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Re: [RC] Newbie Questions - Beverley H. Kane, MDI just did my first 50 (which was my first -anything-) and my advice is: the first time, do it with someone who's done it before! I felt incredibly blessed to ride with a mentor who has almost 14,000 AERC miles and over 250 endurance rides, inc Tevis Top 10s and BCs. I was also impressed at how many people spontaneously hook up on the trail and ride long stretches--or the whole thing--together. Someone joined up w/ us for almost 35 miles and it was nice to have another person. I pretended I was a junior rider (not hard to do, as at age 56, I've only been riding 3 yrs). If my mentor had been pulled, it was apparently going to be pretty easy to find someone else to "sponsor" me. I still feel as tho I want to do the next couple of rides with a veteran before having to do one on my own, especially since the riding per se is only 25% of it. The other 3/4 is tack, pacing, trail finding, packing/unpacking/logistics, etiquette, feeding & watering horses and force-feeding & watering self, temperature control, and 'lyting. Also I volunteered for rides in all positions--vet sec'y, P&R, In-Out timing, set up and clean up-- and crewed for my mentor for a full year before doing this ride. Not only do you learn a lot of the mechanics of the ride, but you learn a lot about attitude and sportsmanship. A huge thing to observe is how various riders behave, what kind of attitude it takes to get yourself thru the physical challenge, and most important, how to keep your vet card clean and dry! Good luck! Have fun! Beverley =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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