Just a clarification, the percentage of pulls cannot be garnered from the
preliminary result I posted Saturday night. Although there were only a
handful left out on the trail, I did not have any information on who had come
in during the last few hours. It seems that once the top 10 were decided,
the radio people were told not to worry much about the rest. They have been
better informed since then, but that is why even the 50 miler results simply
said "also completing" rather than their placing.
In my opinion, what happened is that the management was so worried that with
everybody assuming that it will be flat, they wanted to put in someting to
slow everybody down. Well, the pendulum swung too far and while at a walk
the trail was difficult, it proved to be dangerous at racing speeds.
Do not let the statistics of the ride alarm you. This was a dress rehearsal
for next year, having never put on a ride before on that course. Many
exhuberant novices as volunteers, most never even having seen an endurance
ride before. They did extremely well given all this and everybody knew going
in that this year's ride was a shake-down ride. Many, such as myself, were
riding strictly to learn the trail for next year. I did not worry about the
usual things and did not prepare as though I was going to race.
I was not able to stay for the official results or the announcement of BC. I
hope someone else will fill us in soon.
Mike