Re: Working and Riding Criteria 5-7 miles (30-40 min.)"Question"

[Ruth Abair <rabair@dproti.dcrt.dla.mil>]

Dear Heidi and Ridecampers,

I  am another "wanna-be" endurance rider. I too, work 40 (daytime) hours
a week, and am able to "flex" my schedule which should  allow time off
for hauling - if and when we ever get started that is!

For the last 20 months, I  have been riding Classy (14 yo) an "average
of"  9 miles twice a week and 20 miles on the weekend. And if weather
and time permits, we have been going up into the mountains for the
weekend. Until I read your post, I figured we were "more than ready" to
tackle our first LD this September. Now I'm not so sure. Reason being
that our "training ground" for our weekday/evening rides consists of
"suburbia" - you know - concrete, asphalt and rock roads? Therefore, we
walk and trot - no cantering or galloping - and it takes us about 1 &
1/2 to 2 hours (depending on which route we take) - not 30 to 40
minutes. The weekend ride is not a problem, we haul to places where we
have varied terrain (ie: sand, rocks, gullies, hills, trees/obstacles)
and go at a pretty good clip.

Now in a quandry - please help?

Ruth and Classy ("But mom, you said we were ready!")  in NE Texas