Chili town review????

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Good weekend of riding and racing. Got to see some faces I haven't seen in a LONG time and had some beers with the fellas and rode my dirt bike against more than 5 riders. Still WAY out of shape but had a good time and the track was good. Although practice Sun morning SUCKED the track turned out pretty good the rest of the day. I agree that there are too many classes but the track prep I think is what also made for a long day. Like Dave said, prepping sections real quick between motos is the way to go I think. The little rollers after the start need to go too in my opinion. Promoted single line racing and as Knox said there is nothing wrong with having a jump free straight on the track. I think that is they were taken out it would have been a good passing spot.

Both of my motos on Sunday I was happy with the track I just think there needs to be something done to get the day done quicker.

oh yeah highlight of my weekend.....Justin Weeks is a BADASS!!!
 
2 good practices, 2 gate drops with 40 bikes all the same relative speed, all within a 5 hour period somehow. That would be my perfect race day.
 
Day181 said:
John250, I slammed in to you the first turn when you stopped for tea and crumpets and my rear brake lever caught something. I managed to ride 3 laps with an extra foot peg but ironically I almost killed a couple kids coasting through the pits. The bike just launched out from underneath of me full throttle. My apologies to the kids and family I scared to death.
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Luckly the cars in Columbus are safe still! Lol
 
It was a good time and good racing but also disappointing since my buddy and I had to load up and ditch our second motos. We had a three hour drive and both hafta get up at 500am for work. Just couldn't wait around and not get home and in bed until one in the morning. Not to mention the kids get pretty grumpy too. Looking at the results it appears we weren't the only ones. I would think Saturday would be a better day for this event.
 
Man it's awesome to see PitWhiner back to it's old self again! I heard that at the PitWhiner ride day not only can you ride for $10 but everyone will also get a box of tampons and tissues.
 
Hershey your on the right track actually on a few things. Mich runs all pee wees/ kids in the A.M. and adults in the afternoon directly afterwards it cuts all the hassle of parents and kids running classes after each other and for those who only have a kid riding or and adult riding its time efficient. The kids are out early adults can take time getting there and are out early afternoon. In talking with people throughout the year around the country that race in different states and asking how the organizations are run these seem to be the consistant around the country and very prevalent in organizations out west. The one thing that I have heard a lot from people out west is that some of them are going to almost a practice race day combined type deal where you do two sets of timed practice race motos two sets of timed practice then race motos again. lots of time on the track but not sure if it would work out well in a big crowd. This is the first year with the OMA and everyone should be ecxcited and I think they really are from what I hear from people. There is finally an organization here that is willing to give to the riders and listen to the riders and actually care about the riders and events they hold!!! Can't beat that anywhere!! I personally enjoy the time at the track and I am glad to finally see some good crowds show up at each event not just once or twice a year.

1. If you want 26 motos then try this. The 2 day events with sat practice and sunday races is cool and it seems saturday crowds are large. Since tracks are fully mobilized (ie. flaggers, vendors, food and crew) Run sat as follows, or close to..... 10 am 2 rounds of practice for everyone. immediately following 1st motos for quads and pee wees practice for everyone. Prep. 2 more rounds of practice for everyone with 2nd motos following.
Sunday minis and bikes only.

2. Laps---- make all motos timed. So for example the average 4 lap moto at any given track is (just pulling this out of thin air here) 8 min. So you make all motos 8 min. Possibly the pros get 5 laps in , the average moto is 4 laps and the painfull pee wees get 2-3. The key to this is EVERYONE GETS THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME on the track. Then everyone can stop complaining about waiting 20 min for 3 mini quads or 50cc beg riders to do their 4 laps.

5. Same rule for morning practice. The next group should be on the track in the same fashion. Practice should go by times. 830,845,9,915 ect. NOT by when people show up to the gate the first time. Run 6-8 practices or what ever is needed but only by times. It starts at 830 ant end at 10. And non pro riders shouldnt be allowed to go out in that practice. More than a few vet riders were spotted there.....

6. Stick to the scheduled times for practice and motos. This isnt the riders fault its an efficiency and coordination problem. At least a couple hours could be saved right here
 
Day181 said:
John250, I slammed in to you the first turn when you stopped for tea and crumpets and my rear brake lever caught something. I managed to ride 3 laps with an extra foot peg but ironically I almost killed a couple kids coasting through the pits. The bike just launched out from underneath of me full throttle. My apologies to the kids and family I scared to death.
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I heard about your "incident" from my daughter when you came off the track.....Now I know who caught my rear end and pulled my bike out from under me! I finally had an OK start, and Chris Hause tucked his front end under real bad, and about went down....I ran into him, and about saved it, until all the sudden it was like someone just grabbed the rear wheel and pulled it out from under me. Sucked for sure. Thought I could have a good second moto since the track was much more to my liking.

Glad you ok....my daughter said you looked like you tried to ride a wheelie and looped it out!
 
hershey said:
Ideas to throw around and not just about yesterdays race:

1. If you want 26 motos then try this. The 2 day events with sat practice and sunday races is cool and it seems saturday crowds are large. Since tracks are fully mobilized (ie. flaggers, vendors, food and crew) Run sat as follows, or close to..... 10 am 2 rounds of practice for everyone. immediately following 1st motos for quads and pee wees. Prep. 2 more rounds of practice for everyone with 2nd motos following.
Sunday minis and bikes only.

2. Laps---- make all motos timed. So for example the average 4 lap moto at any given track is (just pulling this out of thin air here) 8 min. So you make all motos 8 min. Possibly the pros get 5 laps in , the average moto is 4 laps and the painfull pee wees get 2-3. The key to this is EVERYONE GETS THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME on the track. Then everyone can stop complaining about waiting 20 min for 3 mini quads or 50cc beg riders to do their 4 laps.

4. With the finish line directly behind the start gate there is no reason to wait until the last rider is off the track before dropping the next gate. It should fall when the last rider(in most classes obviously not with the very slow ones) is just past the half way point. The second set of motos this was better and not like the first set when there were no bikes on the track at some points.

5. Same rule for morning practice. The next group should be on the track in the same fashion. Practice should go by times. 830,845,9,915 ect. NOT by when people show up to the gate the first time. Run 6-8 practices or what ever is needed but only by times. It starts at 830 ant end at 10. And non pro riders shouldnt be allowed to go out in that practice. More than a few vet riders were spotted there.....

7. Try prepping in small increments. Move around the track with equipment and hit a corner here and there through out the day. Mist water on parts of the track regularly, I mean MIST not soak. That means actually taking the time to train those with hoses or in trucks what that means.
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I like suggestions 1 & 2 for sure.

4. This definitely needs to happen at all tracks. Once they were headed up hill to the back section the gate should have had the 2 minute card up and moving.

5. Hershey.......you calling ME out?? Hey, I had permission to be there! Those other extra practice thieves did not.

7. Definitely........BUT mist the track, so when you come around you don't find something super slick! Used to be a track in KY that had a small piece of equipment that they used to do this because they were next to the free way......worked out great.
 
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Originally Posted by Day181 John250, I slammed in to you the first turn when you stopped for tea and crumpets and my rear brake lever caught something. I managed to ride 3 laps with an extra foot peg but ironically I almost killed a couple kids coasting through the pits. The bike just launched out from underneath of me full throttle. My apologies to the kids and family I scared to death.
I heard about your "incident" from my daughter when you came off the track.....Now I know who caught my rear end and pulled my bike out from under me! I finally had an OK start, and Chris Hause tucked his front end under real bad, and about went down....I ran into him, and about saved it, until all the sudden it was like someone just grabbed the rear wheel and pulled it out from under me. Sucked for sure. Thought I could have a good second moto since the track was much more to my liking.

I saw the whole thing first hand I was 5 ft. from it all walking past the father and kids. I wasn't sure what happened the bike went to full rev then over backwards!! I was not sure if the clutch cable broke or your fingers slipped or what. It looked painful and if you didn't have that chest protector on you would def be removing gravel from your back. I was in full sprint for the line and you were moving so that equaled "ok just need a min to gather myself and shift the poo in my pants so its not noticeable when I stand up" Glad to see you were up and moving and nobody was hurt that was a close one for sure. Weird incident for sure.
 
washel157 said:
Definatly tooooo many classes. There could have been some good 30A and 25A races yesterday but..........there were 10 quad classes. I know of at least 5 guys that wanted to sign up for 25+ but didn`t because there isn`t a payout.
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So you want them to ditch the quads for 5 guys that want paid back their money when they already rode for free?

Seems to me they should have rode +25 for fun just because they were already there for a better than free ride with payouts. How about supporting the track that is the first to have free pro signup? Talk about tampons and tissues.
 
A random thought, has nothing to do with speeding up race day. How bout on the bigger events that draw a good pro turnout, set up pro race times. At the ATV nationals they have set Moto times, 1 and 3:30 I believe. What does this do? Nothing for me I guess, but at least you could advertise the races as such and draw a bit of a spectator crowd. And keep the fast guys coming back.
 
I missed my second Moto of pro bike because I didn't know they reversed the race order, that was probably the dumbet thing I've ver seen in my life. Overall it was a great weekend and I had a blast. But I say run it like a regional, we got 3 laps of practice on Saturday before the races began, an on Sunday we got one lap just to see the track, and racing began. I think that could help speed up the process a little bit. In a reality you don't need more than 3 laps to remember the track.
 
ODI256 said:
I missed my second Moto of pro bike because I didn't know they reversed the race order, that was probably the dumbet thing I've ver seen in my life. Overall it was a great weekend and I had a blast. But I say run it like a regional, we got 3 laps of practice on Saturday before the races began, an on Sunday we got one lap just to see the track, and racing began. I think that could help speed up the process a little bit. In a reality you don't need more than 3 laps to remember the track.
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Agree 100%.......all this crap about needing all this practice.......most people go out and jump things first or second lap anyway on most tracks from just looking at things.
 
While I wasn't there, I do see things at tracks that definately could help the overall speed of things.

1. start when advertised
a. This starts with sign-up. Make sure sign up has the ability to have everyone signed up by the time practice starts. I have gone to races 1-1/2 hour early to prepare, only to stand in line waiting to sign up when they start calling practice. Some of this is on the riders...plan and don't think that 100 people can sign up in 15 minutes when you're all late... Only some of this can be resolved by the sign up team and from what I understand, they were great.

b. Schedule times for practice that prepare for the worst and stick with the schedule. Not everyone hears the PA at every track in all areas and that can cause havoc. understanding that weather and track conditions merit quads, or bikes first, just plan for the worst and stick with it. That way nothing has to be changed and no one misses out and complains. If they miss practice, it is their fault.

c. Stop practice poachers. The riders that feel that they need to be in 1/2 of the classes and constantly plug up the system. Have a system that allows multiple practices multiple bikes and classes honestly and stop the poachers.

2. Track prep
a. tackle track prep from the early hours of racing in areas that are known to need it. Track owners know the areas that are always trouble. After the last rider of a moto goes by that area, take the water truck and disc over that area with a 3-5 minute quicky. Have the tractor and water truck close by so that there is little delay and communcate to the person running the starting gate for safety reasons.

b Incorporate a "Watered" flag into the track workers aresenal. Possibly something that is blue with a water can or rain droplet...? Something to communicate that the track may be wet in the upcoming areas. Safety first. Dont hose the jump faces horribly!

3. Classes. Minimum riders to constitue a class. Not enough show up...you have to be staggered with another class of similar speed or no class.

4. Laps. Everybody wants a zillion laps, and to leave at 3pm. Sorry boys, that aint happening. Its one or the other. Track owners have a general lap time for their track, and can calculate within reason how many classes can be supported within a reasonable time. Keep the number of gate drops within that number. It's a little work at first, but can help the the time complaint.

Just a view from the outside. Don't shoot me...

It sounds to me like the OMA is doing more to promote positive change than anyone has done in MX in years. Its great to see someone listen to the suggestions of an angry mob of people...and actually do some of them. My hat is off to you...Good job
 
Not to hi-jack the thread (I rode elsewhere this weekend) but I'm getting tired of all the "couch" comments.

Watch this video and tell me quad riders don't use more physical exertion and control to muscle 400 pounds around a track. I grew up on bikes and can tell you they take less sheer physical power to ride.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cKgPTjqW_wo
 
11 Quad (couch) classes 55 sign ups. 4 Vet classes 59 sign ups. That sums it up. Also take a hard look at replacing the Vet sport class with a +50 class for next year.
 
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