ridecamp@endurance.net: [endurance] Los Vaqueros (ride choice)

[endurance] Los Vaqueros (ride choice)

WarholNW (WarholNW@ccmail.apldbio.com)
Tue, 10 Oct 95 13:25:51 PDT


One more tidbit on choosing which rides to attend-

In my case, I rode the first Los Vaqueros ride two years ago (before I
even knew Dom). I think it was in July, and it was hot. That first
ride had another loop, and I think it had an extra vet stop in camp.

The feedback people gave Dom and Donna was they should move the ride
to a cooler month, and lower the number of times you go into camp.
The rest of the comments were all positive- good choice of course, no
rocks, great course markings, and super prizes.

Last year the L.V. ride was canceled due to rain. This year the two
ride managers implemented the feedback people had given them, and made
even more prizes available. The ride went off without a hitch.

A quality ride is one where people have fun, and where no problems pop
up. An example is the Las Trampas ride 3 weeks ago. A lot of people
got lost due to marking dusty trails with a little bit of flour. Bad
choice, and there were a bunch of people who were really pissed off.

Like Dom said, the Quicksilver ride is partially responsible for the
low turnout. I made my choice to ride the L.V., and not the
Quicksilver, because I know these guys and know how much they care
about the riders. Everyone I know who rode the L.V. came out happy,
and that's important.

In fact, here is a little example I did not mention in my last post.
I was riding with another rider near the end of the second loop.
(about 18 miles or so) We stopped at a cow pond for some horse water,
which we had to scoop out for the horses due to the yucky mud. Dom
suddenly shows up in her pickup truck, asking us why we passed up the
nice water trough about 2 miles back! She wanted to be sure we knew
it was there.

If Dom and Donna keep running this ride, it will become more popular,
and the reason will be the quality of the ride. I have a couple more
suggestions for them, and I bet they will listen.

OK, OK, there was one problem with the ride. Donna forgot to write
down my name on my riders packet. I had to ask her which packet was
mine, and which was Judy's. If that's the extent of the trouble a
ride manager has, they are doing something right.

Nick