Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

There are only two positions worth racing for 1'st and 10'th. There is little difference between 11th and 20th or even 50th. The weight division points usually take care of themselves. In the SE it's very easy to know where you are and where the other riders are since the timers do such a wonderful job.

If I were running 10th, I'd sure like to know how much time I had on the 11th horse. If there was plenty of time then I'd forget it. If there was not and my horse had plenty left in the tank, I would make sure I got out on time and not piddle on the trail. If the horse was tired and the wasn't up to anything but just finishing, I'd just do that and if we did top 10 fine, if not there is always another day.  If I were running 15th then I'd take my time and smell the roses. So I suspect with many people it does enter into the equation. Many times on the last loop, the horse is not the factor that dictates the time but the rider. I've seen a lot of horses that want to go but the rider is out of gas.

Truman

k s swigart wrote:

Howard said:

  

Look, I've ridden in the top ten, did it several times last year on
"EL Whacko," and, I'm telling you, those who do this know who
is in front of them, by how much, what weight class that person
is in, and what they need to do to pass them.
    

Look, I've ridden the top ten too.  And I can't speak for any of the
other people in the top ten, but I can unequivocably tell you that I
rarely have a clue as to exactly who is in front of me, by how much, I
certainly neither know nor care what weight class those people are in,
and I will do EVERYTHING in my power to avoid letting any information I
might have about them affect how I ride my horse so I will try to AVOID
knowing what I need to do to pass somebody in front of me (nor do I let
myself worry about who behind me might pass me).

  

--

We imitate our masters only because we are not yet masters ourselves, and only

because in doing so we learn the truth about what cannot be imitated.