Thursday, November 12, 2009

Sloss Results


No, I did not go to art school...amazing, I know.

The results will be up today. There are a couple of things that I would like to point out before they are posted.

1- Learn to pin your number on correctly. If you are new to racing this is one of those things that you just have to learn, there is no step by step instruction manual...that I know of. If you have a new number make sure to wad it up first, this makes the paper more pliable and it will conform to your body better. Use more than four pins, at a minimum use six with two of them in the middle. Will Fyfe uses like 20 pins...don't go there, but you get the point. I like to bend the corners back so the pin goes through two layer of paper and is harder to tear. I've seen all manner of placement this year including - wrong side, upside down, horizontal up the back, down the back... When you do this it hinders scoring of not only yourself but the riders around you. Regardless of what you may think, we have a really good method of scoring these races. If you looked at the lap sheet for the 4 race and didn't know what you were looking at it may have seemed a bit confusing, but, there is a method to the madness and it's pretty clear when you run through the numbers where you were each lap. I can look at the sheet and see, say #40 was running in 3rd place on the first lap, 5th place on the 3rd lap, 10th place on the 5th lap and see a pattern to their race - starting strong and fading. I can tell if something is wrong if there is a big swing in the placement.

2- The way the schedule of races is setup is somewhat problematic in that there is not enough time between races for the officials to put numbers with names beyond what we need for podiums. That does not mean that we will not sort it out later and score you properly.

ok...3 points

3- We are running a series and points are recorded per the rules. If you are 16th place or below, you are essentially tied for 16th place as you all get 1 point, 2 points or 19 points depending on the race duration. So expect your results to be tied at 16. Don't like that? Be faster than 16th.Races that are not HUGE, we try to sort out exactly what place you finished.

The alternative to keeping up with lapped riders is to "pull" them when the get lapped. I do not wish to do this nor do any of you racing. I have travelled many hours to raced where midway through the race I found that I just didn't "have it" that day and got lapped. Being pulled in this scenario sucks. Everyone wants to race until the finish.

Several people have suggested using timing chips. Would you come out to race cross if entry cost you $40? I wouldn't.

Just keep in mind the system we use and how important it is for you to do your part and number up correctly. When the officials are yelling "1082, 1501,1099,....can't read it...crap, just missed the next rider because I couldn't read that #"

Being the "grassroots" type of series that this thing is, we are always open to you e-mailing and saying that your placement is wrong and we will help make it right, always. But, don't come up and say something like "those results are wrong, I know I finished waay higher than that. I finished behind some guy in a red shirt in 3rd place". Have some facts, grab the person in front and the person behind that you were battling with at the end...it helps.

Mitch Moses and Lee Neal, I believe both of you stated that you were left off of the results in the 3/4 race at Tuscaloosa, is this correct?

The results are being published now.

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Actually 4/5 race at Tuscaloosa - tied for 16th ;) 29th position :( I'd hate to think I finished 15th in the series by 1 point :))

Larry said...

Well said Brent!

Unknown said...

Amen! You da' man!

mogley said...

Also,

Check to make sure your team affliliation is correct. marshallbrent at gmail dot com if issues

jacobtubbs said...

good stuff brent. we appreciate you guys taking the time to deal with this headache every week.

Maaike said...

I updated your T-town result in my file Mitch; too much hassle to update the whole thing right now, but it'll be displayed after Anniston.

dave said...

I didn't finish 7th in men's C.I think somewhere around 25th.I was lapped by 6 or 7 riders.

mogley said...

thanks dave. you are bamacross material.

david said...

brent that would clear up my confusion. I was 10th when I left on Sunday in C's but it shows 11th. but if "dave" above was lapped that should move be back to my spot.
thanks.
thanks for the hoodie too.
David from Georgia

ALgoat said...

Good luck to Wiiiiiiiiiiiilllbuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrr in Belgium!!!!!!!!! You tell Wicks he's a has-been (cause i sure as hell wouldn't!).

BF said...

thank's to Brent and especially to the USAC officials. without them we would not have Bamacross. Race/ride, but have fun and keep it in perspective.
This aint the Alabama Auburn game.

Unknown said...

That's a big 10-4. 3/4 race in Tuscaloosa. Not overly concerned about how I placed. Any number of points for the team are better than no points.
BTW, I would take this "grassroots" scoring any day over timing chips. Remember BUMP n Grind? (Not BUMP's fault).

Unknown said...

3/4 in Prattville. Sorry.

Alex said...

No chips please. that's just silly. this is for fun, none of us are making a living at it. :-)

Alex said...

Another thought(s):
1) they had problems with the name matching at one of the races, partly because the nice but inexperienced volunteer didn't separate the categories for the women, so it was hard to the official to sort us. (I noted it at registration, but should have said something - didn't realize it would cause a problem) I propose (and would be glad to create) a standard registration sheet that would make it easier to sort everyone at registration and get names and numbers matched more quickly.
2) Places would be easier to sort out if racers let the officials know if they got lapped. Stop by and let them know right after the race, just in case they missed it. (other officials concur? - is the distraction worth the help?)
3) the numbers were very small and hard to read this year. having them in the hundreds instead of thousands and using the first digit to indicate the category (A = 100's, B = 200's, ...) makes it much simpler, as the offical only has to write down the last two and the first digit tells them which column to put it in. y'all did that my first year and it helped. Also helps the racers know if they are getting passed by someone in their race or another cat if it is not obvious.
5) Guys, note who you were behind at the finish. If you don't know their name, get the number of that bus. you knowing who you were behind helps sort out any errors even if you don't know your exact place.