Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

To all these hordes of people lost on BHB:  You were provided a Street 
Map - yep, right out of Thomas Bros - painstakingly marked with 
appropriate colored magic marker by yours truly - did any of you bother 
to take the map out and read it?  Maps are given out in conjunction 
with trail markings, learn how to use them.
As I was in charge of the 25 mile finish line why didn't I hear any of 
these hordes of lost riders say anything when they came in.  The 
comments I got were: boy is it hot, I'm glad that's over, that was 
great but who turned up the thermometer, remind me to clip my horse 
next year,  and numerous unprintable comments about the hill of 
significance.  I will admit to a couple people saying they got lost, 
but figured it out and were happy to be done.  If all these riders were 
so angry why didn't I get an earful?  I was the first 'official' they 
came in contact with that could have remedied the situation for the 
riders that came behind them (or at least gotten the ball rolling to 
get the remedy started).  When only a couple people tell you there's a 
problem you can't go jerking volunteers away from other duties to 
follow up on something that only happened to them.  It turns out we did 
have one intersection that was poorly marked, it would have been fixed 
sooner if more people had said something.  It took the 50 milers to 
come in between legs to alert us to the problem and where it was 
located.  We got someone over there as quickly as was possible to fix 
it.

Re Water:  Yes several riders came in early and called it quits.  
Complaining bitterly of the lack of water.  I listened to them, made 
inquiries - said inquiries were to other riders, Lynne and the water 
guy, and it was determined that they never made it to the water barrels 
Lynne provided.  The empty barrels had been placed by a homeowner and 
were not being maintained.  Lynne's water was about a mile farther down 
the trail.  The guy who drove the water truck to refill Lynne's water 
was working steadily all day, at no time was he sitting around 
twiddling his fingers.  The hot weather had the horses drinking more 
and people sponging more than usual, if barrels went empty they 
certainly weren't empty long.  The most complaints I heard about water 
was in the form of people water.  Yep, Lynne provides bottled water at 
all vet checks and ridecamp - just so you riders won't have to worry 
about sending some along in your vet check bags.  By the time the 50's 
started finishing we didn't have any left in our barrel of ice.  We 
gave out Hansen's instead (such a hard life).

In general:  At what point do riders start taking responsibility for 
their ride?  Lynne provides ride packets with vet cards, maps, written 
instructions, ride meetings,  a wake up call, breakfast, hay, carrots, 
bran and water for the horses, people water as well as sodas and juice, 
fruit, dinner, entertainment, awards, garbage disposal receptacles, 
more than enough porta potties with plenty of toilet paper, water 
spigots with hoses, water truck, volunteers that can be found out on 
the trail as well as in vet checks and ridecamp, a photographer, plenty 
of well regarded vets, a well marked trail (working in conjunction with 
a well marked map), and a heck of a lot more that I'm not going to 
mention.  What she cannot control is the weather, trail sabotage, 
injuries - both minor and major, printers that quit working the night 
before people are to arrive in camp when paperwork isn't complete, 
people that don't let her know they're coming in advance, trucks that 
break down, Etc.  With all the stuff that Lynne DOES do is it too much 
to ask entrants to remember that they are at an ENDURANCE RIDE and 
maybe it's time for them to do a little enduring?

Off my soapbox,

Tori 

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Just because someone tells you that your horse isn't "fit" for
endurance...doesn't mean it isn't, it just means your horse isn't fit to be
"their" endurance horse! Go for it, you never know what you'll accomplish
with that "saddle horse" or "trail horse" of YOURS! 
~  Darlene Anderson - DPD Endurance

ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/

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