Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Well I am not quite ready to eat crow yet, but we are plucking the feathers and 
getting him ready for the oven. Plus my wife is mixing up a nice helping of 
Humble pie. Like many, I thought the Mongol Derby would be  a train wreck. Once 
they addressed the concerns about the horses welfare, my thinking still was 
that there was no way these non-endurance riders would last 600 miles of a 
multi day point to point. 

However, as of yesterday, they still had 23 out of 26 riders on trail, 
(according to the website update) Most of them have covered about 300 miles in 
5 days. The two leaders are on track to finish the 600 miles in about 7 or 8 
days. The riders have shown a lot more toughness than I would have guessed. Two 
were injured, and had to quit, while the "celebrity" rider  wussed out after 
two days. The rest have just stayed in the saddle and kept on. No Rider Options 
here. With the speeds they are going, about 60 miles per day in 14 hours, it 
seems to be much more of an endurance ride rather than a  race as advertised.  
They have used  over 350 more horses, with no reported problems. 

While this is not an AERC type ride or even a long distance ride according to 
the definitions of the Long Riders Guild, it has turned out pretty well, and 
showed what riders can do when they have to. I am impressed.

Paul N. Sidio
Spokane MO

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