Re: [RC] [RC] call it Endurance? Long, probably TOO long - Barbara McCrary - Erick Larson
Wow….
I believe I am responsible for letting the demons out of the
bottle on this round of LD vs Endurance. I replied to a post that had language
that I found annoying. My point was aimed at the ATTITUDES not the distance.
Since posting I received many private emails thanking me for expressing what
they were thinking. One writer remarked that if I thought some rider attitudes
were bad in this sport I should ride dressage!
I don’t give a rip what you call a shorter distance
ride. It amuses me how vehemently some have protested the use of the word
endurance when related to shorter rides. I wonder, do you all have a secret
handshake to identify other members of the club?
I enjoyed the post giving the background and history about
how all this got started. I have yet to read a post here from a newcomer
stating the shorter distance ride is where they will always be riding. On the
contrary, every post from a newcomer on this subject and every private email I
received reinforced my original point about attitudes. It seems to me from the
anecdotal evidence that the shorter distance ride IS being used as a
springboard to longer distances. As long as ride mangers continue to have half
or more of revenue coming from shorter distance riders these rides will continue.
Would any of you ride managers be able to continue your rides with half of the
revenue you receive now?
Of course there will always be a group that for whatever
reason never wants to ride a longer distance. So what? Let ‘em come and
ride a short one. Give ‘em a little prize when they win. Let ‘em
count their miles. Their entry fee sponsors you “real endurance riders”.
Since it seems the shorter distance riders don’t care
what you call it, and since some veterans really do care, and all ride managers
want to continue to have the revenue from shorter distance riders, then I have
a solution. Let’s call all rides under 50 miles the “sissyfairy
ride”. Perhaps a pink ribbon tied to your horses tail would be helpful to
identify these “not as tough as you are” folks. I think I’ll
borrow my little nieces pink tutu for the next time I ride the sissyfairy
distance. That way you know to avoid me at ridecamp. J
Seriously, I agree with the one poster who opined that
people are much “crankier” here online than in person. I have a
week off and it’s too nice a day not to ride so I am outta here. I apologize
to the moderator for inadvertenly starting this discussion up again. This
thread is now in my spam filter so I won’t reply on it anymore. I do
have some questions about nutrition and training but I will save them until the
dust settles a little.
