"It's high time that the W and the PS regions woke up and smelled the coffee."
I don't see any LD rides in the PS suffering from lack of entries if a AERC LD BC is not offered. Every ride entry states if a BC will be awarded in the LD so riders do have the knowledge before they support or enter a ride.. I wonder how many phone calls ride managers get complaining that there isn't an AERC LD BC being offered? Maybe for 90% of riders in these regions it isn't such a big deal. If it is a big deal to most riders, I believe that ride managers would make every effort to offer an AERC LD BC, especially if they thought they would be losing entries.
This kind of reminds me of the complaints I used to hear about how it was unfair that riders that attended pioneer rides outside the region always took the top spots in the regional standings because they had the opportunity to do more rides then riders who rode only in the home region. I had even heard some say that only rides ridden in the riders home region should only count for regional awards. If the National LD BC is a goal, those riders who want to earn that award really need to only attend rides that offer an AERC BC. At this point, it means traveling outside the region to earn the award. If I lived on the east coast and wanted to be in Pioneer standings I would probably have to travel and do several rides outside my region to place high in the standings.
