BREAKING NEWS: Tevis Cup falls victim to the fires
Forest fires in the American River Canyons forced organizers to cancel another of the Endurance Capital of the World’s signature events Wednesday. The Western States Trail Ride, also known as Tevis Cup was called off after race officials deemed conditions for the 100-mile trail ride to be unsafe. The ride was scheduled for July 19 but was canceled for the first time in history. The main factor in the decision was the access to Foresthill Divide Road, which will remain closed indefinitely. “The Foresthill Divide Road is not going to be open next week and it might not be open for two more weeks and that’s how we normally go up and back,” Tevis Cup ride director Mike Pickett said Wednesday afternoon. “The road being closed caused a logistical and a safety issue in our minds. No. 2, the air quality puts the horses and the riders at risk. We really have to think about the safety of the horses, the riders, 800 volunteers and all the crews.” The 54th edition of the Tevis Cup will have to wait until 2009. The Western States Endurance Run was canceled last month due to fires in the region and the resulting poor air quality. The Tevis Cup ride begins at Robie Park in Truckee. Riders follow the Western States Trail 100 miles, finishing at the Gold Country Fairgrounds. There is a 24-hour cutoff for riders to finish. Pickett and several other ride organizers visited Robinson Flat Wednesday to evaluate conditions and accessibility to the ride’s first major aid station. Pickett consulted with Western States Trail Foundation president Tom Christofk and the group determined that canceling the ride was the right move for all parties involved. “I’ve put a lot of effort, along with a lot of other folks, in planning (Tevis Cup) over the last year,” Pickett said. “But we had laid out a game plan for our decision making process and our risk assessment and this was one of those days that we were making that assessment. It’s sad. People made a lot of plans based around that ride date, but there’s no point in putting people and horses at risk.” The Tevis Cup ride’s Web site notified visitors of the cancellation Wednesday afternoon while organizers were busy Wednesday contacting the 148 registered riders to notify them. Many of the horses being ridden are already in the area. Greg Fellers, who serves as the head veterinarian for the ride, said the short-term and long-term affects of the poor air quality on the participants were other factors in the cancellation of the ride. “Air quality is the No. 1 issue for me and the No. 2 issue is the danger of being trapped somewhere, unable to get out,” Fellers said. “The air quality issue is kind of complicated because we don’t know exactly what’s happening to us after breathing this stuff for three weeks. I had concerns for what the air quality would be on the day the ride was supposed to happen.”
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but let's bring a bunch of gas guzzling SUV's up here from Marin and San Francisco to visit rinky dinky little wineries on private roads, and spewing a great big carbon footprint all over the hills
who needs the outdoors any more ?
all we need is more and more cars on our roads, public and private
What the hell does that have to do with the Tevis Cup and smoke from wildfires? Why don't you keep you mindless, leftist mouth excrement to yourself, or find someone who cares, you stinking liberal socialist.
Wow......MRex21
you have a vivid imagination
don't you see the sarcasm in the above comment ?
all the Journal cares about is getting winery ad business
they want the wineries to take over our private roads
so they can sell ads in the paper to wine tastings, weddings and other events
for profit
guess which side of liberal "they" all fall into ?
the far left side
and our so-called Republican supervisors will be voted out of office
and replaced by real, card-carrying liberals
not just libs disguised as conservatives, such as __________
148 riders seems like a low number of riders. In the past, hasn't the Tevis accepted over 200 entries?
Would all of you ultra conservative and ultra liberal quacks quit posting your comments that have nothing to do with the articles. Both of you keep blaming the Journal for all of the mistakes and stupid ideas that this community is making. They are just reporting what they see. And no, I do not work for the Journal.
We need intelligent comments posted. I bet not one of you can respond to an article without making it a Republican vs. Democrat issue. Get a life.
The Tevis allows 200 riders - 148 riders seems very very low to me too!
Glad to hear they canceled the race, and put the well fair of riders and horses as a priority. I can imagine the firefighters are glad too, not to have to worry about 100's of riders up there with ever changing fire conditions. Also, thank you FrankHawkins, great post! I would blame the smoke, but the Rep.-vs-Dem. bickering and finger pointing seems never ending in this town. How quick nasty responses escalate is both amazing and sad. I hope people don't assume all of us living in this area are like this! Please try and think locally, not just partisan!
I am glad that they gave us riders early notice. I was coming from Southern Calif. I wish the very Best to all the residents affected by these fires. The Cancelation of Tevis was a good-call, the safety of the volunteers,crews,riders & horses is what really matters.
Thanks to 19buck!!!. I lived 29 years in Auburn, now transplanted to Clearwater, FL to be near daughter and thought I'd check on my old stompin grounds. After the first few comments above, I thought "what on earth has happened to my lovely town in the Sierra Foothills?!" Political bickering is in every town. Guess I just thought Auburn had escaped? lol Sorry to hear of all the fires! We only have hurricanes and tornadoes here! ROFL! The Tevis Cup was fun to watch for each year.
seriously... I'm not for the right by any means but shut up about the SUV's ... geeeze this is an article about a race that was canceled.... geeze grow up
I am glad they cancelled, and I am also tired of breathing this smoke which has been here for weeks..hope they get the fires out soon, and those that trained and live near can ride the trails again..