We have managed the occasional ride that is short mileage, and I have a
couple of comments to make about this:
1) It is not always possible to get an accurate measurement on
remote, single-track trails that are inaccessible by any sort of vehicle.
We do the best we can with motor vehicle measurements on some parts of drivable
forest roads, and do some measurements on a USGS map with a map
wheel......measurement + 10% seems to come out as close to accurate as
possible.
2) Sometimes you just run out of options for adding the
necessary mileage. Would riders prefer to have a RM add on some
stupid little loop to achieve the correct mileage? And sometimes, even a
stupid little loop isn't available. On our 100 mile ride, we need to run
the last few miles up a long, fairly steep grade, and boy! do the riders
complain about that! I've been asked, "can't you find another way to get
to the finish line without going up that grade?" The answer is "no."
God didn't make our area easy....it is full of mountains. We call them
hills, but in reality, they are small and very rugged mountains. And there
is no other route I can think of that will satisfy the mileage requirement and
get to the finish line. It is certainly NOT easy, but there doesn't appear
to be an alternative. So what do we do? Put on a 90-mile ride, or a
100-mile ride that riders complain about?
