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RE: [RC] Poor showing at WEC - heidi

Amen.  Furthermore, it looks like they will be coming home with healthy horses--which is a HUGE improvement over a couple of past WECs when the "team management" interfered with how the horses had been shod and managed, and caused some serious problems. 
 
While we didn't garner any medals, my impression of this effort was of a much better managed and executed effort than our last couple of outings to WECs.
 
Heidi
 
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [RC] Poor showing at WEC
From: Elizabeth Walker <bwalker2@xxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, November 10, 2008 5:16 pm
To: Ridecamp <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Sorry - I totally disagree.  We had one rider drop out because of severe illness, 2 most probably because of the effects of a fall after a nearby lightning strike.  That is a 50% attrition due to plain, unadulterated "bad luck".  One was pulled for a lameness that I'll class as part of the ride, for an overall 30% completion rate in a race that had a 30% completion rate.

Kathy Brunjes was #24, and Valerie Kanavy was #25, out of a total of 48 finishers. Finish time was 2 hrs behind the winner, and 2 hrs and 20 minutes ahead of the last finisher. Or ... just about middle of the pack.  Nobody "in the know" has said, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the finish times/pacing was what they had planned from the start.  I would be very surprised if the team had planned the kind of pace that the winner and the UAE team produced.  If you plan your ride, and ride to plan, that is a success.

Did we do as well as some?  No.  Did we do better than others?  You bet.  I believe that none of the host Malaysian team (with twice the number of team members) finished.  

Seems to me your definition of "respectable finish" is "finish in the top 10, and preferably the top 3".  In a sport where lots of money *can* increase your chances of winning, I think our self-supported team did extremely well.



On Nov 10, 2008, at 3:05 PM, Ginger Bill wrote:

I am well aware of what our people are up against and evidentally it's out of our league or at least out of the leage of the representatives that have been sent. Now it is what it is. If we can't compete to the best of our ability(maybe we have) then it's time to re-evalute or get out of the compeition. I don't have to be a 100 mile rider to know this lesson. My opinion is the same as always, get it together or get out of the competition. YES, TO FINISH IS TO WIN, but we couldn't even finish respectfully. I knew when I sent the post there would be some upset people and this not a new subject as we go through it every year. Let's have some real pride and get this job done right. Ginger

From: mspooh17@xxxxxxx
To: orrinandginger@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [RC] Poor showing at WEC
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:41:26 -0800

OMG Ginger, do you really understand what are riders are competing with? Most of the winners in the last several years have unlimited budgets, have riders, grooms, etc and hop on when the time comes, money is no object and they have a "hometown" advantage! Two of our riders DID win international rides. 
 
<snip>

From: orrinandginger@xxxxxxxxxxx
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [RC] Poor showing at WEC
Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2008 15:57:21 -0800

I've been monitoring our US Teams that represent the sport of Endurance. I wish that whoever is deciding how we ride these events would wake up and smell the roses. Now, you are ready to pounce on me and my shoulders can take it, but our Teams are DREADFUL!  Every year we become worse and worse. I do not care what the other countries are doing, especially the ones that I can't even pronounce their names when we are at the low end of the totum pole. I would be there waving my flag if we could get our act together. Now if this is the best we have then lets get out of International competition until we can compete with our heads held high. This is not cool! Okay, let me have it. Ginger



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