EnduroNews

Endurance News
April - August 2007

Klickitat - June 2007

Well I went ahead and rode an LD again, but it was for a good cause. Lincoln was ready to ride in his first competition and I did not want to start him out on a fifty. Lincoln has been working hard training with Heather most of the winter and had done the 25 mile loop at home the Sunday after Prineville. I tried to prepare him for the different things that would happen at a ride with all the other horses. Heather is a good horse but she can be a little stubborn and actually likes to race. Her heart is not in the fifty mile distance but twenty five and thirty, bring it on!! The ride had over 70 entries and we choose to leave 15 minutes late to avoid the crush at the start. I led out for a while and we maintained a good trot while passing many people. We were lucky that there was lots of two track to start out with because we had to pass a lot of people. It was almost 5 miles before we could get free of others in front and behind us and keep our own pace. We began changing who was in the lead. The trail was really well marked great for Lincoln to ride, not much chance of missing a turn. We started at 7am but it was still going to be a very hot day. We had several water crossings with some fast moving water and Lincoln urged Heather across when she was hesitating. A new section of trail was added this year I understand, it is along an irrigation cannel. We could really move out so we loped and cantered in several places. Lincoln and Heather really like the single track twisty areas and we came to a nice section of that at the top of the irrigation cannel. The first vet check was at 18 miles but at about 13 miles Lincoln started to get side cramps. We slowed down some and he drank more. We came to the vet check at the top of a hill and walked in, pulsed down and began our hold. We were faster than Jannelle expected us and I mentioned to Dr. Jen that I was concerned that my crew was missing in action. She was great and gave us bagel chips, and a really good snack bar but I cannot remember the name of it. Chuck Cowen offered us some of his supplies while we waited for Jannelle. She showed up and was able to help find hay and carrots as well as help us get electrolytes done before we headed out for camp. The last loop back to camp mostly on old dirt roads but we kept a steady trot most of the way because it was getting warmer than we had trained in and Lincoln still had some cramping. Next thing we know the road said 1 mile to camp. I thought that could not be right and began to review the trail for where we could have gone off and cut trail. I could not think of anyplace we missed. We walked into camp and asked as we handed in our cards but we were right about where we should have been. We pulsed down right away and Lincoln did his 10 minute CRI. She had great scores and Dr. Foss was really good about working with Lincoln for his first ride. We got Heather cleaned up and Lincoln showed her for BC. Lincoln was tired and ready to rest after all that. The heat climbed to 104 in the sun by the afternoon. I was glad that we did not do the fifty for Lincoln's first ride. He is looking forward to doing it again, which is what I hoped for. He will be looking for a sponsor at Bandit Springs though because I am planning on doing the 100 and he is not up for that yet.

You can see the trail link and gps info at

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2921135

if you have Google earth click on that link it is rally cool.

Till next time - Adam

From Lincoln -

Hello, my name is Lincoln and I am Adam Falk's son. Klickitat was my first official ride (I'd gone 25 miles before on training rides) that I actually rode on. I rode with my dad, though. I'd say it was fun, but I wouldn't want to do it again 2 days in a row.
My horse, Heather, was perfectly fine for me, for we are still working out the kinks in our relationship. The trail was a little rocky in places, so we had to go slower on those parts. Heather was reluctant to go slower in those spots, until she had a big trip. Fortunately, we didn't get pulled. In fact, I was the first junior in, so I got first place in the junior division! I also probably got B.C., because Heather's c.r.i. was 40-40. I wasn't there to see people receive awards because they were doing it Sunday night and I would be long gone.
Anyway, I think the last loop, which was supposed to be 12 miles, was not 12 miles. It felt more like5 or 8 miles, and my dad's gps tracking device thingamabober agrees with me. Anyway, it was a fun ride. See you at bandit springs, hopefully, or foothills of the cascades!

For Sale

Endurance Cam

At Bandit Springs 2006, I wore a camera for the first part of the last 30 miles. Here is a clip.

From my perspective, it was again, a Grizzly Bear of a ride. No broken tents or canopies however, its quite a challenge to keep two kids, a dog and our friend, Sylvia's baby, Jonathon, in the semi-truck. We were very close to the vet check so I spent much of my day over with Anna Sampson, in timing for the 25s. Lincoln ended up watching Jonathon and did quite a good job at it.

We had fun the first day as the weather was nice and it was great for going around and chatting with folks we hadn't seen since the PNER convention in January or last season. This was our dog, Missy's, first ride. She's now an only dog and we just couldn't leave her home alone. She wasn't quite sure what to think of the semi ride and all the horses. And I think she rather dislikes the humiliating experience of having to be lifted into the truck. Jonathon was quite taken with her and enjoyed copying her by lapping water out of her pail and enjoyed the dog food.

The weather the day of the ride wasn't the worst at the beginning of the ride but about 3:30 or so, the rain just started and never let up. It was absolutely miserable. I hung out with the other volunteers in a tent that blocked the wind and rain, but not the cold. Man oh man, I'm just not sure I'm up for Grizzly again. I think I'm a fairer than Grizzly weather crew person.

Jannelle

Mt Adams is a beautiful place and beautiful ride. I particularly was pleased at being able to get a wireless internet connection on Friday afternoon for the laptop. Never was able to hook up after that, tho. Ah well, Adam gets after me and my umbilical cord to technology. Hey, I never said that I was happy about camping so at least I should bring as many creature comforts with me as possible. Not having a tent flapping over my head in windy weather and being sorta dry and toasty warm all go with that. So why not the internet and the kids' laptop, too?

We brought Samaara's sister, LaRue, with us to the ride for the exposure. She loaded right up like a champ. I don't think we've had her on a trailer since taking her to the vet twice when she was less than a year old. And she and Samaara rode very well. All the sights and sounds were a lot to take in but she did well with it all once I figured out how to get her attention. The pigs were kinda scarey, tho. I have no idea what it is with pigs and horses; our horses just aren't crazy about them.

Mt Adams has lots of short loops bringing the riders back to the in camp vet check most of the time. That was pretty convenient. Lincoln had gone on a scout trip so Spence and Jonathon were on their own. Spence enjoyed his time at the fire and chatting with Healthy as a Horse owner and PNER VP, Susan. There was a nippy wind tho quite a bit of sun so the fire felt good. We waited at the vet check quite a bit and were bummed when Faith was pulled and then Samaara. The vets were awesome and helped Adam try to work thru the tiredness but there was no way around the lameness. Samaara was just a squirell. However, we have a full jug of Regumate (birth control for mares) and hopefully that will help counter those estrus ditzy episodes.

We'll be back to this area in two weeks for Klikatat.

Jannelle

GRIZZLY - April 2007

This year starts once again with the Grizzly Mt. Ride. I was disappointed that we did not have 10 people who would sign up for the 100 mile distance so we ended up doing the 75. True to its name, the ride was once again a bear. On Friday, the weather was nice, but promised showers and wind for Saturday. We started at 6am and it was cold and raining. The fist loop was about 22 miles and the hardest of them all. Samaara was in great shape and really kept her head. We did not fight about pace or speed. I left at the beginning but let the front runners go, trying to set a speed that I knew she would be able to maintain. I ended up riding with two great partners, Carrie and Amanda. The weather stayed bad all day except when people put on rain gear for a loop and the sun came out for a loop. Each time we came into camp for the vet check, Jannelle and Lincoln were there with the blanket and we pulsed down right at the gate. Almost all A's on all vet checks. One B for Gut sounds after the 2nd loop, but A's after that. We just kept going out again after each hold and had happy horses that wanted to trot and canter. Over all we maintained about 8.5 MPH average and finished in about 9 hours of ride time. In the end I was glad not to be heading back out after 75 miles, the weather was getting worse and colder. This was our first time camping in the new Semi-Truck. I thought that it was great!! I am not sure how everyone else felt about it. I was glad to have a dry and warm place to sleep and not have the rain in the tent. Jannelle had had it and wanted to head to a motel like we did last year but I was really tired and had a charlie horse in my calf for the past 4 hours and just wanted to lay down. This was my first ride with the new GPS / HRM. I did not down load it each loop and think that I lost the first 2 loops of data points because of a full memory. I will try and bring the laptop next time so that I can keep a better record of the trail. I have uploaded what I had to Motion based. The link is http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/player/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=2536412

Until next time,
Adam

Mt. Adams - May 2007

This was my second year to attend Mt. Adams and I was hoping to do my first 100 mile ride there. The setting is beautiful but it is a tough ride with lots of climb and a fair amount of rock. Those things did not worry me though I knew that we were ready for what we would find out on the trail. What I was not ready for was what mother nature through at us. I do not mean the weather this time, that was really very nice. Cool temperatures a few rain storms but nothing like Grizzly. What I am talking about was Samaara came into season on Friday at the ride. She was in HARD!! Of course there were several stallions at the ride and she really wanted a man. Her overall behavior was not bad, she was just on high alert and really tense. She could not relax and carry herself in a normal and smooth way. We wasted a lot of energy on the first 40 miles trying to get her settled down, which finally happened but the damage was done. We came into the first two vet checks to fast and Dr. Jen, who has seen Samaara many times, noticed that she was not herself and helped me understand the impact of being "in" on her physical and mental state. It was also pointed out to me that the horse that was just a few hundred yards behind us was a STALLION!! I felt like a dolt for not noticing at the vet check, but I was focused on getting her to calm down and eat. Once we knew he was there we let him pass us and get a long way off. That made a big difference but she was still distracted. We came back into camp for our 3rd check and she ate the whole time and did well on gut sounds and movement. I thought that we were in the clear. We headed out on the orange loop, which I like the least and many say is the hardest, and took it slower. Once back in camp for a long hold (1hr) she was stiff in back and tired. Jen watched closely and cautioned us to take it slow. We did and after getting back from the 14 mile yellow loop she did not look any worse, but did not look any better. She was eating ok, not great but ok. She got mostly b and b- for gut sounds which worried Jen and I but I was ok to head out for another loop, this time the 11 mile blue, as long as I took it slow. We did and enjoyed the time and scenery. About 3 miles before camp she really perked up and decided it was time to "git'er done" and became the sensible relaxed mare I have known. We got back into camp and Jen was happy with how she looked and her gut sounds. Her hind end had loosened up and she looked perky. But she was a little inconsistent on her front. Jen asked for a recheck before we went out again. At the recheck Jen and Mike Foss both noticed that she was slightly off on the front and that was the end of the day for us. We figure that she wasted so much energy at the start of the ride and got sloppy on the rocks and hills toward the middle. She had no real swelling or heat on her legs and I do not think there is any long term damage, just tired from not carrying herself properly for so many miles. We made it 75 miles out of the 100. We will work on getting her on regumate before Sunriver which is in 4 weeks and with our luck she would be in again. I am still having trouble with the gps tracks and not getting the complete ride. It seems to be dumping tracking points from the beginning of the day to add points at the end of the day. I did not try to load the loops into the lap top but will try that at the next ride which will be Klikitat where Lincoln is planning to do his first 25. Thanks to everyone who helped out at Mt. Adams especially my wife Jannelle without whom I could not do all of the riding I do, and friends Sylvia and Chris Dion who were very supportive and helped keep things running smoothly. And a really big thanks to Dr.'s Jen and Mike who are about as good a coach and support team as one could ask for. They are there to help us make it through if we can and to help us know when we should not go on.

Here is the link to what I got from the gps. it starts with the top of the orange loop and then does the yellow and blue loops. It is missing the pink and black loop as well as the red loop and the pink poka dot loop.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2798662

Thanks to all.
Adam

Klickitat rivals Sunriver for being the dustiest ride ever. Spencer and I went to his field trip and then joined Adam and Lincoln about 8pm Friday night. The timing was perfect for hitting all the Friday night Portland traffic. We drove in very slowly so that we didn't completely cover the ride meeting in dust. I toodled down to the ride meeting and chatted with friends and got caught up on the news. It's the social aspect that I really enjoy about endurance rides. And there's lots of women so they help me keep my male companions in line!

My first look at Lincoln and Adam had them completely filthy and they hadn't even ridden more than just a little jaunt to loosen the muscles up. Usually Klickitat is known for being muddy and cold so the hooded sweatshirts that were given as awards made sense. However, we were all in need of tank tops on Saturday afternoon.

I ran into a friend we'd made at Bandit last year and she went to the out vet check with Spencer and I. I had seen Adam and Lincoln leave at about 7am looking serious and intent on the "job" ahead. The theory that it was Lincoln's first ride so they would take it easy certainly was only a theory. If it had been just Adam riding, I would have been to the out vet check (18 miles into it) before 9am however, I thought Adam and I had said between 9:30 and 10. So when I got there at 9:25, there they were, waiting for their crew. When Spencer heard me say, "Oh my gosh, there they are.", he took off running back to the car to get e-lytes, carrots, donuts and the camera. What a great crew! Much more on the ball than I am since I'd left everything in the car, figuring I'd have time to get the lay of the land and chat some (again, I go for the social time!)

I'd never seen Lincoln so dirty! He was taking care of his horse and seemed very pleased with what he'd done but quite tired. Heather wasn't interested in eating much and the vet check was out of hay. Chuck Cowan, who'd been pulled, was nice enough to offer his grain, which Heather was a bit more interested in. Dr Jen had fed the crew. So really, all Adam had to do was go whine a bit and others took care of him. And suddenly, it was time to go again.

Laura, Spence and I stayed for a bit to help her riders and then we took off for camp. I got to camp, got the chair and cart and went to the vet check to wait for my riders...however, they were already there. That was the fastest 12 miles Lincoln'd ever done. Of course, it wasn't 12 miles but ah well. He showed for Jr BC and other than looking pretty dorky while trotting his horse out and smacking the vet in the rearend while swinging the lead rope around (its a continual issue for boy children), he did well.

We had a nice day chatting with friends and generally relaxing. Its been a long time since Adam's ended a ride before 11am and I forgot how nice it could be.

And a bath never felt so good as it did on Sunday afternoon.

Jannelle

Anna, the venerable timer.

Mt Adams - it is sooo beautiful

Spence finds a not so comfortable napping place.

Chuck and his girl waiting for a ride to camp.

Oh look, its Anna timing again!

Endurance News

Bandit springs

Well, the best laid plans can still go awry. I had planned to ride the 100 at Bandit this year, even though Jannelle was the ride manager. We had gone out 5 weeks before the ride to clear and mark some of the trail and I ended up breaking a rib while on the 4 wheeler. Because of the rib, I was unable to ride the 100 at Sunriver and in fact did not ride for the whole 5 weeks before Bandit. I was in no shape to do a 100 mile ride. That and the fact that Lincoln, my oldest son, wanted to do the 50 at Bandit instead of the 30 convinced me that I should ride the 50 with him, it would be his first 50 and only his 2nd ride.

I dropped Jannelle, Sylvia Dion, our two boys, Sylvia's two year old and a 12 year old friend of Sylvia's of the weekend before. I cut out a couple of large trees and got the water tanks from Prineville and that was all the time I had before heading back to work on Monday. They had 3 horses, a pickup truck and a couple of tents. Good thing we had the porta potties show up the week before.

I came back after work on Wednesday and arrived in camp Thursday morning at 1:00 am with my horse. The week had been busy for both me and everyone in camp. When dawn broke I found that several people had already shown up and were ready to help.

I spent all day Thursday and part of Friday putting water sets out on the trail. I had help from Tim Robnette on Thursday and Richard Phampf on Friday. They were the tireless water masters for the weekend. It was a very dry year and our normal water sources were dry. This meant that they had to get water from several places and deliver it to the several additional water sets that we put out on the trail. They did a great job!!

Lincoln and I got vetted in and were entertained by Jannelle's ride meeting antics. It was a normal light nights sleep for me but Jannelle decided to sleep in the trailer so that we would be sure not to miss the start of the 80' and 100's. I woke Lincoln up at 4:30 to get him started for our 6am departure.

We left after the first group took off. Heather and Samaara were feeling great. I let Lincoln lead for a good portion of the first loop. We called several people back who had missed trail turns and let them go back in front of us because we did not need to clog up the trail. The first 20 miles went by without an issue and we were back in camp before I know it. I really enjoy riding with Lincoln he has such a unique view on everything and is generally happy. Heather, on the other hand, hates going back out after the first loop and always pouts. Samaraa was just on fire and really wanted to fly. I have to keep her slowed down because she is faster up the hills and on flats than Heather. We cruised into the out check for our 45 min hold, and me with out my crew. I know that I would not have a crew because Jannelle was a little busy. I really enjoy having Jannelle around to crew for me miss her when she is not able to be there.

I had been hoping to get the whole course on the GPS but I only have data to the out check. The section from the out check back to camp is arguably the toughest part of the trail. We took our time because Heather was acting tired and sullen. She always gets that way after about 35 miles. This was Lincoln's first time to deal with that side of her and it takes a lot of patience and encouragement to keep her going without making her mad at you. He did great and once we got back to the common trail she perked back up and wanted to run home.

We finished with style at a fast trot and we were 20 and 21st in. Lincoln was first junior and needed to prepare for BC. Heathers CRI was 44/48 but Lincoln is still learning how to keep her still after the trot out, still not bad.

Lincoln and I both rested for a little while until it was time to head out and hang glow sticks for the 100's. I went out with Melinda Drake who rode Jannelle's 23yr old mare Cindy. We waited for the ambulance to come back from closing the out check and drive us to the bottom of coil climb. We got a later start than I wanted and it took more time to hang the glow sticks than I thought because Samaara was still on fire and want to run. It was great to ride casually with Melinda and enjoy the trail. We finished in the dark, which we thought was ironic, hanging glow stick in the dark for the other riders.

I was not able to stay up for all the 100's to finish, but Jannelle and Dr. Jen apparently had a good time. They still won't tell me what happened.

After awards, camp cleared out quickly and I set out to pickup all the water sets. It took all day to pick them all up and get them back to Prineville. We had some great help pulling ribbon on Sunday, and even though some got lost, all's well that ends well.

We finished cleaning up camp on Monday and the only thing I have to say is that when the ride manager says " bag your poop and hay" they mean to take it home with you. We had over 60 bags of poop and garbage to take home, most was not ours. That aside, the camp was left in ok shape and we only had to clean up after a few people.

We got home Monday evening to find that our yearling filly had died while we were at the ride and that really put a damper on an otherwise great ride.

Lincoln is going to be looking for a sponsor for the 50 at Santiam because I am going to be riding the 80. I still want to finish a 100 this year and the Oregon 100 is my last chance.

Thanks to everyone who helped out this year. We look forward to doing it again next year.

This is the link to what I got from my GPS

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3441075

Lincoln's version of the day

I'm Bach! (yes, I know how to spell back. But this is cooler! ) I just did my first 50. I was TIRED. The tops of my calves were sore because I post a lot. But I had fun. And that's the whole point, isn't it? My dad woke me up at 4:30 in the morning to leave at 6:00!
He wanted to see the100s leave. So we saddled up, taking our time, and just loitered around until a little after 6:00. We left and we were having a great time. But, as she always does, right around 35-40 miles, Heather, my horse, hit her "are we done yet?" phase. But, as we were on the 30 mile loop, which is shaped like a balloon on a string, once we got to the "string", she brightened up considerably, and was all like, "Ooh, I know where this is!" and practically galloped down the road back to camp.
I especially liked the trail. It was beautiful. But my favorite parts were the twisty, windy, going-through-trees parts of it. Some may say that there was no beauty in those parts. Zey are wrong. Since single track trail is my favorite type of trail, I really liked Bandit. The vets were nice too, explaining to me that when you're trotting a horse out, keep her trotting. I also got junior B.C.! I was #1 in the junior division, too!
But one of my favorite parts was when we saw the wild horse. I'd say he was 12.2, 13 hands. He had big fetlocks, was kind of short, but stocky. He ran right in front of us when we were walking, ran down into a little gully and ran alongside us for about a quarter of a mile until he ran into some bushes. It was cool.
So, all in all, it was a great ride.

Lincoln

Santiam Cascades

This is the first time in many years that I have done Santiam. It was also the first year to have the ride at the Sisters Rodeo grounds on all new trails. I planned on doing the 80 and finding a sponsor for Lincoln on the 50. Jannelle went up and set up camp on Friday and found Eva Yellowhair to take Lincoln on the 50 so I was all set to do the 80. I came up after work on Friday and rushed through a quick ride to make sure that I had everything I needed and headed to ride meeting. The ride had 1 out check which is where most of the action was going to be for the ride. The 50's and 80's all headed out 18 mi to the vet check. Samaara and I were doing our thing, moving at even pace for her. We had left the main group and caught up with Heidi Larson and rode together. We came to the photographers about 5 min before they were ready for us. We waited for them to setup because, as I told Heidi, it may be the only souvenir that I get. The trail was mostly dirt two track and was kind of deep dirt with a fair amount of rock in it. The markings was fantastic though and even though we were the first ones out it was not hard to find our way. We made it to the vet check in two hours exactly. They were almost setup but we got "lei-ed" Sharron as we came into the check so the mode was set for the day at the out check. The Bad Girls team was running the out check and they were going with a tropical theme. It was great fun, but we only had a 30 min hold. Jannelle was coming into the check as I rode out, timing is everything but I knew that she would be there for Lincoln. This section of trail had a lot more single tack and even some areas where we were making the trail following the ribbon. Riding with Heidi was great, Samaara and Flash seemed to have a system going for when to change who was in the lead and they got along great. We could ride side by side or head to tail and it did not matter. The 20 mile loop goes along an old irrigation ditch / river and that was really interesting to see. We had some parts of the trail that were very twisty single track and I figured that Heather and Lincoln would really enjoy those sections. As we were coming into the check Samaara was feeling a little different, she wanted to move out but was just not quite right. We came in and pulsed down right away. We got about 20 feet down the trot out and I knew she was off. The vet asked if I wanted a 2nd opinion and I said no, it was not questionable, she was way off. We waited for the trailer ride back to camp and she ate, drank, and rested. The ride back to camp was long and rough.

Once back in camp my job, after getting Samaara settled, was to wait for Lincoln to finish. Spencer and I had a sandwich and waited, and waited, and waited. I forget what it is like to just wait for your rider. They came in at about 3:00 and Lincoln was tired. Heather looked perky but a little worn out. They had cantered a lot more than either of them was used to because heathers trot was to slow to keep up with Eva. I trotted Lincoln's horse for him because he looked wiped out and I wanted to make sure that they presented well. Her 10 min CRI was not as good as usual for her, but not bad over all.

Jannelle stayed at the out check until it closed down and got back to camp around 8:30. She was really tired and since many of the people we know had gone for the day she wanted to eat in Sisters. We sent the kids to bed and had a nice meal in town. This was a real luxury at a ride.

I am disappointed about being pulled, it has not been a great year for me that way. I think that I will plan on riding the rest of the year with Lincoln on the 50's and try the longer distances again next year.

The GPS actually worked great this time. And I have a pretty good track except from the out check back to camp. If you have google earth it is really fun to look at it there.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3643467

Happy trails and I will see everyone at the next ride.

Adam

Lincoln at Santiam
photo credit - Browns

Adam at Santiam
photo credit - Browns

Lincolns side of the story

Well, here I am again, after riding 50 miles in hot weather, on a sometimes cranky horse. With a person I've never ridden with before, getting tired and sore and running out of water in my bottle (I got it filled again, though). Whew, just typing it makes me tired. I was riding the 50 , and my dad was doing the 80 so I had to ride with a different sponsor than my dad. Her name was Eva yellowhair, and she was real fun to ride with. Thank you! (If you're reading, that is. Otherwise, I just don't see the point.) A lot of the time, we were riding with a woman named carol, and when we were on a part that was twisty, windy, turny, single track trail, all of a sudden, (bum bum bum!) we hit a nest of rocks, and I, having an extremely technical horse, was about 10 feet ahead of them. So I yelled out "Rocks!" and felt barely a shudder as heather picked her way through the rocks. Then I Heard cling, cling, bonk, aah! as Eva and Carol made their way through the rocks. Then Eva made the suggestion that I go 2 mph or less. You wish.

On this one stretch of road on the 30 mile loop, it was about 2 miles long, it was really boring. It was just road, for as far as the eye can see. And there were no trees, so it was really hot and we drank a lot of water on that course.

On our second vet check, I was so tired that I nearly went to sleep, but heather kept waking me up! How rude!

I got about first junior and 22 overall. I also got junior B.C.
Heathers trot out was pretty disappointing, actually. She got 48/50, when she's usually 48/48 or 40/40.
I had a great time. I hope I come back soon!

Lincoln