Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I agree that there did seem to be some odd placements in some of the 
pens - folks who for years had finished well placed in the turtle pen. 
But, I can say that I was also, very appropriately, placed in the turtle 
pen and didn't have any problem getting stuck.  The jam up at the ditch 
was unfortunate but it apparently wasn't caused by us turtles, we just 
got hung up in it.  That would have happened with the older starting 
method too though.
The main problem with separating riders into pens by previous finishes 
is that it pretty much guarantees that the least experienced riders, 
those who have the least experience with the Tevis trail itself and with 
the fine points of timing, are all put together at the back of the pack. 
   There isn't an easy answer.
Laney

Lucy Chaplin Trumbull wrote:
> Lucie:
> > There has always been such a "push" for folks to start
> > in the "Front of the Pack", and others saying if you
> > don't go out at least in the middle of the pack, you
> > will not make your  time cutoffs.  For those of you
> > experienced Tevis competitors, my question is..
> > Can you start in the very back of the group and still
> > finish?
>
> Last year they managed the start differently from
> previous years.
>
> Riders were started in three groups.  Group allocation
> was based on your AERC ride times during the previous year.
>
> If you tended to top ten, they put you in Group A; for
> middle-of-pack finishers, you went in Group B; and for
> turtles, you got Group C. You could start at the beginning,
> middle or end of your group, but would still start behind
> the group(s) ahead of you. Each group started from a different
> holding "pen", so there were less hyped-up horses stuffed
> into a small area.
>
> (I just read what Kathy Sherman wrote and I don't think it
> was based on your past completion rates)
>
> They were trying to avoid everyone bunching up and getting
> trampled and kicked while waiting for the Ride to start which
> was a problem in past years. To that end, it did seem to work
> well. The delays at the ditch happened once the horses were
> moving down the trail, once the ride had started.
>
> I've no idea if they'll repeat this starting method in 2007,
> as it wasn't hugely popular - mostly people objecting to the
> way riders were allocated to groups. They were anxious about
> being stuck behind slower riders and held up.
>
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> Lucy Chaplin Trumbull
> elsietee AT foothill DOT net
> Repotted english person in the Sierra foothills, California
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
>
>
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