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Norco Riverdance Ride 1999

Lynne Glazer

Surprising this year were the number of horses who did not pass the pre-ride vet check. I'm rethinking my policy of offering a full refund for horses who don't vet in, since all the admin work, catering, etc. is laid on. Comments from other ride mgrs welcome.

We had special challenges due to the urban setting of this ride. We created an extensive communications network including REACT radio people, a complete cell phone network down to the team leaders and many of the individuals on each team who patrolled the trail continuously during the event, 5 mile radios that many of the trail team carried, and little Talkabout radios for control at crossings and within checks.

90 volunteers worked this ride, 60 of them on trail marking and evac, the rest on ride admin/vet checks. Unlike Angie's story of spotters, these live trail markers all knew the trail inside and out, having spent the previous weeks planning and marking. Sabotage occured in the same places as last year, starting on Friday, and even during the ride. The communications network enabled us to correct the situation within as few as 10 minutes of the first ride admin person being apprised by a rider.

The worst tampering was probably the devious jerk who didn't just take markings, but rerouted them, putting a turn in which didn't belong, using proper turn warning and marking techniques. Heinous!

One of Friday's sabotages was to strip a full 5 miles of markings. You'd have to have seen our trail, the most overmarked in history, to know the significance of the word "stripping". We used 400 lbs of the white stuff, color-coded laminated signs with leg numbers, matching conventional ribbons, surveyor flags, fabric flags on dowels to be seen from a mile away in the open areas. In the morning tunnels of arundo, we used glow sticks and battery-operated Christmas tree lights. Festive, eh?

Another Friday act of sabotage was done by a 4x4 truck and motorcycle in our hills, where vehicles are strictly off limits. They were spotted but not caught by our patrolling crew for that leg.

I'm describing this for other people who might try to put on rides in urban areas. Heck, my horse didn't get completion on her first 50 because of an idiot who rode around on a dirt bike, pulling and moving markings in the pouring rain. (9" in two days). The next time they held that ride there was trail tampering again. It's so completely demoralizing to me, but happily it was completely motivating to our teams of markers. Now there's jockeying within the club from whom we drew the teams, for spots on next year's crew. These trail riders were so dedicated that they attended two planning meetings before the ride, 34 at the last one!

The trail master for this event was Pat Peters, who was also motivated by last year's sabotage to make this year's trail invincible--and it was the best it could possibly be. My key helpers were Julie Herrera, who coordinated all the ride admin volunteers, Lorraine Baker who handled all of the food service except the catered dinner, Barb Thomas who conceived and executed the Retired Partners ride, Ken Herrera, indispensable base-camp pro, and Bobbie Lieberman for her extreme efforts on the photography (she can tell her own story!) I can't say enough good things about our volunteers, they were superlative--ridecamp members like Jan Freed (I think she was Julie's MVP, tied with Cheri Briscoe), friends who gave up their holiday weekend, board barn draftees, and best of all, lots of returnees from last year's freshman effort.

Thanks to our generous sponsors, which really helped make the ride special. I doubt there's been another ride which handed out gourmet chocolates after dinner!

And thanks to our PS and W riders for their support of this ride, and the groundswell to, yes, have another one next year. With the volunteers, park dept and rider support, how can we not do it again. So plan on Labor Day weekend, next year.

Text and photographs copyright, 1999 Lynne Glazer
Lynne's Photography Page


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