How far will you drive to a ride? <LONG>

[Zebella <zebella@idt.net>]

Since I didn't want to clutter the list, I had asked for these replies
privately....several folks have asked me to share them so I cut and
pasted, and here we be :)  Seems to me we need to have an award for most
miles driven, but I think the SE region would always win! <G>

Ride managers might want to note, that it seems riders will drive
further for well run rides and nice trails and also multi-days.

Thanks to all of those who replied, I'll never snivel again about a 4
hour drive! <G>

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I normally only go as far as I have to.
When I started riding,  I normally had to drive most of the day just to
do 6-10 rides per year.  Now that there are more rides in the region, I
can pick and choose a little.  Luckily, most of the ones I like are the
closer ones.  The closest one for me is about 2 hrs, the furthest, about
10 hours. I have never traveled more than one days drive to a ride on
purpose, but I have been lost or had vehicle problems.  Not such a big
deal on a 3 hour drive, but if you are already travelling 10-12 hours,
it can turn into a couple of days.  If the drive is more than 3-4 hours,
I pack extra-extra for the horse and myself - just in case.

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5 to 6 hours driving time is max for me.

***********



I decide on what ride to go to based on the quality of the ride or the
people that will be there. The ride we ussually consider are the
following
including approximate driving time
(it averages about 60 MPH once you consider gas stops)

Far Out Forest in Ocala:  6 Hours
Florida Classic in Inverness: 5 Hr
Goethe Forest in Goethe Fl. : 6 hr
Panther Run in Lake City, FL: 9 hrs
River Run in Heihara, GA : 10 hr
Million Pines, Soperton GA.: 12 Hr
Gold Rush, Georgia Bunnies really far: 15 hr
Biltmore in Ashville NC: 14 hr
Old Dominion, Front Royal VA: 19 hr
Some of the rides in Mississippi: 17-19 hr

This year we will be traveling to the Tevis , the Grand daddy of all
drives: approx 72 hr

I have figures that I dirve about 5 miles for every mile a ride. This
soport should be called Endurance Driving instead of Endurance Riding.

*************

Depends on the type of ride.  I'll trailer two days' worth
to ride a five-day XP series, or 3 days to do Outlaw Trail.  I'll go
from the San Francisco Bay Area up to northern CA for a one-day (50)
ride, and that's an all-day journey.   So, if I have to trailer more
than one day, it has to be a multi-day ride (even a 2-day 100 is OK) to
make it worth my while! 
   A lot of it has to do with the terrain, or  the reputation of the
ride and/or RM, or if my horse is going really well.

********************

Hi, We travel anywhere from 400 to 500 miles to a ride.  But you must
understand that we live in the middle of Wyoming and most rides are in
Colorado or Utah so we Have to travel if we want to ride.              
Next weekend we're going to the Antelope Island ride out of Salt Lake
City, it will take us 6 to 8 hours depending on our weather to get
there.  We will only ride Saturday so we can travel home on Sunday.  Our
cloeset ride is the Big Horn 100 which is 3 hours from home, so
traveling for us is normal.            
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I go as far as I can get away with (husband wise) <vbg>.  The farthest I
have gone so far is to Las Vegas..which is about a 9 hour trailer trip.
(includes stops) I think that it is about 450 miles (??).  Most of my
rides are about 2-3 hours or less...those are the really nice ones
:-).    
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I think the quality of the ride has something to do with the distance
I'm willing to travel.  There was a ride that's only 40 miles away that
I didn't attend because I knew that it would be mostly under water.
I won't go more than about 100 miles for a 50 miler but am considering
going to the Vermont 100 this year which will be over 1500 miles.  I
don't have a 100 mile ride within 800 miles of me from June through
October so either I'll travel or not do any rides till Fall!!

****************

Depends on the ride and what type of training I need to do for what I
have planned for the season, ie - Tevis, XP, Mt. Charleston Challenge. 
Also depends on the Ride Manager and veterinarians, I love a challenge,
single track trail, rather than - Roads.  You tend to get to know who
"marks" a good trail.  I don't mind, rocks, sand or whatever the area
has, as long as the trail is marked.  I like to be reconized as a
person, not a number, To Finish Is To Win, but to Win sometimes is Great
too...

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Less than 3 hours, I go.
More than 7 hours, I stay home
In between, it depends

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  for me the breaking point is 500 miles, and that's 
only because I have to go at least 400 miles to get to more than 2 rides 
per year. :((  There are half a dozen rides 400-500 miles from me, and 
that's a distance I can (barely) do in one day.  Over that and it would 
be too much driving to do alone in one day.

*********************

We go to rides all over the country . Of course the real long drives are
only for major rides like the North American Championships. We went all
the way to Oregon from Tennessee last year . Usually our longest travel
to a ride is about 12 to 14 hours for a good 100 miler .

*************************

Depends on the length of the ride (will travel further for a 250 mile
multi-day than I will for a 50 miler), and hwo nice the ride is (will
travel further for nicer scenery).

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I am not sure how far it is in miles, but I routinely go to Ridgecrest
and
other Southern California areas, about 10 hours with a stop.  I also go
to Las
Vegas which is a lot further.  I would love to go to the Timberon Ride
in New
Mexico but that hasn't happened yet.  I will travel anywhere from 1 to
15
hours to go to a ride. 

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Here in Southern Oregon, we have three "local" rides, all within a
2-hour
drive.

All other rides are a minimum of 4 hours drive:  e.g., Bend, Molalla.
There are some CA rides which are at least a 7 hour drive.
For me, just beginning distance riding, it depends on the type of
terrain,and the ride management, as to whether I make a "distance drive"
to ride the ride.

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I am 3.5 hours from the GA border and if I want to do more that three or
four rides a year I have to drive at least six hours.  It is not
uncommon to have to drive 12 to 14 hours to get to a ride. The OD takes
about 14 to 16 hours.  Here in the Southeast we do not have it as lucky
as riders in other parts.  We have to dirve to ride. Some times it is
almost more like endurance driving rather than endurance riding.  

**************************

Anyway, the furthest away I've trailered is last year's Eastern High
Sierra Classic.  That was about 7 hours trailering time.

*******