Re: [RC] FEI and 100 mile competitions - Barbara McCrary
I think you have something here,
Truman. I know WE like multi-day rides.....we used to attend a few quite
faithfully. There are so many available now..... I personally would
rather ride five 50s in a row than one 100. More scenery, more total
mileage, less fatigue for me and the horse..... Unfortunately, not all of
us have enough terrain to put on a multi-day ride. And of course there is
the issue of point to point vs. base camp, daisy-petal rides. Point to
point rides, other than the 1,000 to 2,000 mile XP rides are dead in the water
before they ever start, because few riders are interested in having to find a
crew/driver. And I don't think many riders are very interested in the
historical significance of trail routes.....they just want to ride.
Why do you thing jr participation is going down?
Does it have to do with the general decrease since they have difficulty in
getting sponsors? The more I ponder this the more I think the "multiday" rides
have cut into the 100's for the "average" rider that wants more than a 50 but
isn't interested in FEI. The correlation ( and you have to be very
careful not to read too much into correlations because this is not a
controlled experiment) between the rise of multidays and decline in one day
100's is startling.
Truman
Karen wrote:
I down
loaded all the 100 data some time back and have started a couple time to
look at it, but haven't managed to finish. At the top level 100 mile ride
participation has declined steadly - almost at a linear rate between '96
through 2003. The number of rides and the number of riders has decreased.
At the same time the membership has increased by 50%.
There has also been a dramatic decline in the # of
juniors entering #'s, while they membership has increased: http://aerc.org/Ed_Max_Junior.asp (scan down to
bottom of page to see stats)
The National Championship ride
has been moved to June: http://www.doublejoy.com/erol/Calendar/RideDetails.asp?rideID=3408
in 2005. Now is probably a good time to point out to West region
riders that the only 100 in our region between now and the next NC ride is
Virginia City 100, which is this coming weekend - September 18th. If
you aren't already qualified for the 100 mile distance and want to be, this
is your only opportunity unless you are willing to go out of the region,
probably to 20 Mule Team in February in the PS region.
Karen in
NV
--
"It is necessary to
be noble, and yet take humility as a basis.
It is necessary to be
exalted, and yet take modesty as a foundation."
