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Re: [RC] Time and Money to Do This Sport... getting philosophical - Mike LewisThank you, Chrystal. I was driving a '91 Ford diesel up until the middle of last year when we moved to a new place (no more flat roads) and I just couldn't get up the hills with the trailer without getting out and pushing. That was my favorite truck, but it needed an un-tired engine. My wife and I are in the "family building" stage... stepdaughter is 5 and loves horses, son is 2 and seems to like them, and then there's one "in the oven" who tagged along for his/her first 25 last weekend. Ummmm... my wife won't be riding much longer till after the baby... I think we're doing fairly well instilling endurance into our children. Looking forward to when they can come along with us to rides--right now, they're a bit too young. Hats off to you for riding in -20 degree temperatures... that's about 40 degrees colder than I think I could tolerate without purchasing some serious cold weather gear! Mike --- Chrystal Woodhouse <Chrystal@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Hi Mike :-) when I joined this sport 5 years ago I was actually surprised that my hubby and I ( in our early thirties then) were among the youngest people in the club!!:-) But then realized that realistically this sport takes a lot of time, even when not competing seriously, and when one has small children and a lot of financial responsibilities it is hard to do endurance rides, However it can be done!:-) First of all getting your family on board is paramount :-) my husband is really social and loves to volunteer so likes to come to the rides, my kids ride with me at home and have competed with me and love the overall camping every 2cnd wknd, ( my daughter did her first 50 at 11 yrs old with me.) Our stuff is OLD, our Ford is a 1989 and the trailer was made in the 70's but it gets us to rides ( and the trailer has LQ'S :-)) And as everyone has said it is really about commitments/priorities, our vacation time is spent at rides, so is most of our extra $. And I don't want to jump up on a soapbox but your kids will very soon be older and off by themselves, enjoy them now, although people keep talking about everything they have given up in order to ride ( me included :-)) in my opinion kids/family aren't an acceptable trade off. :-)( Which is why it is important to convince them that they LOVE endurance as well! My kids are not allowed to go to pony club horse shows etc... , we just don't have the time to do that and long distance riding.) Saying all that I do think this sport can have a big impact on people's lives, you are right in that it seems like a lot of endurance people work for themselves , I think that has to do with people wanting a better quality of life and having more time to ride! So they start thinking outside of the box. People seem willing to move in order to live in less expensive places so they have MORE time and less money!:-) I don't think $ is as important as time& commitment in order to be successful in endurance riding. As a matter of fact I will get back to you on that later this year as I am hoping to prove that theory,:-) so off I go in -20 C weather this a.m. to work my horse as our first 50 is in April and I want us to be ready!!( I also want to try the OD this year, it has become my mantra as I peel frozen fingers off my reins and work out at the gym three time s a week, all so I can try to finish the OD.:-)) Good luck, sounds like you have a lot of drive and one day you will probably be riding internationally.:-) Gotta get going as the longer I stay inside and consider the weather the harder it is to get myself out there! Chrystal Mike Lewis <mlewis73@xxxxxxxxx> Sent by: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 02/12/2007 08:56 PM To ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx cc Subject [RC] Time and Money to Do This Sport... getting philosophical I've been riding endurance for about 9 years now, including a 4 year break due to work duties and graduate school. I have been wondering how folks afford this sport financially and in terms of time. Big changes since I last rode endurance regularly: got married and started a family, and was promoted at work. My desire is to ride at least 90% of the rides in my region during any given season, and to go as far with this sport as I can. I want to ride well in some big races overseas sometime within the next 40 years. :-) After riding an old gelding for years, I finally have a horse who might be competitive in long races (and want more such horses in my stable), and being an avid athlete myself know I can take just about anything the trail offers. Bottom line from what I've observed is that it looks like most folks who are successful in this sport are self employed, are part of a wealthy family who share this hobby, or are employed by a gracious employer who allows plenty of time off to trailer to rides on Thursdays/Fridays. It seems difficult for us mid-30-somethings with a "regular job" and family responsibilities to dedicate the time and money endurance racing requires to be successful. I'm not here to gripe as much as I'm looking for folks' anecdotes telling me I'm not so unique in my search to give endurance racing more priority in my life despite job responsibilities and pay situation that makes doing so difficult. :-) Would be interested in hearing from folks who are excelling in this sport despite demands of job/family/pay situations. How'd ya do it? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. 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