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Re: [RC] [RC] RideCamp -LDs. - MarineraBarbara, In 1967 when I started the Castle Rock Ride I went to the Coe State Park Ranger and told him we wanted a 50 mile trail. We went over some maps and he figured out the route. Several of us, including Bud Neilson, Paul Scannell, Jean Jett and I think Sheila Manchester, pre-rode the trail in sections and we represented it as a 50 mile course which we assumed it was. I was the only one in the group who had ever ridden an endurance ride and we were pretty much flying blind. This was pre-AERC days; there was no such thing as a point system, mileage records, regions, etc. If it was less than 50 miles, which in retrospect I think it was now that I have done many 50's. there was no intention to misrepresent the distance nor was the term "limited distance" in any of our vocabularies. I don't think the course was ever actually measured, we looked at maps with the ranger and made guesstimates. Actually the whole ride was somewhat of a disaster. It was scheduled for April and a snowfall of 2 inches was enough to make the park ranger close the park to us. Being not too bright when sending out the entry forms, I neglected to leave a place for phone numbers. So when it was canceled the day prior (Friday, the ride to take place on Saturday) I had no way to call off the riders already enroute. I remember Pat and Donna Fitzgerald, Cliff Lewis and about 4 others from Nevada all drove 6 or 8 hours only to find out the ride was canceled. We rescheduled for May and it went off pretty well, and the good sports from Nevada returned. It was subsequent to these early rides, now proliferating at a rapid rate, that the AERC was formed in 1972 and the original definition of an endurance ride was that it be "not less than 50 miles." Since then the wording has been changed to "must be at least 50 miles...." I have lots of pictures of that first ride and we are all in western saddles, blue jeans, cowboy boots and big smiles. The big smiles remain. The rest are history. Julie ============================================================ REAL endurance is reading the LD vs. Endurance thread/debate every 3 months!!! ~ Heidi Sowards ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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