Ridecamp: [RC] Nick Warhol- Virginia City100 Ride Story- part 4 of 4

That hour went fast- we were back on the trail once again at 10:40, 23 miles
to go.  Jackie said the third loop used to be tougher, (she has finished 10
VC100?s) but they eased it up a little in recent years. (Thank you NASTR)
It was indeed easier- we got treated to some nice roads that let us trot for
a half hour or so at a time.  Wow- thinking back, there were not many spots
like that on the entire ride so far.  The moon was so bright it was almost
like daytime.  We rode a long way down the valley, all the way to the end
where we found an incredible sandstone formation that rimmed the valley.
Boy, I sure hope we don?t have to climb that!   No, we got to walk through
some of the cool formations, then headed back.  After some more nice
trotting, we hit the last vet check at mile 92.  It was all lit up in the
middle of nowhere, like Francisco?s at Tevis.  The ride workers there were
great, giving us blankets, drinks, mashes for the horses, just great
service.  We vetted through and headed out on time, it was now about 1:30 in
the morning, and only 8 relatively easy miles to go.  It was here I noticed
how sleepy I was.  While trotting, or walking off the horse, I was fine, but
while walking on horseback, my eyelids were drooping big time.   I?d heard
that Trilby has been known to sleep on the horse, it just might have been
possible.  We headed back out, trotting along in the moonlight, not talking
much, just moving up the road towards camp.  2:15 am and we are back across
the highway.  Off Zayante one more time for the downhill walk, and at 2:40
or so we crossed the finish line.  Connie was the only one there, she ran to
wake up Susan to vet us out.  All three made it just fine!  We chatted for a
minute about how neat the ride was, but I had to get some sleep.  Judy had
everything all laid out for us, we just put the beasts up and went to bed.
All three horses were eating like crazy for the next few hours, but at that
point I could have slept through a train wreck.

The awards breakfast was at a casino in town, Connie and crew gave out the
awards and completions.   There were 61 starters, 50 finishers, Zay and I
came in 23rd.  That was the highest completion rate ever in the ride, I
think they said.  My award will be a belt buckle with Zayante?s name
engraved on the back.  That one will go in the trophy case.  Tom Johnston
won and got BC, (you ought to see the size of those perpetual trophies!)
Judy Reenes got 5th on Benji, and a four and a half year old junior finished
on a horse that was really old, someone said 28 years?  Wow!  Makes the
grumpy old Zayante look like a baby.   Zay got quite a round of applause
when Connie mentioned that he now has 10,520 miles.   Hugh finished, as did
Brenda and Karen.  The Calcutta payout was fun- I?m going to have to try
that next year.  Yeah, I?ll come back.  I like tough rides, but I?m spoiled,
because the right horse makes tough rides easy.

Nick Warhol
Hayward, Ca


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