How many of you have ever heard of ride and tie? For those of you that haven’t, a good article is written and published in the April, 2004 edition of Running Times Magazine titled “The Thinking Athletes Sport”. In Rachel Toor’s article she gives history about the sport and about the event in one World Championship held in the Lake Tahoe area near Truckee, California. Incidentally, Rachel is also a competitor. Rachel describes ride and tie as follows: think of it as a two-person relay with a horse as the baton. Think of it as what would happen if you married the Boston Marathon to the Kentucky Derby and brought them to Outward Bound for the honeymoon. Think of it as the most energetically efficient way to cover 30 to 40 miles of rough terrain. If you think about it long enough, one of two things will happen. Either you’ll decide is absolute lunacy, or ask where you can sign up. Thank you Rachel for clever description.
For me, ride and tie played a significant part in my life that I detail in my book. I learned about the sport in the 80s or the 90s. At the time I heard about the sport, I was trail riding and had done a few NATRC rides. NATRC is an equestrian trail riding event. The rider is judged on his ability to navigate his steed between point a and point b on the trail according to certain rules and regulations. My impression of ride & tie at that time is that only ultra-athletes competed. My impression is partly right as there are a number of world-class athletes participating.
I met people like Jim Howard a winner of the San Francisco Marathon, the Western states 100 mile run, and the world championship Levi’s ride and tie in the same year. His friend and teammate Dennis Rinde finished seventh at the Boston Marathon clocking in at 2:13. Dennis has run two 2: 12’s, four 2: 13’s, and two 2: 14’s. I also met Tom Johnson a three-time winner of the Western states 100 mile run, Mark Rickman a third-place finisher in the Western states 100 mile run, and many other outstanding runners and equestrians. This sport opened up a totally new world to me.
In 2009, I started thinking about writing a book that demonstrated my transformation. In fact two of the individuals in Rachel’s article are featured in my book. I used age 65 as the cutoff or starting point in order to research the motivation of the unique aged athlete. Both Lew Hollander and Jim Steere met the criteria and are included. Their stories are both remarkable and interesting.
Some of the hypotheses that I began thinking about in order to assess athletic motivation are as follows: 1. competitiveness started at an early age; 2. high pain threshold; 3. biology is not destiny as physical and emotional deficits can be overcome; 4. a positive mindset that includes mantras and affirmations; 5. thinking of themselves as young; 6. passion in their sport; and 7. positive social connections. These are just a few of the hypotheses that I employed in developing a detailed questionnaire that I used in interviewing seven most remarkable athletes and individuals who participate in a variety of different and unique sports.
Hypothesis number seven: positive social connections is based on a secondary need called “affiliation” or” belonging” in psychological terms. This concept has been studied by many psychologists including Tolman, Schachter, Maslow, and McClelland to name a few. The model I relied on is Albert Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that resulted in self-actualization. He used the word "belongingness" in talking about need structures. I am calling need for affiliation or belongingness simply “social connections”.
So in my book, you’ll read about eight individual athletes and hear their illuminating stories and gain insight into their drives and motivations. I will continue to add more information in the blog in order for you the reader to get a greater understanding of why people do what they do.
Today is a good day as it included a 5mile trail run. Upon completion, Tony, Debbie, Linda, and I proceeded to kayak on Rec Lake in Cool. I worked on my stroke while Tony is figuring out the kayak to buy that is faster than mine. He ordered one. If his is faster than mine ,then I will have to upgrade and find a faster kayak than his. Connections and competition is great.
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