Re: Controlled Starts vs Non Controlled

[CMKSAGEHIL <CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com>]

Hi, Cheryl--

As a ride manager, I have run rides both ways, and I think the rushing off
problem  has more to do with who is there than it does with how I start them.
At a lot of the LD rides here, the riders go out of camp almost as if it was a
contest to see who can leave LAST!  ("After you!"  "No, after you!")  By the
same token, when you have lots of money, marbles and chalk on the line (eg my
Circuit Rider 50, not LD, but a hot race because it was last of the season and
also IAHA regional championship) I led out with my car and just about had
people busting over the back of it when I pulled off.  The race was on, and we
were half a mile out of camp.  My advice:  If you think the leaders are going
to go like h--- and you don't want to, drop back and leave with the second or
third group out of camp that is leaving more sanely.

Heidi Smith, DVM--Sagehill Arabians (Oregon)