Oklahoma, Here We Come!

Remember the blog post I made last month about Nic kicking some horse butt? Well, he's continued to do so. Two weekends ago we headed down the road to Nampa, Idaho with our new found traveling friends, the Berubaums (more on this crew later). This was to be our biggest and most competitive show this year as we'd qualified for the NRHA Northwestern Affiliate Finals. All the NRHA Affiliate members with qualifying runs were invited to come to the Regional Finals. It's actually not difficult to qualify (as long as a rider completes a full show season with an Affiliate group, they can usually qualify) but the competition at the Regional Finals tends to be tough. This weekend was no exception.

My intent in heading down to Nampa was to do as well as I had at the last show. I knew the competition would be tough and wasn't planning on trying to qualify for the Nationals in Oklahoma. My traveling partner, Lindsey Bernbaum had other plans. Lindsey is currently a straight A senior in high school. She trained the horse she is currently showing and has proceeded to really kick butt the last two years. She actually went down to Oklahoma last year and placed in the top five in nearly all her classes. Lindsey was a motivating friend to travel with as were her sister, Brittany and mom, Roxie. All three girls ride well and they were good to have along as they kept my nerves in check and provided hours of entertainment.

My first Affiilate class was my Rookie class. This class is for riders who have not earned more than $500 during their show career. At the start of this season, I thought my Rookie class would be a drop in the hat. Boy was I wrong. I pretty much needed to score over a 70 to even be in the money at the Affiliate club level. I now worried that a 70 would be nothing at the Regional level. I was right. I went into my class just focusing on trying to beat myself in my last run. About half way through my run, I felt that Nic and I were hooked up and on the same page (as much as one can be with a large beast). I ended my run happy with myself....my happiness escalated as I heard my score...a 71. This put me in second place but there were about 25 more riders to go (there were 43 riders in my class). By the end of my class, I had been bumped down to fourth but had qualified for the Nationals (only the top five riders in each class qualify). I was happy with my run and surprised that I was still competitive at the Regional level but still had not really thought about actually making the trip down to Oklahoma.

While I did well in my Rookie class, Lindsey and Brittany were cleaning up in their classes. They cleaned up in their Novice Horse class and Lindsey took third in her Limited class (I also showed in this class and her Youth class. They were defiantly on their way to Oklahoma. This is when the taunting and encouraging began. By the end of the show, I was pretty much convinced that I should go and try for the coveted Rookie of the Year award.

So I'm officially off to the Midwest. I know, nobody vacations in the Midwest and I really don't know why all the major horse shows are located there (perhaps the cheap land and large facilities?). I do know that this trip will be full of a lot of firsts.
1. My first trip to the Midwest.
2. My first time spending three straight days in a vehicle.
3. My first time to the NRHA Fururity.
4. My first time competing at a National Level.
5. My first time hanging out with cowboys for a full straight week.

In a effort to familiarize myself with Oklahoma City, I did a google search on the city. I found these "interesting" facts.
1.Okmulgee owns the world record for largest pecan pie, pecan cookie, pecan brownie, and biggest ice cream and cookie party. Each June, Okmulgee rolls out the welcome mat to thousands of its closest friends as the annual Pecan Festival comes to town.(I'm fearing that everyone in the Midwest is overweight.)

2. The National Cowboy Hall of Fame is located in Oklahoma City. (This is why all the major horse shows are located in Oklahoma City...plus Cowoby's would not fare well in Seattle.)

3. Garth Brooks was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He grew up in Yukon, Oklahoma. (I love Garth Brooks.)

State Motto: Labor Omnia Vincit {Labor Conquers All Things} (What the hell does this mean...when in doubt, work???)

Oklahoma's four mountain ranges include the Ouachitas, Arbuckles, Wichitas and the Kiamichis. (What a joke, there are no mountains in Oklahoma, just slight hills.)

Oklahoma is bordered by six states: Texas to the south and west, Arkansas and Missouri to the east, Kansas to the north and Colorado and New Mexico at the tip of the northwestern Oklahoma panhandle. (I wonder how many confederate flags I'll see.)

I'll keep everyone posted on how the show goes. I head down just before Thanksgiving and return the second week in December. Lindsey reported that we are lucky enough to see places like the world's largest pickle and the home of Rubbermaid on our way down. Sounds like so good photo ops.

Views from the Bike

A Great Way to See St. Helens

The thermometer in Doug's car read 31 as we pulled into the parking lot on the south side of Mt. St. Helens. I was having a hard time motivating myself to bundle up for some fall mountain biking but since there was a group of us and we'd already driven nearly two hours, I wasn't going to just sit in the car for the day, so I bundled.

The year Mt. St. Helens blew was one of the few years I lived in Washington as a child. I don't remember much but we do have photos of inches and inches of snow like ash that blanketed the small town of Washougal. Thirty years later the evidence of the power of the mountain still remains. We started our ride in old growth forest and soon climbed out onto a huge pumice field. From there we had a great view of the mountain and the desolation surrounding the volcano. As we rode down across the pumice field the wind picked up and we battled our way across Windy Ridge, a loose (and of course windy) ridge. After riding for about 10 miles and feeling like we were really away from civilization, we came to a paved road and and the Windy Ridge observation site which overlooks Spirit Lake. I had a hard time believing people actually drove to this destination, but then again, Americans do weird things. After hunkering down for some lunch (Windy Ridge is Windy Ridge for a reason, everyone who had previously done the ride had never NOT experienced wind on Windy Ridge) we hurried off for a warmer destination and some punishing downhill. Since pumice weighs next to nothing, it does not make for great biking terrain. The first part of our downhill consisted of white knuckle switchbacks followed by loose trail on a slanted slope. Not a mountain bikers dream but considering the unbelievable views and terrain on the rest of the ride, we didn't complain as we bumbled through the pumice.

Finally able to de-layer we took in the myriad of giant toothpicks that remained as they did thirty years ago after the big blast. We rode along a river bed that was obviously once a lava chute but was now a small river. Being in places like this make me realize how small and insignificant humans really are. When I am constantly surrounded by big box stores and other human made entities, I begin to feel as if we rule the world, but mountain biking on St. Helens once again reminded me that life goes on when we humans are not around, we don't rule the world.

The St. Helens ride was one of my favorites. It offers great terrain, it's long (25 miles), and beautiful in a way many Northwest trails are not.

A Trip Gone Wrong

I'm sure everyone reading this is pretty in tune with that fact that Jarred and I are obsessed with mountain biking (among other things). After three weeks of not biking due to horse shows and being sick, we got back on our bikes yesterday for some fun at Post Canyon. I surprised myself at how excited I was to be back on my bike after just two weeks of not riding. I felt like a kid with a new toy. Biking has made us appreciate the wonderful trails the Gorge and our other favorite areas have to offer. It has also made us realize that nature does not create biking trails for our pleasure. The creation and maintenance of trails takes endless hours of clearing downed trees, raking trails, lopping off overhanging branches...work that the Forest Service could do if there weren't so many hiking/biking fanatics wanting and building new trails (and the lack of funding allotted to the Forest Service). A number of bikers and hikers have created groups to maintain the trails the Forest Service cannot get to. Jarred and I decided we too needed to give back to what we really enjoy so we joined the Northwest Trail Alliance. Admittedly, Jarred has spent many more hours than I, clearing trails. I think he really just likes to use his big-ass chainsaw. His latest project is a 15 or so mile trail, Siouxon Creek, about 30 miles from our house. Siouxon is a popular hiking and biking trail that saw mass destruction after last winter's snow storm. Jarred has spent many hours on the Siouxon trail with whomever will accompany him and rake, lop or help him move logs.

Last weekend, while I was off riding Nic, he managed to round up two able bodies to help him finish clearing Siouxon Creek. Off he went, last Sunday morning, big-ass chainsaw in hand with promises to return by 7 pm. After a day of horse fun, I returned home at 7:30 Sunday evening. I didn't think twice about Jarred not being home, as he can get carried away with trail maintenance and running his big-ass chainsaw but when 9 pm rolled around, I began to worry a bit. I woke up at 10:30 and worried a little more. I started to imagine chain saw accidents and men stuck under fallen trees. At midnight my imagination ran wild and I considered the fact that I should probably consider either calling 911 or driving out to look for the hooligans. I decided to call my trusty friend, Meghan Faherty for advice (I also figured she was one of my few friends awake at midnight). Meghan advised me to wait until 1 am and then take action. One rolled around and still no word from Jarred or his two helpers. I called 911 and explained the situation. After realizing that little help was going to come from some cops and a dispatcher who didn't even know where Siouxon Creek was, I hopped in my truck and headed out to be the knight (not sure of what a female knight would be called) in shining armor who could (hopefully) save the three lost souls stuck in the woods. In all reality, I wasn't sure what I would do if I didn't find the three woodsmen at their car (or hiking out to the road because their car was broke down) but I figured I'd deal with that issue when I didn't find them. I decided to be optimistic and assume I'd find them somewhere in the thirty miles between our house and the unmarked trail head.

At two thirty I finally reached the trail head. As I pulled my truck up next to the lone Jeep Cherokee, out popped Jarred from the drivers seat. In a semi-sleeping stupor, he blurted out his explanation, "I'm sorry, Alex lost his keys! Who takes their keys on a hike and doesn't leave them by or around the car! Thanks, for coming, I knew you'd show up eventually."

I waited in silence as they shivered and loaded their gear into my truck. All were quiet on the way back into town. As we drove I wondered why Jarred thought I'd eventually show up as it was a SUNDAY night and I was due at work in two hours......this is where I know I will never understand the minds of men.

Nic Kicks Some Horse Butt

Things always seem easier than they are. When I first watched someone ride a reining horse, I thought..."Wow! I want to do that, looks pretty easy." HA!

I've been reining now for the past five years. I've had Nic, my current horse for three years and this year, I finally feel like I'm starting to figure him out. Believe it or not, horses are not machines and they have their own ideas about what should happen and when. Not that Nic is defiant, it's more that he, like any horse, doesn't want to work harder than he has to. He also responds to most of my ques, some of which, I don't even know I'm giving him. This makes for some weird communication at times.

Over the course of this past show season, I've made huge gains and had some big bobbles, but at the the last show in the series, things finally came together. I stayed out of the penalty box (not literally, like in hockey- we have to follow a specific pattern, anything we do to deviate from the pattern is counted as a 1/2-5 pt penalty, depending on the severity of the deviation) and managed to plus some of my maneuvers. I got lucky in my first class and managed to tie for first with a 70 (our scores start at 70, we can plus maneuvers and increase our score or obtain penalties or minus maneuvers and decrease our score- we all aim for a 70, which can be hard to maintain). I made some improvements and went into a class to school (practice without actually showing) and ended up with a 70.5 to win my second class. I came home with two trophies and a bucket of treats (Nic could have cared less about the trophies...they're not edible). Because we had some good scores at shows, we qualified for the NRHA Western Affiliate Finals in Nampa, Idaho in October. I think Nic is a little disappointed because I generally finish showing the first weekend in October. Once I finish showing for the season, Nic gets some time off... I think he's wondering what he did wrong.