Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

appleg8 wrote:
> Diane... you would have been better off just saying you made a mistake or 
> nothing.

I didn't make a mistake, unless either some LDs have less than 15 minutes 
of hold time or you count not including the bit about the possibility of 
reporting a ride time as the time on the clock when someone finished. 
There ARE some errors in the reporting and given that, it makes sense to 
view with caution the entire database IF one intends to use that database 
as the source for any research.  For most of us, we are just casual 
observers and there is no need for us to nail down every gnat's eyebrow. 
However, if you want to do an analysis of finishing times, it probably 
makes sense to get the actual reports so you could catch as many errors as 
possible.

> This is a huge problem on the list of bloviating when there is no 
> factual data to back it up. And further as David pointed out if you are 
> not even riding for the past eleven years makes your point even more 
> disingenuous.

Is there a connection between when one did one's last ride and whether or 
not one can read?  The sources for my comments about errors in reported 
ride times were some 2006 ENs.  Ex:  Washoe Valley 25, 06-May-06, in Jul 
EN; Hells Kitchen Canyon 25, 13-May-06, and Wyoming Wild Horse Challenge 
25, 03-Jun-06, both in Aug EN; Hog Wilder Pioneer 25, 23-Jun-06, in Sep EN.

> I asked David to do another little study for me... of the RM that do not
> furnish finish times for LD's.
>
> I was very pleased to see that it is a very small number of RM that 
> practice this.
>
> To make the assumptions you have here in this post as well that the RM 
> still are not accurate does you no favors I am sure.

I believe that almost all RMs report accurately.  They don't include hold 
times, as Heidi said, and they don't transpose numbers and they don't give 
completions to riders who are OT.  That said, there ARE errors and thus it 
is incumbent on a RESEARCHER to exercise due diligence with the data he or 
she uses.  Most researchers make an effort to determine the probability of 
errors in both their data and their analysis.  That is why results are 
rarely stated as a flat number but also include a +/- error range that 
represents the researcher's best estimate of his "level of confidence".


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