Re: RC: Juniors and miles ridden

[Merryben@aol.com]

Junior rules are pretty simple:

A junior must ride with an adult [21 years or older] throughout the ride.  
They must ride together and enter and leave the vet checks together.  The 
only exception is at the finish line the junior must be within a minute of 
the sponsor.  Juniors are under 16 the first day of the ride season which at 
the present time is 12/1.  If their 16th birthday is 12/2, they still must 
ride as a sponsored junior for that year.

However, if a junior is 14 or older and has completed 500 miles, they may 
ride unsponsored.  They must have a letter from the AERC office stating this. 
 To get the letter they have to have a parent or guardian write and request 
it.  This is up to ride management however, and ride management may choose to 
require that the junior ride with a sponsor.

When a junior rides unsponsored, they are competing in the senior division.  
Only sponsored juniors obtain points in the junior division.

We allow juniors to ride alone with the AERC letter, but some rides with 
scary trails, such as Tevis, may choose not to allow it.  

Juniors must wear helmets at all times.

There are a few other rules that apply to juniors but these are the basic 
ones.

Maryben Stover
West Region Director
Chair AERC Junior Committee