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 Anybody planning on going on the 2011 XP ride should read this (click on link below) to get an idea of what to expect. Also, because this stuff is a decade old take it with a grain of salt and realize that while some of it still applies there may be parts that don’t. I’m just posting this to give people an idea of what to expect.
It can’t be stressed enough how important it is to have a good relationship with your crew. My advice for anybody going on the 2011 XP is to work out all of the fine details ahead of time. Start out with apologizing in advance for anything that you might do that’ll irritate your crew…because you will no doubt do that. They will probably irritate you as well. Figuring out how to get along will go a long way towards making the trip a lot more enjoyable for everyone.
I will post some thoughts later on planning and preparing for this event based upon what I learned from doing it in 2001. I’ve posted a lot so far that should help. I will also do some reviews and recommendations of GPS’s, map software and other techno type gadgets that will be both useful AND necessary for riders to have. btw – if you get Trail Blazer magazine look in an upcoming issue for my review on the Garmin 550t.
For those that want to enter simply send me an email and I’ll tell you how to do that! Hopefully within the next month I’ll have a bulletin board set up on the XP site where people can go to advertise that they are looking for a crew, or that they want to be a crew, or share an entry, etc.
Continue reading The Twenty Eleven Ride, Part 6
Sunrise in Estabrook, Wyoming
A FEW WORDS FROM A ’76 XP RIDER TO THE ’01 XP RIDERS
By Lori Stewart
I won’t bore you with why, but in ’76 I rode the entire XP trail with barely the minimums. My husband and I slept under the stars or in the back of a stock trailer when it rained. We survived mostly on Velveeta cheese, Triscuits, Salami, apples and tangerine Lifesavers (no refrigeration needed).
Continue reading The Twenty Eleven Ride, Part 5
When I ran across this photo earlier while looking at photos to add to the previous posts about the 2011 ride I had to laugh.
I rode with juniors a lot on the ride and this day resulted in us coming up with a new rule.
No more Pony Express running mounts! Dave Rabe was always showing off how he could run alongside his horse and then hop up into the saddle and keep
Continue reading Every picture tells a story, and an update on Bo
 This was the 2nd of 3 articles I wrote for Endurance News following the 2001 XP.
XP’loring the Trail, 2000 Miles of Memories. Be sure to click on the link to read the entire thing! If you want to read my diary from the ride and see photos from all 8 weeks, click here. Karen
Talk about anticipation! Most of the riders had waited months, years even…for the start of this ride and it was quite a spectacular one. The horses were loaded into trailers in St. Joseph, Missouri and hauled across the river to Elwood, Kansas. The morning was dark, humid, and dark clouds loomed menacingly overhead. Baseball sized butterflies fluttered around inside my stomach on the short trip to the start. We unloaded our already tacked up horses and just like that, we were off. After all the months spent dreaming about the ride here we were actually embarking on the adventure of a lifetime…
Continue reading The Twenty Eleven Ride, Part 4
  This is an article I wrote for endurance news about preparing for the 2001 XP. “Preparing for the 2001 XP”.
I surveyed and interviewed many if not most of the riders that went on the ’01 XP and got a lot of varied responses.
This may help some of you that are planning for the 2011 event. I’ve got lots more to post, so keep checking back.
Enjoy! Karen
Continue reading The Twenty Eleven Ride, Part 3
  Here is more basic information on the 2011 XP ride. This is also posted on the xprides.com website.
If you are interested in attending this event be sure to read a lot of the information that is on the XP website about the 2001 and 2004 XP rides.
The 2011 ride will be essentially the same as the 2001 ride was. This one will definitely be the last time it’s done by XP/The Duck.
Continue reading The Twenty Eleven Ride, Part 2
There is going to be another epic endurance ride on the Pony Express trail in 2011.
The ride will start in St. Joseph, MO on Tuesday, May 24th, 2011 and finish in Virginia City, Nevada. The route will follow the original Pony Express trail as closely as possible and will be 2,000 miles. Riders will ride 50 miles per day, five days a week for eight weeks, Tuesday through Saturday. Sunday and Monday will
Continue reading The Twenty Eleven Ride, Part 1
Here are a few photos from the ride Saturday. I’ve got lots more still to download and will post more later.
According to my GPS, I made it 17.3 miles which was basically to the first vet check. Bo was off when I went to leave and as soon as I felt him trot not quite right I turned around and came back and pulled.
Bo saved me from another 17 hours of
Continue reading 20 Mule Team 2010
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Anybody planning on going on the 2011 XP ride should read this (click on link below) to get an idea of what to expect. Also, because this stuff is a decade old take it with a grain of salt and realize that while some of it still applies there may be parts that don’t. I’m just posting this to give people an idea of what to expect.
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