Virginia City 100 <ride story>

[DreamWeaver <karen@chaton.gardnerville.nv.us>]

We had the most exciting weekend.  I believe this was the 31st running of
the Virginia City 100, September 19, 1998 in Virginia City, Nevada.  50
horses started and 37 completed, quite a remarkable completion rate
considering the difficulty of this ride.  Completion awards are silver belt
buckles, engraved with the rider and horses name (or whatever you want). 

I had planned on doing the NASTR Triple Crown on my horse Rocky.  We did
the Derby Ditch 50 in April, NASTR 75 in June and I had entered him to do
the VC 100.  Well, two weeks (wouldn't you know it!) before the ride he cut
his heel bulb open on another ride and while he was sound I was afraid to
take the chance of doing a 100 with him, especially this one.  So within a
week of the ride I decided to take the other horse.  Lucky Weaver - he's
been doing a ride every two two weeks since Tevis (8 weeks
straight!)...sort of felt guilty but it didn't stop me <bg>.

Hauled to the ride early Friday and set up in a good spot.  Camp gets a
little crowded, it is at the old Ice House in Virginia City and not much
elbow room.  My husband was away on a trip, so I went to this ride
crewless.  I made sure ahead of time that I had everything packed and
organized as much as possible.  

The ride consists of three loops.  The first loop is 51 miles out of camp.
The second one brings you back to camp at mile 77.  Then one 'out' vet
check at mile 92, then into the finish.  A total of 3:15 of hold times.
The footing rocky, the terrain difficult and the pavement sometimes seems
unending.  

We began at 4:30 a.m. - walking to the center of town.  Virginia City is
full of the history of the old west, mining and the streets are very quaint
and historic.  We gave our numbers near the Bucket of Blood Saloon and
stood waiting for the 5:00 a.m. start.  The air was crisp but not cold.
Finally - time to go - everybody took off trotting on the pavement, sparks
flying.  I had pulled my horse near the rear of the pack and started him
back there and kept him at a nice steady pace as we started our long
journey.  Weaver was eager to continue at a steady pace and I could tell he
didn't like me trying to keep him slowed down.  So I let him slowly plug
away, passing a few horses but still staying at a steady rate.  We made it
into the vet check on Geiger grade (the market) about an hour ahead of the
cutoff time.  Vetted right thru, then found my crew stuff.  I didn't need
to worry about the horse, he was eating like he was already starving, and
drinking extremely well.  There were plenty of volunteers to help me with
stuff.  I even took the time to put vetwrap around my stirrup base to keep
them from squeaking.  :)  (now nobody will know who I am because I don't
squeak any more!)  

We left this check in fine shape.  Hind shoes still on, easyboots still on.
 The next part of the loop took us up Bailey Canyon.  For those of you that
don't know Bailey Canyon - it is one of the rockiest places on earth.  I
don't believe it is more than four or five miles long but it takes quite
some time to get thru it.  You need to ride a virtual mountain goat to get
thru it - I think even the fastest horses take nearly an hour to get thru
this one section.  You climb slowly up, picking your way thru rocks,
hopping over debris and ducking branches.  Finally coming out up on top,
then you meet up with some of the Washoe Valley trail, continuing down
Jumbo Grade and then down into Washoe State Park.  At this point, I was
with three other Nevada riders - Mike Tristram, Louise (Lou) Smith and
Jerry Zebrack.  All four of our horses really picked up when we got onto
that nice park trail and we just flew.  We arrived in at the park and lo
and behold - there was my husband! He was back from his trip early and came
to crew!  We all stopped here to let the horses drink, eat and electrolyte.
 Then back up the mountain - up over the Cinder Mine (I think 2500'
climb??) and then - the SOB's (aptly named).  A series of really steep
climbs (with a few extra rocks for good measure).  Then into the reservior
where there was water, number check and drinks, food and horse eats.
Another section with rocks, more climbing (we were already up on a
mountain).  Then down, down, down, and back into camp.  We had made it 51
miles.  Weaver had a hind shoe clunking so the ride farrier was going to
come over and tighten it for me. 

Well...if only it were that simple.  Weaver got a complete re-setting of
both hind shoes. The farrier asks "is he ouchy after being shod?".  Heck,
usually not but then I don't usually ride the second half of a 100 on him
right afterwards either. hmmmm  He trimmed down the hind feet, reset the
shoes and wished us luck. It had not even occured to me when I switched
horses for this ride that Weaver had only had his front shoes re-shod the
week before - his hind feet were a few weeks old.  Luck was with us on this
ride though, and the horse trotted out sound and in fact was a whole new
horse!  He ate the entire time the farrier worked on him, and the hour
break went by quickly.  

The second loop is another 26 miles.  You think "geez, the first loop was
so tough the second one has to be easier".  Right?  <wrong>  This loop is
definitely not "easy".  Lots more climbing, (like for two hours straight -
or so it seemed!) <g>  a lot of rocks too - and a couple of miles of
pavement going in as well.   We passed the old mill site - a group of very
large concrete structures that are now completely covered in graphiti.  Lou
suggested we not let the horses drink in one section where there was
probably a high amount of toxic waste leftover from the old mining
operations.  Just a little farther on was a nice clean creek and the horses
drank their fill.  Weav was definitely drinking plenty, by this point he
had peed 5 times already.  We trotted along past the old V&T railroad -
stopped where some crews had left some hay and let the horses eat a couple
of bites.  Jerry Zebreck caught up with us here.  He said he had been
watching us thru the entire ride and said he had never seen two riders ride
more consistently.  Our trail continued and crossed by the reservior again
and by the same number taker and snack station.  In the meantime, Agalee
and others had set up additional spots for us to have water for the horses
and drinks for us.  It was GREAT!!  They even had a hose with a large water
tank and hosed our horses necks down for us. What a treat.  After the
reservior stop Lou and I left Jerry behind and the two of us continued -
the trail had more climb ahead, more rocky trail.  This is where we passed
two separate herds of wild mustangs.  We finally made it to the top, then
prepared for the long descent ahead of us.  We were hoping to make it down
off of the mountain before dark.  The going was not easy, as you couldn't
just trot because of the rocky sections.  Getting off and running was also
difficult, though Lou did get off and run quite a lot.  Not me, I just
stayed on the horse thank you very much. ;^) We finally cleared some of the
rockier sections and then started to move out.  About 3 or 4 riders were
right on our heels.  We stopped at the water for the horses to drink and
then Lou said "let's go".  So off we went.  I put Weaver in front and we
went at a real nice trot....I heard Lou in the back yelling 'oh no, I don't
have a bit on my horse' (having removed it for running down the hill).
That's okay I said, I don't have one on my horse either! <g>  So we just
let the horses go at a pace they were happy with, and believe me they were
both more than happy to go.  It felt really great.  We made it into camp
and when I vetted Weaver at mile 77 he got his first A on attitude.  I had
been trying to tell the vets all along that he was just being lazy earlier.
 Honest!  Now at least they could see that he had finally warmed up :).  

Another hour hold, it went by fast then back out.  It was nearly dark now.
The last loop is the best part of the ride.  There were no glo bars marking
the route from basecamp to the trail (about 2 miles?), but we managed to
find our way.  Obviously by this time the horses know the way whether we do
or not.  I walked with Lou until we got onto the trail for aways then she
told me to go on ahead, she was going to walk, and so I continued on alone.
 This is where the best part of the ride was for us.  The horse felt really
energetic and wanted to trot his nice 100 mile trot.  We got into a really
magical rhythm and moved silently thru the night - it was a really special
time.  The soft sound of the easyboots in the dirt was enough to make me
close my eyes and just let the horse go down the trail as he chose.  The
trail was rutted and rocky in spots so I let the horse use his judgement in
how he wanted to travel in the dark.  Before arriving at the 92 mile vet
check (Cottonwoods) I caught up with Abe Nance.  His horse was going slower
and we slowed down so I could rest my feet and have some company.  I had
told my husband to be at this check at 10 p.m., that there was no way I'd
be there before that.  Yeah, right - I was out after hold time at 10 p.m. -
so just saw him arrive as we were leaving. <oops> It worked out just fine,
as they had plenty of volunteers for us and LOTS of terrific help.  As soon
as I arrived they put a blanket on my horse, somebody was feeding him and I
was offered hot soup and hot chocolate.  What could be better after 92
miles?  I vetted the horse and the vet said he looked better here than he
did when he vetted in on Friday <g>.  I tell ya, he's just lazy but once he
gets warmed up....so what if it takes him the most part of a 100.  At least
the same vets that early on thought he was being lazy got to see him when
he was full of energy and finally alive.  One vet said we should name him
"Screen Saver", since he goes into safety mode as soon as he is in front of
a vet.  

Only 8 miles to go!  The crews and volunteers warned us about the next part
of trail - they said there were lots of ruts and to be really careful,
watch for the big rocks and stay on the side.  I waited for Abe to get his
out time and rode with him.  We had a really great time and he told me a
lot of the history of endurance riding in Nevada.  He completed the ride
this year to earn his 13th buckle.  His daughter and granddaughter also
completed the ride - three generations!  As we grew closer to the finish
line at the cemetery we could see the lights.  My horse grew more
determined to go - he knew he was almost finished and really poured on the
speed as we went around the bend and up the hill.  It was 11 p.m. and we
were finished.  We still had to walk back to camp - it took us almost 45
minutes because we stopped and let the horses grab a bite or two along the
way.  I was happy to complete and as a bonus we had finished in 10th place.
 The horses came in completely dry and cool so vetted right thru, then we
blanketed and I crawled into bed (after eating, boy was I hungry!).  I
hadn't slept a wink the night before so was especially exhausted - slept
all the way thru till 7 a.m.!  I felt bad, normally I walk the horse a
couple of times thru the night.  I walked him and was relieved to see that
he wasn't even stiff or sore.  What a relief!  I used the Pro-Burst stuff
from Easycare on this ride and think it *really* helped him a lot by
keeping his muscles from fatiguing or getting sore or stiff.  I think *I*
need a dose of that stuff today tho!! <g>

Everybody did a great job and the volunteers were terrific on this ride.
It's easy to find the timers - they are all sitting at tables with clocks
and chairs and the volunteers have red t-shirts and/or hats.  The trail was
marked exceptionally well with the exception of the night loop and that
*had* been marked well.  Somebody pulled down some of glo bars (they were
lying on the ground, or else tossed over the edge) making it really
difficult for those of us that don't really know the trail.   I took a
couple of turns knowing I was just making a guess - of course I always
guess wrong - but never went far out of my way so it was not a problem.
Everybody made it in before the cuttoff and as far as I know nobody got
lost :).  

Happy Trails,

Karen
in Gardnerville
& Dream Weaver, only one ride to go! :) 
& Rocky...doesn't know what he missed!