Oakland Hills 50, 1997

 

 

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.