Fire Mt. 50

[Terry Woolley Howe <cancer@inet1.inetworld.net>]

As Sanctioning Director for the Pacific Southwest, I sanctioned the Fire Mt.
50 as the designated "qualifying" ride for the national series 50 mile
championship ride.  The actual championship ride is in New Mexico August
21st. In order to qualify for the championship ride, a rider must top ten in
their weight division at one of the qualifying rides. 

At the time that the sanctioning directors were being asked to designate a
ride for the qualifying ride in their region, there were very few rides that
had been sanctioned in the required time frame (December through July).
Mike Tomlinson (the other director for this region) and I discussed the
various rides that were coming up, and we both agreed that Fire Mt. would be
our first choice -- it was centrally located and it had a long track record
of being a fair and well-managed ride.  We knew that they limited the number
of riders.  Last year I believe it was limited to 100, but Tom agreed to
raise that number to 120.  Our feeling was that those who were serious about
wanting to qualify for the championship ride, would not wait until two weeks
before the ride to enter.  (I know the December issue of EN had the ride
boxed in gray to let riders know that it was the qualifying ride so there
was ample time to request an entry before it filled up).

I would also like to comment on some of the fodder that is flying back and
forth on this issue:


>Now there is the LD issue.  IMO, a championship ride has NO PLACE for an LD
>division (unless there is room). 


>Championship ride should ALWAYS give first priority to riders entering that
>division...provided they have met a pre-entry deadline.


I believe it is within
>our rules to give priority to Championship riders at a Championship
>ride.  Else, just don't have an LD if there is a space limitation at a
>Championship ride.  IMO It's just not right that people are being
>denied a chance to compete in the Championship ride because the riders
>at other distances are crowding them out.


THIS IS NOT THE CHAMPIONSHIP RIDE.  The championship ride is in August, and
no LD riders will be allowed.  That is a specially sanctioned ride, which is
the only way you can have a ride that specifically limits the riders by
qualifications.  This is a regular AERC sanctioned ride and is open to all
who get there entry submited in a timely manner.


> FIRST consideration MUST be given to
>>Championship riders.

>..even if it takes phone
>calls to LD riders to tell them their place is being replaced by a
>Championship rider.

 
Who are the championship riders?  Right now this is just a group of riders,
some of which may qualify, and of those, some may decide to drive 1,000
miles to compete in August.  This is not like the championship series of
years ago where there were only three dates to compete, and if you missed
out on one you could not get enough points to win.


>I suggest that the AERC Board of Directors
>consider making it a requirement that a Championship Series ride give
>priority to Championship Series riders.  Non-series riders would be
>accepted only after all series riders had been accepted, regardless of
>date of entry, up to a clearly stated and reasonable closing date.
>


Here again, who are the championship series riders?  They don't declare
themselves on the entry.  They are just like any other 50 mile riders
participating in the ride.  Besides, these are not championship series
rides, where if you miss one you lose an opportunity to win.  These are
normal rides open to everyone that are designated as rides at which riders
who want to compete in the championship ride in August can qualify.  If
someone was seriously considering competing in the championship ride in
August in New Mexico, and waited too long to even request an entry for Fire
Mt., then they could sign up for the Washoe Valley Ride in Carson City on
May 1 (assuming they don't wait too long to request an entry).

> I feel that given this RM's past
>operating procedures and the fact that weather can be unpredictable in
>Jan. Maybe he should not have be chosen to host a qualifying ride.
>Pacific South has many great rides that are managed consistantly in a
>manner befitting a Nat. Champ.qualifying ride. I feel that the BOD
>should drop this ride from the qualifying list and find another ride.

This ride has always been run fairly.  And if weather is unpredictable
getting from the eastern sierras, any other ride in the Pacific South would
be farther from you than fire mt.  The intention is to rotate between all
the rides that are held in the time frame, but it is necessary for ride
managers to put their sanctioning in early so they can be considered which
was not the case this year.  We can only work with what we have.

>The RM for fire mtn has expressed to me his desire or preference for ld
>riders. Why? because these riders are typically finished by noon, he
>does not have to give out weight division awards or first place awards,
>and he can be back home by the late afternoon. He expressed his
>preference for min.numbers of 50's .


I don't know if this was something the ride manager actually said, but from
a realistic view this is of course true.  25 milers are easier than 50's,
and 50's are easier than 100's.  I don't think he would prefer to get all
25's because it would not generate as much money.  The fact is that all
riders are welcomed on a first come, first serve basis.


Jackie Bumgardner puts on the High Sierra Classic which also limits the
number of entries to 100.  It is interesting that when that ride fills up,
and people can't get in, there is not the anger that I am hearing now, but
rather the attitude that  "if you snooze, you lose."  I realize, that this
is a qualifying ride for the championship ride, but I would be interested to
know how many of those entered in the 50 are really considering travelling
to New Mexico in August to compete.

And I would like to set the record straight about something.  I believe
someone mentioned that they were told that they that called "the first week
of January" and was told that they would have plenty of time to mail their
entry in.   Well, I talked to Tom on Sunday, January 3rd.  I asked how many
entries he had and he said "23".  How was he to know that he would receive
over 100 entries that next week.  It seems that most of us (me included)
waited until the last minute to send in our entries when the majority of us
knew that we intended to go for weeks.  I, as a ride manager should know
better since I know what a burden that puts on ride management when all the
entries come in at once long after decisions have to be made to secure vets,
awards, etc.

Terry Woolley Howe