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[RC] Biltmore - A Training Ride - Stagg_NewmanHoward, I do appreciate your kind words about me. I try to share what I have learned because that's what people like Maggie Price, Jeannie Waldron, Kerry Ridgway, Matthew Mackay Smith, Becky Hart, John Crandell, Valerie Kanavy and many others did that help me so much. Appreciate your ideas and the discussion you stimulate when you "stir the pot". In my next email I'll add a few stirs on carbo loading. And yes, I did tell Tim that I was using the Biltmore as a training ride for OD. 'Twas true. I wanted to ride a certain paced ride given where I though Super was in his conditioning. In fact in all rides, I believe it is very important to have a pace in mind based on the nature of the course, past times ridden at the ride, weather that day, and the capabilities at that point in time for your horse. Then, particularly in a 100 I try to ride to that pace and no faster for the first 50 miles. but slow down if necessary. Then at the mid-point of the ride reassess. Maggie taught me that the first half of a 100 should first be regarded as a 50 mile training ride. Only after the first 50 should one think about the competition. At Biltmore I rode the first three legs of the race just a couple of minutes slower than my plan. Biltmore uses a pace rider for the first mile and a half that nobody is allowed to pass. I was right behind the pace horse. When the pace horse departed I did find it interesting that about 30 people passed me but among those who did not were Valerie Kanavy and Cia Reis. I was probably between 25th and 30th coming into the first hold but just kept riding the same pace. I passed very few people on trail but rather at the vet checks. By midway through the ride the front group had come back to me. By late in the ride the others had dropped out. So steady pace paid off. Now one of the secrets to my finishing when I did were the mad goose parents along the river. That's another story but you will have to get the story from my crew or Angie. Cheers, Stagg
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