Re: Maggie's article

[rides2far@juno.com (Angela C. McGhee)]

Susan, thanks for letting us see what we're commenting on. It's always
nice to know what the heck I'm talking about...but not essential.  :-)

I'd like to address her specific comments.

, I am interested to see
>how many of the opinions are expressed by riders who are new to the
>world of endurance, who want to change the rules to fit individual
>levels, who want loopholes so that everybody has a chance to finish, 

Oooh, I thought it was in Endurance News that I saw the comment something
like "To Enter Is To Win" where some guy was encouraging the handing out
of T-Shirts, etc. at the pre-ride meeting. Saying that the very fact that
they had gotten to the ride was an accomplishment!  I see where that
helps management some to give them out before the "in a hurry" crowd
starts packing up to leave 1/2 way through the 50, but I think it's awful
for the new riders.  I know that at Million Pines it was a real let down
for Bekki to not get anything AFTER she had accomplished the 25 miler.  I
think that people who've been doing this for awhile start to take the
true meaning of completions awards for granted.  I haven't seen that
attitude expressed on ridecamp.

>or
>who spend far more time on their computers than they do in the 
>saddle!!!

No dear, it's the kitchen that suffers from neglect, not the horse.

>
>As current chairman of the competitions committee, I will certainly 
>find
>many of these "new" ideas thrown at us for approval.

Am I mistaken or is this a reaction to the LD rights group in Atlanta? 
If so, I'm with her on this one.  There's nothing that irks me more than
giving really nice top 10 awards to 25's who should have moved up years
ago, when I'd love to give them to a reletively new competitor a few
placings back who's coming along nicely.
  

 "We need to make
>the sport GROW!"  Certainly this is true, but will the changes benefit
>us, or will they change the basic concept of the sport?

I see more sharing of horsecare advice here than "how to change the
rules"

  Our motto is 
>TO
>FINISH IS TO WIN.  The very words connote that just finishing is an
>accomplishment to be cherished.  I don't see any _guarentee_ in any of
>our rules or bylaws that everybody will reach that goal.j

AMEN!


>"tell it like it is".  These folks are ALL over 60, many of them have
>been inducted into the HALL OF FAME, some of them ride internationally
>and have won both team and individual medals, some have enviable wins 
>in
>MAJOR rides.  Added together, their mileage totals into the _hundreds_
>of thousands!!

Let's just hope this isn't a bunch of "When I was a kid I walked 5 miles
in the snow, barefoot, just to catch my horse!"

Personally, I just don't think that Michael Jordan would be the best
person to work with my second grader on how to BEGIN to play basketball. 
The beauty of Ridecamp is that you have people with 300 career miles,
telling people with none what helped them most...while they can still
remember.  If you want NEW members, I would think that these people with
100's of thousands of miles might have a little problem relating to their
problems.

I'm sure I'll enjoy their articles in a human interest sort of way, but
I'll bet I get more practical help from Ridecamp.  

>
>Furthermore, I rarely see their opinions on our e-mail network.  WHY? 
>Because every single one of them is too busy out DOING IT!!  AND 
>they're
>still going strong!!

So when are they going to sit down and write their essays?


>What do these folks feel about endurance today?  What do they see in 
>its
>future?  Do they think the rules should be changed to accomodate unfit
>horses, unfit riders, or riders who are over 80, 70, 60 years old?

Don't forget the horses who are totally inappropriate for competition!


>I think all of our readers will find this series interesting and
>informative.  Perhaps you'll be lucky enough that at least one of them
>will share with you his map to the Fountain of Youth.

I will be looking forward to Julie Suhr's!

I think Ridecamp has been very valuable to me in that I can ask a
question and get an immediate response.  Maybe Maggie doesn't realize how
many personal e-mails we get from knowledgable people when we ask
specific questions.  However, there is always something that EN can do
that Ridecamp can't....I can read it in the bathroom!  :-)

Angie & Kaboot  (Not a newbie, now quite a has been, but doesn't have
hundreds of thousands of miles) 

_____________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com
Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]