Re: Cold Country ride story (Nick Warhol)

[Gary Fend <garyfend@pacbell.net>]

Geez Nick, great story but in the interest of truthful reporting I'd better add
a few details.


> (Steph- can you forward this to the list for me?   Thanks, Nick. )
> I had been leading the trio quite a bit and followed 3 other riders
> up a single track trail.

All this time I thought you were supposed to follow the ribbons.  I never saw
any other riders.  As we were waiting to leave at lunch I asked the Forest
Ranger what the symptoms of hypothermia were and was told it was disorientation.

> Gary and our friend swear they shouted at me I was
> going the wrong way but I didn't hear them.  They thought I did hear them,
> so they rode on down the correct trail, leaving me behind.  All alone, lost
> for hours in the forest, never to see the trail or the daylight again.......

I actually stopped and waited but your friend convinced me that you probably
stopped to take a leak and we should go on and you would catch up. I'd forgotten
that you don't "stop" to take a leak.

> There were Gary and our friend finishing with the vet when I came in.  After I
> Tackled Gary
> and threw him to the ground for leaving me out there to die (right- the
> guy's bigger than me!  Actually it was kind of funny.  He says "What? You
> didn't hear me call?" and grins)

Bigger than me? (More on this later.)  Actually the last vet check was an
interesting situation.  There was only one vet and it wasn't a gate into a hold
so whoever vets in first, leaves first and has a lead of however long it takes
to do a vet check (in my case it was more like a pre-purchase exam) with only 2
miles to go.  I knew I could walk the rest of the way in without anyone passing
me.  Besides, who could ride a horse after being tackled by a crazed, soaking
wet, ex-motorcycle racer?

> Gary and our friend were there waiting for Nancy Elliot to finish with the
> vet.  It
> wasn't much of a BC evaluation but heck, it was fun. Except for the rain
> that started up in a big way. It poured harder than it had all day.  The
> road we were standing on became a small creek. We were soaked all over
> again. Gary and Cinabon sloshed up the road, spraying water all over
> everyone in the vicinity.  Oh well- the camper was close.   At this point I
> don't know who got BC.   Shatta looked great and had a lot of energy but his
> hydration was a B or a C.

Ya, ya, ya.  Are you leaving anything out?  If I remember correctly, I was about
your age when I went from a middle weight to a heavy weight.  My excuse was I
went from a wintec to a real leather saddle that weighed twice as much.  You
could say that you were soaking wet-- but I still can't believe you can absorb
19 lbs of water in what you were wearing.  Besides, I was wet, too, but still
weighed the same as I did two weeks earlier at Cuneo Creek where there wasn't a
drop of rain.

All kidding aside, I would like to also publicly thank Cherryl and the GCER for
another excellent ride and for my great silver belt buckle for being the first
"fat man" to cross the finish line.

Gary and CinnaBAR
Walnut Creek