Back in the day, about 20 years ago, The Harper Ride use to be separated into 2 groups. There was the 1st and 2nd groups, or "fast" and "slow" groups. The 2nd group use to leave about 15 minutes after the 1st group, and the groups were almost predetermined, meaning, it was almost as if you could not just move or ride with any group that you chose to ride with.

It was as if you had to prove yourself to move up to the next group. This is not entirely true, of course, because no one ever forced you to ride with a certain group. In my view, though, this is how I perceived it because sometimes you were given a “are you sure you can handle it?” comment. It was almost elitist, in a way.

It took a few years before the two groups “merged” together and became one group. In retrospect, I think it almost became more elitist because then people, including myself, always talked about how many guys they dropped by the finish.

Thanks to Guy for this important piece of HarperHistory!