Million Pines, late March-early April, middle
Georgia- flat, sandy, great early season ride. Wes Crowe hosts a very friendly
ride with good food and great prizes. Can count on weather being pretty
good(Georgia has 4 weeks of decent weather a year, 2 in April and 2 in October).
The gnats and mosquitoes haven't come into full bloom yet.
Biltmore, early May, Asheville, NC- BIG ride, lots
of "celebrity" riders, great trails(plenty of variety, up, down, flat, single
track, road bed, rocks, packed dirt), love the view of the back of the Biltmore
House, don't have to pack a lot of food cuz plenty of restaurants close by(heck,
even have gone to breakfast at BK before a ride and once kept horse in stable
there and came from home the morning of the ride). Weather usually good but can
be humid and can get caught in the rain.
Liberty Ride, Augusta, Ga - fast ride, flat, sandy,
mostly red clay-sand roads. Good camp area, good food, well run ride. Outside of
Georgia's 4 week good weather window(Memorial Day weekend) so tends to be
hot and humid(even with early start it seems as if you could "cut" the air with
a knife).
Pyramid Challenge, Ky Horse Park, Lexington - great
venue with all the "horse stuff" going on around you. Park itself is
pretty(ground fog in morning lying in steeple chase infield with sun just
rising as 50 milers start is absolutely beautiful). Flat, grass or pasture type
footing, not exactly exciting trails. Can be pretty darn warm in the afternoon.
Nice "small" ride still. Very easy access.
GERA, north GA, late August, way out of 4 week good
weather window! Scorcher. Too hot for my blood but these true southerners don't
seem to mind. Trail is mixed with single track dirt and lots of gravel roads.
Mosquitoes and gnats enjoy this ride. Medium size ride in
attendance.
Big South Fork, Tn/Ky, great venue, true "trail
riding" with lots of single track and carriage road. Usually 2 or 3 day ride. Lots of fun. Good technical trail.
Very challenging and a ride worth going to. Pretty area and you can visit the
homeplace of Sgt Alvin York, WWI Medal of Honor winner and a true American hero
in his contributions to his community after the war(rent the movie with Gary
Cooper and watch it before you go). His family keeps the homeplace open as
a mini-museum.
Just got back from Sand Hills Stampede. Facilities
are nice(arena, indoor plumbing, good camping hook ups for those of you with
things electric). Howard was there with his big ol' mobile home. I think I
caught a glimpse of his valet getting his horse ready for the ride but he was
trying to keep the hired help under his hat. His daughter was 2d in the 50
riding as a senior at 14yrs. Howard was 9th(he's been slowing her down for along
time! Trail was very sandy in places. Sand Hills is truly what it is. Apparently
Claude Brewer tried to water his horse in the wrong spot and ended up in
quicksand with water up to his neck and thought he was going to drown. I don't
know the details. Maybe someone can tell that story. My horse, Sawyer, did well
for early season and was 10th the first day and 12th the second (30 milers).
