jam of what had to be 75 horses piled up on the road, not moving, horses spinning, people stressed, anxious, mad, shouting- what in the world is going on? I figured someone must be hurt ahead and down on the road. What else could stop 75 horses for 15 minutes? It was this stupid little ditch that horses were refusing to cross. The problem was no one knew what was going on, other than we were not going anywhere. Up on my soap box, its time for some preaching! To those riders, who I saw a lot of, who could not get their horse over the ditch- get off the trail and let the other horses pass. I’m sorry if it would take you longer, it was a dangerous situation. They just would not move. I understand how they felt, but they really needed to just move and go last. To those riders who were pushing their way up on the road, trying to go past everyone else who had to stand still- I wanted to shove them off a cliff, or at the very least disqualify them. They were the worst. Can you imagine the gall of someone who is saying “Move over, we need to get through!” Why you? Where were you going to go? You can’t wait like the rest of the riders? I’m a pretty level-headed person, but when some riders behind me said they were coming through, I said: “No, you are not! You can just wait like everyone else!” I was going to pull the AERC director card and tell them to back off, but they did. Maybe it was my authoritarian style, demeanor, and personality? Who, me? I was pretty mad! It was just a little dip in the road, but man, it caused a big problem. Once we finally got to the Grand Canyon, Don, Annie, Blues, and Piper just hopped over the darn thing and off we went at a trot, feeling pretty frazzled for having gone a whole quarter mile. Suggestion to ride management- I’ll pay for the little skip loader next year to go out there the day before the ride and fill in the Grand Canyon. Heck- you could have done it with a shovel. I know it’s not their fault- it’s just the trail. But I bet they will go out and fix it next year. (I hope!)

Whew! Once we finally got going, it got way better really quickly. The four of us were trotting along nicely down the road. The stupid ditch did do its job, though, and really spread out the start. The crowds on the road were nothing; the dust was not even bad- it was just another road to trot on. We moved along at a good pace down the road to the single track trail and just continued on trotting. We cruised along on the nice trails up and down to the little bridges, but did experience a couple of little bottlenecks- maybe a half a minute- nothing bad. It was just a nice trail ride to the highway underpass, where we passed under the highway. This next section can sometimes be a little hairy, but being as far back as we were, and the fact that the horses were so spread out made it very nice. The trail winds up a long way up the Squaw Valley canyon, all on single track, some rocky with nice, steep drops off the side. We went a nice trotting pace while walking the steep stuff. The trail eventually dumps out on the main ski run road, where we actually trotted up most of the way to the high camp water stop. Don took a huge drink- yay! Many horses didn’t. I realized I was really warm- I took off my jacket and felt much better. It can get really cold up here, but this day it was very nice. Up over the tippy-top and past the monument we went- Karen asked if I wanted to go first, as I had been behind the other horses up until that point. Don took off in front on the neat trail that heads down the back side of the mountain and right into the Granite Chief Wilderness. Whoops- here’s that snow bank. Yeah, I’d say go around it! You ride a horse down into that and it would be there until the spring thaw, which is long since past. It was an easy detour- again; the ride management marks it so well you would not feel sorry for someone who missed that. I did, however, want to pull the ribbons for those pushy riders who were behind me at the Grand Canyon. Okay- I’ll relax now.

Here we go, Don. All we have to do is get through this mess and we will be fine. This section is so nasty in spots you have to give the horses credit for being able to make it through. I have been through this yucko section six times before, but never before as nicely as this trip. Don was just superb through the horrible rocks and bogs. He was relaxed, walked, stood when he needed to, he places his feet carefully- he only slipped a couple of times a little, which is amazing. All four of us made it through without incident, which is a huge relief. I really had fun in here this year, which I must admit was the first time I have experienced that. What a good horse. Out of the wilderness and onto the nasty, rocky road that leads to Lyon Ridge. Has it always been this rocky? I don’t remember it being like this. Walk, trot, dust, rock, walk, trot, dust, rock- the story of Tevis. The rocks buried under the silt are the worst, since you can’t see them until the horse trips on them. And that dust! I’ll never get used to that. You get behind ten horses and you may as well be riding at night. Don tripped a few times in the silty stuff, but nothing serious. We took a little break at Lyon Ridge for more drinks and a snack for the horses. Karen led the way out and up the rocky trails towards Cougar Rock, which we all went around. We were moving right along in the continuous dust, mostly trotting up and down the trails towards the first real vet check at Red Star ridge. I led Don down into the check and gave him a drink- he was way down when we headed over to the vets. Here’s where we had our first problem. The check is set up weird- you get your pulse, go to the vet for the exam, and then the vet gives you back your card and has you trot away from them down the trail towards Robinson Flat. They told me “trot him, and just keep going unless we call you back. Don’t come back otherwise.” Okay- I went through, then Karen and Brenda. Gary had gotten in the vet line, but apparently Annie was still high and had to go back to cool off some more. Except that we were out and down the road, and she wanted her buddies. We were not supposed to go back. What to do? We didn’t know how long Gary would be there, and we were in the way of the other horses. Should one go back, or wait? We decided to just go on ahead, which was kind of bad, but I this ride you really have to do what you need to do for yourself. Arrggghhhh- Stick to the code, the pirate’s code. “He who falls behind, stays behind.” That was a little harsh, but it’s sort of what we did. We talked about it while trotting towards Robinson, and got there about fifteen minutes before Gary. He was kind of mad at us, and I don’t blame him. Oh well- He’s a good sport and made it in shortly after us.

Robinson flat, in a word, is a nuthouse. It’s actually pretty exciting to be part of it, especially when the ride is going well. Don’s CRI was 44/44, which made the vet happy. We spent our hour eating and refreshed, thanks to the crewing efforts of Judy. Don looked great, and we headed out on the new trail by ourselves right on our exit time. Karen and Brenda waited for Gary, which was a good thing to do. I left up the new trail by myself, Don trotting up the mountain trail effortlessly. I had not been on this new trail yet- the first part was really nice. I caught up to Sandy Schuler at the top and rode down the other side with her, which was not so nice. (The trail, not her. She was very nice!) Rocky, rocky, rocky. Yuck. You want to trot to make up time, but you don’t because of the rocks. This new section took about thirty minutes longer than the old flat road. I’ll take the road and the thirty minutes, thanks. We rode down into Dusty Corners for a drink of water, and onto Pucker Point Trail, one of my favorites. I followed Pam and Don Bowen from down South the length of the trail at a great trot. This was Pam’s first attempt at tevis; she was kind of nervous before the ride, but was having a good time so far. Get this- the horse Don was riding, Willy, was the one who was rescued by helicopter after falling off the trail in the canyon about 4 or 5 years ago. Here he is, back again. That’s a serious victory, Don, whether the horse finishes or not. You get the Tevis award for an amazing feat this year. Way to go! I went on by them on the way to the check at Last Chance, where we were in and out in a flash. I grabbed a bunch of hay and let Don eat as we walked down towards the first canyon. Once he was done we started jogging, but needed to walk a lot of this one due to the steep trail with lots of rocks. All the way down we went, Don either walking or trotting along behind me. I raise my hand and he stops. I take one step of jog and he hops in behind me. What a good horse. We hit the bottom and met up with Steve Workman, also from down south somewhere, cooling his horse in the river. Across the swinging bridge we went, and started up the huge climb. I taught Don to tail me only a few weeks ago- he learns quick. He tailed me all the way to the top at Devil’s thumb at a really nice, fast pace. I didn’t think I’d make it that far on foot; all that training is paying off. My horse actually started trotting up the climb near the top with me in tow behind him. I was actually running up that thing! He looked way better at the top than me- I was wiped out and had a lot of lemonade. The ride worker crew folks just jump in and help you with whatever you need- they are the best. I hopped up on Don and rode the mile or so into the Deadwood vet check with Barbara White, daughter of the one and only Julie Suhr. Barbara was shooting for her, what, 28^th buckle? I still can’t believe that. Unfortunately the bad luck bit her again this year when her horse was a little off due to a stone bruise, I believe, and she was pulled here. I remembered back when I was pulled here on Warpaint- I hate that.

Don breezed through the check with the vet saying he’s putting his betting money on my horse making it to the finish. That was nice. Again we walked out of the check with Don eating hay from my hands. He finished right as we hit the cemetery and began the long decent down the second canyon. I tied up the stirrups and started running down the trail with him following me. I’m not a religious person, but I paused for a moment and thought about Nicole Wiere’s great horse who went off here just a couple of weeks ago and was lost. Godspeed, Rebel. We’ll always remember you. I was running along and I realized two things - I was all alone, meaning zero dust, and no one slowing me down. That was great, and has never happened before in this canyon. The second thing was my knees did not hurt. Wait a sec- they did not hurt at all! Just five weeks ago when I was pre-riding on Don with Gary from Robinson to Foresthill, I was running down this same trail with my knee hurting so bad I had to limp and almost get back on the horse. I was really worried, mad, and depressed about my stupid knee and getting old in general. I sent an email to Beverley Kane, a great lady I met a couple of years ago when she came to help at my ride. She’s getting into the sport big time! She also is a full-blown doctor who used to specialize in sports medicine. Hmmm. She listened to my symptoms and told me what was wrong and what to do to fix it. I started doing the rehab exercises and would hope for the best. This was the best! No pain! Boy, I will owe her big for this one. I ran all the way to the bottom, stopping only for the rocks. Across the bridge, and what the heck- more tailing! Don pulled me all the way up the long, steep climb to Michigan Bluff. Well, almost. The nice lady I was riding behind did a little trotting near the top, so I tried to tail/trot again. No go- in a couple of minutes I could not keep going, so I hopped back on his back. But only one minute later we were at the top. Yay! I walked into Michigan Bluff and found Lucy Trumpet Chipotle, er, Lucy Chipmunk Turnkey, ah, Lucy Turnbuckle- Okay, Okay, Lucy Chaplin Trumbull. There- I said it right! She was on hand to help me out and it was very appreciated. Don was at 48 or 52 I think once again, looking just great for the vets. We cleaned him off and let him eat- Lucy prepared a ten-gallon mash that he probably would have eaten given enough time. I let him eat for probably thirteen minutes or so- well worth the time invested, sine he was so hungry. Lucy reminded me this was better than last time I was here- I was pulled when Lady, the horse I was riding, would not pulse down after Lucy and I did all we could to cool her out. No fun at all. I left the check and rode out of town eating a bag of Chex mix, fiesta spicy flavor, in one hand and a can of Dr. Pepper in the other as I trotted down the dirt roads on my magnificent horse. I made a guy who was walking his dog laugh! We walked up the hill to the top of the bluff and started down the trail towards the last little canyon. I passed a few riders while leading down the rocky trail. Don took a nice drink at the bottom, and I rode him up the canyon this time- my body said enough of this walking up hills stuff. He was so strong we actually trotted some of this little climb and right up into the city of Foresthill.

It is very cool to arrive in Foresthill. You come up this half mile paved road that leads to the check, but everyone is out on the road either watching or waiting for their rider. As soon as you appear everyone starts applauding and cheering. It really does make you feel good. I knew lots of folks along the trail which is also very nice. There’s my buddy Jackie Bumgardner! I stopped to have Don hosed off by a nice man with a garden hose, and was showing off for people I know along the road. Some friends said “Don looks great!”, so I took a few steps of jog and he instantly hops into a trot along side me, just like at the vet in. Then everyone cheers! So I do it again a little later! More cheering! Here’s Judy and Beverley waiting for me on the road- we walk in and head to the water, where he drinks. We strip his tack and Judy takes his pulse- 48. Oh, I like this horse. We take him to pulse in right away, which he does, and then he eats for fifteen minutes before seeing the vet. Oh goody! It’s Jamie Kerr. He and I have a history at this ride. He had to pull me at the finish of my first tevis, then the next year he saved my ride and helped me get my first completion. He looked at Don and said very nice, excellent. My crew had everything perfect- I spent the rest of the hour eating while watching my horse get massaged, cleaned, groomed, and fed all he wanted to eat. What a life! Gary and Karen arrived in Robinson about 35 minutes behind me- yay! Annie was still doing very well in her first attempt. Blues has five completions, I think, it’s a yawner for him, the old pro. Unfortunately Piper was pulled for lameness, so Brenda was out.

We saddled Don back up and led him to the out timer as the sun was setting. I bid my crew adieu and headed out through town and the cheering crowds to the California loop. I was again by myself which is a real treat. Just after I reached the trail a small train of four riders passed me and were moving along pretty quickly, so I let them go. Don asked “Can’t we go, too?” “No,” I tell him, “We go by ourselves.” “Okay,” says him. He’s such a good horse. We rode slowly down the nasty hills towards the Dardenelles creek that starts the wonder trail through the forest. The timing was perfect- it was dark as we turned right and began the three and a half hour ride to Francisco’s.

I could go on and on about this section of the ride, but I’ll just say that it was magic. He and I, all alone, never seeing another horse for three hours, just moving along at a perfect trotting speed, at night, in the dark, going up and down, left and right, all without a hiccup, spook, trip, anything. Okay, I bashed my face into a tree branch, but I could have taken a redwood across my bow and not cared. This section is what this ride is about, especially when you can do it alone on a horse like this. He has not been here before, and just like in the American River ride, he has no idea where he is, where he’s going, how long it will take to get there, it mattered not. He just sails along at a great trot through the night, keeping me safe. There is nothing in the horse world, or any other world for that matter, that feels like this. It’s that same thing I always mention about putting your life in the hands of your horse, and trusting that he will take care of you. I did finally catch two riders a couple of miles before Francisco’s - my friends Robert Ribley and Jenni Smith, both multi Tevis veterans. They were walking, so I joined them and walked a while down the final switchbacks and along the steep cliffs above the river. We walked quite a while together, chatting, but no horse ever caught us. After a while I went on ahead and trotted down the nasty rocky road along the river and into Francisco’s. Hmmm- I got pulled here once, too. I love this check, however, since it’s all lit up by propane lanterns, providing kind of a surreal feeling to it. And those ride workers! It’s like having a handful of butlers around doing anything you want or need. I zipped through the check with Don looking his usual perfect self, but hung around for about ten extra minutes letting him eat. The turkey and cheese sandwich and two cokes was nice. There were actually a lot of horses in here, strange since I had seen only Robert and Jenni in the past few hours. No one was leaving at the moment, so I headed out on Don all alone once again, leading him down the steep, short trail to the river. I hopped on and he jumped into a trot down the trails that continued on through the night towards the river crossing. There are a few spots where you need to walk in here, but it’s mostly nice going to the beach. You can tell when you are getting close when you feel/hear the horse trotting on sand. Foomp, foomp, foomp! I got to the river crossing and crept on in to the encampment. Crept? Huh? Usually there is a whoop ‘em up, wild, noisy party going on down here all night long. This night there was a nice lady sitting in a chair, who I probably woke up, who took my number, asked me if there was anything I needed, and showed me where to cross. I was wondering about the crossing, since Don has not crossed a real river before. Huh- he stepped right in and started draining the river, lowering the level in Auburn by quite a bit. He walked right in and sloshed across, my feet staying dry this time. He stopped in the middle and dropped his head to take another drink- I had another one of my special moments. I looked around- I’m sitting on my horse, who is standing in the middle of the American river, drinking, at one in the morning, all by myself, out in the middle of the Sierra Nevada mountains, in the moonlight. I stared back at the moon and reminded it that I owned it this year. That darn moon has been taunting me for too many years as I drive back down to the stadium after being pulled. I sometimes feel sorry for people who don’t get to experience moments like this in life. You guys who have been here on that special horse know what I’m talking about.

Don snapped me out of my little ceremony out there in the moonlight when he continued on across the river. Up and out he went- I hopped off and led him up the little hill from the river up to the trail. I hopped back on; he took off at a trot like he knew where he was. Hs did- in only a mile or two we came to the intersection of Maine Bar road where he had come down in the American River ride. We trotted along the river for a while, when a rider came up from behind. We chatted a bit while I trotted along in front of her horse, but she went on by and took off. Wow! That horse is moving. It turns out the horse lives just up the hill in Cool and REALLY knew where he was. Don looked at me and asked: “Can’t I go with that horse?” “No,” says I. “We go at our pace, okay?” “Okay,” he replies. They left us as we trotted along towards the quarry. You could have seen the quarry from space it was lit up so well. There was a generator running lights that could have provided illumination for Candlestick park. I led Don down into the check and right to the water. A worker had a blanket for him as we walked in- nice! Don stuck his head in the trough and was drinking when I heard someone behind me say “52.” He had taken Don’s pulse while he was drinking. Okay, that was easy. He was 48 for the vet and looked great. My plan was to get in and out of here quick, but they had these 70 gallon water troughs full of mash that I just could not resist letting him attack. He had a blanket, so I let him eat for a few minutes. A nice worker came up with a plate of watermelon- I said no thanks, I really am not a fan of those. She asked what would I like? I responded with my standard “anything with sugar, bubbles, and caramel coloring.” She ran off and returned with a root beer which I devoured in a single drink. I owe her big, too. That was wonderful!

We left the Quarry and began trotting along on the nice flat road along the river at a marvelous pace. We were really moving along and were at the highway crossing in no time. I hopped off and led him across and up the little hill. I walked on foot with him around the hill for the half mile or so down to No-hands Bridge. I had another little moment as we walked across it in the moonlight, when I remembered I told myself I’d see it again soon by moonlight while on the American River ride, but hopped back on and began to trot on down the road towards Auburn, now 4.2 miles away. We stopped for the little climbs, dips, and rocks, and as he started to trot he did a pretty big trip, but caught himself. I decided okay, I’m entering the “I’m going to finish this thing” mode, so I decided to walk for while. A rider came up behind me and joined me in a nice walk all the way up the final hill and through the little canyons. Her name is Erin Riley - she was riding her nice mare Alli on her first 100 as well. We chatted about the horses, the ride, and how nice this was. Don was walking fast - I knew where we were. We climbed the final hill and I saw the lights of the overlook ahead. He jumped into a trot and zoomed up the final trail to the finish line. Judy met me there- we let him drink, stuck a blanket on him, and went to the little trot out at the overlook. This is where I was pulled my first time- no way today. He looked superb! Across the wooden bridge, across the road, through the little field, across the mud puddle, and down into the stadium. I took him right to the completion vet. CRI 48/44. Big trot, out and back. The vet shook my hand and said very, very nice. He was impressed.

So was I. We took him to his stall, untacked him, and let him commence eating. Judy and Beverley iced and wrapped his legs while I went to take a shower and fall asleep. There’s that wonderful crew thing again. I got up at 8am and went to see him- he looked perfect! I took him for a walk and gave him a little trot- oh, no, he’s off in the rear. My balloon deflated a little, but I figured he deserves to be a little sore. The good news is that it turned out to be nothing; well, it was another example of rider stupidity, sort of. Make that first time experience. When we got home Judy was cleaning him off and noticed he had terrible rub marks on his right rear fetlock from the rear splint boots. They were a little too big and wrapped around a little too far. He was very sensitive to the touch there. We put him in the arena to roll- he did, got up, and took off at a huge trot, blasting around, looking just fine. Here’s the dumb rider part- I have not used rear splint boots on him in a ride before, but I wanted that protection in the rocks of the Granite Chief Wilderness. I was wise to do so, since he had several little cuts and scrapes all around on his lower feet, but none where the boots were. I’m glad I had them on for the tough stuff, but I should have removed them at Robinson. I learned something, though, but the good news is my balloon is back to overflowing since he’s just fine and looking perfect.

Some completions of note- Bob Spoor finished in Tenth place on John Crandell’s backup horse from back east, garnering his tenth completion. A huge tip of the helmet visor to Bob! No, check that. You finish the Tevis ten times and I’ll bow to you. Don Bowen finished on Willy, making it a story worthy of a TV show. Congratulations to his wife, Pam, on her first start and finish. Fred Cluskey finished his first Tevis on his fourth attempt- that has to feel pretty darn good. Peggy Eaton finishes on her first attempt. My buddy Gary fought off us pirates at Red Star and finished on Annie, her first attempt at a 100. Karen Bottiani on Blues- her sixth on the same horse I think. Superb! Steve Workman and five other riders made it in with about 10 minutes to spare. Hooray! Congratulations to all my friends who finished, and even more to those who didn’t, but tried. I’ve been there and done that, too many times.

But not this year. My Dawn blew through the trail like it was a training ride. Them’s fighting words, but it’s what he did. I had a perfect ride without a single hiccup, with the exception of that one tree branch in the face, and being reminded of a lesson I already knew- never, never do anything different on a ride, especially a 100. It was without a doubt the best endurance ride I have ever done, on any horse so far to date. The best thing is that he’s not even nine yet, and this was his first 100. He now has 1050 miles and has 19 finishes in 19 starts. What a way to top 1000 miles- giving me the best ride of my life.

Some special thanks: To Lucy for the great crewing help, as she always does. To Beverley, who actually saved my ride for me, as I would have not been able to do the ground work I wanted to do with out fixing my knee. (And for her great crew help!) To our great gang- Gary and Laura, Brenda, Karen and all their families and friends. An apology to Gary, who we left for dead as the pirates do. (Arrggghhh!) To Julie Suhr, who gave me a special good luck wish before the ride that worked. To my wife, Judy, for everything she did and does for me.

The second biggest thanks go to my horse, Dawn, for getting me through looking like he did. But the biggest thanks? They go to Ron and Barbara Sanches, who a little over two years ago asked me if I wanted this horse. I did, I do, I love him, and I don’t know how to say thank you enough.

The picture below, taken just before leaving Foresthill, sums up my day. See you all next year, and the next, and the next………….

Nick Warhol

Hayward, Ca