Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I'm so sorry I missed the ride, you guys must have done an EXCELLENT job 
with this event -- I've head nothing but good things ALL OVER the web!!!

May I send in my entry for next year now!?!?!?!?!

Jen


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sluys Guys" <minglewood@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "ridecamp-endurance.net" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 12:40 PM
Subject: [RC] VA Highlands- behind the scenes point of view


>  2008 Virginia Highlands Endurance Challenge – Behind the scenes point of 
> view
>
> Last fall Tom Sites, an SERA board member from Virginia started a ball 
> rolling that is likely to keep going for a long time. He noted that there 
> were no SERA sanctioned rides in Virginia and determined to get one 
> started he connected a few people together who took that ball and ran with 
> it. By late January a team of ride managers -Don and Nicki Meuten, trail 
> masters - Nancy Sluys and Gina Hagis, secretary - Laura Cullins and 
> logistical engineers - Tom Hagis and Bill Sluys embarked on a whirlwind 
> project that resulted seven months later in the first annual Virginia 
> Highlands Endurance Challenge.
>
> Getting a new ride started in such a short time in a new area gave a whole 
> new meaning to the word “endurance”! The first two items of business, 
> acquiring the permit (which we didn’t have in our hands until two weeks 
> before the ride!) and finding the base camp were hard enough let alone 
> putting all the other pieces together that made this first ride such huge 
> success. Don chose to make it a two-day ride to accommodate the people who 
> had to travel far so folks would be able to do two days of riding for the 
> same fuel price and even though the plan seemed daunting at first, it 
> turned out to be a great idea. Luck smiled on us in every way (mixed in 
> with lots of hard work), we found the ideal camp, the weather was as 
> perfect as it could be and a large number of riders showed up to support 
> the new ride. That in itself was a huge challenge as three weeks before 
> the ride there were fifteen entries for each day of the two-day ride and 
> we had no idea how many would attend but our guesses were around the 100 
> mark for the whole thing. By the week before the ride the entries had 
> soared to 170 and climbing! Thursday at check-in the numbers climbed to 
> around 220 for the two days and when it was all said and done 202 horses 
> started the combined rides over the two days making it one of the largest 
> rides in the country. To say we were overwhelmed was an understatement but 
> everyone kept their cool and put on their best problem solving hats and 
> the result was smooth running affair from start to finish. Luckily the 
> camp was big enough to accommodate the whole crowd and with the help of 
> Tom Hagis everyone got parked with room left for more in the future.
>
> About 6 weeks before the ride Don called a meeting and asked everyone what 
> we would like to see in the perfect endurance ride since we were all 
> riders. Superbly marked trails, lots of water, hay at vet checks, 
> entertainment, good food were just some of the suggestions. Don took notes 
> and I think every suggestion was filled and then some.
>
> Tom Sites originally volunteered to provide the food for the whole ride 
> but when the numbers swelled to gargantuan proportion Don hired the local 
> civic club to provide the ride dinners and Tom concentrated on feeding the 
> ever growing number of volunteers. He treated us to gourmet food at every 
> turn. The local Fire Department also chipped in providing water for the 
> base camp and acted as spotters on a very busy road crossing near the 
> beginning of the ride. The volunteers came out of the woodwork for every 
> job. Drag riders appeared from the Old Dominion, pulse takers from the SE 
> and NE regions as well as the local community. Anytime there was a niche 
> to fill it seemed that there was someone already doing it. After the ride 
> some marathon runners even went out and pulled about 25 miles of trail 
> markings for us!
>
> Gina and I spent three days before the ride marking the trails with 
> ribbon, arrows and signs so that nobody would get lost and nobody did! 
> Thankfully some of the trails are permanently marked and we just added in 
> turns and confidence ribbons on those segments so that when vandals 
> removed about 4 miles of ribbon from one section the riders were still 
> able to find their way. I went back and replaced the ribbon early in the 
> morning of the second day and it stayed up that time.One amusing 
> observation I made as I watched the horses pass different areas throughout 
> the ride is how blind one can become when running at the front of the 
> pack. The first few riders would come flying and blow right by a well 
> marked turn as the ribbons brushed their face and I would have to call out 
> to get them right again. After the first couple went by the rest could see 
> just fine. The funniest incident was when I was spotting traffic at an old 
> railroad trestle that was about 100 yards from the finish line. A top ten 
> rider came cantering up and seeing me standing there said “I take it I 
> turn left”, my reply was “You’re horse would HATE you if you turned left! 
> The finish line is right there, straight ahead!”
>
> Tom Hagis was in charge of setting up the vet check areas, which was a big 
> job as we had three “away” vet checks for the 55s. Our base camp is 
> perfect in every way with a big flat field, a scenic river and a kitchen 
> except that it is a bit removed from the main part of the trail system 
> requiring the remote vet locations. The trail to and from the trail system 
> is so beautiful, though, that going the 10 miles in and out was a very 
> enjoyable ride. Between Tom and Don the vet checks ran smoothly for the 
> most part. The first day there was a bit of trouble at Vet Check #3 as it 
> is a narrow area and crews started parking on both sides of the road 
> blocking it up so that passing through was nearly impossible. This posed a 
> huge problem for the water trailer and the ambulance trailer as well as 
> anybody who tried to get in or out. People were crowded and patience was 
> wearing thin at times. Don, being the great problem solver that he is, 
> devised a parking plan for the next day that had everything working 
> smoothly again. The homemade ice cream that was served up at this vet 
> check went a long way to calm any frayed nerves. Vet Check #1 at Iron 
> Mountain Horse Camp was everybody's favorite with lots of room, real 
> bathrooms and ham biscuits available for breakfast.
>
> The vets were skilled and plentiful as the best practitioners from the SE 
> and some from the NE were called in to watch over the safety of the 
> horses. Otis Schmitt was the head vet and joining him were Mike Bridges, 
> Duane Barnette, Jeannie Waldren, Nicki Meuten (as if she didn’t have 
> enough to do already) and several of Don’s vet students rounding out a 
> great crew. Occasionally when a big group of horses would arrive there 
> would be a slight backlog but with three kinds of hay, carrots and horse 
> treats in the vet line the horses were wanting for nothing and were able 
> to refuel as they were waiting for their examination.
>
> One of the biggest challenges was providing water for all the remote 
> locations. In addition to the three vet checks there were four other 
> locations on the trail where water was provided. Bill Sluys proved to be 
> the water boy extraordinaire, providing over six thousand gallons of water 
> to keep all the locations full with some help from neighbor, Greg Dixon. 
> Some local residents kept one of the hundred gallon tanks at the top of a 
> mile long steep gravel road full. Once again fate smiled on us with the 
> cool temperatures as Bill worked out the water plan realizing that with 
> the large number of horses next year two or three separate water rigs 
> would be needed especially if the weather turns hot. The fire department 
> allowed Bill to fill up the water trailer at the station with their high 
> powered valve saving a lot of time and making it possible for him to get 
> the water out on the trail as quickly as possible. Anytime I asked a rider 
> if there was enough water in the tanks on the trail they would report that 
> they were full.
>
> Gina Hagis drove one of the ambulance trailers and when a colicky horse 
> needed treatment also volunteered to drive to Virginia Tech that night an 
> hour away. Considering the numbers of horses, there were very few pulls 
> throughout the weekend totaling less than 10%, most were for minor 
> lameness. Laura Cullin’s husband, Chester, drove the other trailer and 
> with two rigs there was very little waiting time for a ride back to camp 
> for the riders and horses that were eliminated. We were all very relieved 
> that the colicky horse was recovering.
>
> The trail crew had spent months laying out the trail, measuring, mapping, 
> clearing, marking, timing, tweaking and getting it as right as we could 
> for the ride. A few of us had even pre-ridden it a month earlier in 95 
> degree weather just to make sure it all felt right. That day it took 12 
> hours to complete in a non-competitive situation including the vet hold 
> times and with the extreme heat. Based on what we had learned about the 
> trail we predicted that the finishing time would be around 6:30 – 7:00 as 
> it proved to be a tough mountain trail. We were amazed when Jeremy 
> Reynolds blew our trail out of the water the first day with a riding time 
> of around 5:30! The conditions were as fast as they could ever be with 
> perfectly dry trail and low humidity with temperatures in the low to mid 
> seventies and nothing in the rider’s way but a few rocks and mountains. 
> Even the large groups of pleasure riders decided to stay home that weekend 
> and leave the trail clear for the ride.
>
> The biggest theme throughout the weekend was smiling faces! I don’t think 
> I saw any frowns all weekend, people were just having so much fun. The 
> camp was beautiful, perfectly flat and right on the New River with a big 
> rock face across the river to look at. After the ride the river was filled 
> with horses getting their legs cooled off and kids young and old playing 
> in the water. I noticed a few people even brought canoes to play with on 
> the river. The dinner was served quickly with two food lines. The ride 
> briefing was entertaining with Don’s masterful speaking style, which was 
> heard loud and clear with the help of a sound system provided by Bill 
> Sluys. Between dinner and awards on Saturday night old time mountain music 
> was provided by our band, the Pilot Mountain Bobcats, fresh from a first 
> place win at the local fiddler’s convention the weekend before. I don’t 
> know how I mustered up the energy to play after the exhausting weekend but 
> once I started the first tune I just got into the zone. The music added 
> just the right touch of mountain culture to cap off a great weekend in the 
> Virginia Highlands.
>
> “Best ride ever!” was a comment I heard numerous times from the riders and 
> volunteers as the weekend came to a close. The management team, although 
> suffering from that “run over by a steamroller” feeling was bursting with 
> pride on a job well done. Even before the last of the equipment was 
> stuffed into our overloaded vehicles there were rumblings of “next year we 
> can make _______ better” or “next year we can do ______” so it looks like 
> you’d better put it on your ride calendar for 2009 because it will be 
> better than ever and you won’t want to miss it!!
>
> PS…. I was too busy taking care of the trail to take note of the winners 
> of all the rides but I will post the results as soon as Nicki sends them 
> to me.
>
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