NASTR 75 Mile Endurance Ride

It turns out that riding a horse for 17 hours and 12 minutes is a pretty good way to get real intimate with a place. After 75 miles of breathing in sand and sagebrush, the mountains surrounding northwestern Nevada’s Washoe Lake are ingrained in my mind as though I’d spent years ambling along, rather than a single extremely long day traversing them on horseback.

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The NASTR 75 mile endurance race would be my first ride longer than 50 miles, and only my second time ever partnering with Chndaka’s Advocate, AKA Chando, an 8 year bay gelding with a sensitive personality and gentle eye. Chando’s owner Andrew would be our riding buddy for the day aboard his mare, Velocity. Based out of the large equestrian campground on the shore of Washoe Lake, NASTR is the second ride in the Triple Crown series hosted by Nevada All State Trail Riders, a trio of endurance rides that are increasingly challenging, culminating with the Virginia City 100 in the fall. The event began with the Nevada Derby 50, which I completed on Bez Lite Year earlier in the spring, so I was eager to get to the opportunity to attempt the second ride in the series.

I arrived at ride camp late in the afternoon on Friday, catching up with some friends before our horses arrived. We attended the ride meeting and set up camp. Due to the early start time, I opted to sleep in my car instead of pitching a tent, which ended up being a wise choice due to the heavy overnight wind. After re-fitting my Specialized Ultralight saddle to Chando, we headed out on a short pre-ride to stretch the horses’ legs around 8:30pm and caught one of the most dramatic sunsets I have ever witnessed. We got back to the trailer and readjusted tack, prepped electrolytes, and made our game plan for the next day before I finally nestled in the back of my Subaru for a few hours of thankfully deep sleep.

At 4:00 the following morning, I was up and dressed, fueling up with my pre-ride ritual of a bagel with peanut butter and banana and filling up my water pack for the first loop. I knew that taking care of myself and staying as hydrated as possible would be crucial in order to take care of my horse throughout the day. I got Chando tacked and hopped aboard before heading to the starting line at 5:00.

The first loop was the longest of the day at 26 miles, traversing up and over hills dotted with sagebrush and juniper and descending into a surprisingly lush grove of aspens. The horses were moving steadily, but patches of sharp rocks continually forced us to break pace and navigate through them slowly to avoid injury. We descended back into the valley in the full light of morning and crossed long swaths of deep sand, passing grazing mustangs and residential neighborhoods, arriving back into camp at 9:40 for our first mid-ride vet check and hour-long hold. 

After tending to the horses, I took care of myself, reapplied anti-chafe salve to my legs, refilled my water and snacks for the next loop, and downed my first packet of Skratch electrolyte mix for the day. The dryness of the desert at 5000ft+ above sea level was no joke. Holds always whiz by, and before we knew it, the time had to come to re-tack the horses and head out for loop 2, which totaled 22 miles. 

SNB, the true MVP of my day!

We headed out the back side of camp, getting in some flat miles in the dunes before once again beginning our ascent into the mountains. It was clear at that point that we were at the back of the pack of the 17 riders on the 75 mile course. We had not set out to be competitive and were focused on a strong completion, a goal at the core of the endurance ethos. Not being a particularly competitive person myself, I love the way ultra distance sports reward contenders who just get the thing done, rather than only celebrating the winners.

Climbing up and descending down steep sandy hills, my mind was eerily quiet. The constant and distracting thoughts which narrate my daily life had been replaced by an all-consuming focus on the trail. It was as if my entire purpose was just to ride Chando across Nevada. There was no before or after, sand, rocks, and sagebrush were my life now. I couldn’t even fully comprehend that the ride would eventually come to an end and I’d be stationary again. 

Image credit to Gore/Baylor photography

Loop 2 came to end at 3:00pm and we vetted the horses through before our second hour hold. Seeing how long it was taking to navigate the rough country, we set ourselves a timeline to make the 11:00pm cutoff time and decided to move through the third loop which only totaled 8 miles as quickly as we could. It was crucial for the horses to refuel and a big relief when Chando took the opportunity to tank up at a trough. The number of swallows of water a horse takes is yet another metric swirling around endurance riders’ heads, along with speed, elevation gain, and all the other numbers necessary to remember on raceday.

Loop 3 was a welcome change from the technical mountain trails, but presented a new challenge by skirting the shoreline of Washoe Lake, which crested with mini whitecaps in the late afternoon wind. The horses were worried about the waves and even more dubious of the dozen or so kite surfers which we were luckily able to avoid encountering close up. Anyone who’s tried to run on the beach understands how tiring it is to traverse deep sand dunes and the horses were putting up a great effort.

We arrived into camp for our final 45 minute vet hold around 6:00pm. The air was beginning to cool off and golden hour was drawing near as we trotted out of camp for the final time, with 19 more miles to go.

Yet again we began clambering up the dunes into the mountains. A jackrabbit scurried across the trail ahead of us and just seconds later the soulful yips of coyotes encapsulated the cinematic nature of riding through the desert at dusk, horse and humans like small specks in a sea of sage. The warm hues and long shadows of sunset gave way to blue hour, and we sped along, determined to be off the mountain by full darkness, a goal we just barely met.

My night riding experience was previously limited to evenings after work where I was late getting back to the barn, but I had never ridden at speed in the dark. The same straight 6 mile stretch of sand which had breezed by in the morning felt neverending, as though we were trotting on a treadmill. The lack of any visible landmarks to orient our progress made the sensation dream-like, distant headlights on the road the only reminder that we were not the only ones out there.

As crazy-making as the straight section of night riding had been, we knew the true challenge would come when we crossed a road and would have to navigate the labyrinth of sage and sand that would lead us back to camp. This section required close attention in the daylight, and though our timing was looking like we’d make it back in plenty of time to complete, getting lost could put a serious damper on our goal. 

The complete relief I felt when I saw the first phosphorescent twinkle of a glowstick tucked in the sand was overpowering. We were going to make it! Ride management had left us a trail of glowing breadcrumbs to lead the way. Following their light through the dunes was one of the most surreal moments I have had on horseback. They were spaced far enough apart that at times I had to give the reins over Chando and trust his heightened senses to smell the correct trail, leading me to the next glowstick. He was very concerned about the bright alien sticks swinging in the darkness, bravely holding himself together until a very sudden spook sent me flying into a patch of sage. With his reins still in my hand and sand flying everywhere I immediately called to Andrew, “I’m good, I’m good!”. Completely uninjured, I hopped back on and we made our way the final mile and half to the finish line, where we were greeted by the cheers of the ride managers at 10:12 pm. Like a sailor who’d spent months at sea, my legs were a little shaky walking Chando through the night to get his completion exam. 

This was the first ride where I had been pushing the clock and the sense of accomplishment I felt was only secondary to completing rides on my own horse who I had trained myself. Chando was an excellent partner for the day, sure footed and genuine. We got the horses back to the trailer and taken care of us before I crawled back into the Subaru, slipping into a deep sleep despite the twinge of stiffness through my legs and neck that I knew would leave me feeling a bit rough the next day.

Waking up at dawn on Sunday morning, I briefly forgot where I was. Had I really spent all those hours scaling dunes the day before? The nickers of horses around me confirmed it had not been a dream. 75 miles complete, it was time to start the journey over the Sierras back home.

Image credit to Gore/Baylor Photography

Thank you once again to Andrew and Chando for giving me the chance to take on this challenge and for providing excellent guidance and company throughout the day. To the NASTR organizers and volunteers, thank you for putting on such an excellent ride!

To anyone considering attempting the NASTR 75 (or 30/50!):

This ride is worth the rocks and sand for the views and community! Camp is excellent, with horse water, corrals, picnic tables, cell service, and bathrooms. The trail was fabulously marked and provided lots of scenic diversity that kept me feeling motivated. Fingers crossed I’ll make it to Virginia City!