Three Lows Endurance

Forest Of Dean Bluebell Ride Report

I was a bit apprehensive about my intended riding plan for this ride as due to illness and having to visit the office in Cambridge Dougal had missed two weeks of training so I was not 100% sure that he would be fit enough to complete the course at 16km /hr, the speed I had planned on as a fitness check for Berkshire Downs.  I was also apprehensive about the weather as that leading up to the ride had not been the best, but I believed in the weather man and luck was with me.

This ride was to be a lot of firsts for us, first ride of the season, first ride at this intended speed, first trial of the new crew vehicle both towing and crewing. In preparation Dougal was shod and I packed the trailer with my tack  and spares on the Friday. I was going to Derby on Saturday to sort out a house to rent so would not have time to ride on Saturday.  Saturday pm I packed the truck as usual hoping I had not forgotten anything while my crew made sandwiches for 3

Sunday 7.30 the alarm goes off and up we get and go off to the horses.  Dylan has to go out in the field by himself for a bit and Dougal is loaded up.  The trip to the venue was uneventful other than being charged £9.60 to get into Wales.  On arrival Steve parked up and unloaded Dougal while I went to collect my bib and hand in paper work. On my return I took Dougal to vet where he was somewhat steadier than normal for his trot up but otherwise fine.  I tacked up said goodbye to Steve and off we set.

We set off at a reasonable pace with Dougal catching up with a couple of horses in front who we rode with for a while then left and rode with on and off for a while. Shortly after check point 1 myself and one other rider missed seeing a marker and turned right down a hill instead of left up the hill but when we met a road we realised we had gone wrong, only about 400 yds.  At this point I was changing my map round and Dougal set off up the hill at a canter about 1/2 a mile later the rider who had been behind me during this episode kindly informed me I had lost my map. I made the bold decision to carry on without it as I did not wish to back track.  Due to excellent course marking and concentrating on the job in hand we completed the course with no further deviations.  On the two loops that only the 51km class did there were some excellent bowling canter stretches and this was great fun.

I was pleasantly surprised that Dougal was choosing his own pace and being his self. At one point I thought we were not going very fast about 8kph and was surprised to see my GPS telling me we were doing 12 kph. Also I have discovered Dougal is much more balanced this year and as such capable of cantering at a steady 14kph.

During the second half of the ride we were caught up by  Sarah and Tristan Bishop who had started after us and we swapped the lead with one another quiet a few times. The weather sunny with a mild wind made for excellent riding conditions helping cool the horse off.  About 8km from home a chestnut mare and its rider overtook us and Dougal for some reason decided to latch on to this mare and follow her home. Unfortunately for this pair about 2-3 km from home they picked up a stone and the mare went lame. This was the end of their ride. By this time Dougal knew we were near the end and the last couple of km whizzed by. As we rode to the finish I spotted Steve holding two slosh bottles waiting at the finish and decided to practice taking one of these from him at the trot, possibly not the place to try this but all went well and we crossed the line in a speed of 16.03 kph with a ride time of about 3hrs.

I hopped off, loosened Dougal's girth and we all walked back to the trailer where I untacked and proceeded to wash Dougal down and check his heart rate.  As I had suspected his two weeks of missed training had left him a little lacking in the fitness level department and his heart rate did not drop like it usually does.  The fact that he had not drunk anything since leaving home did not help.  However within about 8-10 minutes post finishing his heart rate was in the 40's.  We passed the vet with a heart rate of 47 after Dougal had decided to have a roll outside the vetting area. Something I was not happy about but hey ho. We had the comments I expected form the vet i.e. he was a little tired and his gut sounds were decreased. We agreed this was more than likely due to the fact he had not drunk anything yet and I would not leave till he had had at least half a large buckets worth of water in two or more sessions.

So we all mooched about for about an hour with Dougal eating grass and drinking occasionally with Steve and I eating sandwiches and drinking water. I packed everything away and collected my paperwork and we then departed another good days outing over.

Below are my heart rate monitor and GPS readings from this ride. 


   

   

<< Index News >>
©2005 DJB