Fire Mountain 50

[Oldwaggy@aol.com]

I must apologize in advance for intruding into this discussion with a few
facts.  According to past yearbooks and issues of EN, there were 67 entries in
the fifty at Fire Mountain in 1995 and 25 entries in the thirty.  In 1996,
there were 85 entries in the fifty and 49 in the thirty.  (The facilities were
way too overcrowded that year as I remember.)  In 1997, there were 66 entries
in the fifty and 34 in the thirty.  In 1998, there were 71 entries in the
fifty and 34 in the thirty.  Does this really sound like a ride which favors
limited distance over fifty milers?

I am one of the folks who entered this ride too late and won't be going.  I
enjoy  this ride because 1) it gives me a chance to hang out with and tease my
buddies from Bakersfield and 2) because I really like the ride manager and the
friendly volunteers I see every year.  Believe me, Tom Miller stays late to
put on a tasty dinner, usually in the middle of a windstorm, and a fun awards
ceremony with a plethora of awards.  Where else do I get an award for first
Icelandic?

I realize the possible confusion over exactly how to handle entries for a
national championship fifty mile qualifying ride is upsetting to some people.
Let's remember that this is the first qualifying ride in the first year for
this series.  It is only natural that a few problems will crop up that need
work the next time around.  Nothing is perfect the first time out.

Personally, I think preference at Fire Mountain should be given to the riders
from Bakersfield who seem to like going to the middle of nowhere in the middle
of January so much.  They must think they are going to Hawaii.  A few years
ago I called Kim Fuess (who entered too late) after the ride to complain about
the incredibly cold and windy weather we had experienced.  She told me it was
all the result of her using a magic broomstick to invoke a storm to plague me
and the other riders while she sat home in front of the fire with a big cup of
hot chocolate.  So Karen, let's give Weaver (1455 miles in '98) and Remington
(1525 in '98) a little more rest and do a sort of chat group thing the day of
the ride.  All of us who missed the ride can sit before our computers in warm
rooms, sip hot rum drinks, talk about the bad weather they'll be riding in,
and ..... make jokes about people from Bakersfield.

Life is unfair, but we can make the best of it.

John Parke
Solvang CA