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Re: [RC] [RC] Are the LD's feeding 50's? - Diane TrefethenRanelle Rubin wrote:
I think that is a good idea but fear it would be impossible to formalize. Perhaps over time it could become the norm for experienced riders who are PLANNING to go slowly to tell Ride Sec'ys that they are available to act as a New Rider mentor on the trail so the RS could post their number and where they are camped on the ride's bulletin board or on the RS's table. I personally have a lot of empathy for those who are just starting and really don't know what to expect or how to plan or, worst of all, get pounded by insensitive behavior on the part of more experienced riders. Back a ways we had an email exchange on Ridecamp where someone said that if someone can't handle being blown past at a gallop, that person didn't belong on an Endurance or LD ride. I abhor that attitude. What arrogance. I have to agree with Amber though. I think LD gets the short end of the stick sometimes. I tend to agree too. But I think one of the reasons there is resistance to giving LD a full seating at the table is that the more LD becomes a venue in its own right, the more the Novice riders get shoved off the playing field. And bottom line, it is primarily the newbies that the shorter distance was expected to serve. Not that others weren't welcome, just that the original title "Novice Ride" was clearly aimed at beginners. If LD Rides are to stand on an equal footing with Endurance Rides, there MUST be some other provision made for those who want to participate but who have no clue about what might await them at a ride. Maybe we need to think outside the box. How about reworking the traditional ride start, ie, 50s first, LDs 15-30 minutes later. We could experiment with a tiered start where ALL the riders choose the tier they want. Tier 1 could consist of all the riders that plan to compete seriously, regardless of which ride they are in, for a high finish. Tier 2 could start 5-10 minutes later and consist primarily of those who felt they weren't ready to join the hotshoes but also didn't want to be at the back of the pack. Tier 3, another 5-10 minutes back, could consist of those who wanted to go quite conservatively. Horse/rider teams would be numbered as always but the choice of Tier would be made at the secretary's table and the Tier designation appended to the number on the rider's card. Each rider would still get the the race time allotted to the ride (s)he was in. This would extend the "finish time" for the ride as a whole by 10-20 minutes past the usual 12 hours. Yes it would take some getting used to but heck, changing the thinking that 25 miles = a beginners ride to 25 miles = a serious competitive endeavor requires "some getting used to" too. :) Well, just some thoughts. I hope some of the LD advocates on Ridecamp can come up with other ideas we can chew on. I am sure they were all beginners at some point and know the huge amount of trepidation that newbies can feel. It's not fair to the beginners to throw them aside when, as another earlier poster pointed out, it's not the Juniors in our sport that grow into the main bulk of competitors. It is the people who USED to be into horses who come back. Those people often don't know about our sport and it is they whom we need to encourage and support. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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