Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

This trail was very unusual in the amount of pavement
and other non trail type of footing.  (cobblestones,
sidewalks, crushed rock hiking and biking paths etc).
The plan for some of the  US riders was to wear
easyboots over shoes on some parts of the trail, then
take them off for other parts.  I saw easy boots being
used, when  shoes were pulled during the ride.  Boy
can Christoph put on a easy boot in a heart beat.  He
came into the second crew stop and we saw a hind shoe
off, we told him, he popped off, had the boot on and
was going down the trail before you could blink. 
I know Joey had to put on an easyboot while he was on
the trail.  The shoes were reset during the vet check.
That's pretty fast shoeing.  Joey had full pads on
his horse.  The major concern of all the riders was
the concussion.  Then we ended up with mud.

I talked to Kathy Downs about all of the trotting and
cantering on the pavement that I saw.  I asked how she
was able to do that, since my horses seem to slip so
much on pavement, I wouldn't dare trot, not even to
think about cantering!  She said she had tiny titanium
studs on her 4 shoes.  Not very big, but enough to get
purchase on the pavement.  She said her horse actually
did better on the pavement that the dirt, which had
turned to MUD.  
I do know one of the women riders, can't tell you who,
it wasn't Kathy, told me she had worn easyboots for
the ride and liked how the horse went with them on,
especially on the roads, but felt that the horse had
to work harder with the boots on when they were
traveling in the mud.  She thought the stress showed
up in the horse's shoulders.  I told her in our area,
you can't keep them  on in the mud, they get sucked
right off.  She may have had hers foamed on, as I
remember someone say they would foam their boots on.
One of the riders told me, again.. I can't remember
who, so I'm choosing not to identify speakers, that
the crushed rock had sharp edges and by the later part
of the ride the horses were really trying to avoid it.
I walked on this rock alot and I can tell you, I could
feel it through my Tennis shoes.
It seems two of the riders, maybe a UAE and a New
Zealand rider, missed a turn on the Orange loop, the
last loop, I heard that two of our riders, almost made
the same wrong turn.  That would have been disastrous!

The trail was well marked with trail ribbon and signs
with arrows in the same color as the trail ribbons
pointing out the turns.  There were crossing guards at
each road crossing..  That took A LOT of volunteers,
as there were road crossing every few feet it seems..
No.. I'm exaggerating, but there were many - many road
crossings.  It was peculiar to see the trail go across
a road, then up a sidewalk, then turn on a wooded
trail.
Regarding saddles used by our riders, I think there
were 3 Reactor panel saddles and 2 sports saddles in
use.  I don't think I saw one crupper.  I might be
wrong about that.
It was interesting how the trail was set up, as a ride
manager, I'm always interested in how others arrange
their trails.  It looks like management (the OC-
organizing committee it's called) had many trails to
choose from.. Horse riding, hiking and biking trails
seem to criss cross all over this area.

There was one Vet check away from the start.  This was
the main vet check as most of the checks were done
here.  It was funny, because this spot is on top of a
huge hill.  The highest point in the Netherlands, 300
something meters, I read a monument that gave this
fact.  So the horses had to climb the hill each time
they came into the check.
What the trail was, out to the vet check  on yellow,
go on one loop- red, do a different loop- blue, then
do red again and then go back to the start on a trail
that was basically the same as the yellow except for a
few short sections, this trail was green.  Then a 
short loop  from the start/vet check back to the
finish, which was in the big stadium. Really cool.. 
Anyway, I digress. 
At the end of each loop and the out and back was a
vet check.  There were 2 places on each loop,  (except
for on the Orange it was only about 8 miles or so),
where the road crews could meet the horses, and offer
assistance.  There were several water points where the
management /volunteers could offer water and
assistance to the riders.  We were told strongly.. do
not touch or do anything with a horse or rider in any
area other than a crew point or vet check, it could
lead to disqualification.  Management could help if
needed.  We followed this rule for sure.

It was great fun, going from place to place watching
how the riders were going, who was moving up and who
was moving down or staying in their spot through out
the ride.  You may not see everything that goes on
being on the road crew, but you sure get a feel for
how the race is going, who is in front and who is
behind.
Well, I'll close for now, going to save my batteries
for later.  I had to give my borrowed adapter back. 




Columbia, Missouri
Region 6



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=