I was about 7 years old when I heard about the Tevis. I've wanted
to do it ever since. So 19 years later I found myself actually entered
in the ride and heading up to Robie Park. I wasn't really nervous until
Thursday afternoon, then it all kind of hit me at once. I had done my
first 100 this June at the Sunriver ride in Oregon, but I knew Tevis was a
whole different ball game. My horse Sinatra was ready and we were going
to give it our best shot.
I didn't sleep much Thursday or Friday night. Listened to the rain
on the motorhome roof Friday, just after we went to bed. Sinatra was dry
under his blanket though. In the wee hours of the morning when I went to
check on him and begin our day, he was still laying down, very common for
him. He had eaten all his hay within reach (while laying down) so I
kicked some more over under his nose. We were seeded to start with the
third group and got stuck for almost 20 minutes at the small gully before I
was able to get off trail and pass people by jumping the ditch with my
horse. He was strong all the way up to Squaw High Camp. Stopped
for a quick drink of water, scooped him, and then we were off again. I
looked behind me shortly at another rider on a gray horse, "Are you
Barbara?" It was Barbara White, going for her 28th buckle attempt.
Unfortunately this would not be her year. Cowman was up at Watson's
Monument and I had to have him take his hat off so I could get past. My
horse was absolutely petrified and frozen in place! Granite Chief wasn't
too bad. Not like what I was expecting. The rocks were much
smaller than I had imagined and there was a lot more foliage. Thanks to
the wet winter we had my horse was totally over his fear of bogs and truged
right through. There was a junior who got hurt up there and we all had
to wait while they got her back up on her horse and to an area where people
could go by. It was dusty, dusty, dusty there for a while. One
point it was so thick I could hardly see my horse, right then he tripped and I
thought for sure he was going to flip over on top of me. There was a
small gully or something and thankfully as he stumbled forward he hit the
up-part and was able to right himself. Cruised into Lyon Ridge right
around 9:00, a little behind schedule but still doing okay. I spent an
extra 5 minutes here letting my boy eat some of the XTN (grain mix) I had
brought along. At Cougar Rock, everyone around me went right onto the
cutoff trail but I asked my boy to go left and he climbed the rock like it was
no big deal (which it wasn't). I really wanted to do the rock as tribute
to the ride, the history, the memory, etc. Wendell Robie and his men
rode DOWN the thing with a pack horse so how hard could it be right?
=)
Red Star was pretty crazy when I got there. They had a lot of pulls
there this year, I'm not sure why at this point. The cool water tasted
so good to the riders and hot horses. The weather actually wasn't too
bad this year, I don't know if it was ever over 100, even in the
canyons. I wasn't prepared for the layout at Red Star so when I trotted
for the vet didn't realize I would be heading off down the trail, not really
to return. I could have but decided to continue on. I met up with
Bill from Maine at this point, we would ride together to Deadwood. He
was good company and his horse was happy to follow along behind Sinatra.
It was a slow 7 miles for us into Robinson Flat, too bad because that was some
pretty good road to make some time on. My boy and I were both ready for
a break though. The tights I had on have done 50's with no issues but I
had a bad rub going on my left inner thigh by the time I got into Robinson
Flat. I was happy to get there at 11:30, about 1/2 hour later than I
wanted to but with the 2 hold ups, I was riding the pace I had planned.
Sinatra was a little high until he had a good drink and a soaking from the
hose, then he came right down. He and I both don't do heat well so I
knew my challenge would be keeping him cool. All A's at the vetcheck and
we were good to go out at 12:47. Food for him and some for me and we
left right on time. The new trail out was horrible, personally I would
have prefered the road. Very rocky and very dusty, but just doing our
best. Lucky and Romeo caught up to us on this section as well, she would
join our little group. Romeo was happy to go in the front and set a nice
pace. Sinatra liked to be by him, but Sinatra has always been partial to
studs. Got through Dusty Corners and Georganne from Auburn joined us to
make a group of 4. Cruised down the Pucker Point trail (loved it,
and everyone went "That's Pucker Point?"), and on into Last Chance at 3:00,
right back on my "schedule". Sinatra had a C on guts at Last Chance but
a 52/48 CRI. The vet said they had a lot of low gut sounds and wasn't
too concerned, so we hung out for a few minutes letting the horses
eat. We eased down into the first canyon, down, down, down. Bill
was in front on the Swinging Bridge and I followed behind him. It really
does bounce and swing, especially with more than one horse! Sinatra's
eyes got big but it was no big deal. Then the big climb up, and up, and
up, and up. WOW! We walked the whole way and Sinatra and Romeo
just stopped a couple of times to catch their breath. I had put some
water on Sinatra in this canyon and regretted it. There was no breeze
and it just heated up and got warm. We arrived at Devil's Thumb at 4:55,
we cheered when we saw the chair at the top. Yeah! We're almost
there! Super nice people working the aid station, filled bottles, held
horses, gave us some hay. I scooped and scooped until Sinatra was
cooler. Lucky and I each grabbed a flake of hay and led the boys the
mile into Deadwood. We lost more time doing this but Sinatra went from a
C at Last Chance to an A on gut sounds, so it was probably the right thing to
do.
Lucky and Romeo got pulled for a minor right front lameness at
Deadwood. I felt so bad for her! We kind of got held up here
waiting for the vets, one was treating a horse and they require 2 vet's
opinions to pull for lameness. So I had to wait while the concurred on
Lucky and Romeo. Lucky, I really hope you can make it back
sometime! Love that big boy of your's. It was fairly late, 5:30?,
as Bill and I left Deadwood, I think Georganne was pulled here as well but I'm
not too sure. Bill's horse didn't really want to leave the check and he
told me to go on ahead. I knew I was going to have to push for time to
make the 7pm cut-off to Michigan Bluff. We trotted where ever we
could. I got behind a lady and guy that were running, they let me by
when they had a chance, then passed me again when Sinatra stopped to
drink. Then we passed again. By now there were about 10 of us
trying to hurry, hurry, hurry. Watching the clock, minutes ticking by
too fast. Down, down, down, that canyon was LONG! Can we make it
to the river by 6:15? Not steep too much (at least not on the trail,
never mind the drop-offs, but they don't really bother me), you could trot a
fair amount so we did. When we reached the sign to dismount due to
the mine cave in, everyone jumped off and walked the last little bit to
the bridge crossing at the bottom. Back on, and we only have 1/2
hour to make it the 2.5 miles and 1,800 feet up to Michigan Bluff.
Yikes! Trot, trot, trot, up, up, up. Sinatra is breathing hard and
I'm having to use my crop. I'm glad I don't have my HRM hooked-up, I
know he has to be really high. A really nice lady on a gray is behind
me, calling out her horse's readings, encouraging us (THANK YOU whoever that
was), onward, upward. Sinatra is giving me everything he has. I'm
telling him if we just get to Michigan I won't ask for anything more and he
can just cruise the rest of the time. Just keep trying for me, and he
does. We come to a small stream and he stops to drink, I encourage him,
others go by. He needs the water so I let him drink until he decides to
follow those that have left us. One lady is behind me, she asks to pass,
was kind of rude ("You don't look like you're going to make it"), so I let her
by at the next switchback. We go to follow but some of the motivation is
gone without anyone behind us now. Still, up and up we climb.
Sinatra still trotting for me, really tired now, I'm having to urge him on
more often. We come out of the woods and into the sun, there is only
dust in front of me, no other sign of the riders, I look at my watch - 6:55,
will we make it? How much farther? Then Sinatra just stops.
"I'm done Mom", he says, his legs are shaky. I pat his neck and climb
off. I was so proud of him. I cried a little (am now in fact), he
tried so HARD for me! I can't believe I even asked him for that, and he
did it, he gave me everything he had. I loosen the girth and we start to
walk in. He's still breathing hard, so we stop every so often for him
then trudge on. No one else is around, no dust, no voices, just the two
of us. Pretty soon I see a house, and a sign - Vetcheck 1/4 mile.
We were close, maybe only a 1/2 mile out when he stopped. But he's done,
I don't have enough horse to get to Auburn left and I wouldn't even dream of
asking him. We continue to walk slowly in, me stopping to pet and
reassure him often. He did so good all day. So forward and willing
and patient when he needed to be. Soon I see a volunteer, he asks if I
know I'm overtime and I reply in the affirmative. Teeny bit more and I
can see my crew (my mom and sister) standing by the In Timer. I can tell
my mom is trying not to cry, so am I. It's 7:04 when we reach the
in-timer, we missed the cut-off by 4 minutes, but that's okay, our ride was
over somewhere back in that canyon anyways.
We pull tack and cool Sinatra off. At 10 minutes his HR was still
80, he was tired. His appetite was good though and he dove into the hay
and carrots. He was pretty grumpy though, didn't want to be touched or
messed with so we left him alone for the most part. He was sore in his
hind end and a little crampy, but better by the time we left Michigan
Bluff. I was the 2nd rider to miss the cut-off, someone in front of me
missed it by 1 1/2 minutes. I think a lot of the horses in the group
were pulled anyways, I believe Joyce Stoffey was the only one to go on to
finish, but I may be wrong. Sinatra was looking a lot better by the time
we got to Auburn and settled him into his stall. He was still a little
stiff and sore on Sunday but was doing much better Monday. I took him
down to my mom's house in CA as she has 10 acres of pasture, so he's on
vacation for a month or so. I brought one of her Spotted Saddle Horses
back up to Reno for "Fat Camp". Sinatra loved me again by Sunday, he was
following me around and nuzzling me like normal. Made me feel much
better, they can be such forgiving animals.
Will we do Tevis again? At Michigan Bluff I would have said "No,
not on Sinatra, it's just too hard on him." Now I'm wondering....
Maybe with a little more hill training, and better pacing. I had only
pre-ridden from Foresthill to Auburn so now I've seen most of the trail and
have a better idea of what to expect. I think back to where I might have
made better time, what I could have controlled, and the stuff the held us up
beyond our control. I look at the pull list, we got a lot further than
most people. My husband, who in the 4 years I've been doing endurance
has never come to a ride, came to help crew Tevis, and he is really
encouraging me to try again. He went from begrudging my time spent with
my horse to telling me I just need to condition him more. =) So
we'll see. I still want that buckle so badly, and next year will be the
20th year of this dream.....
