I decided to take the time to put out the next installment while on the way to and from the Tahoe Rim Ride. Read on, friends!

Everyone woke up relaxed and ready to work. We re-packed Siri’s truck, thinking hard about what we’d really need at each check vs what we might need at each check.

Loretta made us all grab a bite to eat and then we stuffed ourselves into Siri’s truck and headed to Robie Park. The air inside the truck was thick with excitement. Up and over Donner pass we sailed. We took the back way up to a Robie from Truckee. That was exciting! A brief discussion was held to NOT drive the Cobbley’s trailer down this road! (I mean, there IS a sign at the bottom that says, “trailers not recommended”. Here’s your sign. We saw a small bear cross the road in front of us. That got us all excited all over again.

We rolled into Camp Cobbley just before noon. First order of business was to vet in the horses.

Vetting in went really well. Both horses put on a show. Numbers went on next and back to our camp we went.

We got back to camp, saw Mike & Jessica off to a stretch out ride and got down to crew business. Labeled up boxes for Robinson, Chicken Hawk and Foresthill, and started placing items in the boxes. The mood was light and cheerful. Filled hay bags for Robinson and Foresthill. We set up night helmets for our riders and did a count on electrolytes and other items going into/onto the horses and people. Water bottles, ✅, snack bars, ✅, electrolytes, ✅, all the things, ✅! Jade and Siri set up their tent and blew up their air mattress. Things were going well. When Jess and Mike returned from their ride, we all sat and chatted for a bit. They handed out crew shirts and very nice water cans with Team Inglorious Brassturd and Team Khalid’er Follow on them. Very nice and big thanks, you two!

Once we were satisfied the crew boxes were ready and we had a clear idea of our individual responsibilities, we relaxed a bit before heading off to the vendors to spend some hard earned $, errr, I mean, heading off to the crew meeting, held just past the vendors! 😆

After a brief stop at the vendors, we made our way to the pavilion and settled in for the crew meeting. It’s important to tatted this meeting if possible because sometimes there’s last minute announcements and information you would miss otherwise. Our plan was to leave Siri and Jade at Robie to pack Camp Cobbley up and move it to Foresthill. Sharalyn, Loretta, Kirstin and myself would go back to Auburn and light out for Robinson Flats bright and early. It was a good plan.

We bid farewell to our crew mates and headed to Auburn.

Once back in Auburn, we hit the Airbnb and all settled in. Quiet and ready for action. We were all in bed between 9 and 10 pm. I heard Loretta stirring and going to work around 2:30 am! That girl is unstoppable! She had packed the coolers and loaded things up. The rest of us were up and at ‘em soon after, me being the last, which is unusual! We loaded the truck and pulled out of the driveway by 4 am. Robinson Flats, here we come!

We saw few vehicles on our way up the road to Foresthill. It was just another sleepy Saturday morning for most folks. The air inside the truck was thick with anticipation, while the air outside the truck became increasingly thick with smoke from nearby wildfires. This made me uneasy because I was thinking that ride management may cancel the ride, leaving things in total chaos. They didn’t, and the ride started on time.

We arrived at the staging area for the trek up to Robinson around 6:30am, 16th in line! We got to see a smoky sunrise and watch the other crew vehicles line up behind us. About 7 am, the pilot car arrived and began shuttling us all up the last few miles to Robinson Flats. It was really smoky up there and the prevailing attitude was f concern for the athletes, human and horse out there on the trails. There’s a decent spot of cell service near the top so we took turns going out there and checking our rider’s trackers. I love those things! Sharalyn found a good spot to set up our crew point and we set to getting things ready for our riders.

Once we were all set up, I set to nosing around while Shar and Kirstin took a little nap. Again, if you know me, you know that I don’t rest while crewing pretty much any ride, but especially Tevis. The longer the day gets, the more I pace around, like a cheetah. Thinking, planning, thinking, fretting…It’s just what I do. Sharalyn sent me off. She couldn’t stand it one more minute! She settled in for a catnap while I prowled. Down to the signal zone to check the trackers, back to the crew zone to see how others were doing things, back to the signal zone, and so it went. Soon the cry went up, “Riders!” The Robinson Flat frenzy was about to begin. In trotted Niki Beck on her fancy Appaloosa, looking fresh. 3 more riders soon followed and then a break in riders, then then the deluge started. I’ll just say it straight out, I’m not ballsy enough to think I’d ever be happy coming into Robinson in the top 20 riders. It would scare the pants right offa me. My hat is off to those fit, fast brave riders and their amazing horses. Robinson Flats was in full swing.

Pretty close to 11 am, our two riders and Nance Worman showed up, also looking jubilant. They had made it to Robinson Flats! They were rocking the Tevis Cup! Both horses pulses right down and vetted through beautifully. Brass and Khalid then proceeded to eat their weight in mash and hay. Jessica and Mike were smiling and positive. They are, they drank and did all the right things. Mike reported that his pee was the right color, to our great relief! Soon enough, we were nearing the end of the hour hold and it was time to saddle the horses, do the last minute pre-flight check, and send our riders in their way. We handed the slips to the out timers and hoorahed Jessica, Mike and Nance down the trail. “See ya at Foresthill!” I had goosebumps and a lump in my throat watching them trot off towards the canyons and their next stop. Ride well, friends.

• Uncategorized