things learned at Big Horn

["Whitney Bass" <bass@bigsky.net>]

	I think it's probably because the weather has finally turned more
"wintery" and the wind is starting to provide that all too familiar
"biting" cold, but lately I've been thinking about this past ride season
(it's pretty much over for me here in Montana unless I want to travel a
LONG ways) and some of the rides I rode in.  Which brought me to my
not-so-favorite memories of the Big Horn 50.  Having competed (and
finished!) at the Big Horn 100 3 times in the last 5 years or so,  I was
excited when I decided to "only" ride in the 50 (which I'd never done).  As
it turned out, the "50" challenged me (mentally speaking) almost as much as
the 100 ever did for a couple of different reasons.  At this ride, the 50's
are started with the 100's at 4:00 AM, in the PITCH black.  As a sidenote,
the first year I rode it, they started us at 3:00 AM, and it was SO dark
that I literally couldn't even almost make out the image of my horse's ears
in front of me or even my own hand one foot in front of my face.  I learned
two things that "early" morning -- one:  the skill of being able to follow
trail by watching for sparks ahead of me made by horses' shoes hitting
slick rock, and two:  in Wyoming, ride with the goal of finishing BEFORE
DARK! =)  Anyway, back to this last year!  After a controlled start of a
couple of miles on pavement, we headed off into the "desert" on what RM
said were new trails for 6 miles or so (I think!).  But everybody continued
to stay in a group, behind the riders who knew where they were going. 
Then, my mom (who I was riding with), needed to make an emergency stop to
fix something, and we lost the group.  To make a long story short, it took
us about 45 minutes to find the trail -- and this is the kind of ride that
you definitely want to avoid "adding" anything to!  I don't like getting
lost, and rarely do because of it, so I was a bit annoyed coming into the
first vet check.  Where we found out that my mom's mare, Summer, had a
somewhat severe stone bruise, and would not be able to go on.  So, then it
was just me and my trusty gelding Seco heading off into the wilderness. 
And it really IS wilderness!!  As a sidenote (again!), the Big Horn is
probably the most beautiful ride I have ever ridden -- incredible HIGH
mountain plateaus that seem to go on forever, 100's of different kinds of
wildflowers, carved-out gullies and canyons with creeks everywhere -- truly
breathtaking at times!  Of course, it's usually only the times that you're
not worried about the difficulty, the amount of rocks, and often times, the
agonizingly "slow-going" that the trail offers!  But anyway, the beauty of
the country (i.e. tourism!) brings me to the second reason that the 50 was
mentally taxing for me.  Let me explain.  I left the second vet check (at
about 37 miles), in high spirits.  I had caught up to my good friends Ann
and Louie about 1/2 hour, maybe less, out of the first vet check and had
ridden with them into the second.  Seco was feeling incredibly strong and
happy, and Ann and Louie told me that they didn't intend to stay at the
same pace that we'd been traveling at -- so I left the second check by
myself, again.  I had no worries, though -- I knew the trail into the 50
mile point, and Seco was just flying.  Then the trail was marked down into
a large draw (probably close to 11/2 miles across), which was trail that I
had never been on before.  And down at the bottom of this draw happened to
be 3 people, all dressed in white for some unknown reason.  I slowed Seco
down to a walk in order to be able to make them out a bit better and could
tell that they were coming towards me and all were carrying something in
their arms that was very ORANGE.  Curious, I asked Seco for his tireless
trot, and in no time were upon these three people.  HI, I said.  Hi, they
said.  Are you following these?, they said, while holding up their ARMFULS
of orange ribbon used to mark the Big Horn trail.  Wide eyed, I answered
that apparently I wasn't going to be following them anymore!  They
explained that they were traveling through and stopped to take pictures. 
They then saw all the orange ribbon in the fields and thought it was
something for the cows, thought they better go collect it all, etc., etc. 
It didn't make much sense to me, either!  And to make another long story
short, I ended up "lost" again for close to an hour.  But Seco and I
finished the ride healthy and sound, and having learned two more things
from the Big Horn ride.  One, that whenever it's really dark and the trail
is not well-marked, make it a priority to stay with the group.  And two,
you know you're in trouble when 3 "randoms" in a field are holding large
amounts of "your" ribbon!! =)
Just some memories that keep me smiling until March, when I get to make
some new ones!  

Whitney Bass


"Horses lend us the wings we lack."  (Pam Brown)

"Long before the Porsche 911 turbo took on the status that it has since
acquired, the prehistoric horse was considered pretty stylish.  From nought
to gallop in two seconds, an open-topped roadster with real leather
upholstery, four-legged drive, and an ability to negotiate extremely rough
terrain with an ease and speed which even the Range Rover has never
equaled.  Very good on consumption too -- remarkable mileage to the bale." 
(Leo and Jilly Cooper from "Horse Mania")


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=