Rebound *Book Two*

Chapter Eighteen *XC Walk*

Chapter Eighteen *XC Walk*

After the water complex, we walk the fairly long gallop stretch to the next fence.

As we walk, Mark matches his long stride with my short one. "Alison if your ass ever touches the tack on any of the gallop stretches I am going to have to kill you." Everyone laughs at Mark but I stay serious. I know that Mark wouldn't kill me, but I am sure he would get close to that.

I breath. "I won't, Mark." I try to respond back to him in a steady, confident tone.

We walk past jump 8, a 4 foot tall suspended rail jump, on the way to jump 9. It looked welcoming and Rebound should have no problem with it. Jump 9 will be pretty tricky. It is a downhill jump, a 3'9" foot tall rail. That is not the problem. I will just have to keep my center of gravity a little behind the motion. The problem is towards the next AB combination right after jump 9. It goes: jump 9, one stride, a 3' ditch, four strides,  a 4'9" corner. 

"This AB combination right after jump 9 will test Rebound's bravery and athletic skills. He is going to have to jump the rail at 9 straight and maintain that line over the ditch to the corner, which is set on a slight bend. There is an option at this combination if Rebound questions it but I would not take it. The second option will eat up valuable time that you cannot afford to waste. Am I clear?" Mark says sternly.

I nod. Man Mark really has this course down. I wonder how many times he has walked it before me. 

"Good. Lets get a move on." He looks down at his watch, which might I add is the Rolex watch he won back in 2004 at this exact competition.  "It is already one in the afternoon and we aren't even half way through the course."

~

The gallop to fence 11 is incredibly long. Not to mention that fence 11 is sort of a monster. It is a four foot tall, nearly seven foot spread hammock jump. My favorite part about this jump is the two wooden bunnies on either side of the hammock. It takes nearly ten minutes to walk the distance between the two fences.

"Remember what I said between gallop stretches." Mark reminds me between the jumps.

"No ass in the saddle." I repeat, smiling sweetly at Mark. 

"Good girl." Is all Mark says as we stand in front of the hammock jump.

"Picture time!" My mom says excitedly. Drew, Matt, GiGi, April, and I all climb onto the huge hammock jumo, dangling our feet over the edge. Dee and Mark stand on either side of use.

"Damn it ouch!" Matt mutters, rubbing his head. "Ali be careful when you jump this. Don't get caught on the stupid branches like I just did." Matt refers to the huge oak trees on either side of the jump that have branches dangerously close to the jump.

"I'll keep that in mind." I laugh, slinging my arms over Matt and Drew's shoulders. We all smile at the camera and my mom takes the picture.

"Perfect!" She says to us, "Thanks for the picture. That is certainly going on Facebook!" 

"God I love your mom." GiGi whispers to me as we make our way to the next jump. 

After the hammock jump there is another huge fence. It is a 4'9" ditch and brush jump. The spread is a massive 9'10". Luckily the ditch and brush is uphill so the distance should find itself. 

"What's next?" I ask Mark, trying to keep up with his huge stride.

He laughs sacrasically. "Don't get to excited. It is an ABCD sunken road combination."

"Oh yippee." I fake excitement and roll my eyes, "My favorite."

"Don't cop out, Alison. You and Rebound have trained hard to get here. You have jumped things just as difficult as these obstacles on course. You just need to keep your confidence and so will Rebound." He pats my shoulder.

~

Sunken road. That is all I have to say. Oh boy it will be fun to ride. The sunken road at 13 is an ABCD combination. The first jump in the combination is a 3'9" rail, then immediatley a 3'7" downhill bank. Two strides into the sunken road is a 3'7" uphill bank to a 4'7" curving brush. Mark went over the second option for the sunken road incase things go wrong but he expects me to take the first option. The second option will eat up time that I don't have to waste.

We take another picture at the huge 4 foot fallen tree jump. The fallen tree is angled over a ditch. When we stand in the ditch for the picture my head barely reaches the middle of the tree. It is a huge jump but nothing compared to some of the others. 

Next we walk jump 15, a 4 foot tall, 6 foot spread sheep shelter. The jump is seperated down the middle by a tree. If you jump the left of the tree it is a skinny that lines you up better for 16AB, but the right side side isn't as skinny.. 

"I would jump the wider side to the right.  From the time you jump the sheep shelter you have to pay attention to your line to the 16AB corners."

Walking past the sheep shelter I notice that 16AB comes up quite quickly. Both jumps in the combination are identical corners. They both look to have barely enough width to fit Reboound's huge body between the jump flags. "What is it? Four strides between A and B?" I take my best estimated guess.

Mark nods. "It is four strides between the combination. This jump is down hill and you cannot let Rebound get on his forehand and speed up. You need a lot of control to get over this combination. You will also need an accurate, forward ride. If you have that Rebound should be fine getting through it."

From there on after the skinny corner combination, there is a long, steep uphill gallop before the terrain finally evens out.

Jump 17 is an ABC combination. The first jump in the combination is a nearly 4 foot suspended rail, then is is five strides down hill to jump B, a 3'11" sod cabin. In order to get a good line to 17C, 17B will have to be jumped at an angle. Then after B it is three strides uphill out of the hollow to an identical sod cabin.

 "I expect you know how to jump this." Mark says this more as an order rather than a question.

I nod to him and we keep walking. Mark isn't one to talk about jumps that I already know how to ride. 

"Good. Lets get a move on. We still have quite a few jumps to walk."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ayyoh. Haha hey guys another boring, informational chapter. I try to keep it interesting but I want to add some more detail so I hope you understand. Rebound is almost 3k reads and Comeback is at 15k! I cannot believe how far these books have come! Thank you for that.

Again, all of these courses and tests for Rolex are designed and based upon the 2013 Roex Kentucky Three Day Event.