RC: Re: Endurance as a team sport

[Roberta Jo Lieberman <woik@home.com>]

Nancy wrote:
<In the Mid-Atlantic region CTR's often have team awards. Riders team up
& 
sign up at the ride.  Each team member pays $5 (usually, but depends on
ride) 
to participate --- the team picks a team name, which is part of the fun
--- 
many are very clever.  At the awards, the 1st place team, their clever
name 
announced, gets first pick of the team awards (sponges, buckets,
leadlines, 
etc) and so on down the line.  It's a great way for the ride to pick up
some 
extra $$ and for more of the riders to go home having '"won" something.>>

The Old Dominion for one offers team competition as you describe it.
It's free to sign up your team, and three of the four must complete.
They give out Olympic-style "medals" on blue, red and yellow
neck-ribbons to the top three teams on the 50 and 100. I just dusted off
a few sitting around, and found a "silver" team medal from the "Old
Dominion 50-Mile Team Challenge 1995" and a "gold" medal (blue ribbon)
for the 100 -- no date, but I think it was 1997 when Matthew, Winkie,
Adrienne Hewitt and moi all finished in the "Top 11." (Guess who missed
top ten by a whisker?) Like Nancy said, they give out other cool prizes
and we get to go home all puffed up and proud. :)

At the last ROC held at Fort Armstrong, we were assigned to teams of 12,
with matching pinneys and sponsors. That engendered a great sense of
teamwork, and really helped to coordinate crewing on an efficient (and
fun) scale. 

Bobbie & April ("What's the Old Dominion, mom? Can I go?")
Pacific Southwest