>Personally, I would not be ashamed to walk up and get a
1000 mile medallion by doing 25s. Miles are miles
folks. <snip> Those who can still do 50s and 100s
should not look down their noses at those who can only manage 25s. Most 25
milers are smart riders so give them credit. It is true that 50s and 100s
train harder and have accomplished more, but that does not take away from those
who do 25s successfully.
The second part of what I quoted from your statement
contradicts the first part. YES, those who ride 50's and 100's have done
something "more"--so NO, miles are NOT miles. If all miles were the same,
we could have 5 milers and 10 milers and count those as well. There IS
something different about going further.
That said, acknowledging that difference does NOT take
anything away from LD, nor does it mean that one is "looking down one's nose" to
admit that there is a difference! I think AERC has done the right
thing--acknowledged the difference, and set up a separate program. There
are mileage awards and career mileage accumulation for LD riders who for
whatever reason choose to do LD or can't manage to ride further. More
power to them! I'm a big fan of LD, for reasons that I've stated in many
posts over the past months and years, and certainly joined the ranks of LD'ers
to get my uncooperative bod back into the sport. And I can easily see the
day when that might well be all I can manage as well. But I've been
there--I've done the 100's--and it IS different!
Our current system is sensible, and has "something for
everybody." I think we all need to spend more time appreciating the
diversity available to us as riders, and less time whining about imagined
slights--just my nickel's worth...
