Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

While endurance riding is a race and many times there are flat out 
sprints to the finish - as Joe Long pointed out - there may be some 
times when this just may not be possible and ride management must 
recognize it and accommodate for it if possible. If it is not possible 
to safely support a race, the finish line should be moved to a location 
where it is or the "race" must be decided on the trail with the finish 
much like a yellow flag in car racing. I've seen several accidents and 
near accidents - fortunately not this serious - because of poor finish 
line placement. There also seems to be the issue of the finish line. The 
AERC rules are quite specific about a marked finish line across the 
trail (rule 5.4). From the account of one rider it doesn't seem that was 
the case.

There was an incident several years ago where a spectator was injured 
during a race off. The P&G committee ruled that if there is no way to 
make it safe for a race to the finish - then there should not be a race 
to the finish. This may have been the case at the GSFHR.

Like most accidents - this I expect is most likely a combinations of 
events and poor judgments and just bad timing of a car in the wrong 
place at the wrong time. I am sure there will be an investigation by the 
sheriff or State Police since it involved a vehicle and there was bodily 
injury. There might even be litigation - most likely the driver's 
insurance company will sue the organizer and maybe the AERC to reclaim 
their loss. There may or may not be more litigation over it. I also 
expect that the organizers were required to get some sort of permit to 
run the event though public areas. This might impact their ability to 
secure a permit in the future.

Today we are sharing public trails with more people and in rides like 
this we are many times on public right of ways. That fact can change the 
event and in fact it might impact the ability to "race whenever we 
please." That is just a fact of life.

The main thing now is that it seems the people going to live - although 
a displaced hip does sound rather serious. However, we must learn from 
this incident because two horses are dead - most likely deaths that 
could have been prevented with better planning.

I sure hope the AERC investigates this accident and takes steps to 
mitigate a repeat of this type of thing in the future.

Truman

Kristi Schaaf wrote:
> Kate wrote:
> I hope this never happens again.  Check out there
> site, they are already taking entries for 2008, the
> last ‘news’ update on THEIR site was mid August!.  I
> believe that all this guy wanted to do is make money,
> I believe that this is dangerous and aerc and aha both
> of who sanctioned this ride should pull and never
> sanction again.  
>
>   


--

“It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how 
smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong” Richard 
Feynman, Nobel Laureate in Physics


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