Fire Mountain Pioneer Ride (Road to Tevis #62)

Last Thursday Fantazia and I headed down to the Fire Mountain Pioneer Ride near Ridgecrest, CA. It was a great ride. I met lots of new people, got to know others a bit more, and completed two rides, the 50 on Friday, and the 55 on Saturday. Fantazia was phenomenal, eating better than ever, and easily finishing top ten both days.

Sadly, I have far fewer pictures and videos of this ride and the people and horses. (I got many good photos at the Cayuse ride! See them here.) I forgot the GoPro completely on Friday, and I had it at an angle and too low on Saturday. My phone took lots of fuzzy pictures. Oh well. I’ll just tell the story of the ride below. I will share a few videos that have other riders, and a few pictures… Lots of desert landscapes!

Jump to:

Thursday
Friday (Day 1, 50 miles)
Saturday (Day 2, 55 miles)
Take home

Thursday: Getting there, pre-ride…

I’d packed most things already, but there was no real hurry. Fantazia and I both had leisurely breakfasts and got on the road just before eleven. It’s an easy drive, with no real traffic outside of Bakersfield. I stopped at the Love’s in Tehachapi for fuel and ice, and got to ride camp at Valley Riders around 2:30. After some driving around and being irritated at all the “saved” spots, I parked, unloaded Fantazia, and set up.

Not long after I’d arrived, Dylan Delahunt asked if I minded if they parked next to me. I said of course not, just mind my fire site! One of the best things about desert rides is that I can make a camp fire. One of the best things about going to endurance rides is meeting people. Stevie and Dylan and all their people were great neighbors. Lots of fun talking and getting to know everybody a bit. I wish I’d thought to take a picture of their set up, complete with big tent! (You can read about the Delahunts and their supercool business at Intergalactic Equine. Thinking I should ask for an interview and blog about them some day…)

Above: Fantazia sanding quiently after our pre-ride. She ate hay and drank very well at the trailer for the first time! On the right, my fire Thursday evening.

Pre-ride

Almost immediately after unpacking, I saddled up. Fantazia was very excited, and I knew she wouldn’t settle down until she’d moved a bit. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to find her explosively wound up when I got on. I hadn’t ridden since Sunday. Tuesday was supposed to be an arena-work day, but the semester had just started and I was simply too busy. Fantazia didn’t need the ride physically, but it would have done her mind good! As it was, she was as excited as I’d ever felt her. Not nervous so much as bursting with energy. For the first time ever she wanted to buck and rear… and take off down the trail! We’d been there before, in April, and she thought she knew where we were supposed to go. Fast.

Instead I did my walking warm-up exercise, and then took her into the arena to trot and lope the clover-leaf pattern. Only when control judge Mike Peralez pointed out that I was riding in the trot-out area did I ride out (after chatting for a while!) Fantazia and I did a short ride, 5 miles trotting and cantering. She was still very fresh when we got back, but at least the buck was gone, and she stood quietly at the trailer afterwards.

Once her sweat had dried, I took Fantazia to vet in. All A’s, though at 48 her pulse was higher than it has been lately.

Finally, a fire!

I love making camp fires, and I haven’t been able to at a ride in a long time. (One of the downsides to living in dry, fire-prone California.) Thursday evening was perfect, chilly and still. I can light a fire in the wind (I did so at the snowy xpride at Coso Junction last March), but it’s risky, even in a desert. I go from thinking I’ll never get it lit to fearing every spark is going to cause a wildfire.

On Thursday I made a beautiful fire and heated leftover Thai green curry. I also boiled enough water to fill my thermos, something I do every evening at rides. It’s still hot enough in the morning to make yerba mate and oatmeal.

Day 1 of the Fire Mountain Pioneer Ride: 50 miles

The 50-mile ride on Friday was three loops (16, 14, and 20 miles), with all holds in ride camp. Gia Larue made a nice video of the ride–her takes were much better than the poor ones I recorded, and she put it all together. You can see how nice the trails were in it, and how well-marked.

Loop 1

It was light by the time we started at seven. It was a controlled start, so Fantazia and I followed the cart at a walk until we were allowed to trot at will. I try to keep her trotting at no more than 9mph, so it was no surprise that several riders passed us immediately (starting with, of course, Allan Horn, Jay Mero, and Andy Botello). Fantazia was eager but well-behaved at first. It wasn’t until around mile ten that she really decided we needed to go faster and started pulling. And spooking.

We really were not going that slowly. I forgot to turn my watch app on for the first stretch of road, but for the 15.45 miles I recorded, Fantazia averaged 8.2 mph (8.5 mph moving speed). Total time 1:53:29 (moving time = 1:48:34). Total elevation gain = 1827.4′. Maximum speed was 14.8 mph; we cantered several times, for a total of about one mile.

We were back at camp before 9am. Fantazia drank, grabbed hay, and pulsed down as soon as wel walked up. She vetted through with all As except a B in mucus membranes I think (she had Bs the rest of the day on them for sure). I believe our out-time was 9:25.

Loop 2

I had ridden the first loop in my Ortho-Flex saddle. I switched to my Zaldi for Loop 2, because I wanted to try it on a shorter loop. (Sometime soon I will do another saddle-woes post.) I use a breast collar with it, because it slips back on hills. It’s lightweight and comfortable for me, and has never made Fantazia sore (though it does cause white hairs). I figured a fairly flat, 14 mile loop in the desert would be a good test run.

Above: The desert landscape is beautiful. On the left, about an hour into the second loop. On the right, Fantazia waits patiently while I photograph silver cholla cacti during the third loop. (You can see the pink ribbon!)

This time it took me about a mile and a half to remember to start my watch tracking app. Then I forgot to stop it until after vetting in, so I had to trim the end. In other words, my data are not precise! That said, I recorded 12.66 miles completed in 1:40:56 (moving time 1:37:55). Average moving speed = 7.8 mph. Yes, Fantazia was more relaxed. It was an easy loop with good footing and a total elevation gain of only 1,687′.

Fantazia was not tired when we got in. She had drunk on the trail, so she wasn’t interested in water before vetting in. Her vet card did not look as good: Cs and Bs on gut and a B on gait. Dr. Peralez said he saw a very minor issue with her right forefoot. Not enough to stop us, but I should keep an eye on it.

Keep an eye on it???

Right. I immediately started worrying about arthritis, muscle cramps… After letting Fantazia eat some hay while I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I tried to find the problem. No heat, anywhere. No pulse. Not the slightest lameness, even when I made her trot in tiny circles. I decided we’d ride the third loop, but conservatively.

When I was sponging off her sweat, I noticed that Fantazia was swollen and sore along where the girth lay. I changed girths and kept it loose for the third loop. Thank goodness there were no real hills!

Loop 3

By this time, I had been riding alone most of the ride. I had no idea where I was with respect to the other riders. Once again I forgot to start and stop my watch app, so I do not have a precise measurement. I do know we went slowly, with an average moving speed of 6.9 mph. The trail was wonderful as before, with a total elevation gain of 1900.9′, all gradual ups and downs. Fantazia was not lame, but she was, I decided, a bit footsore. Because of the timing of our last few rides, I had cut two shoeing cycles short. She is normally very tough, and trots happily over rocks and on hard surfaces. This time she was a bit ouchy when stepping on rocks. I definitely did not want to rush.

We progressed in a leisurely (for Fantazia) fashion. I took a lot of pictures. I came upon Allan Horn walking his mare Ruby (a rare sight); we rode together and talked for several miles, until Ruby’s homing beacon called and they took off for ride camp. I had a great time riding with a new-to-me person, Iylla (sp?), for a while before she pulled ahead as well.

Above: Top left, note the bird’s nest on the bird-poop striped rock 😉 Left, another interesting rock. Bottom left, cool clouds over desert landscape. Middle, rock grafitti (and a few bikers); Right, more silver cholla.

Although we passed two horses about 3/4 of a mile from camp, I was still not sure if we’d be in the top ten. Imagine my surprise when I was told we were 5th at the finish line! I think it was 2:48, which means we completed in less than 8 hours. Fantazia vetted through with As on attitude, gait, and impulsion. The sensitive area beneath the girth earned her a C for tack galls, and I think she got Bs and Cs for gut, but I was happy. No lameness!

Friday night potluck

The food was abundant–I had made a cranberry lemon cake because we’ve got hundreds of lemons on our trees. Yes, this is why I don’t lose weight at rides: I eat and eat and eat! No surprises there.

What was a surpise was to find myself sitting across the table from Shane Lesher, whom I had interviewed about his mule Ticket and their success riding Tevis (read the post here). Shane was at the Fire Mountain Pioneer Ride with his son Daniel, who was riding to complete the 300 miles required to ride Tevis. He would ride Delmar and Shane would ride Ticket in the 55 on Saturday. Shane’s daughter was going to do her first ride Sunday. It was a pleasure to meet the Leshers (I met Shane’s wife Angie at dinner Saturday evening). I even rode with Shane and Dan for a short while on Saturday!

Above: Fantazia’s reaction to the Leshers’ mules was not very nice 😉

Day 2 of the Fire Mountain Pioneer Ride: 55 miles

Above: The beautiful red dawn on Saturday made the early start worthwhile.

Loop 1

On the second day, we would ride a first long loop of more than 41 miles. The ride started in the dark, at 6:30. (I forgot to start my watch until 6:35; we’d gone approximately 0.7 miles at that point.) This time, after the controlled start, Fantazia and I led for a mile or so, going around 7.5-8.0 mph. Eventually, of course, people starting passing. I was determined to keep our average speed under 6.5 mph and Fantazia was tired enough not to fight me too much. The sunrise was beautiful–already red as I saddled up. It helped me remember my GoPro, but unfortunately I got the angle wrong, as you can see in the few videos I’ve uploaded. See another good video from Gia LaRue. You can see Fantazia and me in front of them from 38s to 48s.

We were told that the first vet hold would be at 20 miles: we’d pass through it at 15 miles, do a 5-mile loop back, and then have a 30 minute hold. The distances were an underestimate. It was at least 16 miles to the vet area and the loop was a good eight miles. Eight miles that included several miles of rock. It took me an hour and 40 minutes to do that loop; I was worried about bruising already sore hooves.

Our total time, including the 30 minute hold (which I stretched to around 35 minutes), was seven hours. Total elevation gain = 3,442′, all of it gradual. Average moving speed was 6.3 mph. That’s just what I wanted, but I should admit that if we hadn’t been forced to walk for miles, it’d have been closer to 7 mph.

Fantazia was at 52 when we arrived at ride camp. She vetted through with As on attitude, gait, and impulsion. I believe the only B was mucus membranes.

Loop 2

The second loop was short. We had been told the night before that we would do most of the pink loop (Day 1 Loop 3), but they rerouted to compensate for the extra miles we’d done in the morning. I wanted to catch the sunset, so I left late (2:45pm) and went very slowly: average moving speed of 4.5 mph. We stopped a lot. Fantazia got very impatient and started spooking at everything, even the water trough.

Despite taking many pictures and listening to an audiobook, I got bored as well, so we did not await the sunset. We finished around 4:40, for a total ride time of ten hours and ten minutes. Amazingly, we were tenth despite the lolly-gagging. Fantazia was feeling quite refreshed and vetted in with As on gait, attitude, and impulsion again.

Above: Fellow 55 riders encountered on the final loop.

Take home

Fantazia did great. She’s been physically fit for a long time, but just now her brain is getting “fit” for the job as well. She ate three flakes of hay and drank plentifully at the trailer for the first time. I used 10 gallons of water from home! She didn’t want to drink at the communal troughs as she always has before. There are pros and cons to the new-trailer-drinking Fantazia… I’ll definitely have to keep hauling water from home.

Above you can see how nicely Fantazia behaved while others passed. Sorry for the tilt!

Fantazia also ate more than a full meal of feed (Ultium Gastric Care and rice bran). Considering that there were five meals from Thursday evening through Saturday, that’s not much. It was more than she’d eaten before, except at Sesenta Anos, when we rode three days. I did have to hold her bucket for her though. Not good, because I cannot do that at vet holds. No time.

I had a great time talking to other riders! I met lots of new people. (Many of whose names I cannot recall, but that’s just me.) It was fun to talk at the two ride dinners, and with the Delahunt group (and Allan) at their table next to my trailer. I even rode with different people off an on! I tend to be a bit reserved, and both Fantazia and I do better riding alone. It can be difficult to make friends at ride camp, where everyone is doing their thing. People already have established friend groups and thatn can be a challenge to break in to, especially in some cases. So it was good to have dinner and talk and start to get to know people.

All in all, the Fire Mountain Pioneer Ride was loads of fun and a great training experience. Super well-marked trails, great vets and volunteers–thanks so much to Gretchen Montgomery for a splendidly managed ride.