Nick Warhol's Tevis 2001 - Part 1

[guest@endurance.net]

Judy Long julong@cisco.com
Here is Nick's Tevis story (in pieces).
His email is nwarhol@yahoo.com


Tevis, 2001
One of the toughest ones ever?
Nick Warhol

Another Tevis ride is in the books.  There is just something about this
ride
that keeps people coming back, year after year.  Like me.  This was my
fourth attempt in five years.  If you look at the odds, most people who do
this ride a lot have about a 50% completion rate.   That only makes sense,
since statistically about 50% of the riders don't finish in any given
year.
Before this year I was 3 starts, 3 finishes, with 2 completions.  Okay,
only
2 finishes, but I count being pulled at the finish line finishing, just
not
completing.  Okay, Okay, I'm two for three.  I guess I should not
exaggerate, since I have this pet peeve about the ultimate exaggeration,
"Reserve Champion."  Why do they use that?   Why not say "second place,"
or
"runner up?"   How come there is no "Reserve Reserve Champion" for third
place?  "Reserve Reserve Reserve Champion" for fourth?   All right, I
digress, but it still bugs me.  At any rate, I tried for Tevis number four
this year.  Did I make it?  You will have to read on to find out.
        We had a couple of adventures on the way to the ride this year,
which makes sense, since it seems that Tevis just compounds everything.
I
charged up the camper batteries a few days before the ride, but the
morning
we left, they were deader than a sun dried tomato.   No juice.  What a
great
way to start.  Judy had a good idea- we just call up Camping World in
Sacramento and have them charge up a couple of batteries, then I'd just
install them in the parking lot.  We got there without any problems; Judy
kept the crowd in the parking lot entertained with Warpaint, while I
changed
over the batteries.  No problem- we were on our way in no time with lots
of
nice, new amps, tucked tightly in the two new batteries.   We headed up
highway 80 and made it almost to the Donner summit, only to stop in a
traffic jam.  On Thursday afternoon?  Oh yes, it was a traffic jam, and a
doozey.   Caltrans was doing roadwork and had only one lane open, right on
the steepest part of the summit climb.   We crawled along at 1-2 miles an
hour for about an hour and a half in the heat, the truck coming so close
to
overheating it was scary.  One of the saving graces was the car show we
got
to see along the way.  There is this big show in Reno called Hot August
Nights for old classic cars going on the same weekend, so lots of people
drive their old beauties up to Reno for a few days.   Except these old
beasts are not built to idle for 90 minutes on a hot uphill in the
mountains.  There had to be at least 50 old cars pulled over with the
hoods
up.  We saw lots of nice, hot cars (literally) and some pissed off owners,
all sitting on the side of the road.   We made it to the ride site at Robe
Park without further problems, although a little later than we wanted.  No
problem- my riding partner this year, Rebecca Jankovich, had a nice spot
all
set up for us in the trees.   Rebecca owns Moose, the horse I rode at the
20-mule team 100 in February.  This was his (and her) first attempt at
Tevis, so they paired up with me and the mighty Warpaint, the Wonder Appy.
The turbo Appaloosa has started four Tevis rides and finished 3, with his
only pull being after he fell down on a paved bike path at Squaw Valley a
few years ago.  Ouch!  He and I finished in 32nd place in 99; this mottled
skin, monster of the trails knows the course and loves to go.
        Much of our pre-ride time was spent eating.   Not eating my usual
camping stuff, mind you, but really eating.  Berecca's (That's Rebecca
spelled sideways) buddy Warren is a gourmet chef or something, at least
that's what I say now.  Ready for our menu?  Remember- this is camping in
the woods, without using a camper or stove.     Thursday for lunch we had
pasta salad with big prawns, homemade pesto, seasoned with basil grown in
the garden at her home. For dinner we had chicken tomatillo with eggplant,
onions, and veggies with spices, cambozola cheese and white cheddar
cheese.

Friday night:  sea bass marinated in garam masala (Indian spice that was
brought
home from Jaipur) (where the heck is that??)   and rice wine, baked in
dutch
oven, with green salad and pasta salad.   For breakfast, we had oatmeal.
Not Quaker Oats stuff, mind you, but Oatmeal that came from freshly stone
ground oats from Ireland, caramelized walnuts, fresh strawberries.   Boy-
these guys know how to eat!   It was pretty incredible.  I had to laugh
when
I saw the burgers cooking at the vendor booth.
        On Friday we did our usual pre ride stuff- go for a nice warm up
ride, check out the vendors and do a little shopping, say hi to lots of
friends, and get vetted in.  Judy was much more relaxed this year,
especially when her horse checked in fine.  Rebecca had a bit of a time,
since a vet thought they saw something in a leg, but no, Moose was fine
and
okay to start.  Strange thing this year- there seemed to be no line for
the
vets.  I have seen a 40-minute line to get vetted in every year, but this
year it seemed to go really fast.   It's still fun to be leading around
one
of the very few non-Arabians at this ride.   Everyone stops to look at the
spotted wonder and say, "Hey, it's an Appy!"   We got all our stuff ready
for the ride in the afternoon and relaxed until the riders meeting, which
only took 35 minutes.  Wow!  It was nice to have it be over quickly and
efficiently.  I remember these long, drawn out meetings in the past, now
this one was nice and brief.   We had our amazing dinner, packed up the
crew
cars, and went to bed.