Ride&Tie, 9/11, and Grieving

Let’s return to the World Championship Ride and Tie at Eur Valley. Remember, I am running back down the trail when I met up with Calvin running toward me on the trail. I look at him and he looks at me strangely. I say to him “I tied the horse back down the trail hoping that you would see him. I’m attempting to save you from running all the way to the top of the hill”. He says “that is not the plan”. I say “sorry, I’ll run down the Hill to get him and eventually catch up to you”. So I’m now running down the Hill while everybody else and I mean everybody else is running up the hill passing me in the process. I finally, reach the tied, well rested horse.

So at this point my judgment accomplishes the following: 1. We are in last place.2. Calvin is running a longer distance than the original plan.3. The horse is going to work harder because he’s going to have to run longer without resting.4. I piss off my partner for changing the plan originally agreed upon. Way to go Frank. The rule to be learned is do not change the plan in mid- stream without first consulting your partner.

I eventually caught Calvin.  Is he tired? You bet he is. From this point on I do not make any more mistakes and we actually begin to catch up and pass some of the teams. So far so good as Loops 1 and 2 get completed without mishap. One more loop to complete and we are done. The ride has been uneventful so far after my major mistake.  The third loop is roughly 12 miles in length and about 4 miles into the loop I come upon Calvin on all fours barfing. He is done, cooked, but still alive. I get off the horse, help Calvin get up, and assist him getting on the horse. We have to finish this ride. I tell him “don’t worry, you ride the horse the rest of the way and I will run”. What do you think about my strategy now? So now, I get to run the last loop. During the last loop, Pat Browning says something funny to me that I won’t repeat. Pat and his partner reach the finish line 10 minutes ahead of us. Well, we came in front of 6 teams, and some of the characters include: Debby Lyon, Don Betts, George Hall, Byron Grant, Dennis Fessler, Teri Rose, and Steve Anderson friends of mine. Incidentally, the winners of the event are friends Chris Turney and William Emerson. That is the story for that ride and tie with the major lesson. By the way, that is not the only mistake that I made during my ride and tie years.

The following week on September 21, my mother passed. I knew it was just a matter of time before the inevitable. Her body is taken to Detroit for the burial next to my father. The service is difficult and fortunately there is a lot of family which helps. I still miss Mom. This book could have been called “Frank, you are not going to hurt yourself are you”? She often said that when I told her about ride and tie.