Re: Newbies at NC - Question for Karen

["Kathy Mayeda" <Kathy_Mayeda@atce.com>]

Title: Re: Newbies at NC - Question for Karen

Janie Olson said:
So put yourself in that point in time.  Would you have been as
enthusiastic about the sport if you were told that you could not compete
in NC rides or Tevis or ROC or???  It would probably seem like AERC is a
closed club.  Think about it.

Anyone could join AERC and participate in any regular sanctioned rides.  There is nothing closed about it.  Think about it..  I think the NC and Pan Ams are the only AERC sanctioned events that need qualifications currently – someone correct me if I’m wrong. Tevis is an open ride and has no previous qualifications except that you have to initial a clause saying that you have participated in a ride greater than 50 miles in length.  ROC is an open ride this year after much talk about sanctioning, but originally there were qualifications to be met, and probably in the future there will be qualifications to be met.   It is labeled as a “championship” ride.

Regardless, I am more concerned about preparing for a ride like Tevis even though there are no “qualifications” than qualifying for the NC.  I don’t think that qualifying for the NC50 is all that difficult to do, even with the new qualifications.  You just make a choice and make it a goal to do something, then it will be an achievement.  I qualified for last year’s NC 50 “by accident” and I didn’t really consider it to be a real big achievement at all, therefore I had zero interest in riding in the NC on the other side of the continent.  The word “championship” should mean something.  There were many people out West that felt the same way as I do about being qualified, but had no interest in taking the time to drive across country to compete in this event, because of the low qualifications requirements.

Then I thought about the Ride and Tie Championship.  I believe anyone could participate in that one.  It was a great event, the competition was good, and hopefully it would draw more people into the sport.  But then again, their pool of participants is even smaller than AERC.

K.