Experience the ENDURANCE of Foundation Breeding
GENESEE 25 LD
July 28, 2007 - 84F, humidity 77% (ugh)
ALSO KNOWN AS "ROCKET'S FIRST RIDE"
I am dancing on air today. And yesterday? You would not have been able to stand to be around me after the ride completed. I was manically excited and totally up. Rocket was awesome. To truly appreciate HOW awesome, you need to read on.
Saturday it was very very humid and the air was sticky and hard to breathe. Connie and I had most everything setup in the truck and trailer Friday night and just the small amount of stuff we packed on Saturday morning got us soaked to the skin in sweat. I suggested we get all the chores and packing finished (except loading the horses), run home to my house to shower and eat lunch, then come back to load 'em up and get rolling. Connie loved that idea. So did I - I was drenched and doing the New PRomise Farms wet T-shirt contest. Not that I'd win, but it could have been an interesting competition.
Our drive to the ride was totally uneventful. Traffic was light and I took some back roads to get up to I-80 so we would avoid the construction that seems to be a never ending project up there. We arrived at Cia's farm and Julie was there waiting for us. She had picked us a spot which was mostly flat (grin). Cia has a grand timothy field she parks us in but it is on a hillside so finding a place that doesn't roll the truck to the side is a challenge. Julie met, and conquered, that challenge.
Of course, when Julie directed me to the parking spot, all I heard was "Porta-Potty" so I didn't come any where NEAR where she had parked her truck, set up a canopy and made cold lemonade. Duh! She walked down the hill, fussed at me, pointed me in the right direction and kicked me in the butt. Sheesh.
Okay, so we get parked and setup. Three sets of hands unloading makes it SO NICE! And did I mention in any of my other stories how much I love the new corral I bought? It's grand. I certainly need to buy another one, though, if I'm going to be bringing two of my own horses to the rides...Rocket got the nice roomy accommodations and Bee-Bee had to be tied to the trailer. She was okay, once she reminded Rocket that (a) she's NOT his mare, (b) she's already pregnant so not interested in his nonsense and (c) this pile of hay is for her so he should keep to his own side of the corral.
Now, Connie and I are drenched again. I guess the shower was a wasted effort (chuckle). And I don't see anyone else joining in the latest Genesee wet T-shirt contest.
We let the horses settle while we drink some the most awesome lemonade that Julie made for us. She even had slices of real lemon in the glasses. It was very tasty (and cold). The temperature for Saturday reached 89F and was 82% humidity where we were. I know, I checked the weather channel (and they are never wrong so it MUST be true). That means that the people riding on Saturday were truly struggling to keep their horses cool and HR down. Just sitting in a chair I was sweating my ass off so I felt really badly for them.
Read last year's story - it was a horrid weekend. This year is actually nicer (weather-wise) even with the high humidity. The weather channel promised 82F for Sunday with a 55% humidity. I thought that wouldn't be so bad. If course, it turned out slightly different from that, but it still wasn't as bad as it could have been. The sun behaved itself and stayed behind cloud cover all morning when we were riding so we didn't baked and burnt along with suffering dry land drowning in the humidity.
July and August in Pennsylvania are rough months for horses on a ride. I truly believe this state has the corner market on humidity. Now, I'm sure everyone says that about their own home state, but come and try PA for a couple years and see if I'm close!
SALLY IS HERE! She found me while I was waiting on Connie to get us checked in. She cut her hair shorter and she's looking great! I haven't seen her in a year (and I'm still mad at her for doing a 100 by herself and not telling me!) Apparently, she brought Kirby (her 100 mile ride special guy!) for Kyle to ride because she wanted to ride her grey mare, Sara. Kyle was still out on trail finishing the 50. Sally said that she got 30 miles done before she was pulled because Sara's HR wouldn't come down. Too hot. Now, after I met Sara, I think part of the probably was too fat (chuckle). Don't tell Sally I said that, but the mare needs to lose 100 pounds.
Sally said that Kyle had 1.5 hours to complete the 50 in time, the last loop is 10 miles. No problem! Kyle will be rolling into the timer in 1.25 hours, I'm sure. (And he did! Completing the 50! Yea Kyle!)
So after we got all set up, Sally came over to visit us at our campsite and brought along her mare, Sara, for me to meet. Rocket was all about that! (Who are you? Aren't you pretty! Do you want to have sex?) Freakin' boys. Actually, he was very quiet and well behaved about her being there so close to him considering he is only 5 years old, he is currently breeding some outside mares at home (so his testosterone is running at high levels), and he has never [ever] done anything like a show, or a parade, or any kind of activity which put him in contact with a mass of strange horses and he's on high alert. Seeing this sexy grey mare stroll into his camp was VERY exciting but he contained himself and only chuckled to her, he didn't scream or carry on in his pen. Very impressive.
Camping next to us is an beautiful bay Arabian stallion. When his owner strolled him past Rocket to let him eat some grass just above our campsite, Rocket was interested and watching, but never fussed or carried on about him being up there. Rocket just watched him with a large amount of curiosity. No temper. Even more impressive.
Okay - time to go get vetted in. I'm very interested to see how this goes. One reason stallions don't do too well in this sport is they're too excited about all the other horses around them and their HR stays up. Not good. At home, Rocket has a 36 resting HR. Not overly low, but acceptable, especially since he recovers down to that almost immediately (at home) after working. Now, in this mass of strange horses, I'm curious to see how he does.
We get down to vetting and three horses just came in off trail, so they're all standing there, two horses are in being vetted and there are four horses being walked around in the vetting area. That is a total of 9 strange horses all within 20 feet of Rocket. He is looking around but not wild, he's not pulling on Connie, he's actually pretty relaxed and on a loose lead, and he's curious. No tail swishing, so screaming or chuckling, just looking.
It's our turn at vetting. Rocket's HR is 56 (okay, he's definitely excited to be here! That's pretty elevated.) He does his trot out and is marvelous for Connie. No pulling and yanking, he trots down and back. I have really been working with him on trotting in hand and he showed off his training! Bee-Bee is her normal 40 and they both get all A's for check-in.
Back to camp we go.
The only real worry I have this ride is Rocket's feet. When I bought him several months ago, he had thrush really really badly. So badly, it had infected his frogs underneath and all four frogs fell out. Right now we have him on pads with medicated packing in there to help support the pad because there are no frogs at all. He's due for a reset, his feet are a little long to be traveling 25 miles but my farrier is on vacation and couldn't get out to me before the ride to do his feet. We brought boots in case he pulled a shoe. I can only hope that the nail gods are watching over us so his shoes stay on. I will kill myself if a shoe comes off and we injure his foot.
Saturday dinner was excellent (same as last year!). Roasted pig that was raised by a local 4H kid without the use of steroids, antibiotics, etc and he won Reserve Champion. So, this was truly a dinner of champions (snicker).
The awards ceremony for the Saturday ride gave me pause. The winner of the 50...time was 6 hours 17 minutes. Whoof. They were definitely taking care of their horse. I knew it was a hot one when I heard that. Only 5 pulls. How wonderful that everyone was taking care of their horses.
Times on the 25 were pretty long, too. 3 hours and something for the first in. I forgot exactly the time, but it was pretty long for this trail. I don't remember how many pulls on the 25...I was ganged up on and had five people talking to me at the same time, plus these three guys were sharing naked lady photos on their phones right behind me so I couldn't hear so well. I asked them (twice) to share their photos somewhere else because I was trying to hear Cia (who was losing her voice) but they just gave me a dirty look and didn't move on. (sigh)
Art spoke to the Sunday riders about heat and humidity and adding them together to get 150 ... and if it's higher than that, we'd BETTER be caring for our horses extra special like. He also told us about two horses that were in treatment all day for metobolic troubles and that they were both fine now, but to remember that caring for your horse is far more important than finishing the ride. DON'T PUSH IT.
And then, Miss Learning Curve showed up at the meeting [late] with her barking entourage and I couldn't hear a single word after that. (double sigh). I did catch that we'd be doing Blue Loop first (that's the 15 mile loop) and the Red Loop second, taking the "Finish" path straight ahead instead of the "into base camp" right turn, so I felt comfortable I could get the loop low down from Kyle and be in good shape.
Upon reflection, I thought I should have introduced Miss Learning Curve [with her flabby belly piercing and muffin top over skin tight hip huggers] to the three guys sharing naked photos because they may have [then] moved on. (evil grin)
Up the hill, back to camp. I noticed that Connie was puffing up a storm walking up that hill. Hmmmm. I didn't say anything, I figured the humidity was working against her. She has asthma.
Sally comes over and we talk awhile, did some trail planning - bull shitting - and general gossiping. I talked to Julie about what we'd be taking down to hold. Discussed some strategy with Connie. And we went to bed.
Now, Connie said she's set up her cot in the trailer so we didn't need to set up the tent. I (of course) sleep in heavenly comfort on my foam mattress in the bed of the truck. Julie brought an air mattress for the bed of her truck. Rocket has his nice new corral and Bee-Bee is tied next to Rocket for herd comfort. We're golden.
MORNING! 4:30 AM, on the loud speaker, all through camp, the fat lady sings ... God Bless America. Sheesh.
I notice that Bee-Bee and Rocket are still crunching, so I make my way over to the porta-john, then mosey on down the hill to the barn where they have set up the breakfast goodies. The only problem with this morning was that the coffee pot blew out the breaker in the barn and there was no coffee.
Back up the hill I trudge to unpack the stove and make some coffee.
I hop in the trailer to grab some hay for the horses and even though I'm trying to be quiet, I wake up Connie. I felt really badly about that...I should have set out the hay last night so I wouldn't disturb her.
I soon found out that I actually DIDN'T wake her up, she didn't sleep all night. Apparently, Rocket was noisy, Bee-Bee was crunching hay all night and Connie didn't go to sleep at all. She's a mess, very droopy looking and even a cup of coffee didn't brighten her up.
Rocket was laying down when I got up so I knew he rested, even though he was in a strange place, sleeping outside in a little corral. Bee-Bee had laid down, too! I know, she had manure on BOTH sides of her. Yuck. Rocket was all interested in the goings on of the 50 milers preparing to go out at 6:00 AM, but he was quiet and well mannered.
We're out at 7:30 AM on the 25, so I'm taking my time, getting things done in the Dodie-slow-moving-morning pace that I have. Julie is marvelous help, reminding me of this and that. Judy taught her well (Thank you Judy! And Thank you, Julie!)
We're on board! Rocket is very calm this morning. We walk down to the timer, through a mass of wired up horses ready to go, and he was calm and walked along nicely for Connie. We check in then start our warm up - walking back and forth across the roll of the hillside. Several horses around us are truly wound up and being a handful for their rider and Rocket doesn't feed on any of that. I'm trying to keep Bee-Bee in check so he doesn't feed off her, either. She's feeling mighty spry underneath me. Bundled up and ready to shoot off down the trail.
Two minute announcement. Whee!
I told Connie we were just going to go off with the rest of the horses, I wasn't holding us back. I wanted to see how he would do with a mass of horses racing up trail.
He was fine! Not wound up at all.
The trail was grand. Well marked and we had only a small amount of trouble at the very beginning finding which way to go once we hit the woods, but that was due to some other riders confusion added to our confusion. Miss Learning Curve bullied her way past us on the single track trail and even though Connie announced to her that she was on a young stallion (notice the YELLOW ribbon in his tail) Miss Learning Curve ignored her and bumped into him as she passed. What a good boy Rocket was! He didn't get upset or anything about it.
You know, I can definitely appreciate a person wanting to get into this sport and not knowing anything about it (that's how I started out!) but there is such a thing as trail manners, whether you're riding endurance or simply out riding a trail for pleasure. This woman, fondly referred to as Miss learning Curve, has no trail manners at all. I remember at another recent ride when she asked to pass us and I calmly explained to her that she needed to wait until we reached a section of trail that was wide enough for two horses, and she plowed her way through the underbrush alongside the trail to get past us that I was truly sorry for her horse.
Anyway, after the initial confusion, we were on trail and moving rather well. Bee-Bee was "ON". Holy crow! She was ready to do this 15 miles in an hour and a half. It was a fine line between working and racing for us as I worked hard at keeping her about 7 miles per hour. It's too humid and Rocket is not used to that kind of pace. Damn! I wished I was out there alone today, Bee-Bee was really cranked.
Rocket was doing very well. Keeping right up with Bee-Bee and not complaining or anything. He was alert, eyes and ears forward and moving very agile and free. Just like he was back home riding on trail. No worries for him at all. I was very pleased.
We came up on some riders and passed. Rocket didn't even hesitate. Right on by he went.
Some riders came up on us and passed. Rocket didn't care, watched them go on by and didn't even make a peep. Good boy!
We got to the first watering stop and there were five horses there drinking. I snuck Bee-Bee in and although she won't drink or eat for the first 10-12 miles, I started sponging her. I told Connie to get off and bring Rocket into the water and keep an eye on him If he was going to get bad, bring him right back out. She got off, walked him over to the water in between two horses and he dropped his head into the trough and drank and drank and drank. GOOD BOY! He didn't even look at the horse drinking beside him until he was done. Then, all he did was look at him.
Connie sponged him off and we were on the trail again. We traveled behind these three really nice people for several miles. A small girl (maybe 7 or 8?) was riding on this very beautiful Arab gelding. She was a cracker, that little girl. She kept a running monologue going the entire time we were behind her. Talking about her horse, how we were on the same trail as the 50 mile riders, how nice the ride was...she was great. I love seeing kids on the trail.
Okay...so the next watering stop, I told Connie to stay mounted and see how he handled it. She waited until there was a gap and she put him in there. He dropped him head and drank very deeply. She then started sponging him from his back while he was admiring all the other horses standing around there. He was great. Never a moments hesitation or a peep out of him. He was certainly a very very good boy and I can't tell you how impressed with him I was. Someone else was impressed, too, when they came up behind us, snuck into the trough beside Connie, asked what YELLOW RIBBON meant and heard "stallion". They gave Rocket very nice compliments on his manners. In the meantime, while Connie is soaking up the compliments, I am glowing with pride in him. I was so impressed.
Now, Rocket is breathing a bit heavy so I wanted to stay here a moment or two. Since he had his head buried in the basket of carrots and apples, I figured we'd stay here ten minutes and let his breathing cool off. Bee-Bee was NOT happy. She wanted to get on down the trail. Connie had gotten off again (I don't remember why) and was looking for a place to mount back up on Rocket. Bee-Bee is fighting me to go-go-go and I'm wondering if I'm gonna be the one to end up on the ground.
Two more people came into the water stop and I heard the lady telling the young rider that they had only done 6.5 miles and had 9 to go. She was wearing a GPS so I figured she was working off that.
WHAT?
Based on what I remember of the Blue Loop (which is slightly different this year, they took us off the pipeline - YEA - and put un into the woods more) and based on the speed we've been traveling, I'm thinking we've done about 8-9 miles at this time. I look at my watch and get a little rush of adreneline. If we've only done 6.5 miles and we've been on trail an hour and a half, and we've been really moving at a good pace, we're screwed! They told us that due to the heat and humidity, they were going to close the vet check at 10:45 AM because they knew it would not be safe for a horse to try and finish the final 10 miles if they weren't in by that time
Good Lord, let's get rolling.
Off we go.
We're chugging along and I'm seeing a lot of familiar landmarks. No way, we're about 11 miles into trail at this point and that person needs to buy a new GPS.
Another water stop and we've caught back up to those three really nice people with the little girl. She's so cute! They're leaving and one of the ladies hollers over her shoulder, "We've only got a mile to go."
What????
I'm thinking we have about 3-4 miles left. Man, my internal GPS must be ALL messed up.
By the way, Rocket is doing really well. Not tired, really moving freely, and he's very bold about getting down the trail. He is keeping up with Bee-Bee marvelously.
I set out into a running walk and Connie asks if we're gonna walk the last mile. I replied I believe we have 3-4 mils, so let's get a move on.
Yep...we were 3.5 miles out. We caught up to those nice people again about 1/2 mile from base and she was very contrite as she apologized for giving me wrong information. I smiled and told her no problem, we were good with that.
In we come and Julie is
waiting for us. (Yea, Julie!) Off we go to get them cooled down.
Bee-Bee isn't breathing too hard, but Rocket is so I set Julie to helping
Connie while I worked on Bee-Bee myself. Ten minutes and we're down to
the PR. Bee-Bee is 52 and Rocket was 60. Off to trot out...both
of them got up and boogied when we asked. No problems. Rocket
got a B on gut and I surely don't know how he did that when he was eating
like a pig the entire 15 miles. He's such a chow hound. Bee-Bee
got a B on guts, but she always does. First loop she won't eat or
drink until we get into base so I wasn't at all worried about her. She
drank very well when we got back in, so I gave her an E-lyte because she was
sweating pretty good and I didn't want any metobolic trouble with her.
We gave Rocket one, too and he scarfed it right up. What a good boy.
His first E-lyte and he didn't mind it at all.
Passed...45 minutes and we're on trail again.
BY the time we were ready to tack back up and get going, Rocket and Bee-Bee were both at a low HR and their breathing was back to normal. We were very lucky. There was a good cloud cover and the sun wasn't shining on us. This helped a lot in keeping the horses cool. I was very pleased. Last year, the sun baked us into crispy human fries and it was really miserable. Connie turned into a burnt crispy critter last year.
Speaking of Connie, she's not doing very well. She was very pale after trot out and wasn't breathing too well. I'm wondering if getting no sleep the night before was bad for her. Being as how I just went through this battery of heart tests (see the story about the Hysterical-ectomy) I knew that breathing troubles is a sign of blockage ... I was getting a little worried about her. I smoke like a chimney and had no troubles with walking up and down the hill or the trot outs in this heat and humidity and I was very worried that Connie was struggling so bad.
Okay - we're on and ready. Even Bee-Bee is ready. She didn't want to stand still waiting for the timer to give us the go ahead. She was really "ON" today. WOW!
There was a gray horse going out with us and he wasn't too happy about that. I almost ran right over him on the trail out ... Bee-Bee was boogying, and I turned around to scope out Connie because I heard her holler at Rocket. When I turned, the gray horse stopped and Bee-Bee was right up his ass. Sheesh.
Rocket was not happy to be going out again, either. Connie finally got him motivated, and we passed the gray to boogey on down the trail.
Red Loop. This is a really fast and fun loop. It was exactly how I remembered it from last year with some minor changes. Well, it would have been more fun had we not got hooked up with Miss Learning Curve. She left camp 22 minutes before we did (I know, I was at the timer getting our out time on the card as she left) Apparently, she took a wrong turn somewhere and got back on trail when she hooked up with this nice looking fella. When the three of us (oh, we're still riding with the gray that wasn't happy about leaving camp) hooked up with her and her knight in shining armor on the white horse, she was complaining about doing an extra 5 miles because trail wasn't marked well.
What? The trail is marked exceptionally well. I remember her entourage of barking dogs while Cia is trying to give the ride meeting and I figure she couldn't hear Cia say that the red trail has two endings that cross and to read the pie plate to know which trail to take. Or, maybe she can't read. We had no trouble with the trail at all. Not one single time. It was VERY well marked, so well marked that even Bee-Bee knew where to go.
This is a great loop.
Travels fast and has great footing. Of course, Miss Learning Curve is
blasting past us, then her horse is pooping out so we pass her, then she
blasts past us. For awhile we were behind her and we were all cringing
as she beat and beat on her horse with her feet and with the end of her
reins. At one point, we actually slowed to a walk to let her get on
ahead of us so we didn't have to watch that. It was very annoying to
see, trust me. That didn't work, her horse was begging her to be
allowed to walk and occassionally, he'd sneak in a walk so we did catch back
up to her.
We come to the creek before the lollipop and there are two riders coming out. As we get to teh creek, everyone goes in and spreads out to let the ones behind get in. Well, everyone except Miss Learning Curve. She stood her horse right in the middle of the path in the creek so I took Bee-Bee off trail and down the embankment to get into the water. Connie patiently waited for her to move her horse off to the side, but she didn't. I told Connie later that she has to speak up! She has to say, "Excuse me!" and get in the water.
Rocket was eating grass while she waited, so it was all good.
Off we go.
This is the loop that Connie lost her saddle on Image last year. Of course, I had to point out the exact spot where that happened and she had forgotten all about that. (grin). She thanked me for reminding her.
Bee-Bee is showing no signs of up hill stress as we book up the lollipop. Coming back down she was in high gear. I had to keep thinking if she was on this ride last year because she kept acting like she knew the trail. I didn't have her, she had a baby at her side last year...so why the heck is she turning at every turn. Can it be she's following the pie plates and ribbons like Numbers used to do, or do I subtly give some kind of body language that a turn is coming up? In don't know, but I'm enjoying it!
Back to the creek. Damn, we caught back up to Miss Learning Curve. It was nice doing that little lollipop without her.
Rocket is showing some breathing stress again so I tell Connie we're gonna wait in the creek for awhile. This was mostly to get away from ... you guessed it!
Four miles to go and we're in great shape for time.
Oh no ... there she is again, up ahead. Beating on her poor horse that just wants to walk. He just needs to walk for a little bit. PLEASE! his nostrils are flared so wide I can see his sinus cavity. PLEASE, just let him walk a little bit.
We're on the down hill through the woods and there's a little straight down past to the flat bed. This is a 90 degree down. As Bee-Bee hits it, I am suddenly on her neck flipping aide to side.
WHAT THE?!?!?!?!?
Out of the corner of my eye I see a white pad go flying off her ass. I reach back and catch it as it zooms, sliding off to the left. We get to the flat bed and I hop off. This treeless saddle doesn't stay on too good when you have 4 inches of girth hanging down because the pad went a missing (grin). I put it all back on and see Miss Learning Curve and Connie hitting the dip.
I didn't see it, Connie did. Miss Learning Curve's saddle went up on her horses neck (just like I did) and she went flying off, landing on the flat bed. Well, at least her horse got a small break to rest while she got everything adjusted again. Her knight on the white horse did tell her once a while ago about her girth and her rely was that she always rides with a loose girth. Okay, whatever.
We also said to her about hitting her horse with the reins and she told us that she raised this horse and broke this horse and that's how she rides. Okay, whatever. We all rolled our eyes.
Connie got off Rocket and told me he was whooped. I looked at him and he didn't look whooped to me ... but Connie sure did. She was more pale that usual and I was very concerned. I told her we were almost done, only two more miles. Get back on him and let's go. I was afraid for her to be walking, I knew a long hill was coming up.
I let Bee-Bee go and she started cranking up the hill. I look back and Connie is still on the ground.
"GET ON, LET'S GO!"
Yes, I hollered.
She got on and we got going. She wasn't going too fast so I decided I needed to crank into camp, get Bee-Bee done so I could take care of Rocket because I sure didn't think Connie was going to be able to do it.
I left her. Only a mile and a quarter, she'd be okay since she got back on. Rocket would find his way back into camp.
Bee-Bee was not happy when we got to the field and I got off to walk. She wanted to race. NOT!
To the timer. Find Julie, oh there she is talking to Kyle.
Oh, Julie! She sees me.
Bee-Bee drank and drank and drank. Good girl.
Let's get her cooled off and you watch for that pinto horse and COnnie. As soon as you see them, skedaddle on down there. She's in a bad way.
Ice, ice, ice. Bee-Bee is eating, good.
Ice, ice, ice. Pulse is at 56 .... down to the check we go.
Pulsed at 60 when we got there, the sun is out now and it's hot (12:30 PM) so she heated up a little getting down there.
Passed, back to the ice.
Where the heck is Connie? She was only a mile behind me.
Ice, ice, ice.
Suddenly, Julie scrams. I look up and there's Connie. (Connie later told me that seeing Julie's face was like seeing God. She was so relieved.)
Rocket looks good! He's alert and his ears are up. He's breathing hard, but he's not at all stressed. He dranka nd drank and drank then dropped his head to pull at the grass along side the water trough.
Good!
Ice, Ice, Ice.
Kyle is helping Julie. Julie sent Connie over to the ice cream vendor and told her to eat something cold. Connie looks like hell.
BTW, I was wishing I was on the 50 today! I felt wonderful! Not tired and not even really hot. And Bee-Bee was way ready to continue on down the trail.
Rocket's HR was hovering around 66 for while so we iced and iced and iced.
Finally, down to 56. On the way down to the PR, his pulse went back up to 66 ... but in a moment or two, it was down to 60 so he passed.
Off to trot out.
Both horses trotted out nicely with good energy.
Over all CRI and back and leg check. Both horses passed with flying colors. Rocket's overall score was A- and Bee-Bee's overall score was B+.
YEA! Connie finally finished a ride.
Yea! Rocket did very well and got his first completion of 25 miles. I'm so happy that he's calm and relaxed about all the going's on, he's going to make a great endurance horse.
Yea! Julie was an excellent crew.
Getting home was a trip all in itself. First, I did the exact same thing I did last year, which was to get onto I-180 going the wrong way. So I added 10 miles to our trip we didn't need. Then, knowing that if the truck gets thirsty, we go a walking, I stopped for gas ($3.09/gal - what a rip off). We get 12 miles outside of Bloomsburg and we hit a parking lot. As far as the eye could see, two lanes of traffic at a dead stop. We're thinking accident, but as we creep forward, we see signs that say "Construction, 8 miles".
EIGHT MILES???? And traffic is backed up this far????
Matilda (the truck) and her trailer endurance ride was much too slow. It took 92 minutes to travel eight miles. We need to better condition Matilda, she isn't pulling her weight around here (grin).
Yea! I'm ready for the next ride in two weeks. Ride the Cheat in WV.
Instructor/Manager: Dodie Sable
Located in New Smithville PA at 37 Fenstermacher Road, 3 miles north of Kutztown University
Call us at 610.756.3836 or email us at dodie@newpromisefarms.com