IMPOSSIBLE DREAMS (or When Pigs Fly): MY FIRST 100
I have decided that fifties are fun and hundreds are hell. Well, sort of. I
DID get to see TWICE as much trail as I do on a fifty. Hmmm... and I got to push
my body and my mind to limits that border on torture. But I DID FINISH my first
100.
At our first ride, I had decided NO WAY could I do the Grand Island 100 THIS
year. The next weekend, I started thinking MAYBE. Then I just started thinking
(bad thing for me to do, just ask Nelson!). Every year I set some goals and many
of them get pushed off to "someday" or "next year". I had heard through the
Grand Island ride management grape vine that this might be the last year for the
100 (good hook, don't ya think?). So, maybe next year wouldn't get here. At
least not for doing the Grand Island 100. I held off my final decision to see
how the weather would hold and how my knee was doing (remember I hurt it while
"extreme" bowling!). And how Malik looked and felt. I discussed it with him. He
was game. He always is but I "know" when he's all bravado and when he's all
business. He was serious about it. So I got out my crappy looking old helmet and
started getting it ready....in addition to using stickers on it that declared
TEAM MAGGIE N MALIK, it also said 100 MILES OR BUST on the back! :) And YEE HA
on the front. (Jenny's said TEAM JEN N MAX , FOUR MORE MILES on the back and HOT
DAWG on the front!). I also had stickers of the sun, moon, stars, planets and
flowers ALL OVER it. Looked brand new when I was done!! At this point, it was
all but a done deal!
We began our trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on Wednesday and stayed
overnight at the home/farm of our friends, Paul and Sara Matthews. Sara is also
a fellow distance rider and we rode part of the Grand Island 50 with her last
year. Nelson did a little work there and nearby (gotta earn those ride fees!)
and the next morning we packed up and headed out. Max and Malik had the benefit
of some wonderful green grass grazing overnight and we started their slurries
early in the day. After a quick lunch at the bridge with my niece and her
family, we had a couple more hours to go to arrive in Rapid River. For those of
you not familiar with the "bridge", I am referring to the Mackinaw Bridge, a 5
mile suspension bridge that connects the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan.
It's a good thing that Nelson drives! I often wonder if the horses look out
their little window and think "Oh, shit!" or something similar. I know I do!
We arrived late afternoon and found ourselves a nice little spot to camp with
lots of downed wood for a campfire (gotta have a campfire!) and a nice grassy
area for the boys. We also had to save tent room for the "Water Boy", Jenny's
Uncle Daniel who was coming from Illinois up through Wisconsin to help Nelson
crew on Saturday. I knew on Thursday that we would indeed do the 100 on
Saturday... the weather was PERFECT. The horses were PERFECT. My knee was
PERFECTLY awful but I'm tough, right? What does Angie McGhee say? If you're
gonna be stupid, you gotta be tough! Well, I'm a PERFECT example of BOTH. :)
We had a wonderful time settling in and having that extra day to relax...the
horses relax, too. They eat and drink well, they sleep and ENJOY themselves. I
know it's not always possible to get to a ride early but I have found that our
best rides are the rides where the horses have had lots of time to relax. We
have several "relaxed" photos of Malik sleeping....I caught him snoring once and
twitching in his dreams. He will even let out this funny little whinny when he
dreams. Absolutely hilarious!!! (Pay attention...this has significance later in
my story!).
