The first-ever FEI World Endurance Championship in Malaysia was held Nov. 7-8 in Terengganu. Meg Sleeper, VMD, Dipl. ACVIM, and her horse, Syrocco Reveille, competed on the team representing the United States.

While the competition didn’t work out as the squad had hoped, her journal entries provide an inside look at what it takes to transport and maintain an elite equine athlete. Enjoy!

Read the official report at “Lightning, Illness Rein in U.S. Team at Endurance Championship.”  

October 12

I have been fortunate to again be part of the team and I will be leaving in a few days for the world endurance championship in Terengganu, Malaysia.

The horses have been training in Williston, Fla., since the last training session/selection Sept 12-14. Jan Worthington took care of ours (Reveille) for the first two weeks, and since then Dave and I have leapt frog between N.J. and Fla., to split caring for her and those at home. It has been difficult, but good in many ways–mostly because the temperature is close to that of Terengganu (although the humidity here is lower). However, in spite of meeting many wonderful people down here (Bob and Colleen Marr are among the best!!), the insects seem to be on steroids and I cannot imagine living here long term. Brown recluse spiders, black widows, scorpions, oh my!! BLECK!

We still have no final travel arrangements; we only have itineraries … no confirmed tickets, although we leave on the 16th. If those itineraries are correct, the horses go through Amsterdam with Jim Bryant, and we all go through Hong Kong to arrive in Malaysia two days before the horses. That means Jim will be caring for all six U.S. horses for the 2 ½ days they lay over in Amsterdam. It is certainly imperfect, but we are hoping some local friends that can help him care for the horses those days. It will be a long transport for them … five days total.

October 14

Got the tickets today and things are getting just a little crazy. The best news today is that a good friend, Monique, will probably be able to help Jim with the horses one day in Amsterdam … big relief! More once there is something to report on, but all the horses look really good and we are hoping this is the year for the U.S. team!!

Syrocco Reveille, Dave, and Meg, at the WEC

We left this morning around 2 a.m. for the Miami airport (a seven hour drive) and dropped the horses off at the holding facility. It was a good, clean facility and the horses settled in pretty well. We left everything with Jim and went to check in for our own flights. We flew to JFK from Miami in the early afternoon and leave from here tonight at 11 p.m. for Hong Kong. From there we go to Kuala Lumpur and on to Kuala Terengganu. The horses go to Amsterdam with Jim (and help from local friends) for 2 ½ days, then on to Malaysia from there. We will see them again on the 20th. This is going to be a major maturing experience for Rev. So far, she has actually been taking things much more in stride that I thought she would. Actually, Jan’s horse, Leon, was the most agitated of the U.S. horses at the holding facility. Hopefully, Jim will be able to keep everyone calm, cool and collected for the trip. We heard that one of the Canadian horses was not able to go because of a mistake in her vaccine timing. What a bummer for her and their team!

For those of you who would like to follow the events during the ride (or to see things from the organizers perspective), the official Web site is: malaysia-wec.com I think they will have an event broadcast, pictures, etc (the event starts at 3:30 p.m. local time on Nov 7th). I think there is an 11-hour time difference, but will try to figure that out. Also endurance.net often has good reports.

October 18

We made it … all in all it took about 40 hours. Our flight from JFK to Hong Kong actually stopped in Vancouver, which we hadn’t expected, but we only had to deplane for about 40 minutes. We counted approximately 15 babies (infants) and it was crowded (and a bit smelly) from Vancouver to Hong Kong. Definitely not a particularly nice experience, but the remainder of the trip went well and the hotel is very nice. They just finished the portion where we are staying and there are a few glitches, but it seems like it will work well. They have wireless in the lobby. We are staying about 35 minutes from the ride site, unfortunately, but still another day before the horses get here so we can work out a schedule. We are 12 hours ahead of eastern daylight saving time. The Canadian riders are staying here and I saw Wendy Benns. It is Wendy MacCoubrey who had the vaccination problem, but the organizing committee is transporting her horse specially in another week so that the she can still compete … so generous of them!! Updates from Jim about our horses are that they are fine. Flame and Theatric were leg-wrapped for the trip, and Theatric had a lot of secondary leg filling, but he removed the wraps and all will be fine.

October 19

Heard from Monique today and she said the horses looked good in Amsterdam. They each got hand-walked for one hour and in the exerciser for another hour. What a relief to know she was there to help Jim!! They arrive here tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. Then things will start getting busy! After breakfast we went to the venue, took a look around, and got credentials.

They have moved us to a smaller barn than last year, but otherwise everything is organized pretty much the same. It was great to see so many people from last year and other international rides. We organized obtaining keys for groom rooms while some of the others went to the petrol station and checked out last year’s hotel. On the way back to the hotel we bought buckets, sponges, chairs, etc., and walked through the old souk area in town. The fabrics are simply breathtaking, but it was HOT!! The temperature is in the mid 80’s with a humidity of 80%, so actually feels quite a bit hotter than Florida. It is good we will be riding over night!

I am hoping we can organize a trip to visit the leatherback turtle refuge and information center (great idea of Mark’s!). Apparently, Terengganu is one of only six places in the world where they nest. Although in 2007 no turtles returned here, two females did return this June. Unfortunately, there are very few males, though, and none of the eggs have hatched since 2000. Tomorrow should be good because once the horses arrive, we won’t have a lot of down time, but we are still a little jet lagged.

October 20

The horses are here and what a long day it has been. We ended up going to the venue this morning to scrub buckets, set up stalls, etc. The horses were slightly delayed and arrived at 2 p.m. There were a total of 24 horses on the flight, so quite a few riders went to the airport. The U.S. horses were offloaded first, and Rev was in the first palette. Unfortunately, she had been loaded on one side and when they removed Reason from the middle slot (and she couldn’t see Leon was in the far slot), she had a fit and I couldn’t back her to open the stall. One of the professional grooms had to come and twitch her to get her off. However, once she was off, all was fine and she settled reasonably quickly. Leon and Theatric both leapt off the palettes and nearly wiped out on the cement runway. After all that excitement, getting back to the barn was a breeze. We walked them until the quarantine vet was ready to examine them, and Rev took one look at a sandy patch and had a nice roll. All the others followed suit.

The quarantine vet looked at her name and said “Ah, shyrocco–a seaward breeze … do you prefer to pronounce it SHrocco or SIrocco?” How cool is that after most people in the U.S. stumble over it? After everybody was through the exams, we took all of them for a nice long walk (except Theatric … Kathy iced his legs) and then gave everyone IV fluids. Unfortunately, it took a long time to organize the fluids, so we weren’t back here until 10 p.m.

Transportation has been interesting as well. Fortunately we have a small pickup truck with a short bed. We can reasonably comfortably fit five in the front two seats. Unfortunately there are 10 of us, so depending on how many people go somewhere, some always have to sit in back. Coming back from the barn last night, we also had bags of clothes to bring back (which had been sent with the horses) and all 10 of us. We managed to squeeze five of us into the bed, squished between and on top of duffle bags … then it started to rain. The locals were quite amused and someone even asked Kathy if she knew it was raining … yes, maybe it was the rain dripping down our faces. We just finished dinner and are now heading to bed so that Kathy and I can be back on the 6:30 a.m. shuttle to do early morning duty.

October 22

I am still waking up around 4 a.m. about every other night (depending on exhaustion level), so that ends up being a good time to type, but I am hoping I will be able to sleep through the nights soon. Right now there are two people for three of the horses and one for three, and we are trying to get a lot of hand-walking done. Soooo, lots to do. Also, they do not seem to use manure forks here. We only have shovels, brooms, and plastic dust pans to clean stalls. To make it even worse, used bedding (shavings, manure, etc.) must be put into plastic bags, which they take to a dumpster (and I assume on to a land fill!!?!). Those of you who know how I am about recycling can imagine how difficult THAT is for me because it is impossible to only scoop out dirty bedding with a shovel and you end up removing a lot of clean shavings, too. Since the floors of the stalls are concrete, I want to give her a nice thick layer, but that also makes cleaning it harder. I am truly considering going to the store to look for latex dishwashing gloves so that I can just pick up the manure that way!

Yesterday we did two, hour-long hand-walking sessions (and that is the plan for today and tomorrow as well). Actually the first one was more of a drag because she was pretty happy to get out and was very enthusiastic. However, with the humidity I came back drenched both times, so walking speed doesn’t seem to make a difference in your body’s attempt to cool. The second time we had a bevy of local children following us on bicycles as we walked on our training track (which goes by a few small houses/huts). They are really cute; if you smile and wave, their faces just open up with smiles and we seem to be a great pastime. However, I am sort of hoping they get bored with us. On our second walk we had five or six bikes and a motor scooter doing the trail within two or three feet behind and next to the horses; the horses were not exactly sure they liked the close proximity or the excited Malay chatter.

Yesterday, Rev gave me a real scare when she rolled into the paddock fencing and got her hind legs caught for a minute or two. She seems fine, although for the first 5 minutes after she wouldn’t walk on her right hind leg, but kept holding it in the air and stomping with it. The main result is residual white paint scuffed on her leg, a small skin laceration, and a few abrasions. The problem is the pens are only about 12 x 20 foot, and it just doesn’t leave much room for a horse to roll, particularly if he or she flips over. I am hoping that is our big (and only) scare for this ride, since there always seems to be something, and I am also hoping that she has learned she just doesn’t have room for a big roll in these pens. However, there aren’t a lot of options and she needs to get outside, so right now I am still holding my breath when I put her out.

We drove some sections of the trail yesterday, and it appears they have done a lot of work to prevent the flooding that occurred last year. There are sections they have built up with gravel (fortunately the gravel sections are not too long, but definitely more than last year). Also, they have taken out most of the palm plantation. There is a new loop which is actually pretty rolling (not flat) and goes into the jungle. That one is the fifth loop and should make it interesting since the horses will hit it when they are pretty tired. While driving we saw a pretty large (maybe three foot-long) monitor lizard sitting on the trail and a monkey in the trees. Apparently there is an elephant reserve nearby, and wild elephants are fairly close, but not sure we will see any unless we drive a bit. It is too built up this close to Terengganu. Guess that is about it for now…

October 23

Rev’s hind legs swelled quite a bit standing in the stall overnight (yesterday am), but by the time we left yesterday evening they were a lot better. I am hoping it will be gone today. I have also learned she is capable of being as stubborn as Rime (her full sister). We worked out a “deal” on getting her body clipped, but legs and ears were NOT acceptable even after two doses of sedation (including dormosedan). I think it will help with the heat dissipation a lot, so my plan is to use a razor on her ears, and keep working on her legs a few minutes per day. However, by the end of the day yesterday, I was too exhausted to keep trying and a break seemed like a good option for both of us. Today will be the first day we actually get on their backs, which will be great!!

Life lessons I have learned the last few days:

While it is surreal and humorous to hear Christmas music (Jingle Bells) when you are checking out at a Malaysian department store, continual Christmas music during meals becomes irritating after three days.

I adore lox or whitefish salad for breakfast, but finding fish in your breakfast roll when you are not expecting it is disturbing. Best to break all Malaysian breakfast rolls apart before biting into them because you cannot otherwise tell whether it will be empty, contain fruit, or salted fish.

Jet lag is a convenient way to make time for writing (there is not much else to do between 4 and 6 a.m.).

A little later on 10/23

The shuttle has improved a lot. The first few days it was running about 45 minutes late (which made for 1 ½ hours each way if you are depending on it. It is a lot better now, though-today it was actually on time!! Rev’s back legs were swollen again (I forgot to wrap them before leaving last night because we were rushing to make the shuttle), and somehow overnight she rapped and scratched her front leg in the stall, and while the scratch is very superficial … it is really sensitive and swollen. So, since we still have plenty of time we are treating her pretty aggressively (bute today and an antibiotic for 3-5 days, depending on how she responds). I feel as though I should bubble wrap her, but at least it is early and she is sound, so nothing too scary. Otherwise, it was a good day. We finally got to ride (an hour of walking, but nice to be in the saddle). Blood work was done and all the horses look really good. It was overcast all day and drizzled off and on. Actually, a very nice change!! The humidity has been ranging from 70% to 100%, with temperatures ranging from 75-95°F. When the sun is out mid-day, it is really hot!!

October 24

Still overcast today with a humidity of 88%. I was a better mother last night and wrapped Rev, and today she looks much better. Hind legs are almost entirely normal other than the scabs, and the front leg swelling is much better and less sensitive, so we are on the right road. Also, I have determined that Rev is a drama queen. She let me clip the insides of her front legs and a little more on the outer ears using the small clippers in her stall without much fuss. I will just do it gradually without an audience and think it won’t be too much trouble afterall. She also has turned into a HUGE chow hound … with an attitude. She used to be pretty picky about eating if there was any change in her “routine” however, here she licks the bowl clean at every meal. Today I gave her a little lunch of beet pulp in the paddock to start getting her used to the Malaysian product (since it looks pretty different than what we have in the United States). She scarfed the entire thing down and when Leon tried to reach over the fence in the direction of her feed bowl (which was at least three feet from the fence), she turned around and double barreled the fence between them, knocking one board right off the post. So much for my sweet-tempered, delicate mare. She has turned into a monster!!

I now have two other Americans using the latex glove technique for stall picking.

October 25

Last night we stopped by Noor Arfa, a batik factory which has demonstrations of Malaysian crafts and various items (mostly Batik clothing and fabric) for sale. Unfortunately, by the time we left the barn and got there, only the store was open, but we are hoping to get back there to see the presentations. The fabrics were spectacular and we got some gift shopping done. Cheryl and I are thinking about getting our hair cut … SHORT. I had specially gotten mine cut before leaving, but it is still too long for the climate. I hate having it sticking to my neck and face when we are walking or riding. We have found a local salon within walking distance. It is a little scary, particularly since we have seen no local women with short hair–they all wear it long, but I think we have determined to do it. Jim said he will shave his hair using the horse clippers (with a guard) so you can imagine how desperate we are.

October 26

Proving the theory that nothing worthwhile is ever easy, the last 24 hours has been pretty rough. At yesterday morning’s trot out, Rev was lame (about grade 2, which was more than we expected based on the leg injury she had). So, we decided to start on diagnostics to determine the cause. Unfortunately, it appears to be coming from her foot rather than the wound. We are working under the assumption that she did something during transport in the plane, since she has never before been lame. Jim and Becky (and everyone really) have been wonderful and we are trying to stay optimistic that we can get it resolved in time since she has never had an issue before. Jim said, “The worst part is she is the only horse that never had an issue throughout the selection process!” which actually made me feel a little better (but not a lot…). Unfortunately, back to hand-walking for a few days, which worries me a bit because of muscle issues post travel. For her muscles, would be best to have her continue the return to trotting exercise. However, now we must balance the two. I plan on walking her at least three hours per day until I can resume trotting, and hopefully that will be adequate.

Spending this time with her yesterday, Becky, Jim and I were at the barn basically the entire day (and actually, I have been on the early crew for feeding every day since I get up early anyway and usually we don’t get back until 7 or 8 p.m.). We went to a welcome BBQ at the Sutra last night, so we left the barn at 4 p.m. to make the trek back to our hotel for showers and make the 7:30 shuttle to the Sutra. The food was excellent, and it would have been a nice opportunity to see the foreign riders, but I was not much in the mood and we were all exhausted. We all ended up packing into the truck to leave early, which still didn’t get back to our hotel until 11:30 p.m. This morning was the first time I have actually slept until the alarm goes off.

It is evening now, and she looked good today … thank goodness. I walked her 4 ½ miles this morning, and another 4 ½ miles this evening while the others went out for a night ride. She wasn’t too happy being left behind, and it was more of a “drag meg for 4 ½ miles” than anything else, but we both survived it fine although we didn’t get back to the hotel until close to midnight.

October 27

The great thing about today is that Rev still looks basically sound, so we are hopeful that we can address the inflammation in her foot the next few days and she will be close to 100% by the time of the ride. Dave (my husband) gets here on the 29th, and will replace shoes, so then I can start riding her. As with many “trials,” I found myself thinking that the more effort I put into her, the more likely she will recover, but of course, that is a linear relationship.

In any case, I woke up this morning to find myself very sick. I managed to walk her about three miles in the morning, but simply couldn’t go any farther. I was walking with Jan and she kept saying, “I won’t leave you out here” or “why don’t we find you a place to sit and I will take the horses back myself and send a car out for you?” Well, I made it back, but it was clear I was not going to be up to hand-walking her in the afternoon, in fact standing became more than I could do by noon and I went to lay down in one of the groom rooms we have out at the venue. Becky came to check on me because they had planned on driving the course, something I really wanted to do, but when I had to run to the toilet to be sick when they arrived, there was no way Becky would let me go.

I managed to get back to the barn mid afternoon, but was only minimally functional. Debbie and Jim both took Rev for additional walks and I think she still ended up with close to nine miles of walking, although I couldn’t do much of it. We are keeping her wrapped in her stall (as Jim said, “let’s just do her up like a racehorse so she has less chance of banging herself”) and icing her foot twice daily. She let me do most of it sitting in a chair next to her, but fortunately, Jim ended up finishing the last leg wrap.

Some of the others have had a day or two of nausea and/or diarrhea, but I think this was different. I have been able to keep a cup of tea down this evening, so I am optimistic I am on the mend. I am actually very lucky. Stewart Dell had similar signs today, and was dry heaving enough that he went to the infirmary. They took him to a local hospital where he is currently receiving fluid therapy. I think once I am able to eat again, I will stick to bread, fruit that has been peeled, yogurt, and rice!!!

October 28

I am nearly totally better today!! Was able to eat a little at breakfast and lunch, and was starving tonight at dinner!! This morning I was able to do a slow 4 ½ mile walk/graze with Rev, and fortunately this afternoon Kathy took her out for me, because I was pretty tired by then. However, I expect I will be completely back to normal tomorrow. Also, Dave comes tomorrow, so that will help a lot (both with the physical work and the mental stress). Once he puts shoes back on, I can start riding her again (and I can’t wait!!). She looked really good today, and now I am just keeping fingers crossed that she had enough time to mend from whatever she did in the crate that she stays sound while returning to full work. One of the U.S. horses had elevated muscle enzymes after work today, so I have decided to cut all grain for Rev until she is back in significant work. Becky had a very stringent program for return to work, and none of us expected there would be any problem at all. Rev was mortified to only get hay tonight, but her weight is perfect and a few days certainly won’t be a problem, particularly since we are only walking right now.

One of the Canadian horses has anhidrosis, and Jim has been helping them with that. He and Becky have been pitching in with stalls and hand walking, and I think we have been working them too hard. Actually, they made us all go to the beach along the trail over lunch time when the barn was closed for a little down time. It was nice to see some clean beach (pipes drain into the sea near our hotel in Terengganu) and we all relaxed for an hour or so.

Off to bed, now!

October 30

Whew yesterday was a busy one! Stewart Dell (I will try to include last names or at least last initials) and I are physically much better, but still have waves of nausea and lightheadedness periodically. However, I was able to do the 4 ½ mile power walk with Rev in the morning. Zulu (the head steward) took us on a trail tour over lunch, and we managed to see loops 2 and 4. This is the same loop, just done in reverse for #4. He was driving pretty fast with four or five cars following, and it sounds like the U.S. truck nearly rolled when one tire went in a ditch. Exceptional driving on Becky H.’s part saved it and everyone completed the drive in one piece.

Becky H. and I went to the airport to pick up Dave, Steve Bentzel, and Judith Ogus. Jerry and Martha Gillespie also arrived on that plane, but were taken by shuttle to the hotel. We whisked the others to the stable, and managed to get Rev’s shoes done by the time the barn closed at 7 p.m. I had been worried Dave would be too tired from the travel, but apparently he slept most of the way, because he was WIRED!! In fact, he was up most of the night. At one point I was worried because he had been in the bathroom for awhile, but he had just been eating cookies.

Rev looked great today and it was wonderful to ride her!! I ended up taking her out twice (about seven miles in the morning and seven miles in the afternoon), gradually building up the amount of trotting. She trotted out great afterward, so hopefully things are finally on the right track. Dave was impressed that she will stand for 20 minutes with both her front feet in bags of ice … what can I say, the princess is learning, but it did take me a few days. She did have a temper tantrum on our first riding session this morning. Two of the Canadians came up behind us on the loop. Rev was not scared, but wanted to take off racing them and ended up rearing and trying to bolt a couple of times. The Canadians were impressed that she didn’t actually fall over backwards and suggested next time I step off when she goes that high. I replied that I don’t plan on there being a next time and will ride her with a running martingale until the edge is off of her (boy I hope it is off before the start of the race!!). The remainder of the training track they discussed whether horses are more likely to fall over backwards on a high rear because of the rider pulling on the horse’s mouth or the horse losing balance. When I got back to the barn, I told Dave he made her feel a bit too good. Steve B. also took her out for a 4 ½ mile hand-walk, so she got out a lot today. Steve also brought two telescoping manure forks, which he made specially to bring (so much for us coming up with our own patent!). The entire barn was thrilled!!

I got a couple of questions about anhidrosis and I guess I should try to explain it a little farther. It is most common (but still very rare) in horses which leave a cold environment for a hot one. Jim saw a few cases when he was a resident in Florida. I had personally never seen one. Apparently, they will often sweat fairly normally the first few days, but then they stop sweating. Since sweat is the primary way horses cool, you can imagine it could be dire in this kind of environment. Hopefully, this horse will respond and be able to start at the championship, however if he doesn’t, it would not be safe to compete him here. It is a shame after so much work to get here.

Megan Davis emailed that we should consider acupuncture and it was sort of embarrassing that we didn’t think of it. Anyway, Jim passed it on to the Canadians, and has actually started acupuncture in the U.S. horse with the elevated muscle enzymes. That horse is doing great, by the way, and enzymes are heading back down to normal. So, a couple of bumps along the way, but things seem to be on track now.

Most of us are pretty healthy now, too, with just an occasional bout of nausea or cramping. They have excellent sushi here, and although I was really worried after being sick again last night, I had four pieces for lunch and a couple more for dinner. So far, so good … We are now supposed to be eating lunch and dinner at the ride site, which ends up requiring a pretty long day before we can get back to the hotel. We plan to rent our own car tomorrow, which will give us a little more flexibility. We were going to share with Kathy B., but there are just too many crew people here for that to work out. I am still hoping to get my hair cut, too. Jim B. let Grace R. shave his head with horse clippers. She tried to convince me, but I am still not that desperate.

November 1

I am not sure how I ever got everything done before Dave and Steve got here, because now it seems even more difficult! That is not totally true, because this morning the three of us were able to get several stalls done. I took Rev out for about 12 miles this morning, including a fair bit of cantering, which was really nice. There are tons of lizards, a few really large ones, but mostly the small ones which scoot across the trail in front of you and remind me of chipmunks running across the trail. I still haven’t seen a monkey while riding, just while driving. Yesterday I rode again in the afternoon. Dave hand-walked her to a fairly flat part of the trail for some schooling work and I met him with the saddle and equipment in a car. Then I rode her back to the barn and he drove back with Grace R. A group of workers were working on the trail and they sat in their truck and watched me school her. When I rode by on the way home, one of them yelled, “Very nice horse!”

It seems as though we all have good days and not so good days as far as the GI stuff. An immodium a day is better than an apple for keeping the doctor away in this country! Dave is still healthy, but the travel hit him yesterday. Also, he keeps getting asked to shoe horses. Jeff P. is the farrier for the U.S. horses, but David Parro is a vet friend from Chile and one of their horses needed shoes. Dave ended up spending most of this afternoon in the South American barn, which worked out great because the money will help pay for the rental car (they are paying $2-300 per horse!!) … we decided to splurge on a rental through the organizing committee, an SUV at $75 per day, but it is worth it since Dave, Steve, and Jeff are all big guys and I just don’t think we would fit in a toaster (one of the small, cheap rental cars).

I rode again this morning and over lunch Cheryl and I finally went and got our hair cut. It cost me 8 ringats (less than $3) and I really like it. It feels soooo much cooler and the people were wonderful!! They took my name and e-mail and I am hoping to stop by and drop off some pins or stickers for the kids before we leave. Steve walked Rev for about six miles this afternoon and we went through the icing routine, etc, etc. Now on the way to a BBQ at the Sutra resort. Unfortunately, it ends up being a lot of driving, but we are planning on leaving for the barn at 7 a.m. tomorrow, so will be able to sleep in a little.

November 2

It was pouring this morning so we got a little bit of a late start, however Jan and I were able to fit in a short ride this morning and actually got in a quick shopping trip to the old part of town to get batik shirts for everyone to have dress clothing for the formal dinner over lunch. Jeff P. is a real haggler, but he ended up giving tips to the sales girls that flirted with them (and when we were leaving he yelled “good bye” down the narrow market alley and blew them kisses). Fortunately, he did not start an international incident (but in the paper was a story about a man found guilty of massaging the shoulders of a co-worker and touching her forearm repeatedly. He was sentenced to three years in prison or a public whipping). Night ride tonight, so will be late again and tomorrow I want to start driving the loops so I