Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

The Wild West Ride- Three day Multi-day, May 2003

It has been a wet and muddy Winter and spring here in the Bay Area,
where I usually get to brag about how good our riding weather is.
Unfortunately the regional park people don't like the rain, and when it
rains, the rides get canceled.  Not to mention that I have been spending
too much time at work lately, but ride we must!   After too much
waiting, I finally got a chance to do a ride for the first time in a
couple of months.   Over Memorial day weekend Judy and I attended the
Wild West 3 day ride held at the Skillman campground, located on highway
20 about 15 miles from Nevada City, up at about 4500 feet, a nice
elevation for mountain riding.   Melissa and Robert Ribley have been
putting on this gem for about 5 years now, I think, but it used to be
over the Labor Day weekend.  That used to make it pretty dusty, but by
moving it to May it made the conditions just about perfect.   The days
were sunny, the weather was a little hot on the first two days, but
cooled down considerably on the third.  The single track trails were
glorious, except for a few boggy spots here and there that were kind of
gooey.  The dirt roads were mostly okay, (If you like riding on roads),
some were a little rocky, some were a little hard, and some were just
right.  Rocky is an overstatement- even the worst of these roads were
all pretty nice when you compare them to rides like Virginia City, Las
Vegas, and Death Valley.  
           What a great way to spend 3 days- up in the mountains riding
your horse a whole bunch.   And speaking of mountains, there is
something I have to know.  What is it with these stupid little mountain
flies?   The little white ones that just have to buzz your face and
head, all the time?  Sure- I know that's where they live and all, and I
guess they have a right to life, but how come there are only six of them
buzzing you at any given moment?   It seems no matter where you are,
there are only six that are constantly buzzing excitedly around your and
your horse's head, making every effort to land in your ear.   Does the
fly union assign six flies to every rider, and then those same
individuals just follow you and the horse around all day, or are there
teams of six flies stationed every hundred feet on the trail, and they
pass you off to the next group of six as you make your way down the
trail?   With all those flies, don't you think there would be a hundred
around you at once, or none?  Always six!   It's like they have rules.
But when you ride over a pile of manure on the trail, there are a
thousand of those bigger green and blue flies on every little pile of
poop that sound like a nest of hornets when you ride over them and
disturb their lunch.  Go figure!
           So much for the philosophy of the insect world, what about
the ride?  I would attempt to ride the semi-sort-of-retired wonder
Appaloosa Warpaint on all three days.   I say semi-retired because he is
nineteen years old now, and we are trying to keep him going a little
slower on the easier rides.  He doesn't need to try Tevis any more.  But
try and tell him he should be going slower.  Yeah, he still pulls, and
is still trying to run down and pass every horse in the ride.  I don't
care, I love riding him.   Judy's plan was to ride the first day on
Wabi, and the third if he looked okay.   The weather on Thursday night
was a little weird- it was so warm we had all the windows in the camper
open.  In the mountains!  Two weeks before the ride the camp was covered
in snow.   Friday morning was indeed warm- most people rode out in tee
shirts, and those who didn't wished that they had.   About 78 people
started the first day, a 2 loop affair that had lunch back in camp after
20 miles.  Judy and Wabi took off with the rear of the pack, but I
started out even later to avoid the mad rush my horse would bring, and
quickly hooked up with my friend Jane Could, who was riding her superb
horse Ezer. (I have no idea how to spell that.  It sounds like eezur)
It was his first ride back after a long recovery period, she was taking
it easy at the back of the pack.  He wanted to go much faster as well.

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