Blue Ridge 2012

Blue Ridge June 2, 2012

Photo Credit: Becky Pearman

Blue Ridge Video by Tim Worden: You can see the Marco pony at about 4 minutes 20 seconds in the controlled start :)

Tour by Anita Alta

 

From My GPS (forgot to turn it on right away, we didn't levitate back to the camp ;)
Red/Orange Loop
Blue Loop

Our 3rd 50 (55 that was in reality 56) and 3rd completion!
Came in 25th out of 59 starting... another awesome middle of the pack finish!

Well, we found out after the LBL ride that our saddle no longer fits :(. So we borrowed Angie McGhee's Orthoflex to see of that would work and he made it through ok, no soreness, but the next day there were raw spots along where the top of the panels were on his back :(. Hopefully some folks will be bringing some other options to the Dawsonville ride, a mule saddle and a treeless, for us to try on the VERY narrow Marco pony :).We also had to <sigh> go to shoes all around for him, he just had no foot left in the back and the boots just are not working for us :(. The farrier, Jason Bagely, was up for the challenge though and got all four on without drugs, three without toooo much debate ;).

The Blue Ridge ride was outside of Lenoir, NC. The weather was cool, breezy, and sunny.. even though it was the first weekend in June! The nights were in the 40's and the highs were only in the mid-70's all day. There was a little bit of rain the day before the ride making a little mud, but not too much. These are some of the most beautiful, and well marked trails of any ride yet. BIG climbs, mostly dirt trail, and some bluffs that give you a view worth dying for! Absolutely stunning and breathtaking area for sure. There were two loops that the 55 milers (really it was 56) did twice and the 30 milers (really 28) did once. The first loop was only 11 miles, so I was a little worried Mr. hyped up would not vet out if I did not let him go and get some energy out, so we went at a pretty decent pace, only about 15 minutes behind the front runners. He vetted out fine, all A's (A- on gut sounds), and we went on our merry way. The beginning of both loops were horrendous! BIG climbs straight up the mountain. After that the majority of the trail was quite pleasant. A lot of folks complained that the downhills were awful, but that is kinda our forte, so we didn't really notice. I will say that after the first two loops, I was seriously wondering why in the hell I was not in the 30 mile ride though. The thought of going up those inclines again made me sad :.(.

I rode almost the entire ride with a new friend, Sam. Her little Arab stallion and Marco paced pretty well together, and we chatted the whole time. This is the first time we actually stayed with anyone, other than a person we brought that is ;). We actually decided to tail up the beginning of the third loop, as we knew we would not be able to do it on the fourth as it was too muddy. Marco finally got to use our tailing training and (of course) performed flawlessly pulling me straight up the trail like a gentleman. When we were headed out for that fourth loop... Sam and I were both sad ;). Once through that big incline though we were good to go and just kept chugging the miles away. Marco was a perfect endurance pony and even was a lead horse with a group for a little while. Farzad made the comment "look at him go! It is like he is just gliding over everything while the rest of us have to work at it!"... I thought that was awesomeness :). Lol, he kept shooting comments from the back that were hysterical, such a fun guy to ride with even if for a short time. He and his junior rider proceeded to pass and beat us ;).  When we were about 4 miles from the finish line I decided to just go ahead and walk in, we had plenty of time, and quite frankly I was terrified that we might, after all of that work,  hit a stone and bruise, or trip and fall becoming lame... so slow it was ;). Plus Marco finally went to a flat walk.. and refused to do anything else ;). He said "hey, you wanted a flat walk, you got it! Just don't ask me for anything else at the moment!".  Then he realized we were almost back to camp and gaited on in with gusto ;). We finally made it in to the finish line in a very respectable 32nd place out of 59 starters making another awesome middle of the pack finish :).

We had a great time, but will always remember that that ride deserves some serious respect. VERY TOUGH ride, but you are rewarded with some awe inspiring scenery and nice cool mountain breezes. Definitely on the do again list, but knowing what I know now, will take it a little easier probably as I know how much up and down there is, and there was only a 77% completion rate this year. If it is really rainy or really hot... I would not do it, too dangerous and may hurt the beloved Marco pony ;). I would love to do the triple crown next year though: Leatherwood, Blue Ridge, and Biltmore ;).