Journey's first LD was held at Maumee Valley 2012. Ride camp in the beautiful Hoosier National Forest based out of Midwest Trail Ride. The weather was beautiful and the group on that first ride day small, maybe 19 riding the LD. It turned out to not be such a nice ride due to uncontrollable factors in the staging of the ride itself. Trail marking ribbons torn down, mis-measured trail (a supposed 17 mile trail on the first loop that per GPS read 19.2) and an error in the typed instructions on our ride maps. 46% of the LD riders went overtime due to taking the turn noted on their maps, which took the horse rider teams off course. Those who typically ride slower were pacing that first loop for 17 miles only to find they needed to go nearly twenty (factoring in the 10% loss on GPS for downhills/ and signal loss). People in general were disgruntled. Riders that would have all finished if the course were considered the 30 miles it ended up turning into. Ride managment not having a "good day" due to the feelings of many upset riders. Just a bad turn of events and not a ride I'd likely want to attend again since it has a history of the trail markers being torn down for three years running now. So we bombed.
Her second LD was back at Henryville on a cool little out and back trail, mostly traversing graveled service roads, and the rest slippery mud single track. People were friendly, they all seemed happy to see the ride at Clark after the tornado ravaged the main trail area. Even though the trail was not as scenic as in the past, it was fun. The ride management was creative in making sure everyone went to the end of the out and backs using a clothespin transfer system. The whole experience at Clark was very nice. For some reason Lois McAffee's rides always feel "positive." Journey finished next to the last, but she finished. The trail was treacherous due to the mud and the front runners were DQ'd due to lameness. Over that weekend many horses were pulled for lameness in general. Journey's boots and slow pace served her well. So our second LD became our first finish.
Next Stop A CMO at Salamonie, Andrews Indiana
We rode back to back CMO's at Salamonie in September of 2012. After a short course on the finer points of using a compass we joined a group of newbies for a two-day CMO. We found 8 of the 10 stations on day one, and only 1 of 10 on day two. Riding as a group we were able to get points for all of the stations. I have to admit that CMO is probably the most fun I've ever had riding my horse. It was a total hoot! Sometimes frustrating, very challenging VERY CHALLENGING, the fastest I've ever traveled on horse back, and had I been without a group....they'd still be searching for us in the park. I just love CMO. The people are so nice, and WELCOMING.
