Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

  I took Mary Anne's comment discerning between endurance rides and 
limited distance rides to merely be a reference to the dictionary 
definition: Endurance Ride: A timed-event trail ride of at least 50 
miles in one day. The subjective experience of "enduring" something, 
such as pain, writing a thesis or my brother-in-law's jokes, is 
something different entirely. Using the word "endurance" interchangeably 
to define a type of ride as well as our perceived difficulty in coping 
with some uncomfortable activity almost always leads to confusion. And, 
often, folks take unnecessary offense at the use of the word "endurance" 
because they think someone is being elitist or exclusive by simply 
differentiating between an endurance ride and an LD ride. It is 
literally no different than discerning between a 10K and a marathon. No 
experienced runner would use the term "marathon" to describe a 10K, or 
vice versa. Neither would any other runner take offense by clarification 
of those terms as they are used and understood within that sport.
  When you think about it, if someone in our sport really wanted to be 
"uppity" or "elitist," there are so many more colorful ways they can do 
it. Only the speaker of these words knows the meaning they want to 
convey. To take offense where none is intended is anti-productive.   
Bruce Weary


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