October 22 2019
by Merri Melde-Endurance.net
More than 150 endurance riders will take to the Mojave Desert trails outside of Ridgecrest, California, on October 31 and November 2 for the 2019 AERC National Championships.
Some of the trails will be familiar to those who have ridden the Twenty Mule Team endurance ride, which is one of the longest-running 100-mile rides in the country.
The Twenty Mule Team ride was started in the mid-1970's, hosted by the Valley Riders club and managed by AERC Hall of Famer Jackie Bumgardner. Robert and Melissa Ribley took over as Ride Managers from 2007 to 2015; they are the RMs for this year's National Championship.
As of October 21, 77 are entered in Thursday's 50-mile Championship, and 63 are entered in Saturday's 100-mile Championship (with 3 in the open division).
In addition to these two rides, on Thursday there will also be a 25-mile ride, and Saturday will have 35, 50, and 65-mile rides.
Within each Championship ride, riders will also compete in their own weight divisions, so there will be layers of strategy in each race. During the rides, you'll be able to track the riders via MyEventTracker.net. You can see the tracking details, and the list of riders on this page: http://2019nc.com/riders/
A livecast, with streaming video, photos, and updates, will be coming from the AERC National Championship Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AERC2019NC/
Alternatively, you can follow along on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/AercNational
If you were a betting person, here are just a couple of horse and rider teams you might want to keep an eye on.
In the Nat'l Championship 100 watch for:
• Gwen Hall and Sizedoesntmatter (4th in 2014 Tevis, 2nd in 2015 Tevis, 8th in 2019 Tevis)
• Jenni Smith (2015 Haggin Cup) and French Fry (3rd and BC in 2018 Twenty Mule Team 100)
• Ann Hall and Monk (5 time Tevis Cup Top Ten finisher, 2019 Haggin Cup; Ann and Monk 1st in 2019 Twenty Mule Team)
• Jacob Cukjati and Melika Kamaal (1st in 2018 Virginia City 100)
• Mark Montgomery and MM Woodrow (1st and BC in 2016 Twenty Mule Team; 1st in 2017 Virginia City 100)
• Jeremy Reynolds (2004, 2011, 2017 Haggin Cup; 2004, 2007, 2011 Tevis Cup winner) and RTR Rimfires Etta (2nd in 2019 Tevis)
• Christoph Schork (AERC's winningest rider) and GE Haat Rod Express
• Melissa Ribley (2009 Haggin Cup) and Ever Ready (3 time Tevis Cup finisher)
In the Nat'l Championship 50 watch for:
• Karen Donley and Royal Patron (2016 Tevis Cup winners)
• Heather Reynolds (1999, 2003 Haggin Cup; 2003, 2014, 2018 Tevis Cup winner) and Madgicall
• Diane Stevens and Rabbalad (1st in 2018 Twenty Mule Team)
• Jeremy Reynolds (2004, 2011, 2017 Haggin Cup; 2004, 2007, 2011 Tevis Cup winner) and Rictik
• Christoph Schork (AERC's winningest rider) and GE Pistol Annie
...and so many more!
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