From ridesthemiles | 10/07/2011 6:02:30 PM PDT repliedI live in N Nevada. We got snow here Tues & Wed. It was supposed to warm up Thurs & today, but it is cold. Wind over the Sierra ridges were about 100 MPH when the storm went thru. I was scrambling to tarp my fresh hay delivery. Truckee & Mt Rose got snow. Hwy 88/89/50/431/267 were chains only & Interstate 80 was closed off & on for the 2 days.
A 100 mile horse endurance race, the Tevis Cup, was scheduled for July, but got postponed to Oct 8 because of a bad horse virus causing havoc this summer.
The start camp south of Truckee got over 8” of snow & wreckers spent all day Thursday pulling out the trucks/trailers that had gone into there early. The race usually runs from that base camp one way to Auburn, Calif, over the High Sierra at Squaw Valley on old gold miner’s trails. 100 miles-oneday-one horse-one rider-one way—24 hours to complete.
Now, due to over 2 feet of snow at the higher elevations, they are starting the race at the finish line—the Auburn Fair Grounds Sat 6:30AM—& are going eastbound on the usual trail which has been westbound for the last 55 years. Then they will run a loop near the 50 mile mark to get the leaders far enough ahead of the back of the pack riders so they are not running head on into each other on narrow trails. Then the riders will go the last 50 miles as normal on the trail & finish back at the Auburn Fair Grounds.
This is the hardest scramble the directors of this event have ever had & it should produce legendary tales for the future.
I tried the ride 3 times, but didn’t make it past the 85 mile mark, which was my own fault. I got scared & I pulled myself. I was running in the top 30 of 255 riders when I did that stupid move. Now the horse I trusted the most to get me thru that event is gone. I never will get another chance—too old & back giving me issues.
But—it is a Hell of an event!!!
For horse enthusiasts, it can be followed on website: www.teviscup.org all day Sat into Sunday.
Hope they got them all out,
I have often wondered why I missed the horse thing but I know they were rare in Western FResno County in the 30s and 40s when I lived there.