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Dream on. After four years of working (vet
recorder, timer) at 3 to 6 endurance rides per year, what I've mostly
seen is ride managers who may be uncomfortable with something but cannot or
will not risk the likely backlash from disqualifying a rider.
Just saw a new
wrinkle. A rider came in after a very slow
first loop on his first-ever ride (30-miler). And riding
next to him was his experienced endurance rider wife. When I
expressed surprise that she was not on my official list of starters, she told me
she was just riding along to keep him company. I reported what
I'd observed to the ride manager and found that she already knew about it --
she'd been getting heat from folks who thought this rule violation required
action on her part and getting equal amounts of heat from folks who thought
it should be ignored because his wife clearly was not pacing
him.
And ride managers are supposed to make a decision
about whether or not a parent is pushing a kid too hard? Yeah,
right.
Cindy
I
am not a member of AERC
but do have children. I hope to do an LD
endurance
ride this coming year (my first). I agree with having
no
minimum age requirements set...leave that to ride
management...or pull the
parent/child team should the
parent make poor decisions on any particular
ride.
That would be much better...allowing good parents and
their
children to ride...and "pulling" the others on
an "as needed"
basis.
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