But it wouldn't take a by-laws change to say roll the LD miles into
lifetime miles for either horse and/or rider.
The AERC is growing and I suspect the demographics of the membership is
changing. The only constant in the universe is change. How many people
say, "I'm going to the Bo Diddly Memorial ride and doing the LD," I'm
going to the Bo Diddly Memorial ride and doing the 25." I've heard the
latter - don't remember hearing the former unless it was a scarastic
response to a comment.
How many people "just do 50's or 100's?" - vs. "how many might ride a
25 one weekend and a 50 the next? All tells me that for the average
rank and file member that does only a ride or two a year - which is the
majority - the 25 is considered an "endurance" ride.
There are subtle signs out there - for example number of starters in LD
is growing fast and the number of starters in 100 mile rides is
declining just as fast - to indicate the every present forces of change
are having their impact. There has been a tremendious change in the
sport over the past 10 years and I expect there will be just as much
over the next 10. Someday there most likely won't be enough LD bashers
around - so this subject won't rear its head on a periodic basis.
In a message dated 5/13/2004 7:55:28 PM Central Daylight Time,
tobytrot@xxxxxxxxx writes:
Arbitrary" because if AERC defines endurance as 50 miles,
they
could just as easily pick another number--for example 25. "Elitist"
because they believe the resistance to doing so is probably rooted in a
desire to retain somebody to look down on as inferior. In fact,
though,
this dividing line is more than just a matter of semantics. There
really
IS a difference; the oldtimers (sorry Joe, Maryben,
Heck, don't blame me. I started
riding when there were only 50's and 100's and that is why endurance is
defined as at least 50. If you want to change it, go ahead, but it
requires a by-laws change and I doubt it would happen. mb
-- We imitate our masters only because we are not yet masters
ourselves,
and only
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.
