Patriot 100

My friends Dorothy and Dennis Miller live in Quincy which is about 15 miles south of Greenville where the Patriot Ride was being held. I hadn't seen them in a while, so I opted to drag Roo up there on Thursday after I finished work and spend the night so we could hang out on Friday morning.

Predictably, Roo and I were two hours late leaving home and I ended up driving through the 30-40 mph twisty Feather River Canyon on hw-70 in the dark - but it did mean that I got to see a bear run across the road in front of me, hit a bat with the truck <sniff>, and wondered what "all that white stuff was?" on the mountains ahead, gleaming in the moonlight... must be rock faces or something...

Roo spent the night tucked up in a stall with a big bag of hay, and in the morning I hand-grazed him a little (oooh! lookit all that green stuff!) before turning him out in a paddock for a few hours prior to going up to Greenville.

Driving a mere 15 miles rather than over 4 hours was much better - especially given the 100 degree heat coming up the west side of the Sacramento Valley late Thursday afternoon. Roo refused the drink I offered him in Marysville when we stopped ~~to hand over my first born~~... uh... I mean get diesel ($4.69 a gallon), so I was glad he had a day to recover so I didn't have to worry so much about pre-ride dehydration. I'd been dosing him with salt in his slurpy feed all week to make sure he stayed good and thirsty.

The camp was in a grassy meadow. At least most of it was grassy - just the area at the end near the vet-check area/in-out timer was dry dirt so no-one else was parked there. Hah. Dibs. This proved to be the perfect spot, with limited time being wasted walking to and fro across camp (and you know how much I hate to waste time) (actually, it's more a case of the more time I can save myself the better, being horribly time-challenged and hopeless at ever getting out of anywhere when I'm supposed to).

I'd persuaded friends Ann and Jess Blankenship to come up and crew for me and they brought along their palatial rolling mansion. Another coup - their RV has a/c... ooooh! Here you can see Ann and Jess lounging under their awning, while Kristan Flynn does battle with her crew-bag at the trailer opposite:

At this point I should mention that all of this is Ann's fault. She was the one who got me into this.

It was she who emailed me innocently back in 1998 and asked "would you like me to help you train for Gold Country 30?" before I even knew where to start with endurance riding.
It was she who took me out on my first scary trail rides in the American River canyon, cheerfully pointing out the rafters several thousand feet below us while Provo and I stumbled along a 3"-wide trail perched on the edge of a cliff.
It was she who told me joyful stories of being dumped off her horse and left in the bottom of the canyon without any drinking water.
And it was she who taught me probably the best lesson in my riding life: no matter how bad it seems now, you'll laugh about it later and get a great story out of it.

Ann says to tell you all that she taught me everything I know.

Thanks Ann.

Crysta Turnage and Sinatra were to be our riding partners for this effort. I'll blame Crysta for getting me into the 100-mile concept after she happily announced last winter that she didn't have anything to lose so she was taking Sinatra down to 20-Mule Team 100 [Their 2007 20-MT Story Here]. They finished quite cheerfully in the dark in over 23 hours and I realised that "normal people" could do 100s. Sinatra isn't some long-legged super-horse - he's a worker-bee, just like Roo. You don't have to be able to trot at 12 mph continuously to get done. You just have to get on with it.

Sinatra is the perfect riding buddy for Roo - both horses pace well together, they share food and drink, they don't have histrionics if the other goes further than 10' away, and best of all, Sinatra doesn't make Roo crazy and turn him into a testosterone-laced raving lunatic. With Sinatra, Roo will travel on a loose rein and I can enjoy the ride.

Hoof-It - Around 9:30 pm, I suddenly remembered that I hadn't put any Hoof-It in Roo's feet and although the footing would be mostly good, there were some loose-rock sections, so I decided to err on the safe side. Dennis and Crysta helped me by managing Roo while I mixed and poured. Performing this task when it's 75°F (24°C) outside is much better than 20°F (-7°C) - the Hoof-it only takes a minute or so to set up.

Sinatra on the Spring Tie - when they arrived, Crysta parked her trailer next to mine and we settled Sinatra down onto my spare Spring Tie. This worked great because she had all her stuff right there, but Sinatra got to have a bit more space than if he'd just been tied to his own trailer. And my husband Patrick had even rigged up a spring-loaded cover on the light switches on that side of the trailer so we didn't have to resort to duct-tape to prevent Sinatra turning the lights on and off all night long.

'Course, that didn't stop him discovering the joys of butt-scratching against the trailer, and so Crysta and I, bunking together, spent a bad night of muffled giggling as we listened on the one side to Roo shrieking at some stallion across camp, interspersed with the whole trailer jiggling back and forth as Sinatra blissfully got rid of his itchies. Around 3:50 am he finally lay down and we got to sleep properly for ten minutes until the alarm clock went off.

No matter - when I had managed to get to sleep, I'd woken up periodically, heart-racing, panicking about nothing in particular, so I was almost glad to get up and get the ball rolling.

Saturday 17 May
Ride Day

4:15 am, Roo got another slurpy of beetpulp, LMF Super-G, LMF Gold, 1 oz of Enduramax elytes, and a 1/4 oz scoop of Vit E-Se-Mag with a few carrots tossed in and he gobbled nearly all of it down which was good to see.

Selenium - The last ride we'd done a month ago, Buck Meadows, was a two-day ride where he completed the first day looking phenomenal, but cramped in the rear end at 25 miles on the second day and got pulled. That was his second pull (the other was at Death Valley, on Day 4) and was concerning. I measured his Se levels in early March and he was at 2.0 which puts him at the bottom end of the "normal" spectrum and a little low for endurance horses, so I decided to increase his selenium intake. The trouble was, his new E-Se-Mag supplement only arrived ten days before the ride and I don't know how long that stuff takes to make any difference, but for those ten days, he was getting 5 mg/kg of Se.

I was also planning to be a lot more aggressive with my elyting protocol - usually I just put them in the food that he eats back at the trailer during holds. This ride, I was spritzing his hay, dosing him with a syringe, and giving him elyte-laced feed to eat at water stops. We would have to see if any of this helped.

The Start - It was nice to be able to tack up with relatively warm horse equipment - meaning that my Skito pad was actually soft, rather than the rigid board-like thing I'd put on Roo's back the last seven rides we'd done. I also didn't have to apologize to him for a freezing bit or faff around trying to heat it up before bridling him. He started pawing as soon as his saddle was on and evidently wanted to get on with the proceedings. Mindful of his, er, potential for leapy behaviour at the start of rides, I hand-walked him a couple of laps around camp before Crysta and I set off behind the rest of the pack. We weren't last leaving camp, but not far off it.

Loop 2

Vet Check #2 - Having crew was quite wonderful - something that neither Crysta nor I are much used to. Once vetted - yet another clean sweep of As on his vet card (whoo!) - Jess took Roo away to his food (narrowly missing calamity when his loosened saddle came close to falling off and was only kept in place by breast collar and crupper) and sponged him down back at the trailer.

Knowing that we wouldn't have eaten much by then, Crysta and I had put in our breakfast orders with Ann days before. I think I did better than Crysta, as I really wanted potatoes and runny egg yolk (talk about gourmet food!), Crysta only wanted something cold so Ann put her eggs in the freezer.

It was sheer luxury to be able to sit at a table in relative cool. I called Patrick at home to let him know we were through the first 30 mile loop and kept an eye on Roo through the window, watching as he munched another slurpy and a pile of hay. My lower back was bugging me slightly, so I took two Tylenol as a preventive measure.

This next section was going to be really hot, so I'd soaked my CoolMedic vest in a bucket of water (note to self: next time, leave it to soak overnight - soaking for ten minutes doesn't bring it to its full soggy potential). Again, just before we left, I dosed Roo with applesauce-elytes. These were starting to look a bit nasty from travelling in the warm saddle, so they got left behind and not used again (hmm, come to think of it, I wonder if they're still lurking in the trailer a week later? euwww)...(I still haven't found them and am getting nervous...).

It was a 30 minute hold and we were out of there in 39 minutes.... OK, so we're never going to win with this strategy.

Out Again at noon in the hot sun, the start of Loop 2 consisted of a steep twisty climb of about 800' (240 m). The climb was one of those mean ones with several false summits and we stopped a couple of times on the way up to let them puff and drip.

At the top, more hot. A stretch of dirt road in the woods, up, down, and level, but hot. Some grazing by the side of the trail. More hot. When we trotted, we could produce a slight breeze which was welcoming. Looking back, I must have been dopey because I really don't remember much about this 15 mile section - aside from the fact that Roo was exceptionally spooky, even for him, and it was hard work staying on top.

At the water stop, we sponged the pones off and let them munch on hay and apples (and I forgot to elyte). I redunked my CoolMedic vest, drank some lemonade, more water, replaced my water bottles and we were off again after a 10 minute break.

The water stops on this ride were about perfect - being placed every 5-6 miles for the horses. And the manned water stop checks all had people-water at them, so instead of having to carry my Camelbak, I was able to keep the water bottle holders in my pommel bag continuously replenished.

The route back towards camp was dirt road interspersed with forays into the woods along tiny twisting trails with knee-knocker trees. The idea was that we'd be doing this section at the very end of the ride, so the horses would know where they were in the dark. Pay attention, please Roo. Just as well he should know where we're going as I found the last part of the trail very confusing, particularly at one point when we seemed to be headed in exactly the opposite direction to where I thought we should be headed - now I know how Roo feels when we do that.

Towards the end we dipped into thick, thick trees before popping out onto a really twisty downhill section of manzanita - fun trail and I decided I was really looking forward to doing that trail in the moonlight the second time around - provided we got there.

Vet Check #3 - Roo isn't always stupendously good at pulsing down, so I was sure to hose him liberally when we came in after this hot loop. The criteria had been 64 at all the other checks (because of the heat), but head vet Rob Lydon set this one at 60 seeing as it was an hour hold.

After being splished, Roo was down, but Sinatra was still quite hot. He's a little horse - not big, but not built like a scrawny marathoner either, more chunky. Crysta hosed him (something he hates) but we were standing in the full-sun and he was hungry, so his pulse hung for a while. Roo and I loitered just to make sure

leaving wouldn't cause him angst and eventually Crysta stripped his tack and after a few more minutes he came down and they went over to be vetted. I opted to take Roo back to the trailer for some food, to take his tack off and let him relax for a few minutes before vetting. He tucked into his next slurpy with much enthusiasm, which I was pleased about given the heat. He was just finishing up and I was starting to think about getting him vetted when vet Doyle (? sorry don't know his last name) came over and asked if he could check him since we were the last horse and he needed to go to the next vet stop. Oops. Sorry about that.

Hmm, I think these photos are actually from the second vet check, but seeing as it was in the same place, you'll never know the difference:


I wrestle with the hose while Roo spots some hay off-camera	Being checked by head vet, Rob Lydon, Roo realises I'll make a good scratching post... not.	Sinatra trots out for vet Roberta Harms, Roo and I wait our turn...

Disaster - Roo once again came through with all As - quite astonishing - but standing there while the vet checked his gut sounds, I happened to look down at his left front foot and wondered vaguely why I seemed to be able to see so much shoe sticking out the side of his foot. Farrier Ted Goppert usually leaves a nice rim for him to grow into, but not 3/4" worth. Huh. He trotted out sound and the vet sent us on our way. I picked up Roo's foot and about had a cardiac arrest - his shoe was half-sideways on his foot - most of the nails ripped out and bent. ARGGGHHH!

As we'd come in off the previous loop, both Sinatra and Roo had done a major spook sideways in the last few hundred yards (it was one of those eye-pluckers that only horses can detect - we never saw it) and I can only assume that that is when he managed to skew the shoe sideways.

By good fortune, my farrier Ted Goppert was also riding the 100 and I knew he doesn't ride fast and he was in front of us. I quickly ran Roo over the out-timers and asked if Ted was still in for his hour hold - he was - so I sprinted Roo across the camp as fast as I could, panicking that Ted would already be on his way out.

As it turned out, he had another ten minutes to go and was resting quietly next to his trailer while his mare, Savannah, munched on her hay. I explained the situation to him and thank goodness the shoe was still there - he'd spent over an hour the previous week carefully grinding and shaping Roo's shoes perfectly to prevent a forging problem he'd been having, so it's not like we could just throw any old shoe on.

Within minutes the offending shoe was pulled and popped back on again. Disaster averted. If he hadn't been there I have no idea what I would have done, as I didn't have shoe pullers and couldn't have gotten an EZ boot over the shoe sticking sideways that far. Also by good fortune, the Hoof-It in that shoe was still intact. Too strange.

Rushing - Running back to the trailer, I was rushing to get everything ready to go out to the two next vet checks. We wouldn't be coming back to camp until the finish. My CoolMedic vest went back into a bucket of water, Ann handed me a plate of sliced turkey and cheese (which I didn't want because I was feeling queasy, but made myself eat) and I swallowed another painkiller. The bottom edge of the patch on my tights on the inside of my knees was rubbing my calf, so I switched to a non-patched pair which felt much better, and also changed into clean socks. Roo got tacked up again (and didn't even give me a dirty look when I did it), got dosed with some elytes, and I gave him a bit of a butt-rub to try to keep his large muscles loose. On went my CoolMedic vest, on went a clean white sun-shirt (my first one was filthy within the first mile of the ride, so it was good to fake being clean again) and off we went again.

Going up the last hill towards the vet check, Roo was willing to trot after Sinatra, but he felt a bit like his push-stamina was waning - he'd go for 20-30 feet then drop back to a walk. I figured so long as he was still willing to go forwards with some enthusiasm, even if short-lived, I'd let him pick the pace - even if that only meant trotting 20-30 feet at a time. I think Crysta might have been getting a little time-anxious at that point, though, with us dragging like an anchor.

Vet Check #4 - The last section leading into Vet Check #4 was two-way, so we got to see who was directly in front of us... hmmm, just Ted by the looks of things. We arrived at 7:15 pm and Roo pulsed through within five minutes or so and we went to be vetted. Once again, he scored all As. I was so proud of him - he'd been looking after himself brilliantly - eating and drinking and peeing continuously all day and it showed. As I led him over to the hay area, I realised that Crysta and Sinatra might be having a problem. He had taken a little longer to pulse down and when she took him to the vet, his pulse had gone up again. Back to be wetted down to try and cool him off a bit more.

Roo got installed in front of a pile of hay and some water buckets and I was sat opposite so I could keep an eye on him. Even though it was still warm, I'd put on his rump-rug just to make sure he didn't chill.

Ann and Jess had schlepped all our crew stuff to the check, along with a thermos of hot water with which to make a ramen noodles which I thought would hit the spot about then. It didn't. Instead, anything I tried to eat was still making me vaguely queasy. I ate a few bites of apple, but really didn't want much more, even though I was hungry. I drank some Ensure and put another bottle of it in my saddle. I'd been slurping on Gu periodically throughout the day and still had a handful of those in my saddle as well.

Crysta had been sent to sit with me and eat something while our crew worked on getting Sinatra'

s pulse down, to no avail. After 30 minutes he was still bouncing around and it was decided that he was done for the day. He was looking cheerful and perky, and mostly pissed at being messed with and not being allowed to eat, so he was relieved when they finally left him alone.

Uh-oh. This meant Roo and I would be doing the last 40 miles on our own in the dark. Ack.

Once I realised this, everything was catapulted into activity. Crysta taped my three battery-powered glo-sticks to my breast collar, Ann found me some painkillers which I pocketed, and I scuttled around looking for elytes for Roo and we were stuffed out of the check at just past 8 pm. ... 30 minute hold turns into 45 minutes. <sigh>

Loop 4

I've ridden Roo in the dark quite a bit - mostly because we're always late so we get caught out after sunset. We'd ridden the end of NASTR 75 in the dark and we also did the Nevada Moonshine Ride last summer which was bags of fun... but we rode both of those with a buddy.

(Speaking of the NV Moonshine - Crysta is RM for this ride - unfortunately this year she had to cancel the ride because they are having to move it to a new location and she was unable to get the permits sorted out in time. The ride will return in 2009 at a new and even better location slightly further north near Doyle, NV. The ride is to be heartily recommended - too much fun).

I wasn't sure how willing Roo would be to go out of the vet check on his own after being towed around by Sinatra most of the day, but he was actually pretty cheerful.

We walked out for the first half-mile or so. I called Patrick at home to let him know what was going on. He asked me if I was OK and I had a nano-second of wanting to burst into tears only to think don't be so blimin' stupid... you've ridden in the dark on your own before, you'll be fine... and off we went. Roo did me proud by trotting the first 30 minutes almost without stopping, despite riders coming in off the loop going the opposite direction. They told me the loop was beautiful - but would it still be beautiful in the dark?

Climbing - We started up the biggest climb on this loop (~900 feet/275 m) and I opted to let him walk up, thinking that if I asked him to trot, there was a good possibility that it would use up the last of his reserves and we'd really be struggling later on. About a third of the way up the last rider, Rosalee, caught us and asked if she could ride with us. She said she wasn't looking forwards to the next 8 hours riding alone in the dark. 8 hours?!? Will it really be that long?

It was starting to get dusky and the full-moon was rising. Behind Rosalee came the drag riders, so at least we wouldn't be out there on our own. Half way up the hill, we hit a flat spot, so I asked Roo to trot, to make time where we could. Rosalee passed us - her horse, Lottie, could trot much faster than Roo could - and Roo watched them go. As they got further and further away, he asked if we could catch up - OK, if you want to - and he took off, fast, strong and smooth up the hill. It really was a thrill to have him feel that powerful at that stage of the ride, particularly when I thought he'd be suffering from the flops.

Rosalee wasn't having a good day. She told me she'd been dumped into a tree and hurt her ribs, and Lottie had been terrorized on the trail by another horse and now was super-jumpy about horses around her (which was evident when Roo performed a minor spook and scared her half to death). She'd worried about her mare all day because she hadn't drunk well. Apparently Roo is somewhat of a calming influence - or she just got thirsty - because Lottie drank deeply at the trough towards the top of the hill and Rosalee took some time to elyte her. Although she had some glo-sticks, she didn't have any way to attach them and my tape was back in my crew box at the vet check, so she was light-less.

Trotting in the Dark - After the trough at the top of the hill, Roo led the way through the darkness for the next 45 minutes, trotting calmly along at a nice 6-7 mph pace on a loose rein and I was about as proud of him as I've ever been. Considering he'd left his buddy behind and had already had a long day, he was doing great. Below us were the twinkly lights of boats on Lake Almanor and it was a beautiful warm night. Perhaps we weren't getting the great views that earlier riders had seen, but instead we got a magical stillness of night.

Unfortunately, however, being in the lead was taking its toll on him mentally. He's only 7 - just a baby - and spooky at the best of times. As the night drew on, he got spookier and spookier - leaping sideways across the trail. We were on a narrow dirt road perched on the side of a steep ridge with a drop-off that although wasn't vertical, but you'd be very, very sorry if you went over the edge. Erk.

Every 30' there'd be a new monster lurking by the side of the trail (killer boulders/tree stumps/branches/manzanita bushes) and he'd leap sideways, giving me whiplash and cramping my legs trying to keep him from going too far sideways. About three times I found myself hanging on by my ankles (keep in mind I came off him on the last two rides we completed <grin>).

At one point there was a metal gate across the trail, but it was open. To one side was a large boulder, on the ground was a 12' long chalk arrow, and there was the gate. It took a lot of careful persuasion to get Roo through that obstacle course in the dark.

Despite the full moon, we were on the backside of the ridge in thick tall trees, so most of the time we couldn't see very much. In retrospect I wondered if I should have turned off my glo-sticks - perhaps the shadows they were throwing were making it worse? But given how reactive he can be in broad daylight, I doubt it would have made much difference.

Deflation - Finally he started pulling over and asking me to put someone else in front for a bit. Rosalee had been hanging back about 50' - to keep Lottie comfortable, I think - and I really wished she'd come past, but she didn't seem to want to trot in the front without glo-sticks.

And then he just couldn't deal with it any more and quit and wouldn't trot any more. I bullied him for a bit and pushed him as hard as I could, to no avail - he just couldn't do it. He'd still walk out OK, but no faster. So walk we did. At that point I thought we were pretty much lost - it was 10 pm and we had about another 25+ miles to go - and we weren't going to make it if all we did was walk.

But I figured what the heck - he done great, given what he'd accomplished up until then and we'd just do our best and see what happened. I was pleased with him whatever the outcome.

Finally Rosalee passed and trotted a little and Roo was very willing to follow. Unfortunately it was short-lived - Rosalee's legs were cramping so she needed to get off and walk for a bit, so I opted to continue along alone again. We wouldn't make very good time, but I wasn't willing to hang back just in case.

As we continued on, I started to cajole him into trotting, just a few steps here and there, with lots of praise. The trail turned back towards 'home' and he got more enthusiastic. There were some places that were more open and the moon was very bright, so I could get him to trot for longer and we started to make headway again. When he was willing to go, he was incredibly smooth and strong-feeling and I had an amazing feeling of euphoria.

I was also really hot. Considering it was the middle of the night, I was baking - riding along with my t-shirt pulled up around my neck and my sun-shirt draped off my shoulders. I was glad of the darkness so that no-one could see me looking like a mess going down the trail.

At one point the trail switch-backed the opposite direction and I had a heck of a job persuading Roo to go that way - he knew that was wrong and we had a forceful discussion about who was in charge.

Given that I usually start aching and feeling crunchy during rides, especially my knees, I was really pleased to find that throughout the whole ride, my body had felt great (if you ignore the queasiness). My calves were a little tight - in fact I discovered that if I trotted on the left diagonal, I could get the left calf to hurt, while the right one hurt on the right diagonal - but my quads were fine and although my knees were grateful for the times I did get off and walk, I didn't have the usual total-knee seizure I've had in the past.

The only thing that really suffered was my back and I quite wanted to swallow that pain-killer that Ann had given me at VC #4 but couldn't take then because I worried that it wasn't going to stay down. So I made a deal with myself: if I drank half a bottle of Ensure, I was allowed to take that pill. It worked. I sipped and sipped (very messy when you're trotting) and finally concluded I had enough in my stomach to cover it.

Water Stop - when we came into the water stop at 11:30 pm - about 6 miles before the 85 mile VC - I started to think maybe it would work out. The guy there said that the trail was more open [it wasn't], so I thought Roo'd get better. I let him eat for about ten minutes while I called Patrick again to say hello and tell him how we were getting on. He asked me if we were going to make it and I told him only if I could get Roo going, otherwise, not. As we were leaving the water stop, Rosalee and Lottie arrived.

They caught us up about 5-10 minutes later which was just as well - the trail was too dark for Roo's nerves, but Lottie was now in "heading home" mode and starting to take off, regardless as to what Rosalee wanted - and Roo was more than happy to follow her - or even lead, so long as Lottie stayed close behind.

Vet Check #5 - We made it into the final vet check at 1:00 am. Roo briefly frightened me to death as we were coming in - I'd hopped off and was leading him in and he didn't appear to be able to walk properly. Ack. Was he cramping? Colicking? Uh, no, he just needed to pee really badly and promptly did so the moment we stopped next to the hay. Phew.

He was very hungry when we came in, so I let him eat for a short while to take the edge off. Despite that, he was still fidgeting and grumpy when we were trying to get him pulsed down - nothing more irritating than being asked to stand still next to a pile of hay while people poke at you. Dave Rabe and a nice volunteer PnR lady (who's name I never caught, sorry) helped get him down and acted as his own personal crew for the duration of the hold - thanks guys! It was much appreciated!

I was frightened this would be the point that he started to get crampy and be lame, but once again he received all As on his vet card and Roberta said he was still feeling loose in the back end. YAY!!!

Dave Rabe took over his care, holding a flake of hay in front of his nose so he could munch determinedly while I ran around trying to find something to attach Rosalee's glo-sticks with. I scuttled about looking for my crew box and, while I found a mountain of other people's crew bags, there was no box. Where the heck...? There we were, 1 am, and all my gear had vanished. <grrr>

But this just goes to show that really you don't need any of that stuff. You know that duct-tape I've been carrying in my saddle for the last five years? Well, it actually got used - it just took a bit of unpacking to get to it. And luckily I'd thought to strap my yellow fleece vest to the saddle because ten minutes after arriving, I went from baking to chilly and didn't have the sweat shirt I'd carefully packed in my crew box. Rosalee was able to provide me with a tube of elytes for Roo to be squirted with and I didn't have time to eat anything anyway. My 'rest' consisted of sitting in the portapotty for 37 seconds and then crouching next to a tree watching Roo eat for about one and half minutes.

And miracle of miracles - we got out of there completely on time. Interesting how fear focuses the mind <grin>.

Loop 5

Roo did stiffen up at that check, standing eating hay, and was quite crunchy leaving the check, but Rosalee reported that Lottie was too, so we walked for the first half a mile or so to warm them back up again.

We'd been told we could make it back in time so long as we trotted some and to begin with it was a bit worrying - it was really dark in the woods and we couldn't see a thing. There were lots of glo-sticks hanging along the trail, but you couldn't tell where the trail was in between. There were times when I just had to hope that Roo was following some sort of trail because if he went off, we'd never find our way back.

By this time the moon was going down, so mostly we just had ambient light, which was actually better - less shadows. Riding along at one point I saw what I thought was a creek in front of us, then decided it was a snow bank, and when we got there it turned out to be just moonlight shining through a gap in the trees. The moon was also lighting up some of the small puffy manzanita bushes and Roo was a bit alarmed by them - wondering what the heck they were as we drew close.

Once we got back onto a trail we'd already been on earlier in the day, it seemed a little easier. Roo was quite willing to trot, so long as Lottie followed but I think Rosalee was feeling poorly from coming off earlier in the day and was very uncomfortable trotting downhill, so we had to just use the level or uphill sections.

Water Stop - It was a relief to get back to the water check - again, for the third time that day. We are very grateful to those volunteers for hanging in there and waiting up for us. Much appreciated. We only stayed a couple of minutes, letting the horses drink from the trough before trucking down the trail again.

Roo was eating everything he could find as we went along, especially if we went slowly although I never could quite tell how he was finding the grass - smell possibly, as he was investigating non-edible plants as well?

I was hungry and surviving on Gu that I would periodically pull out of my pommel bag. In the dark I couldn't tell what flavour they each were, but did learn that next time I should avoid buying the more exotic varieties in favour of borin' ol' vanilla. Some of those things tasted quite vile at 3 am and I had to force myself to gag them down.

Rosalee's knees were giving her trouble again, so she got off and walked and then needed to pee, so Roo and I continued on slowly, grazing and walking. She re-caught us after a mile or so and Lottie got more and more enthused about being done - leading the way and speeding along whenever she could get away from Rosalee.

In the darkest woods, we walked and Rosalee confidently announced that this was a 4 mph walk and that we could finish walking the rest of the way. I was looking at my GPS which told me we were actually going 3.2 mph and I wasn't convinced that the mileage to the finish we'd been given was accurate and didn't want to risk it, so continued to push and persuade them to trot whenever we could.

As we were going through one of the tightest wood sections near the very end, there was suddenly a lot of crashing in the bushes right next to the trail and my heart lurched, thinking "oh gah, there's a bear in the bushes and the horses are going to freak and dump us and go running off and we'll never find them...." and a voice from the undergrowth went "Lucy?".

It turned out to be Ted who's flashlight wasn't working and he'd gone off trail in the dark and couldn't find his way. He'd been blundering around out there for the last 30 minutes. We got him back on Savannah and the three of us whipped down the last manzanita ridge - no moon left to light us. Lottie was zooming along, Rosalee cursing her and trying to get her to slow down, but she wasn't having any of it. Roo was racing along behind her, keeping up as best he could, and Savannah was behind us, scoop bonking off the bushes, causing Roo to scuttle faster.

Down by the creek it was freezing cold - the only time we'd found any cold spots on the whole trail, so I dropped Roo's rump-rug down just in case, and we scrambled through the rocks up the hill to the finish line at 4:40 am where Kassandra was waiting for us. She asked anxiously about Ted (couldn't see him because he didn't have any lights on the horse) and was relieved to discover he was with us.

Final Vet Check - Rob Lydon vetted us through for the final time and pronounced us completed, although Roo was already starting to stiffen up as soon as we stopped. He'd felt great the entire time on the trail, but knew when he could finally stop - and did, poor guy.

I took him back to the trailer and Crysta lurched out of bed - how she heard us I have no idea, I would have been dead to the world. She gave me a big hug in congratulations and helped me get Roo untacked and settled. Roo was looking almost colicky - kicking his legs and scaring me greatly, but turned out to be just leg cramps as he only did it when we asked him to walk. We hand-grazed him for a while and when he looked comfy, we put him back on the trailer and sat and watched him for a while - I didn't want to leave him alone without being sure he was OK. Within seconds, he was pawing (uh oh), but just wanted to flop down - and flop down he did, completely pooped out, and went to sleep.

And so did we - I was chilly, so put on some long fleecy legs, tumbled into bed, stuck my head under the covers and was out cold in a matter of seconds. It was 5:45 and we'd been awake for nearly 26 hours.

Crysta woke me at about 8:30 - she was coming in to find some shorts to change into as it was heating up out there. She'd hand-walked Roo and Sinatra already and said he was a little stiff but looking much better. Thanks for looking after him post-ride, Crysta - much appreciated.

Roo wasn't talking to me and gave me a dirty look every time I went near him, so I left him alone.

Ann once-again performed chef-duties and fed us - finally I was feeling less queasy. It was my 42nd birthday the next day and she'd brought along a stupendous chocolate cake... I really wanted that cake on Sunday morning, but my stomach gave it the thumbs down. Awww.

Conclusion:

Someone on the new100 milers list asked me afterwards:
"Was the mountain as tall as it looked from the bottom once you reached the summit?"

— A 100 Miles? As I pulled into camp on Friday afternoon, I was having "What the heck am I doing here??" thoughts, "I'm not a 100 mile rider... we're not ready... Roo's last ride resulted in a pull... he'll cramp... I'll screw up somehow and he'll crash horribly..." and all night I would wake up with my heart racing. But like most things, the thought of it was much harder than actually doing it.

I hate the first 20 miles or so of a ride because the mountain does seem huge from the bottom. But if you ignored the big picture, and take each little bite as it comes - ride from stop to stop - it really wasn't so bad. Rosalee's comment about riding in the dark for the next 8 hours really took me by surprise - I had no idea it would be that long. 8 hours is ages - and it did turn out to be 8 hours in the dark. But taken in small bites it didn't seem that long.

The ride didn't seem super-hard - just one foot in front of the other - but in retrospect, I made lots of mistakes that
I got away with, so the next one will be harder trying to remedy them. Beginner's luck?

At least those two pulls of Roo's taught me not to be complacent about finishing, so now every vet check we pass is precious and I had even more angst than usual going into each one (at least I never felt like I wished they'd pull him so's I could stop <g>)

— Crew - It was lovely to have crew to feed us and be a spare hand to help with the horses when we needed it. But I learned I have to be more organized with my gear and only have one box of stuff - and make sure that one person is in charge of it. It turned out that the reason my crew box was missing at the vet check at 1 am was because Ann thought that Dorothy and Dennis (who were working the vet check) had my stuff and didn't realise that the big blue box she was schlepping around was my stuff, so she and Jess took it with them when they went back to camp. A week later, I'm still trying to locate lost items that are scattered over two States (although I'm still not sure I want to find that elusive nasty applesauce tube <grin>).

— Time-Keeping - I did a lousy job of getting out of vet checks on time. No surprises there - that always happens, but on a ride where time is of the essence, I'll need to be much, much better about that. Luckily this ride was relatively stress-free with regard to making time which was a perfect situation for a first 100, but our attempt to do Swanton 100 in a few months will need much more careful attention to such things. As the ride went on, it seemed that things got simpler and we got faster and cleverer at getting through vet checks. And better about making forward time along the trail. It's not something I can necessarily do consciously, but is a rhythm that you have to get into. Better preparation would have helped in some instances, but I found it hard to organize something on the Friday afternoon that I wouldn't be needing until late Saturday night.

— Roo's Well-Being - Roo did a phenomenal job and I was so proud of him. He looked after himself all day. I was pleased that I never felt that I was pushing him - keeping a nice pace and letting him eat and eat and eat (I was looking at photos of him at NASTR 75 last summer and he was fatter starting that ride, but more tucked up at the end. For this 100 he started and finished looking almost exactly the same. It would have been interesting to weigh him, as I don't think he would have changed much, weight-wise).

He did get stronger as the temperatures cooled off, and never seemed to hit a physical wall at any point.

Mentally in the dark, he wasn't so good. I'll be loathe to ride at the back like that again because if Rosalee hadn't been behind us, we wouldn't have finished. I was banking on making much better time in the dark with Crysta and Sinatra - and I think we would have, had it not been for that small matter of Sinatra getting pulled :-( . Next time I need better insurance.

Judging by the straight As he got on his vet card, Roo wasn't being too taxed, so I probably could have ridden him faster. But that said, he still was very stiff right at the end, so perhaps not? I'm going to continue with the Se supplement, and increase it further.

My plan had been to give him good butt-rubs, particularly towards the end of the ride at the last vet check - and that didn't work out because I was busy running around trying to find tape for Rosalee. That was my main regret - I would have liked to have done a better job with him there. And also a better job elyting in the second half of the ride - after the 60-mile check, he only got elyted once at 85 miles - more probably would have helped, but I was getting stupid in the dark. Should carry powder elytes in the saddle in case of emergencies (like not having your crew box <g>).

— My Well-Being - Overall, I was amazed at how good I felt. This 100 was one of the best rides my body has done, physically. But I spent nearly the entire ride hungry, which won't do me any good when things get harder. I did eat, but got queasy and couldn't fit much in. In retrospect, I realised that part of the problem was not wanting to start eating something because it was too big to fit in. Subconsciously, I think if I start to eat something I have to finish it, and was vaguely disquieted by the trail of half-eaten foodstuffs I felt like I was leaving behind me. But taking a bite here and a bite there does seem to work, so it's probably worth coming to terms with that ahead of time - that you'll have a bunch of half-eaten things lying around at every stop. Wasteful, yes, but at least you'll have a bite or two of everything.

I think that doing 3.5 days at Death Valley and then the 1.5 days at Buck Meadows really helped trail-toughen me and Roo. I even think that starting to rasp 4 out of 8 of our horses myself helped, although it did my back in at the time and I banned myself from any trimming activity in the week leading up to the ride. It just made me stronger and tougher, so the riding part seemed way easier.

— Equipment - Afterwards I wondered if my stirrups are a little far back and that's what was causing my back ache. It's literally only half an inch too far back, but they are as far forwards as they can go. The initially saddle fit great until I put my thick sheepskin on it (and maybe got chubbier?), and that pushed me forwards. Right now, I'm half-way through unstuffing the cantle to redo it so that it is less bulky in the back.

Bridle worked fine - I still should look at putting Roo in a hackamore towards the end of a ride so he can eat freely. The kimberwicke was overkill in this situation.

Pad worked fine. He had some thickening on his back from stirrup pressure points the next day but no soreness at all. I'm going to investigate getting some firmer foam inserts and possibly putting my stirrups on the hard-use attachment on my saddle, so there's no pressure across his back (not sure if my legs are long enough to be able to do this...). If I had a chunk of money, I'd buy a Dryback Skito pad. Not much money to spare right now, though, so that'll have to wait in favour of cheaper alternatives.

Hoof-It worked great. The left foot's was missing the following day and I don't know when it fell out - but this was the foot where the shoe semi-came off, so that's not surprising. The right foot is still in Roo's hoof a week later - I must go out and prise it off.

Girth worked great - I'm using a Wintec waffle cinch that is elasticated in the center. Once I discovered I needed to avoid any cinches with trim and needed it to be high enough to stay out of his armpits, Roo's rubbing went away completely. Right now, I've got one hole left on either side of the billets, so if he loses weight or gets more dehydrated, I might run into trouble through not being able to tighten it enough (but might be able to punch more holes in the billets - must check that).

I didn't use splint boots for this ride, which meant I didn't have to worry about rubs or keeping them clean and free of debris - one less thing to have to deal with. Roo never whacked himself and his legs were clean afterwards. afterwards, I didn't ice, wrap or poultice and his legs looked great which amazed me. He has some little windpuffs in the back, but they aren't bad.

— Overall, I really loved doing this ride - it was so much fun, which I wasn't expecting. I think I thought it would be more drudgery and that the prize came from the accomplishment of doing it, but it wasn't like that.

I don't like that it takes so much out of me and out of the pone, and that you can't do as many of them as often because of that. I'm itching to do more, but since I'm *still* flopping about (spent much of this afternoon asleep again), it isn't going to happen. It makes me wish it was easier on the pone, so we could do more.

Patriot 100
17-18 May 2008

Loop 1

Loop 2

Loop 3

Loop 4

Loop 5

Conclusion:

Patriot 100 17-18 May 2008

Loop 1

Loop 2

Loop 3

Loop 4

Loop 5

Conclusion:

Patriot 100
17-18 May 2008