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[RC] [RC] Tevis Coverage - Lucy Chaplin TrumbullJoane Pappas White:JoaneIt was a most frustrating experience to find so little information on the official Tevis Website... I was co-in charge of this year's webcast, so I'll try and answer some of your questions as best I can. As others have said, I have no idea where you were looking during the event, but it evidently wasn't where everyone else was looking. Did you poke around on the "webcast" section of the website at all? Did you make sure to hit "refresh" when going to each web page, to make sure you weren't pulling up a cached version of each page? We had links to every check that we were able to receive reports from, as well as a finishers list (WiFi straight from the finish line to the database - so we got our speediest updates ever!), and a pull list. As far as I know two pulls were missing from that list - Dabney Finch who we had to track down after she vanished off our reporting and Carl Bruno, which was at the finish and we were never told about. There were a couple of checks that experienced problems in reporting (mostly Deadwood and Lower Quarry), but those were resolved to some extent. We were able to alert crews at the stadium or at the finish line about when their rider left Lower Quarry, so they knew when to expect them in. We got good reports from Francisco's, which in the past has been really difficult as they are down in a hole of a canyon (1000' canyon walls either side, and they are on a bend in the river). With the exception of Michigan Bluff, Foresthill and the finish line (where we were able to position laptop operators to input the data directly), all the other check data was supplied over the radio. I monitored the Tevis Website all day yesterday and last night for information on how Christoph and our Husky were doing... "Husky" looked good all day - in fine flesh and cheerful going down the trail. At BC judging at 10:30 on Sunday, he was somewhat off during the trotting part. The vets don't share their other observations so I can't comment on anything else. We learned that Cathy had won---almost two hours after she did. See Mike Maul's comments. I finally gave up on our pairs, who I knew could not be that far behind, but after two more hours without information, we could not keep our eyes open. Here you hit the nail on the head. You say you were at home, yet "couldn't keep your eyes open"... personally I got 14 minutes sleep (in the horse's stall, while I was supposed to be watching her after crewing all day) between 2:30 am on Saturday through Sunday afternoon. Prior to that, I'd gotten 15 hours over three nights since Wednesday morning. I apologize for wasting those 14 minutes sleeping whenI could have been uploading photos or perhaps writing up my impressions as to what went on in a field of 200 horses, over 18 vet checks, over 24 hours, with riders finishing in a 6 hour window. I'm sorry I wasn't able to post the Haggin Cup winner as soon as it became available on Sunday afternoon, I selfishly went home and slept for 13 hours straight instead, then got up this morning and came to work. With more volunteers, spread less thin, such things might be easier. DO ANY OF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION? For Example, This appears to be one of the longest first places times in the history of the Tevis---is that due to a change in trail or was yesterday that hot and humid? There was no trail change. It is likely that next year there will be a new trail out of Robinson Flat, but not this year. It was hot and I believe riders rode conservatively because of it. The vets lowered the pulse criteria at several checks (the pulse criteria at Foresthill was set at 60, for example) and were told to pay particular attention to metabolics at key locations (Michigan Bluff, after climbing out of the canyon, for example). They did exit CRIs at both Robinson Flat and Foresthill, which was excellent. Foresthill also had vets checking for soundness on exit. There was nothing on the conditions and how the horses and riders were being affected by them. Are all the horses and riders okay this morning? It was my understanding that the only injury was sustained by Jan Jeffers who broke her wrist fending off a fall by her horse when he slipped on some rocks. This I learned this morning. Horses were treated - I'm guessing as a precautionary measure in most cases. Riders were waddling but were able to make it up the stairs to be awarded their buckles. The coverage gave us only some basic time information, it did nothing to help us understand and digest that information. All information that appears on the web is supplied by volunteers. To minimize your frustration next year you could volunteer yourself to gather this information on site, type it up, figure out a place to access the web and upload it. Since the trail covers a 100 miles, actually gathering this information is a challenge in itself, but any information that is able to be shared is welcomed, no matter how small. I realize how much we have all come to count on Steph and John's coverage and evaluations of endurance rides on Endurance Net! Is there a reason why Endurance Net did not cover the Tevis? Last night one of the Ridecampers commented on the lack of Tevis chatter on Ridecamp but for some of us, you Ridecampers were a better source of information than the entire Tevis Website. Thanks for the few bits of information you shared. I really don't know what to say to you Joane. Not to knock Steph and John's efforts which have been wonderful in the past, but thinking back to their coverage of UAE as an example: they were positioned in a (I'm guessing air conditioned) press box right above the finish line, with full telephone and internet access. All the vet checks were back at the same site. The ride was won in 7-8 hours, at which time the ride sort of closed down and Steph and John had to struggle to glean any info about other riders. They were able to take photos from their location and then upload them on their fast internet connection. Compare this to Tevis where the database is the only thing air conditioned and although close, it still doesn't have a line of site to the finish. There are 18 vet checks and to access them all requires approximately 150 miles of driving (give of take, depending how you measure it). There are only two checks that may possibly have telephones anywhere near them, and one of those has to be pulled in by the local telephone company and strung on trees for the event. The temperatures are almost always over 95 degrees in most locations and most computer equipment starts to complain at over 95 degrees. I thank everyone else for their encouragement about the webcast. We did our best and it actually went much better than I had hoped, after having to make some last minute volunteer rearrangements. With Richard Goodwin, database guru stepping down after this year, I have no idea how it will work next year. This year might be the last that we are able to provide this coverage. Lucy Chaplin Trumbull elsietee AT foothill DOT net Repotted english person in the Sierra foothills, California * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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