[net.cycle] almost funny trail riding story

pnovak@ihuxa.UUCP (Paul Novak) (04/09/84)

i was trail riding in michigan last summer and talked by a guy who 
organizes enduro races.  he told a story about a race he had set up
for novice enduro racers.  seems  a section of the course was
to go over a swamp which was about 50 yards across.  the water
was about 2 inches deep the whole way.  the course was to be
marked with colored flags in sticks about 3 ft tall.  when
the section across the swamp was marked, the stakes in the
middle of the swamp where pounded in much further than near
the edges, giving the impression that the water was much
deeper than it actually was.  arriving at the swamp, the
riders saw something like:

	>>						>>
	|	>>				>>	|
	|	|	>>		>>	|	|
	|	|	|	>>	|	|	|
	|	|	|	|	|	|	|

about 1/2 the riders refused to cross the swamp and dropped
out of the race.

wmartin@brl-vgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (04/10/84)

The story itself is definitely amusing; however, I wonder exactly
what the organizer was trying to teach the novices. Were they
supposed to stop before getting in the water and walk out to the low-stake
spot, to verify that the route was in fact passable? That's what I
would expect from a wise off-road rider -- safety, avoiding situations
where you are beyond your capabilities, and good judgement are all
much more important than completing the course in the fastest time.

Or were they expected to learn that "obvious" clues can many times
lead one to false conclusions? Also a good lesson; just stopping
and refusing to verify for themselves the true water depth was
also the wrong thing to do.

What worries me is the half of the group who merrily ignored the
possible problems and barged on through. They "won" the race;
were they in fact rewarded? They really should not have been, if so;
their behavior showed poor judgement. They're the kind of rider
I expect to have to pay taxes for to fund Park Rangers who will drag
them out of a ravine on a litter sometime in the future...

Will

an@hou2h.UUCP (A.NGUYEN) (04/17/84)

Funny I read a story just like that by Ed Hertfelder in Cycle
magazine.  Don't remember what issue though.

	Au