Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Hmm, sent this last night and it didn't seem to come up. If this is a
double post...sorry. :-)
Angie


> > > > > 81 starters in the AERC Open 100, 45 FEI CEI***(100M) 
starters, 117 AERC Open 50, and 3 CEI**(50M) starters.

WOW! 81 starters in the 100. That's HUGE!!! I'll be heading up to
Biltmore EARLY Friday morning and will be posting back to you guys any
way we find to get it here. I've got my whole family lined up to work
Friday and between Bill photographing, me with the tape recorder, laptop,
pen and pencil and cell phone and Bonnie & Josie acting as runners
(drivers) to hopefully take my disk to the nearest internet access. The
mountains are steep and close in at Biltmore so John may be hearing a
whole lot of "Can you hear me NOW?"

I've entered 11 rides on the Biltmore course and have 9 completions.
Kaboot got thumps back in 97 after I tried some old non-endurance
electrolytes (was running 4th at the 40 mile mark), then pulled "rider
option" in 02 the year that it rained so hard the night before that they
dropped the 100 down to 80 and it rained buckets all day. My horse was
good at 40 miles but the trail and conditions weren't so I decided to
option out when the nominated horses did.  I've top tenned twice in the
50, and completed 3 100's...the fastest in 13:27. So, there's my resume'
for commentary. I may not be the person to ask how to win the ride, but
I've got a pretty good idea how to get through it and what the challenges
are.

Since I'm having to be an "at home" armchair commentator right now, I
just thought I'd describe what it's like if you're a first timer. If
you're looking for commentary on this year's entries that'll be coming
later.

If you're coming from west of North Carolina you'll leave the low
foothill mountains behind and go east on I-40 and you're soon weaving
through a deep gorge with a whitewater river below. The interstate is one
that the Corp of Engineers said was impossible and it is often blocked by
rockslides to show they were right.  Asheville is on the other side of
the 2 hour trip through the narrow gorges. It's a beautiful mountain
town. (Picture "Deliverance" with preps instead of rednecks).  When you
get off the interstate you follow the signs to the Biltmore Estate, and
feel a little self conscious pulling your rig past the massive gatehouse.


You join the line of mini-vans heading into the estate, but as they turn
off to the more touristy locations you get to head deeper into the estate
driving for miles along beautiful big hill fields by perfectly mowed and
landscaped shoulders of the road, past many picturesque ponds with geese.
After a long time you finally see rigs far into the distance. If they
have the vet check at the dressage arena and you park in the first field
with rigs that you come to you'll still be a good 3/4 mile from the vet
check area, so it's best to drive on up the dirt road. On your left are 5
acre horse fields with no trees that have been opened up for camping. On
your right is a thin strand of trees separating you from the French Broad
River which is about 20 feet below. The first year they had the Biltmore
Challenge the French Broad was over all these fields taking out a large
portion of the course.


The main camp is in a field beside the river.  It is usually next to the
dressage ring which is where the trot outs are held and many an endurance
horse has dropped to roll in the irresistable sand in the middle of a
trot out. Last year they put the vet check on the lower end of camp and
the trot out was on the grass which I prefer since it doesn't reflect the
heat in the middle of the day. There is a large circus type tent where
the meetings will be held, and the flagged off P&R areas which they have
set up in lanes to keep things orderly. They hire so many experienced
vets that things move quickly.

The field closest to the vet check is reserved for the FEI horses. This
may cause a few ill feelings on the part of the non-FEI folks but I can
vouch for the fact it is a necessary evil and not all an advantage for
the FEI nominated riders, and certainly not a "we want to be separate"
thing. They have more weigh ins (with tack before the ride) and have to
be parked in an area where the vets can find them for their mandatory
post ride checks which the AERC  horses aren't required to have. (these
took place at the trailer and were simply a quick check to make sure no
horse kept a completion if it got in trouble after the ride). It also
helps the officials who are choosing the team to observe the nominated
horses.

O.K. I've got you to the ride and hopefully you're setting up your camp.
I'll talk about handling the heat and the trail tomorrow. If you happen
to be heading out for Biltmore soon and need an early tip, here it is. 
They don't call the Biltmore Vet Check "Tent City" for no reason. If you
don't have a bit of shade on poles of your own you'll be sending the crew
out to Walmart when you get there. Tent envy runs high and when you come
out of those cool trails and hit the stagnant hot air along the river at
the check you'll find out what I call the *real* "Biltmore Syndrome".

It's not going to be easy watching everyone else get to ride, but I've
decided to make the best of it and after all these years of not being
able to tour the "Big House" we're going to take advantage of having no
horses along and do the tourist thing. Maybe I'll even report on that as
a bonus. :-)  

Angie


________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!
============================================================
People in Alabama swear by manure tea as an herbal remedy for colds.
~ Lisa Redmond

ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/

============================================================