June 16, 2014

FRVPCHT: Course Walk Preview

Fox River Valley may not be posting ride times until Wednesday (!) but they did post a slideshow of the XC fences we will be facing on Saturday for BN-Prelim, (supposing their website is updated and this is not last year's course).  Now I get to psych myself out over how big they look prepare for the questions all week!  While we can't get a feel for the flow of the course, we can at least know that there's nothing here Connor can't handle.

Inviting ramp.  We like ramps.

Inviting rolltop.  We like rolltops.

Just a bigger version of things we've done before.

The light will make this one interesting.  Be brave, pony!

See fence 2.

See fence 3.

There will definitely be lions under this baby drop, though at first I thought this was a ditch.  When I found out it was a drop, I was like "Phew, just a drop, not a ditch.  Wait, what am I saying?  Drops are hard too!" But ditches are harder.

The pine trees make this almost a skinny, and very inviting for a runout to the left.

Connor's favorite: wide, with no side filler.

Connor's a sea horse, no problems here.

Haybale tray, BTDT.

This will be new and exciting.

Table!

I'm hoping this looks smaller in real life than it does here.

This looks like it's shared with novice, so that top rail will probably come off for BN.

16 efforts!  We'll see if he's actually tired after this one.

33 comments:

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    1. Agreed, I can feel my heart pounding already. :)

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  2. Looks like a nice course!

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  3. What a gorgeous course. I always found it useful to remind myself while walking that no matter how big they may look, the fences can only be as big as they can legally be. Have a good go!

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    1. Thanks! That's a good thought to bear in mind. It looks like the bigger fences are just verticals and not wide + tall, so that's good too.

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    1. Dang it, not what I wanted to hear! ;-) Kidding. At least it's at the back end of the course, he tends to jump a couple of scary things in the beginning then get all proud of himself and jump the rest of the course like a normal citizen. Hopefully that happens here.

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  5. That number 14 does look bigger than the rest, and the narrow one would worry me too, but you'll do awesome!! :D

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  6. Looks like a really fun course! I love when events post their xc courses online, too. All the better to build your anxiety for a week instead of just that day. Yay! :P

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    1. Haha yeah I know, I sat there for a minute and was like "Do I really want to click on this? Really?"

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  7. Go girl!!!

    Fence 14 looks WAY bigger then the rest!

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  8. What a great course! You're both going to do awesome :)

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  9. 14 will probably ride the best because you will really have your leg on. No worries! Have fun, it looks great for the level :-)

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    1. That theory does seem to work out for me usually! Thanks!

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  10. Looks very do-able for you and Connor!! Have fun :)

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  11. Cordwood always looks so scary to me and then rides so easily. I hope it goes that way for you, too! Good luck, and I can't wait to hear all about it!!
    PS - you need a helmet cam!!! =D
    (don't we all?)

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    1. I've never ridden it, I hope it goes well! And yes, I know I do, except I'd have to edit out all the "Good boy!" and profanity. Haha.

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  12. Such a cute course! My guess is that fence #1 will be the spookiest - rocks on the first fence - always a looker! You guys will do great~

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    1. I think you're probably right, though for a different reason - Connor still hasn't figured out that the start box is followed by XC. Haha. The rocks will probably get him too.

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  13. I wouldn't worry too much about fence 14. It looks like they just zoomed in closer if you look at the size of the number vs the other jumps. I'd play with resizing it in paint and you could probably get a better idea of the size. It may make it look more narrow though :/

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    1. Oh, thank you for commenting, you are so right. I didn't even notice that the scale was different, they tried to fill the frame with it and made it look massive. Phew. It seriously looked 2'9 to me.

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  14. Fun and exciting! Have a great time with Connor!

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  15. Nice Course!!! 14 looks big, but it is inviting. Reminds me of a stonewall you would see in stadium. That drop looks super fun. Just breathe and let your pony roll! Can't wait, have fun :)

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    1. Thanks! I do agree on 14, I think he'll jump it no problem, especially with it being on the backside of the course.

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  16. You two are going to have a blast - can't wait to hear (see) all about it!

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    1. Thanks! I am going to try to post blurbs, and of course you can always stalk us on evententries.com!

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  17. Looks like a super fun course! Makes me jealous for sure. I think for the young ins/greenies just starting the course and getting in your groove is the hardest. The "big" fence will be a piece of cake since it is at the end of the course and Connor will be cruisin' by then :)

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    1. I think you're right, based on past experiences. The biggest problem would be him jumping it huge, but I think he'll be too tired by then to jump it huge.

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