Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Perhaps the way to make endurance riding a spectator sport is to do it

the way the America's Cup yacht race in Perth, Australia was televised

in the late 1980's.

 

Who would have thought yacht racing would become a stupendous

hit with TV audiences?  It was the *way* it was televised.  The camera

was in the boat, often immobile.  It was a "you are there" kind of

experience.  For hour after hour through the deepest part of the night

you rode along in the boat halfway around the world with the sails

creaking and the wind blowing and the blue horizon dipping and the

crew shouting as they came about.  It was hypnotic.  I don't remember

them even breaking for commercials.

 

Alas, we'll never see yachting televised in that pure way ever again.

 

But maybe endurance riding could be done as a "ride along."

You'd get a steadicam rig on the rider, pick a great, scenic

ride (Tevis, for instance), and the audience gets to ride along.

It could be an Olympic webcast.

 

Linda Marins