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Re: [RC] [RC] RideCamp -LDs. - Barbara McCrary

Wasn't there a Castle Rock ride that started at Mt. Madonna and ended in Los
Gatos somewhere that was only 35 miles or so?  Either my memory fails me, or
....well, I don't know what.  I was sure there was one of the two rides
previous to the 1969 one that was not a full 50 miles.  Anyway, I'm glad you
straightened out the history of one of the very earliest endurance rides in
the USA.

Barbara


----- Original Message -----
From: <Marinera@xxxxxxx>
To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 9:44 AM
Subject: Re: [RC] [RC] RideCamp -LDs.


Barbara, 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
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REAL endurance is reading the LD vs. Endurance thread/debate every 3
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Replies
Re: [RC] [RC] RideCamp -LDs., Marinera