Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

There are no placements in LD.  No points assessed for 1st place, 2nd, etc. 
at a ride.  No weight categories.  There is no lightweight, middleweight, 
heavy weight class in the LD.  You're not even asked what your weight class 
is if you ride in the LD.

It's not treated as a competitive sport.  When the completers of the LD are 
recorded in the AERC data base there is no first place, second place.  BC is 
not standardized in the sport at all; different depending on which region 
you're riding in and what ride you're attending.  Sometimes not given at 
all.

No national awards for the LD except for mileage.  No regional points 
awards, no Regional Best Condition Standings, no National Best Condition 
Award, no Family award, no Pioneer Award.  The list goes on.

To put it simply, there are no rankings whatsoever in the LD.  We have 
clouded over this by saying it's not really endurance.  We don't mention the 
top tenners in Endurance News and on the computer standings even though we 
do give this out at the rides (some of them, anyway).  Some sort of secret, 
you have to attend if you want to see who top tenned.  And, even if you go, 
the weight class is never mentioned because weight classes don't exist when 
it comes to Limited Distance Riding.

What part of this don't you understand, Heidi????  We have completely taken 
away the competition of the LD, even though it does exist at every ride that 
has one, by not recognizing the top ten riders.  Heck, let's make it the top 
five.  1st place does not exist.  There is no winner.  This is what I mean 
by treating them like children.  Throw that in with the fact that there's no 
finish line and, maybe, it's just me, but, we could do better here.

We've corrected the mistakes of the past but, yet, we still continue to 
punish the LD riders because of those mistakes.  The LD rides I attend down 
here in the Southeast are fantastic.  We give the riders credit here for 
what they do.  The problem is with AERC in this arena.  They don't recognize 
the efforts achieved and that's what this is all about.

cya,
Howard


> From: <heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <howard9732@xxxxxxx>
> CC: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: RE: [RC]   [RC] LD catagory....?
> Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 08:54:19 -0600 (MDT)
>
> > This is the point I've been trying to make for a couple of years now.
> > LD,  with a name change to get rid of that word "limited," should be
> > treated as a  sport because that is what it's become.
>
> What about it ISN'T treated like a sport now????  The LD riders get
> regional and national awards, mileage tracked, completion awards, etc.
>
> > We don't have to include the sacred word "endurance" as part of it if it
> >  offends the majority, but, let's recognize it for what it's become.
> > Riders,  with their horses, do compete in this distance.
>
> It IS recognized!  And the word "endurance" isn't "sacred" for goodness
> sakes, nor is this about "offending" the riders of longer mileages.  It is
> ABOUT the fact that there IS an added challenge to going further.  Several
> people have now written good posts about comparing marathons to endurance,
> and I think most readers "get" the point, despite Truman's attempts to
> circumlocute.
>
> > Quit treating them like children here.  It's offensive!  It's a sport,
> > by  itself, and if AERC doesn't start recognizing it as such there will
> > come a  day when they organize and start rides all on their own, without
> > any  sanctioning.  Recognize it as a competitive sport.  Give them
> > points;  doesn't have to be endurance points, but, recognize their
> > placings and their  achievements.
>
> Their achievements ARE recognized!  The rub seems to be about a national
> BC, and that seems to affect how things are handled in only a couple of
> regions.  The making of a mountain out of a molehill with regard to the
> rest of the LD concept seems to have come unilaterally from you and Truman
> (if I dare speak the obvious out loud, which I had already observed, but
> which has so far only been articulated in numerous private posts, as
> apparently no one else wants to say the obvious out loud).
>
> > If we don't, they will eventually go elsewhere.
>
> Huh?  They are flocking here in droves, for the way it is!  Truman
> constantly quotes the allegedly huge LD numbers in the SE--and the numbers
> DO support his claim that the LDs are often larger than the 50s, although
> I already addressed the fact that rides with the 75-100 entries that he
> quoted were clearly not the norm.  We likewise see LDs here with roughly
> the same entry numbers as the 50s frequently, so clearly we are not
> driving people away.  And there SHOULD be SOME incentive to want to move
> on into endurance from LDs--that is one of the major reasons for having
> them!
>
> Heidi

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I can tell you after sleeping in a tent, then in my truck, then in the back
of a trailer, then in a gneck trailer w/no LQ, and now in the new-to-me LQ
one, you don't sleep any better the night before in nicer digs - you're
just more comfortable while you're lying there obsessing :)
~  Tina Hicks

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