Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Oh, my goodness, do you ever have it right on!  There are numerous reasons 
given why people don't ride the 100.  Some of them are perfectly 
understandable (the rider's health condition is the most forgivable.) 
Examples:

1) I rode some other tough 100 miler last month and my horse is still lame.
2) I'd love to do a 100 someday, but my horse isn't ready.
3) I'd love to do a 100 someday, but I'm not sure I can do that distance.
4) I just don't have a 100-mile horse.
5) I'll be there next year, but I just can't make it this year.

I understand every one of those reasons, and I also understand that most of 
them are perfectly logical.  I also know that it takes as much time and 
energy of ride managers and volunteers to put on a 100-miler for 10 people 
as it does for 100.  The logistics of balancing all the needs of the riders 
on 100 miles of trail is enormous.  Trail maintenance is just the beginning. 
We personally maintain all the trails on our ride, with the exception of one 
5-mile portion (which is maintained by Becky Glazer, who lives and rides on 
that portion.  Thanks, Becky!!!)  We even repair the trails in the state 
park, because they don't (CA is broke, remember?)
We are lucky to have the assistance of two horsemen's organizations as ride 
personnel, and the generous support of numerous neighbors.  If we didn't 
have that, we'd be out of ride management all together.

This is year 23.  We have memories of wonderful days of exploration, 
discovery, and pure joy of being out on this trail we love so much.  We 
would like to share it with others.

Barbara McCrary, ride mgr.
Swanton Pacific 75/100
"The Most Beautiful Trail in the World"
Website: http://members.cruzio.com/~bigcreekranch/

See our website for information, photos, and a printable ride entry





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Truman Prevatt" <tprevatt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Barbara McCrary" <bigcreekranch@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <AERCMembersForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2005 6:08 AM
Subject: Re: [RC] 100 Mile One Day Rides


> Barbara, you hit the nail square on the head. When I started in the SE 
> you'd get 20 show up in the 25, 15 for the 50 and 7 or 8 for the 100. At 
> one or two of the SE 100's I went to in the early days of my riding there 
> would be more 100's than 50's. Hey that's a pretty good mix. Today in the 
> SE - with a few exceptions ( and exceptional years when the PAC or NAC is 
> in the East) - you get 50 show for 25, 50 for the 50 and 5 for the 100. 
> That's not a good mix. I know of one 100 that was dropped because the RM 
> got tired of people saying they wanted a 100 but on 6 or 7 showed up. One 
> 100 started because the ride manager was responding to all the people 
> saying they wanted one and would come, only to have 3 people show. They 
> only did it one year - can you blame them?
>
> We've had in the SE about 50% decline in the 100 mile starts in the 100's 
> while at the same time a 60% to 70% increase in the number of total 
> starts. We went from 12% of the starts coming from 100's in the SE back 
> when in the mid 90's to about 4% of the starts coming from 100's today.
>
> We seem to have evolved to a few big 100 mile rides and have lost the 
> small ones. This may either be a cause of or an effect of the overall 
> decline - most likely both an contributor to and result of the decline. 
> The bottom line is endurance rides are driven by supply and demand. When 
> the demand decreases, so will the supply of people willing to run them.
>
> If people want 100's go ride them - increase the demand. If you aren't 
> ready then go help the ride managers on their 100's. If you want people to 
> run 100's so you can "ride them someday when you are ready," then by golly 
> go out there and volunteer to help a ride manger run a 100 today. If you 
> don't, don't expect that many to be around when "you are ready." Ride 
> managers need people to help. It's hard to get help - especially at 3 AM! 
> The fate of the 100 mile ride is up to the riders who want to ride them or 
> say they want to ride them.
>
> Truman
>
>
>
> Barbara McCrary wrote:
>
> > If riders don't come to 100 mile rides and support them, how long do you 
> > think 100 mile rides will last? A ride manager works just as hard to put 
> > on a 100 miler for 25 people as he would to put it on for 250. We had a 
> > long discussion on Ridecamp not too long ago, and it seems fairly obvious 
> > that many riders nowadays prefer 50s or even LDs because they can get 
> > back to camp, take a shower and relax.
> >
> > This is a shameless plug for our ride on August 20.
> >
> > Barbara McCrary, ride mgr.
> > Swanton Pacific 75/100
> > "The Most Beautiful Trail in the World"
> > Website: http://members.cruzio.com/~bigcreekranch/
>
>
> --
>
> “You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace 
> unless he has his freedom.” Malcolm X



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