Tevis thoughts and hopes (no fears!)

[guest@endurance.net]

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO GUEST@ENDURANCE.NET!!!
You must post replies to the actual sender listed below.

From: Judy Long 
Email: julong@cisco.com



Well folks, Nick and I are heading out tomorrow for Robie Park and the big "T".  I alternate
between being really excited and being nauseous with anticipation (nausea is one of
my specialties!).   Doing this ride is such a big undertaking for all involved that you have a hard
time trying not to be overwhelmed by what's ahead of you.    I'm trying to keep perspective
and look ahead to one thing at a time.  Our first goal is to get to Truckee and get through the
pre-ride vet check.  Then I can think of the trail, but only a chunk at a time.  What's really preying
on my mind, nerves and stomach is a start with 250 horses  (eek!) and the infamous trip over the
top of Squaw.    In my mind the biggest hurdle is making to Robinson Flat and through the vet
check.    Of course we'll be very careful going on the bike path at Squaw Valley which was the
failure point of our last attempt at this ride.

So Saturday morning around 6:00am PDT, think of 250 horses moving up the Mountain run at
Squaw Valley in the early morning light.  It will still be cool; the horses will be excitedly climbing
up past the gondola and the ski lifts.   Around 10:00 am you can imagine the stream of horses
and riders covered in dust and dirt coming in to Robinson Flat as the morning heats up.   Then
during the heat of the day there is the long trip through the canyons to Michigan Bluff.   Around
7 or 8 pm we hope to be leaving Foresthill when it will be cooling off.  The riders go off into the 
dusk and the crews head back to Auburn to get some rest, hope for the best, and wait for their
teams.  Look up at the moon around 11:00 pm and think of horses and riders trotting down
single track trails in the dark on their journey to the oasis at Francisco's.    And when you wake
up on Sunday, everyone's ride on this year's Tevis will be over, some with happy endings and some without.  

Think on Saturday of us, our horses and this test. I love my beast and I want us to finish healthy
and sound.  I know it doesn't always work that way.   It's an amazing physical and emotional 
experience and I hope we get to feel it again.

We'll let you know how it all turns out...

Judy Long and Nachi Sunshine (Warpaint)
Hayward, Ca.

1 for 2 at Tevis, hoping to be 2 for 3