National Championship Ride

[Roberta Jo Lieberman <woik@home.com>]

<So can somebody that was there describe this section in detail???>

My ride map is still packed on the saddle, so this will be a bit general
and may leave out a few stretches. Shortly after leaving the hour hold
after riding about 26 miles, we started the steep uphill climb in the
rocks. Does anyone remember Egypt's Bend on the old OD-50 trail? Imagine
going UP that climb about 5 or 6 times in a row. Made Sherman's Gap look
like a superhighway.

One rider put it succinctly: "The problem wasn't the rocks. It was the
lack of dirt."

Another said: "I've seen rocks this bad and climbs this steep, but never
the two together...for so long."

At the top, we picked our way along the ridge over boulders cradled in
grass, brush and fallen logs. 

Finally, we started back down through the boulders and switchbacks
through an interminable procession of "drop-down" rocks, loose boulders
and ankle busters. Many folks got off and led all the way down. I saw
horses slipping and tripping in front of us, and one rider sprained her
ankle when her horse fell. I believe the fastest time on this loop was
about 3 hours.

The 100-milers had an even bigger dose -- 20 miles of rocks and climbing
in a single loop. The fastest horse took 5 1/2 hours to negotiate that loop.

In my opinion, this loop was way “off the map” with regard to an
appropriate mix of safety and challenge. Having completed the Old
Dominion 100 four times, and having recently ridden 30 miles to the top
of San Gregornio (11,500 feet) over extremely technical, narrow, rocky
"hiking" trail, my horse and I were well prepared for the AERC course.
However, the point of rocks is not to make the outcome a matter of luck
-- to see who can run the rocks without coming up lame. The most
challenging, yet safe, trails alternate stretches of difficulty with
sections of relief. The benefit of daunting footing is that it forces
(most) riders to slow down, but when you relentlessly combine daunting
footing with aggressive slope, you compound the horse’s problems rather
than offer relief. I’m not questioning the _amount_ of such terrain--20
miles of rocky trail over the course of a 100-mile ride (or half that in
a 50) is not too much--as long as it's strategically placed.

In my view, the degree and duration of difficulty on this loop was
pointlessly brutal and unnecessary. I believe it was very fortunate that
no one was more seriously injured.

Bobbie and April
PS Region