Sean,

You're comparing apples and oranges. OLC is not a competition for most people in the classic sense unless you really want to treat it as such. It's mostly a positive reinforcement to put your flights into an online logbook, plus a little pat on your shoulder if you had a particularly long flight relative to whatever else has been going on in your area. Most people just like collecting their experiences and sharing them with others.

I enjoy distance flying and it is motivating to work towards having six really big flights. True distance flying uses similar flight optimization skills as contest flying. If you fly faster, you make more miles. It's incredibly fun to launch into the first cloud in the sky and breathe a sigh of relief when you hit final glide altitude under the last dying one.

I also learned a tremendous amount by studying other flights. I have looked at every OLC track originated from Blairstown since 2007. It helped to learn all different styles, techniques, routes, etc rather than having to reinvent the wheel for myself.

It helps to not take it too seriously. I will admit to having done several laps on my ridge too many for the sake of OLC points, but it is largely a secondary motivator to just getting out there and wanting to make a nice long distance flight.

Best Regards,
Daniel

(PS: Yo Erik, dig up your comparison of OLC versus Contest pilots for laughs!)