Our first ten miles was gravel road. Not a welcome beginning to some but I
understand that it is not easy putting on a ride of ANY length and I was happy
for the opportunity to be able to do this ride even if it meant starting out on
ten miles of gravel. After only about 3 or 4 miles of "discussing" the ride
strategy with Malik (he forgot about it being 100 miles, I guess), he settled
into a nice working trot with an occasional comfy canter which was perfect for
my knee. I really wasn't sure how long it would hold out or IF it would hold out
but I had found my bottle of Vicodin (which I thought I had forgotten at home)
the night before so I was in fine shape! I did start off with some queasiness at
about ten miles (normal for me and a Vicodin) and some Gatorade fixed that quick
and I was never queasy again through the whole ride.
Our first vet check was at 15 miles. I discovered to my surprise that we
weren't far behind the front runners though I really was not concerned with
that. Malik and Max both pulsed down beautifully, Malik in spite of several
mares making eyes at him...well, you know what I mean. He is a hunk after all!!
And buff, too. This check went GREAT. Horses ate and drank everything in sight.
Everything with the check went smoothly. And then we were off to the next check
which was at 35 miles. For a fifty miler used to vet checks anywhere from 10-15
miles regularly, this added distance was a challenge. It wasn't too bad this
first part because we were loping along so easily and quickly, marvelling at
nature, feeling good, full of energy yet. That 20 miles flew by fast.
The 35 mile vet check was terrible....too many horses, not enough vets and
too many rude people who have no idea what waiting in a line means. Basically,
the only way to be sure to get your CRI done 15 minutes before your out time was
if you were willing to be a jerk and basically run over anyone in your way. We
are not that kind of people. So we were out SEVERAL minutes late from this check
as were several other riders. I guess in the whole scheme of things, it's not a
big deal but as I realized later in the day, sometimes that extra ten minutes is
the difference between dusk and BLACK night. I do not fault ride management as
much as I do human nature and people caught up in the heat of the moment. I
think a good portion of the 35 fifties entered and all of the 16 100 milers were
clustered in this small campground with one pit toilet. But we were still "up"
and feeling great and it was going to take more than a late start out of a check
to get me down! Even Malik's C on guts didn't concern me as he had pooped AND
peed and was still scarfing EVERYTHING he could get his mouth
on!!
