Killer Roc, Er, Castle Rock 50 , 1997

 

 

 

The 30th running of the Castle Rock 50 took place on Saturday May 17th.

The ride sure took it's toll on horses and riders alike, mostly due to

the weather and some unknown mileage questions. This ride, along with

the Big Creek 70, is one of the most popular rides in the Northern

California area, often drawing over 150 riders, plus those nutty ride and

tie folks. The course itself is laid out in the coastal hills just

north of the Santa Cruz area, and consists of some of the nicest trails

around. The ride is not an easy one by any means due to the tremendous

amounts of climbing required. The first thing the ride management (as

well as anyone who has ridden the ride) tells you is take it easy in the

morning, cause it gets harder at the end. This year that was an

understatement!

 

Two years ago at this ride was the unforgettable heat wave disaster

which caused the rides to be halted halfway through. It was something

like 110 degrees on that fateful weekend. Last year the ride was rained

out. (Don't you love Northern California weather?) On Friday night

before this years ride it was hot at base camp. So hot, in fact, the

ride management and vets were very concerned about the ride. They

decided to be safe, not wanting a repeat of 1995, and lowered the pulse

criteria to 60, which got a round of applause from the riders. I woke

up at 4:30 am on Saturday morning to the sound of the Barbara McCreary

canceling the 70 due to the heat- all riders would do the 50. It was

already something like 80 degrees at 4:30- not a good sign. We saddled

up and headed out, me on Shatta and Judy on Warpaint. She started out

at the very back of the pack once again in order to do a slow ride.

After a mile of flat meadow, we climbed up out of the cool? air. It got

warmer as we went up. The first 15 miles of this ride are truly

beautiful. You wind through redwood forests, through creeks, ride on

shaded trails in the trees, ride along the open coastal plains- really

nice. The first vet check at Swanton was crowded, but there were lots

of vets- very little waiting. Shatta was down to 52 when we arrived,

but he was slightly inverted- it took him a couple of minutes for his

breath to settle down. Hmmmm. Just about every horse was struggling a

little with the respiration. Internet buddy Val Weizer was there

crewing, and took great care of Shatta and I. Thanks so much Val- with

out that water I'd still out there lying on one of those uphills. We

left the check and began the climbing. Up, up, up we climbed. As soon

as you reach a summit, you go down a little, and then climb some more.

It was to hot to hurry, so we just took it easy and walked the climbs- I

tailed up some and walked up some. I realized how hot it was after

walking up a mile long climb. We finally reached the top at Lockheed

Ridge, where we got to trot along the top of this mountain range with a

full view of the Pacific Ocean - what an incredible sight. The ride

provides a quick 10 minute hold up here at 25 miles where they had horse

and human water available. By the way, this ride was marked as well as

any course I have ever been on, and there were more water opportunities

than you can imagine. (good thing) We began the long descent back to

camp and hit lunch at 33 miles. I arrived the lunch stop at 11:59 and

washed down Shatta with a handy hose. We got our P&R at 12:01 and

headed for the creek. I bathed him in the water for a while (and me

too!) and took him to the vets. He looked superb- the vet asked me if

I was sure I rode the first loop. Shatta began drinking at about mile

10, and drank at just about every water he came upon. (Best he has ever

done) We went to the truck for a much needed lunch and many fluids.

 

I saddled back up on a fresh horse at 1:01 and headed out. Let's see

now. 1:00, I only have 11 miles to the last check, and then 6 back to

the finish. No problem- I'll just continue taking it easy. I know this

is where it gets hard, but everything looks great so far. We trotted

down what had to be at least a mile and a half, maybe two of perfect

flat trails- hey, only 9 more to the check. It was very hot, but I had

not heard of any real problems yet. Until I got to the beginning of the

climbs. I started up, and began climbing for what seemed like ever.

This first one was a killer- straight up for a long time on an exposed

hot road. I tailed and walked up most of it- what an effort. I quickly

ran out of water for me. The trail would drop a little, and then start

climbing again. Where do these hills come from? It felt like we were

climbing Mt Everest. Straight up, then straight down, then up again,

then up again, all at a walk. I know we were going slow, but I hopped

off and jogged along side Shatta on most of the down hills. The clock

ticked on, and when I looked at my watch at 4:00 I almost fell out of

the saddle. It had been 3 hours, and I was not even down off the

mountain yet. Where the heck is that last vet check? I arrived there

at 4:25- after trotting another mile or so down the access road when we

finally got down. 3 hours and 25 minutes to go 11 miles? Not possible.

I was not going fast, but I sure wasn't poking along. It turns out the

last vet check was issued a cutoff time of 4:30, which brought out no

end of controversy. I got my P&R at 4:29, mostly because there were 20

or so other horses there as well. My out time was 4:44, and I only had

6 mile to go. Fellow Internet buddy Kathy Ruiz was riding her big

Chestnut Fire Alaarm, and was in the same boat as I was. Many of us

agreed there was no way that was 11 miles from lunch to this check. It

had to be more like 15 or 16. We all decided we better not dawdle if we

were going to make it by 6 pm. Given what we had just been through, it

didn't seem possible.

 

We rode out from the last check at a good pace along the creek, and then

began yet ANOTHER climb. Why? Don't know, but up we went again. This

one was not near as bad as the others, but it was still a lung sucker

all the way up. Down the other side with all eyes on the watches, I

realized we were fine when we dumped out onto the road at the bottom. I

hit the finish at 5:25. Hmmmm- 40 minutes to go 6 miles, and 3 hrs

and 25 minutes to go 11? Something did not compute. It was tough, but

not that tough. The group of riders I was with all made it to the

finish with time to spare, but boy, not much. I found myself thinking

I'll try and finish, but only if Shatta feels OK. No problem there. He

was stellar, and trotted out again for the vet like at lunch. They told

me great job- you have lots of horse left. He got As and Bs all day. I

was very happy with how he felt, especially after seeing so many horses

who would not go up the hills out on the trail.

 

The bad news was for all those riders who were taking it real easy, just

going for a completion. The ride pulled 18 riders at the last check for

overtime. That was bad, since there were never any announcements about

cut off times, and riders were encouraged to take it real easy. The cut

off time was 4:30, which also did not make any sense, since it was easy

to make the finish in 40 minutes or so. Poor Judy was one of the pulled

riders for time. She was depressed, but the good news was that Warpaint

was fine all day, and if he can make those 44 miles unscathed, he should

be able to do just about anything.

 

Guess who won? Becky Hart and Rio. Thats right. Can you believe it?

What a horse. 20 years old. Even Becky thought that last loop was

closer to 15 miles, and was heard to say she would not have liked going

out and doing that last loop if they were riding the 70. It's a good

thing they canceled the 70, since not many riders would have been able

to deal with the time problem. Heres the numbers for the Castle Rock

ride with the lowest completion rate in history:

 

finishers 72 (59%)

 

pulled rider option 7

pulled lameness 13

pulled metabolic 11

pulled overtime 18

-------

49 (41%)

 

Yikes. The ride was indeed tough. The heat had a lot to do with it,

but the mileage issue was a bigger factor. The McCreary's are some of

the best ride managers there are, and have held this ride forever. They

were very concerned about the problems at the end, and were looking for

all the input they could get to help understand what happened. My

suggestion? Keep the ride the way it is all the way through lunch. Go

back out and do another climb or two, but not five. From Swanton to the

finish- take the creek back. Get rid of that last climb, cut back on a

couple of the others and you would have one of the best endurance rides

on the planet. I had a great ride, since Shatta had so much horse left

in him. Good thing- his first 100 is looming at the end of the year.

Now he is 4 for 4 this year after his recovery, with a CTR win on top of

that. No spooks during the ride all day, either. What a good boy.

 

Nick Warhol

Hayward, Ca

 

Shatta Who did his toughest ride to date, and came out great.

Rowan Who stayed home and stood in the shade all day.