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[RC] Great Weekend at Sandhills - Mary HowellJust back from a fantastic weekend at Sandhills in SC. This is my 5th year and it's a must-do ride on my calendar because of the excellent basecamp facilities, including hot showers and lots of room to park, plus the wide, well-maintained trails. My plan this year was to ride the 55 both days, God willing! Patsy Gowen and others from this area deserve a lot of credit for a developing a trail system where you can go out two days in a row and see new and scenic trails each day. This ride uses the "Biltmore system" of colored plastic diamond trail markers nailed to the numerous pine trees, plus large signs at critical points, such as where the LD's and 50s split. Place names along the trail are marked with signs like "The Glen and "3 Creeks," which adds interest and helps the miles fly by. On Saturday, the weather was warm and cloudy with none of the wind Sandhills is famous for. The sand was dry and deep in some places, but occasionally you could detour off the churned up trail onto the adjacent pine-needle covered forest floor. The last loop had an especially long, deep sandy stretch where I got off and fed my horse carrots as we walked along. Ride management was alert to reports of tornados in the area, but at basecamp the thunderstorms held off until dinner when most of the horses were tucked away in trailers or stalls. Only one lighting bolt struck close to camp and by bedtime, the heavy rain had passed. Those of us hoping to ride the same horse could look forward to trails firmed up by the rain. On Sunday, the sun was brght but there was a brisk wind to keep from heating things up too much. I rode with a friend who was also out the 2nd day on her same horse, and the miles rolled by until the last loop when she worried that her horse might be a bit off. She removed his splint boots in case they were rubbing and we eased up on our pace, trotting slow especially on downhills. Near the end of that final loop, two riders caught up as we were leaving a water trough. My friend gave me the go ahead to leave her and race in and my horse was more than up for running that last mile and a half! By the time I had him cooled, my friend has coasted in and we did our completion trot-outs together, with both horses finishing just fine. The completion rate was really high both days and many of us rode both days on the same mount. Thanks again to Tim and Lara Worden, Alison Bailey, Patsy and all the others for putting on a ride that was well-worth the $4/gallon price of diesel to get there! Mary in VA =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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