Now I get it………… Well, sort of.
I’ve always wondered why 4* riders come off cross country at Rolex or WEG…………….
with 2 or 3 time penalties and say something like, “He was fantastic, his rhythm and pace was perfect and I couldn’t have gone any faster without messing that up so I’m really happy with our 2 time penalties.”
Seriously??
They honestly don’t think they could have made up 4 seconds SOMEWHERE?????
Let’s ponder 4 seconds for a moment……………..
A ball will fall 257 feet in 4 seconds………….
It takes 4 seconds for silence to get awkward……………….
An F16 can fly 1.47 miles in 4 seconds…………………..
I used to ride a horse named Kitty who could buck about 12 times in 4 seconds………….
And in our fabulous sport 4 seconds over optimum time on cross country = 1.6 time penalties.
Why the math lesson??
Well……….my hope and plan for our last outing was a qualifying ride.
For the uninitiated – in eventing we need something called a QR, a “Qualifying Result” to move up levels.
(and I just need ONE more of those pesky little QRs.)
Cross Country day was fairly crazy.
There was a long delay due to severe thunder storms……. lightning was streaking across the sky regularly……….
BTW that meant everyone else out there was completely safe, Bad Eventer being the most likely lightning rod……………. See How I was Assimilated by the Borg for the details on why.
There was concern about slippery footing, and second guessing studs and equipment.
As I was heading out I realized I forgot my XC watch.
No surprise really, I am Bad Eventer.
It is a RULE that I have to forget SOMETHING!
A friend was frantically digging through my tack trunk when our fearless leader said these fateful words,
“You don’t need it. You’ll be going as fast as you can anyway.”
And I did……….or I thought I did…………
And our run felt pretty awesome (of course minus the Nemo incident).
The result???
A clean round, but 4 seconds too slow for a Qualifying Result.
Bad Eventer does it again.
And is apparently as SLOW AS CHRISTMAS!!!!
