How was opening day at OIR? worth the wait?

All of this bashing.....They had a year to get this right....I said since the beginnig...The Hands had everything about OIR right!! EVERYTHING! This just shows how Hard the hands put their hearts and souls into this track and build it to what it was!!! Prob the top track in Ohio! Now after only one year and ONE race it when all down the toilet! They should really call JO at BriarCliff and get some info on track prep. I really don't understand when you have so much on the line and a year to prepare that this would happen...I knew when I asked for pics and he said no pics it was going to be bad!
 
I have been to high point and steel city where the track was worse then yesterday. Everyone is bashing on the guy give him a break. Its been dry for how long now. There are limited tracks around here and im sure if u messaged him or got ahold of him in a nice way and mentioned what could have been better he would listen. Chris,keep working and if u need help let me know. People tell me im washed up every week lol and i like to prove them wrong day by day. i would love to know where that comes from but oh well
 
Mcdade nothing but respect to you,But over a year to prepare should have been enough time...And yes I hope they get it right...This place is a gold mine if run right! And prob the second best track in Ohio!
 
That was my first time there close to me and definately has potential. I think everyone needs to give the guy a chance. I met chris sunday for the first time so i dont know him. Now he has a chance to turn it around and he should get one more chance. I just want to turn the convo around a little to let everyone know it can be good an if i had the money id buy it and make it good. I didnt realize he had that much time but im sure he didnt expect the drought. Anyways yeah it was a bummer of a day but he even said to us A riders he dropped the ball. Anyways it was a good weekend and i dig all the ohio people. Seem like they enjoy the races better then in pa. Thanks everyone
 
Mcdade....I seen you made to beans and loved it...Go to BriarCliff....it's the track that all other tracks standards are compared against now a days....And if you made it to OIR 2years ago....You would have been Blown away at how Good it was....I think that's where all this is coming from...The Track was already Perfect and awesome and had great people running it.
 
The day i went to beans i was suppose to go to briar cliff. I hear all good things. What day do they have practice? And i get what everyone is saying i just know how it feels to get bashed rather then advice. I dont know the backround i just want to keep tracks lol. Malvern is getting alot better with everything. If nobody minds why did the hands get rid of it? Or what happened there?
 
From what i "hear" the land owners saw the $$ the Hands were bringing in and decided not to renew their lease
and run it themselves. Again, this is what I HEARD, so take it for what it is as I'm sure there is more to it. Too
bad as Hands had OIR dialed.
 
What were the big changes that took all spring? Read through all of this and havent seen one mention of anything changed, just dust n some sketchy step up. I havent raced in 4 or 5 years, but I almost went to this race. With all the hype I was expecting big things. Then I saw guy wouldnt post pix, just the ol you got to see to believe. After seeing that I unloaded the bike and headed for the ice cold mountains of busch.
 
After going to the track yesterday and watching here's some constructive crit from me:

-For as long as I can remember, there has been VERY few changes made to the track direction, jumps, corners, straights etc.., at least in the front section as well as in the back. Leave the start straight and maybe the first uphill (uphill triple?) and revamp the ENTIRE track. I'm talking complete overhaul.

-Start watering days in advance when the climate is this arid. Rip the track super deep and let the moisture sink in. Try and water the day of the event as well but also try to minimize down time. There were times when guys were sitting on the line for what seemed at least an hour. That should never, ever, happen.

-You can't schedule only one race a year, deem it "Pro Day", and have it tank. I'm sure you already knew that though...

-I've heard the reason for no open practices was noise issues with neighbors. I've also heard that the track is grandfathered in. With that said, you need to schedule more races and possible open practices. OP's are a great way to test out new sections and garner rider feedback.

I'm hoping that OIR gets one more chance. From what I've been hearing/reading though you'll have to make some pretty big changes to get any riders to come back. Wish it didn't have to be that way.
 
Intentions and circumstances

Chris and his team have every intention of putting on the best event possible, nobody that signs up to run a race track intends to do anything wrong. There have seen some good constructive posts on here, and Chris and his crew will take those to heart, and apply them for the next event for sure. Some of the posts are pretty harsh, and we all probably vented some on Sunday, too. After talking to Chris throughout the afternoon, it seemed pretty obvious that circumstances got the best of the day.

Some circumstances you can control, and some you cannot. Between the dry conditions, fires getting started, some unfortunate injuries, and ambulance delays, it just spun out of control. Sure, the dry conditions could have been prepared better, but that would not change the others, everything being the same. The MX community needs OIR in the mix, and another fair chance for them to put some events or practices together to iron out the kinks in the process. Once the wrist heals, I would like to head out there myself and do some more laps on the track were it all started for me!

As for the MXA riders, both Dennis Stapleton and John Minert still had a fun day. These guys live to ride and race, and wanted to thank everyone that stopped by to say hello or just talk racing. I think they have seen a lot of tracks (more than most riders), and sure had a good perspective despite the heat and dry conditions. They still came away from it all greatful and happy to be there, and this is a perspective that I will remember.

Thanks to everyone that came out!

Dave
 
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Great job with the pics Bol!
 
No track promoter sets out to make a day of racing, pro day or not a complete disaster. Every track has had its bad and good days, and being that i attended about all of their events last year, i don't feel they were to far off on prep,but yes there was room for improvement . Oir needs to take Sunday as a learning experience and move on. Don't shut down for 2 months for improvements , reach out to someone with skills and knowledge of how to operate equipment it takes to build and shape the track. Get a good control back on the shape and build of the jumps and give it a go again. It's a shame how one bad event takes the feet from under a track, but that's how it works. If the track is open this season again, i will be there.
 
All Chris needs to do:

1.) DO NOT DO A TOTAL OVERHAUL ON THE TRACK. Fix the bad spots, rework some faces.
2.) Saturate the track with water. If it isn't muddy during practice you will see dust very quickly.
3.). Leave Sunday in the past where it belongs and pursue future events with a well balanced plan.
 
awe, that sucks. well i just saw he raced in illinois at that regional in the plus 30, what changed in a week? where did they come up with he is an a rider? the ama sucks!
 
Hey McDade, for the record, I dont think people on Pit think your washed up. I think your riding better and smoother than I've ever seen you ride actually, even on borrowed bikes..


I also agree with George's 1 2 3..
 
McDade, I've been a fan since I saw you ride at Spring Valley back in the day! I've never met you personally but
always admired your style and skill. I agree with Meister 100%, you're killing it out there!
 
Bernard, I remember those days too.. Pit had posted pics of Mike and I whippin it on that middle uphill triple but I lost all of them a couple years ago when my computer crashed.. Wish I still had them!
 
Hell ya Mcdade was killing it. If you attended malvern sat night, you realize how clean, smooth, and flauntless he looks on the bike. Swept all four motos. Even threw a pretty sweet one footer on the uphill triple by where I was flaggin. Ya buddy, that was me rootin you on!
 
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