I NEVER said that! (was motivation)

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

K S SWIGART   katswig@earthlink.net
 
Tina Hicks said:

>You've drawn a pretty crass
>correlation here I think. That people who do looping back to camp rides
>are obsessed by miles, awards, etc...???? ...

I NEVER drew this correlation, YOU did.

>You also state that there's nothing wrong with those of us who continue
>to do it even tho we don't have access to all kinds of spectacular trail
>- how nice of you to give us your blessing and allow us lowly "loop back
>to camp" riders to participate in your sport :).

Nor did I ever imply that I was "giving my blessing" to people
wanted to participate in "my" sport.  And if this is the way
you read it, it is because you inferred it, not because I
implied it.

In fact, I was quite careful to state that there was nothing 
wrong with doing endurance for reasons different that mine. Nor 
do I think that people who do endurance for different reason are
"dolts." So if Louise Reidel thinks she is a dolt for doing 
endurance for different reasons than I do, that's because that's
what SHE thinks, not because it is what _I_ think.

I never said that everybody should want to do endurance for the
same reasons that I do.  I merely pointed out that there ARE
some fundamental differences in why we all do endurance and
that we would do well to identify and address these differences
rather than a) pretending that they don't exist or b) becoming
defensive about it or c) attempting to impose our own motivations
on somebody else.

Much of the flaming that goes on in this forum is driven by the
fact that there are tons of different reasons for why people do
endurance. That IS what much of the whole "horse abuse" thread
was about. And that IS what most of the whole "LD v. Endurance" 
and the "LD & BC" debate is about.

Some people go to race, some people go to complete, some people
go to socialize, some people go to "sit astride a horse," some
people go to camp (or not to camp :)), some people go for the food??,
some people go for the awards, some people go for the points, 
some people go for the challenge, and some people go for the 
trail.

Most people go for some combination of these things.

I could, if I wanted, go back and quote from posts to ridecamp
just from the past two weeks from countless people that would
demonstrate just how differently motivated we are. 

And I was VERY careful in my last post to suggest that the AERC
(as a national organization) needs to understand that these
differences in motivation exist and, as much as possible, to
allow "locals" the latitude to set up their rides in such a way
as to appeal to the motives of "their constituents."  Whatever
their motives may be.

I tried to be clear that my motivation was no better or worse 
than anybody else's, just different.  Apparently, I was 
unsuccessful.  I was, indeed, trying to be thought provoking to get 
people to be aware of our differences so they can be understood
and addressed; but it seems instead I ended up being "crass."

I intended to be condescending to people who think that there
are no differences or that the differences don't matter (I called
this idea "fatuous").  They DO exist, they are very real, and
should not be ignored.

How to create and organization that addresses the needs of a
multitude of people from different backgrounds with different
motivations is a monumental task (and sometimes impossible).
The way to do this is not to create more rules or impose more
standards, but rather to have less.  Rules are a way of excluding
people who are motivated in ways that you consider unacceptable.
So when new rules are suggested or contemplated, it would be good
to determine just who we are trying to exclude by this rule, and
just what type of behaviour we are trying to promote (and what
kind of people are motivated by that type of behaviour).

I am sorry if people thought that I was suggesting that endurance
riders should only be motivated by the trail (I was quite clear in 
stating that I DIDN'T think that), or that I was "allowing" others
to be motivated differently than I am.  Your motivations are your
own and you don't need my permission to have them.

kat
Orange County, Calif.

p.s.  I don't mind rides that loop back to camp, I just can't
imagine doing it all on the same trail.  Many of my favorite 
rides (like the Eastern High Sierra Classic) are loop rides that
bring you back to camp...but they don't send you back out on the
same trail again.  Logistically such rides are easier.  However,
I am also going well out of my way (and, in fact, volunteering
NOT to ride) in order to save a point-to-point trail that is
1,200 miles from my home...because the only other one is 2,500
miles from my home :)