Several have commented that they don't understand why an
LD ride costs nearly the same as a 50+ ride...Merryben answered that right
off. Same HARD costs.
Sure a no frills ride would cut down on some costs,
however you still have the major costs of camp rental, vet fees, sanctioning
fees, rider fees, drug fees, whos gonna pay to feed the volunteers and the
vets? Plus the supplies you need, water, paper, forms, ect. We had a
lot of awards donated to us this year. Plus, although I am a novice here I
can't imagine putting on an event without some sort of awards. I can
tell you from past experiance in speaking to other endurance riders that
they rave about our ride and other rides because of the awards they get,the
food, plus the mountain scenary, lots of single track trails and normally
great weather. And the most utmost important thing, the volunteers that
make the ride a happy and safe one.
Our ride has had these amenities, this is nothing new for
our ride, and I think that it makes the ride nice, and why we get a good turn
out. Please know, there are no showers, these folks are CAMPING in a meadow
and the only frill they have in camp is water, potties and
food.
Freedom of choice here folks. Find out what the
ride offers and if you want to pay that fee, ya sign
up.
Like I said, we all place a different value on different
things.
Someone on this subject post mentioned that they'd like to
give something back to local 4H for helping out at the ride, but that they can't
because they are not breaking even on the ride...
4H helps us at our local ride, and they are allowed
to run a silent auction at the awards dinner. This way they get a benefit
of helping out at the ride and its at no cost to the event.
I'm with you, Susan, I'd rather go to a ride where I
really camp, with no frills. To me that's a big part of the fun -
getting out in the beautiful 'wilderness' to camp and ride.
This is a classic case of "you can't make everyone happy all of the
time".
Personally, I would rather go to a "no thrills" ride, pay a little
less, and be able to afford to go to more rides, more
often. Breakfast, snacks, etc. I can provide for myself. I
don't go fast enough to win anything. I don't
require a sink to wash my hands in a porta potty. Between
gas costs and $100 ride entry for a 25, I can only afford to go to 2-3
rides a year, and only if they are within a few hours of my
house. I had to *not* enter 2 rides in the past 2 months due to
costs/distance, which made me very sad as I do love the sport.
What it boils down to is that some of us will just not be able to go as
the total costs increase regardless of how much we perceive to get out of
it, which distance we ride, or what "bells and whistles" you attach to your
entry fees. My other thought, at the risk of offending, is that
it seems to me that a lot of people place a lot of value on creature
comforts at rides (meals, showers, special porta potties, etc.) Too
bad more aren't happy to just go rough it like camping use to be......
Not saying it's wrong to like the nice stuff, but just seems to be the way
the sport is evolving.
>>>> Everyone puts a
different value on different things........ At our ride you
got:
Use of a beautiful base camp that we rented from a local
ranch Porta Potties at base camp complete with sinks and a potty at one
of the = vet checks. Horse Feed and Horse and People water at
the vet checks Water sources throughout the ride Continental
breakfast the morning of the ride Awards dinner Buckle or Wine
glasses to all that completed Riders packets that were full of samples
and advertisements Lots of cool awards (including a little gold nugget
for the top ten in = the
50)
