Talk:Long Distance Riding

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[edit] Notability

I am not sure if this page would be considered notable enough or whether it should be a candidate for deletion. Could someone with a knowledge of this topic please provide further information - otherwise I will list it for deletion in a week or so. It may be an important mailing list or it may just be a vanity article. Thanks. Witty lama 01:46, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

The mailing list is certainly important to those who obtain information about Riding their motorcycles Long Distances by reading it. However there is a bit of a vanity issue here. Should this Wikipedia entry describe an Internet discussion forum about Long Distance Riding and the guy who started it, or should it describe the "sport" itself? Should an entry called "Mountain Climbing" describe an Internet chat group where people talk about climbing, or should it talk about the people out climbing mountains?

I would assume the sport should come first - meaning that this page should talk about "long distance riding" rather than the mailing list itself. However the mailing list would be a perfectly reasonable chapter within the larger page about the sport. However, the question still remains - is long distance riding a sport or is it just like if I were to make a page about the sport "walking down the street". :-) Witty lama 02:08, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

It's for real, although "sport" may not be quite the right word. There is a subculture within the motorcyle riding community whose participants take significant steps to increase the range of their motorcycles and that of their bodies so they can go, say, 1000 miles in a day without tremendous effort. For example, increasing fuel capacity on the vehicle to extend its range (fewer stops), having food and water available on the move (fewer stops), fine tuning the riding clothing selection to be able to handle heat, cold, wet, or dry (fewer stops), closely monitoring sleep and alertness (fewer stops) [see a pattern here?  :-)] Thousands of riders around the world at least occasionally pile on a really long ride. Some do it much more frequently. The LDRider mailing list mentioned in this topic is probably the most notable method by which these riders share information, tell lessons learned, ask about future events, etc.

OK then, but this page definately needs to be wikified and expanded then. I'll see if I can do some linking to other related WP pages and put some categorisations up to start with. Witty lama 03:27, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

This link is definitely related: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Butt_Association Many (most?) of the riders who subscribe to the LDRider mailing list have earned IBA certificates.

[edit] Change of name?

I started copyediting this article, but have now concluded that 99% of the material is actually related to 'long distance riding', rather than the mailing list. I therefore propose that the page be renamed Long distance riding and the material is copyedit'd and wikified there, with a section for the long rider mailing list. Comments? Kcordina 13:55, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

Long Distance Rider is part of a larger phenomenon brought about by its existence prior to the definition of social software.

Since the Long Distance Rider list exists as primarily a mail list it has its own cultural significance and impacts on a miniscule area of culture. As you might discuss the beginnings of the Internet and NNTP (News Groups) and specific groups like comp.os (sic) you could discuss Long Distance Rider. It is an entity rather than a thing. The entity Long Distance Rider (list) is a tiny proportion of the motorcycling population that has enormous impact on the direction and revenues of motorcycling (members are utilized in advertising, as testers, and as spokesman). The Long Distance Rider List is the primary communications organ. So, The Long Distance Rider List could also be considered a phenomenon.

I realized to late that bringing something like this to Wikipedia might be to esoteric for Wikipedians to understand. I say if Llama wants to pull it yank it.

ETA: In case you're wondering most of the Long Distance Rider social group don't play well with others either. They can ride 11,000 miles in 10 days on a motorcycle and party afterwards :) [User:Selil]

So, do you support changing the article name to Long distance riding as proposed, or not? Kcordina 15:40, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

I think the article is more Wikipedia-worthy when the topic is Long Distance Riding the activity, not Long Distance Rider the list. Just my .02, as more of an LDRider than a Wikipedian. Y'all do what you want. Jwhite518 00:10, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Another Long Distance Rider here. I support the name change on this article. Keep the info about the list, as it is certainly relevant. But I think it's much more likely that Wikipedia readers would first search for information about the activity itself. Once they find this article, they can read about many things, including the list.

[edit] Article Moved

Well, since the proposed move only got positive responses, I have gone ahead and done it. I've had a very quick swap around and stuck some fairly arbitrary titles in for sections. It now needs some proper to get it into a good form. Kcordina 09:41, 22 February 2006 (UTC)