Wildflower Century

"Glewis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The Wildflower Century in San Luis Obisbo is "sold out." I am looking
for one slot. If anyone has had a change of plans please
E-Mail me. Thanks

How can a cycling event be "sold out?" The don't own the roads. If they
don't want your money and won't give you a T-shirt, that's their problem.
Unless they purchased the roads, I don't see how they can keep you off of
them.

The Assault on Mt. Mitchell always tries to restrict entry to 900 riders who
will be allowed to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway and up to the top of Mt.
Mitchell. But there are always "renegades" who can't get a ticket and just
ride it anyway. There's really nothing they can do to stop it.

Of course, in the instance of Mt. Mitchell, that 900 rider restriction is at
the request of the national park service that controls the Blue Ridge
Parkway and it's in the interest of public safety. So if you want to be
considerate of the safety of others, you won't be a renegade.

But if you won't be a threat to the safety of others and you don't snarf all
the food at their rest stops, I say go and have a nice ride.

--
Bob C.

"Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)

"psycholist" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

The Assault on Mt. Mitchell always tries to restrict entry to 900 riders
who will be allowed to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway and up to the top of
Mt. Mitchell. But there are always "renegades" who can't get a ticket
and just ride it anyway. There's really nothing they can do to stop it.

I've always wondered - what is the point of being renegade riding? If you
don't want to support the group that manages the event, why not just do the
ride on your own on a different day? Are you trying to mooch off of their
refreshment and SAG services? There are 364 other days in the year, right?

psycholist said:

"Glewis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The Wildflower Century in San Luis Obisbo is "sold out." I am looking
for one slot. If anyone has had a change of plans please
E-Mail me. Thanks

How can a cycling event be "sold out?" The don't own the roads. If they
don't want your money and won't give you a T-shirt, that's their problem.
Unless they purchased the roads, I don't see how they can keep you off of
them.

The Assault on Mt. Mitchell always tries to restrict entry to 900 riders who
will be allowed to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway and up to the top of Mt.
Mitchell. But there are always "renegades" who can't get a ticket and just
ride it anyway. There's really nothing they can do to stop it.

I've been wondering about that... I see they can't control things.

Quoted message said:

Of course, in the instance of Mt. Mitchell, that 900 rider restriction is at
the request of the national park service that controls the Blue Ridge
Parkway and it's in the interest of public safety. So if you want to be
considerate of the safety of others, you won't be a renegade.

But if you won't be a threat to the safety of others and you don't snarf all
the food at their rest stops, I say go and have a nice ride.

Well, if you don't pay, you shouldn't eat, either. That's the point of
having a slot.

"Ken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"psycholist" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

The Assault on Mt. Mitchell always tries to restrict entry to 900 riders
who will be allowed to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway and up to the top of
Mt. Mitchell. But there are always "renegades" who can't get a ticket
and just ride it anyway. There's really nothing they can do to stop it.

I've always wondered - what is the point of being renegade riding? If you
don't want to support the group that manages the event, why not just do
the
ride on your own on a different day? Are you trying to mooch off of their
refreshment and SAG services? There are 364 other days in the year,
right?

Gee Ken, did ya read the original post? The guy isn't being given the
choice to support the group that manages the event. They're telling him
it's "sold out." The guy wants to do an event that includes lots of other
riders and all the ambiance, etc. If he wanted to ride that course alone on
another day, I doubt if he'd have posted here as he did.

I was just pointing out what is quite plainly true -- the group putting on
the ride he wants to do doesn't own the roads and can't prevent him from
riding. But I agree that he shouldn't partake of their sag and support
services if he's not paying. He should be self-supporting.

--
Bob C.

"Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)

"psycholist" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Gee Ken, did ya read the original post? The guy isn't being given the
choice to support the group that manages the event. They're telling him
it's "sold out."

Those limits are for saftey reasons, among others. If you think enough of the
group to want to go on their rides, the least you can do is to respect their
saftey program and do the ride another day. Next time around, sign up a little
earlier. Only a very few rides around the country are so crowded that they
have restrictions on early registrations.

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 14:23:23 -0400, "psycholist" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"Ken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"psycholist" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

The Assault on Mt. Mitchell always tries to restrict entry to 900 riders
who will be allowed to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway and up to the top of
Mt. Mitchell. But there are always "renegades" who can't get a ticket
and just ride it anyway. There's really nothing they can do to stop it.

I've always wondered - what is the point of being renegade riding? If you
don't want to support the group that manages the event, why not just do
the
ride on your own on a different day? Are you trying to mooch off of their
refreshment and SAG services? There are 364 other days in the year,
right?

Gee Ken, did ya read the original post? The guy isn't being given the
choice to support the group that manages the event. They're telling him
it's "sold out." The guy wants to do an event that includes lots of other
riders and all the ambiance, etc. If he wanted to ride that course alone on
another day, I doubt if he'd have posted here as he did.

I was just pointing out what is quite plainly true -- the group putting on
the ride he wants to do doesn't own the roads and can't prevent him from
riding. But I agree that he shouldn't partake of their sag and support
services if he's not paying. He should be self-supporting.

I had no idea there were such things as renegades...so it's an informative
post for rbm, imo. ;-)

Why not show up and see if anyone canceled? There's bound to be open spaces
-- the bigger the better; the easier to find someone who stubbed their toe
on the way there and can't ride!?

I don't know, I'm asking...

jj

Ken said:

"psycholist" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Gee Ken, did ya read the original post? The guy isn't being given
the choice to support the group that manages the event. They're
telling him it's "sold out."

Those limits are for saftey reasons, among others. If you think
enough of the group to want to go on their rides, the least you can
do is to respect their saftey program and do the ride another day.
Next time around, sign up a little earlier. Only a very few rides
around the country are so crowded that they have restrictions on
early registrations.

OK let me say that I've run into this problem in a different way. The
area I ride in is very popular for rides for NY & NJ. My starting
points are very popular starting points for some of the rides and I've
been caught in the middle of them during some of my spring training
rides. Now what I don't do is to use their stops. But what really
[censored] me off was when one of my riders had a minor accident and one
of their SAGs pulled up and asked if we were on their ride. We
answered no (we're honest) and they took off! They didn't check to
see if we needed help and the situation looked worse than it really
was. There was no offer of help. Now I didn't expect a whole lot since
we weren't on their ride but a slight sign of caring should have been
shown. You don't leave a fellow rider on the side of the road totally
unsupported. Yes we had it covered but they didn't know that. My best
friend and I usually carry enough tools to get us out of most jams. I
carry 4 tubes, a patch kit, a spare tire, a tire boot, spoke repair
kit, tools, First Aid kit and toilet paper (but nothing to read!). My
friend loads up similarly.

Personally I try to avoid riding in the same space as sponosred rides
if I'm not on them. This is because it tends to cause confusion where
other riders try to follow us. That will ruin their day and probably
add more than several miles to their ride.

--
Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry [email hidden]
http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/ (Text only)
http://hcs.sourceforge.net/ (HCS II)
http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog

Quoted message said:

How can a cycling event be "sold out?" The don't own the roads.

Usually not, but there are exceptions:

1) When the Solvang Century went through Vandenburg you *had* to have a ride
wristband to enter the base.

2) Mt. Diablo State Park was closed to outside traffic (riders and cars)
while riders were participating in the Mt. Diablo Challenge.

I haven't done either event for several years so things may have changed.

Chris Neary
[email hidden]

"Science, freedom, beauty, adventure: what more could
you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I
loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh

"psycholist" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Unless they purchased the roads, I don't see how they can keep you off of
them.

It can be done.

Take a look at the start of one of my rides. I don't let any ugly
people enter the section of the parking lot that we're using to
unload our bikes and get prepared for the hammer session.

It just takes one unattractive person in the group to bring the
whole thing down to the next level.

Ken said:

I've always wondered - what is the point of being renegade riding?
If you don't want to support the group that manages the event, why
not just do the ride on your own on a different day? Are you trying
to mooch off of their refreshment and SAG services? There are 364
other days in the year, right?

I agree. Mooching is rude. A lot of work goes into these events, and only a
certain number of people can be accomodated. Too many moochers can ruin a good
event for everyone.

So if you can't pay, do it another day. It should be easy enough to find the
exact route afterward. (To discourage moochers, many organizers don't disclose
it beforehand.)

If you can't make it to Mt. Mitchell this year, consider our club's Cycling
Double Header instead:

www.mountainsofmisery.com

Matt O.

Matt O'Toole said:

Ken said:

I've always wondered - what is the point of being renegade riding?
If you don't want to support the group that manages the event, why
not just do the ride on your own on a different day? Are you trying
to mooch off of their refreshment and SAG services? There are 364
other days in the year, right?

I agree. Mooching is rude. A lot of work goes into these events, and only a
certain number of people can be accomodated. Too many moochers can ruin a good
event for everyone.

So if you can't pay, do it another day. It should be easy enough to find the
exact route afterward. (To discourage moochers, many organizers don't disclose
it beforehand.)

Moochers? I call them scabs - like union picket line crossers.

Last year the Napa Century was limited to 2000 and they sold out. I
thought that was a small number but the parking lot was FULL (well
before the "fun ride" folks got there), the lines for porta potties were
LONG, and the crowds around the food tables were HUGE. The post ride
picnic looked like Woodstock. It was a very well run event, but they
were definitely at the limit in the number of riders they could handle.
And one of my buddies scabbed it.

--
My bike blog:
http://diabloscott.blogspot.com/