Re: RC: Fundamental Differences in Motivation (was 3rd loop?)

["Nancy Mitts" <mitts_n@hotmail.com>]

kat,
Well, other posters have covered some of my thoughts as I read your post. 
Quite a leap to assume because you wouldn't like our trails, no one would 
unless they were after points...faulty logic there somewhere. Many riders 
only do 2 or 3 rides a season, and not winning them either. Not many 
points/awards/miles there.
There are other fundamental differences. For one thing, Texas isn't the 
whole Central Region, I happen to be in SW Missouri. The trees & brush keep 
you from seeing for miles and miles ad nauseum like some areas of the west. 
There can be a trail 20 feet away that you'll never see unless another rider 
happens to be right there. We have hills, not mountains, but lots of them, 
so you're up & down a lot.
There is also the vet check issue. I don't believe 1 check in a 50 is 
sufficient, especially in the heat & high humidity. Our Ozarks rides are 
small, shoestring, affairs & we couldn't provide adequate vet and support 
staff for multiple out of camp checks. (The riders can get in heat trouble 
as much or more than horses.) Almost nobody has a crew.
The ride managers work hard to lay out as interesting a trail as possible. 
You somewhat misread my post, it's not the EXACT same trail 4-6 times. Do 
you never train over the same trails at home? A ride IS different to the 
people who haul to them. It's just not practical to haul 2-3 days (one way) 
to ride the wide open spaces very often. (And the horror stories I've heard 
about the dust "out there" don't make it sound all that great either.)
What too many of us have in common is the "My way or the highway" mentality 
that says if something is different than what I like, it can't be equally 
good, or the "right way".
Yes, I enjoy seeing new trails. But riding the familiar ones and camping 
with friends (and getting miles tracked)is fun too. And why should the idea 
of competition be a dirty subject anyway? Many pleasure riders we talk to 
who travel all over to just see the trails can't fathom joining 
organizations and
paying ride fees. So why DO you join the endurance community?

Nancy Mitts
Boiling in SW Missouri (90+ temp, 65% humidity)

>From: "guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>
>To: "ridecamp@endurance.net" <ridecamp@endurance.net>
>Subject: RC:  Fundamental Differences in Motivation (was 3rd loop?)
>Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2000 14:58:58 -0700
>
>K S SWIGART   katswig@earthlink.net
>

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