Re: National Championship Ride

[Maggie Mieske <mmieske@netonecom.net>]

I like the idea of rotating the championship ride.  Hopefully, by the time it
gets to Michigan (hint, hint), my horse and I will be ready for it!!  :)
Maggie

Steph Teeter wrote:

> Ok John - here's the scoop on the National Championship (we might
> even have an Icelandic award :)
>
> When we (the competitions committee) tackled the issue of the
> National Championship Series which has been dying a slow
> death for the past several years, we agreed that what the
> membeship really wanted for a National Championship was a
> head to head race:  One race, designated as the National (AERC)
> Championship race, and the winner in each weight division would
> become the National Champion. In order to get this Championship
> off the ground, we decided to basically make it open to all. We
> agreed that some sort of qualification would be in order, but that
>  it shouldn't be prohibitive. To finish top ten in a weight division is
> not difficult. But it does require some sort of planning and intent
> on the part of the rider.
>
> So yes, it is possible (though HIGHLY unlikely) to get 360 riders entered
> in the 100 and 50 mile championships.  Unfortunately the other
> hitch in a single Championship race is geographic - the chances
> of somebody driving from Vermont to New Mexico for a 50 mile
> race are pretty slim. We intend to rotate the ride from region to
> region. The current thinking is to hold it a year or two in once place,
> and then move it. This would give others an opportunity to compete
> at some point without the expense of a major trip.
>
> So, that's why it is the way it is.
>
> Steph
>
> p.s. there is a lot of parking space at Timberon!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Oldwaggy@aol.com <Oldwaggy@aol.com>
> To: ridecamp@endurance.net <ridecamp@endurance.net>
> Date: Sunday, January 17, 1999 5:24 PM
> Subject: National Championship Ride
>
> >Let me see if I understand this.  Ten riders each from four weight
> divisions
> >from each of the nine different AERC regions for each of two separate
> rides?
> >That's 720 riders!  In Timberon?  There haven't been 720 mammals over 3
> inches
> >tall in Timberon since time began.  Where will the ride banquet be?  On the
> >airport runway in lawn chairs?  Randy will have to buy a factory in Mexico
> to
> >produce enough of the ride awards he likes to give out.  There aren't
> enough
> >people in Timberon to fix all the flat tires everyone always gets.   With
> the
> >inevitable backlog of flat repairs, it will take three weeks to evacuate
> the
> >place after the ride is over.
> >
> >I've got to see this.  With ten placings in each weight division, even
> Trilby
> >and I could probably qualify in some obscure 100 somewhere.  Can you
> imagine
> >1000+ people waiting for us for dinner?  Actually, if I go I think I'll
> dump
> >the horse in Alamogordo, fill the trailer up with ice and retire from all
> the
> >money I'll make selling it at the ride.  I think the citizens of Timberon
> have
> >already semi-retired at least from selling us riders ice at Randy's
> multiday
> >each summer.  This will be the endurance event of the century!  Go Randy!
> >
> >John Parke
> >Solvang CA
> >