The Twenty Eleven Ride, Part 1

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 be rest days.

The entry fee is $5,000.00 if you enter and pay your $500.00 deposit by June 1st.  After that entries will go up and if the ride fills up (there is a limit) then you run the risk of not getting in.

I will post a series of posts with more information on this ride as well as some stuff on the 2001 XP.  It will be a great adventure and is truly is one of those once in a lifetime opportunities.  When I did the 2001 ride I thought it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.  I haven’t done anything since that has been anywhere near that much of a challenge.  It was also a tremendous life changing event that really made me learn to appreciate how lucky I am (we all are).  It was a great way to learn about the human condition.  I came away really appreciating what my ancestors went through moving West on the Oregon Trail (which is the same in many parts as the Pony Express Trail).

It’s now ten years later, can we all do this again?  We’re older and wiser and will know what to expect.  I like that we are wiser, but the older part might make it harder on us.  I had a great adventure last time.  I rode my two horses, Dream Weaver and Rocky every day except for one and a half out of the forty.  My horses did 1925 miles between them.  It was quite a thrill to be able to start and finish with the same two horses.  They were incredible and I had the adventure of a lifetime.  I also rode sponsoring juniors most of the way and we had a great time.  I hope there will be a few kids along on this trip.  It was such a great experience for them.

Stay tuned for more, lots more on the 2011 ride!