 |
[RC] Sage Ride Manager Advice - Teresa Williams would like to ask the Ride Campers what they would consider a Great endurance ride experience. In a perfect world- the perfect ride so to speak: Ride fees, length of rides, loop or point to point?,dinner or no dinner?, terrain, tech difficulty, multi day vs one shot ride, time of year in mountain region,
With about 3 years experience, mostly in LD rides in the SE, my opinons are as follows:
Fees: $65 - $90 depending on other offerings such as good completion awards - heavy duty, creative t-shirts are still my favorite and worth a little higher fee.
Length: 25 and 50, at least. Seems 100's that are really good end up being traditions for many 100 mile riders!
Loop or Point to Point: The absence of crew makes loop rides that have VC's in camp most attractive. However, the Trace Tribute Ride is out-and-back, has away VC's and is my very favorite ride.
Dinner or not: I think not! I can bring the fixin's and create a nice meal that I know everyone will like/eat pretty cheaply. We can eat on our schedule, too. Dessert/refreshments at ride meetings and awards would provide for some comraderie without the expense of a provided meal.
Terrain: Whatever, as long as the ride entry describes it well. An accurate description of the footing is very important. If shoes/pads/boots are needed, the ride entry should say so clearly. Trail elevation change, water available, trail technicality, etc. should be in the ride flyer, if known, at publication time.
Multi day or one shot: Multi day rides seem to work best for 25 and 50 mile distances. That gives folks the flexibility to ride one or all days. The down side to multi-day is that it's hard to get off work for more than a few multi-day rides per year. Maybe start with single day and make it great... then grow into multi-day and people will already be attracted to your ride based on prior good experiences.
Time of year: The weather is the $64,000 question. Spring or fall when the temp and humidity are both reasonable. I personally prefer fall rides.... my work is much more hectic in the spring, so it is a very personal preference.
Good luck with your planning! Remember that everyone has opinions and they provide them for free.... You pretty much get what you pay for!
T. Williams Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
|