 |
[RC] is this rude/Drafting - k s swigartLouise said:
> I thought the 'rule' on drafting was 'you can draft off me all
> you want to, but don't you try to run around me at the finish!'
I gotta admit. I don't have a problem with this either, just so long as the "run around me" is done safely and you don't do it by shoving me off the trail, and I might even consider it a requirement that I "yeild" the trail to you if you are behind me and ask to pass because you want to ride faster than I am (although possibly not if we are only 10 yards from the finish and you have been behind me for 5 miles and have stated that you don't want to go by when I have asked previously).
If this is not the case, then just how far from the finish line is it that riders who are going slower are not expected to yield the trail to faster riders coming up behind them?
> Your name will be MUD if you do that around here!
To me, riding along behind somebody being content with the pace that they are setting until the finish line approaches and then making a bid to pass (assuming it is done safely) is just good strategy. And if you have enough horse left to get past (safely), then why the hell SHOULDN'T you?
Yes, I rib Bruce Burnham for letting my horse drag his horse (who thought he should be done at 50 miles) from the 50 mile vet check to mile 70 for then leaving me behind on the "home stretch" so he could finish 10th to my 11th, but it is just a RIBBING (hear that Bruce). But he DID have more horse than I did for the last 5 miles (or mabye not, I wasn't going to push her to find out), so there really was no reason for him not to do this.
If somebody has more horse than me near the finish, and therefore can pass me (safely) before the finish, why shouldn't they finish ahead of me?
If one of the reasons they have more horse than me is that they were going slower than their horse could go by riding behind me for much of the course, then this is just good riding strategy. If one of the reasons they had more horse than me is that I let them "push" my horse from behind faster than my horse should be going, then this, too, also comes under my heading of good riding strategy.
And if I REALLY don't want somebody riding behind me (for whatever reason), then I can stop and get out of their way (or more accurately get out of the way and stop). If they REALLY don't want to go by me and so won't even when I get out of their wayand stop, then that person can learn about my "infinite patience."
But seriously, if you get out of the way and stop, then the person behind you WILL pass (because nobody is going to get into a pissing contest about who can wait at the side of the trail the longest).
For me? The rule is "ride my own ride" what the other people on the course are doing is not my problem. And I shouldn't let how other people on the course are riding their horses affect how I ride my horse (and if I let them, then that is poor riding strategy on my part, and if they can fool me into letting the, then that is good riding strategy on their part).
If my horse is not sufficiently well schooled that I can't get it to ride my own ride if there is another horse near me on the course, then that IS my problem. At which point, then I can ask the other people on the course if they would be polite enough to accommodate me with my not too well schooled horse (e.g. can I ride behind you rather than you riding behind me because my horse is irritated by horses behind him).
For me, the things that come under the heading of rude are:
1. Tailgating so closely that I am tripping over the horse in front of mine's heels.
2. Refusing to yield the trail to somebody who comes up behind behind me.
3. Letting somebody else get off to open and close a gate and then leaving them behind before they have had a chance to get back on their horse
4. Coming up behind somebody so fast and without warning that their horse is startled by mine.
5. Passing without announcing on which side I intend to do so and usually waiting for some acknowlegement that the announcement has been heard (but not always, because some people don't know that the announcement ought to be acknowledged).
6. Not acknowledging somebody when they announce their intention to pass and making some attempt to move away from the side that they intend to pass on, if safe to do so....or even worse, intentionally cutting in front of them so they cannot.
7. Refusing to accommodate the polite requests of people who have horses that are bothered by anything else I may be doing.
Riding behind somebody, riding ahead of somebody, or passing somebody any time after the start and before the finish (as long as the trail allows that these things be done safely) don't qualify as rude in my book.
kat
Orange County, Calif.
:)
|