cynicwanderer
Well-Known Member
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So, I entered Mint 400, not because it was the first time bikes were allowed since 1976, but because it's part of the BITD series this year. here are some of my impressions.
1. BITD did a great job laying out a gnarly motorcycle course. sure, it was a bit whopped out in places, but I enjoyed doing the single track and loved the Beer Bottle Gulch technical section. BITD did a great job organizing the actual race part.
2. No free T-Shirts ! really ?!?!
3. Trackers... I personally didn't get much value out of the trackers at this race. in my opinion, we didn't really need them for this type of event since we weren't sharing the course with the steering wheels. In general, I think the real-time tracking technology is still very clunky. no doubt the programmers are limited to working with various clunky web based APIs to get the relevant data from the satellite paging provider to the event real time map display and integrate all of the racer specific data (i.e. mapping the tracker ID to the racer number), and thus everything is not as smooth when you scale it up to the 120 or so motorcycles, etc...
4. YB vs. RacingTrax. The packaging of of the YB were bulky. The wanted to mount them on the bike with ZIP ties. Really ? to their credit, the tech person admitted this was weak and said it would be better for the solo riders (i.e. Ironman) to just put them in the pack. I can't wait to try the new RacingTrax motorcycle units at SS300.
5. event politics... I felt like there was some tensions between the different organizations. I finished early and was instructed by BITD to return the YB tracker to the YB tent inside the fenced off start/finish area. The guard at the gate didn't want to let me go through and then the local guy in charge of the area (it was the gate for the media) said no one except media can come in the area and I had to go to the main entrance (which you need tickets for)... anyway, after he checked with his manager, they consented to having the guard at the gate collect the trackers and take them over to the collection bin. needless to say, I didn't feel that great about this scheme because of the $1000 lost unit fee they were going to charge us... luckily, I have some witnesses.
overall, I thought the race was great and I had a great time. some of these things are political and glitches happened, just want to provide some feedback here. maybe if enough people had similar impressions and voiced it, it would provide some feedback to event organizers for the next time.
most of all I was disappointed by the lack of free t-shirt and the attitude by the event staff providing security, towards the racers. after all, we are paying to provide the content for your promotion. it would be nicer if the attitude towards us was a little more respectful than just random spectators. I noticed the same thing at the UTV championship last year, were the main pit security people wouldn't let me back into the pits with my bike to retrieve my vehicle. maybe it's just attitude towards the motorcycle guys, because we don't bring as much publicity as the UTV and other steering wheel guys, but it would be nice if were were treated a little better than spectators.
1. BITD did a great job laying out a gnarly motorcycle course. sure, it was a bit whopped out in places, but I enjoyed doing the single track and loved the Beer Bottle Gulch technical section. BITD did a great job organizing the actual race part.
2. No free T-Shirts ! really ?!?!
3. Trackers... I personally didn't get much value out of the trackers at this race. in my opinion, we didn't really need them for this type of event since we weren't sharing the course with the steering wheels. In general, I think the real-time tracking technology is still very clunky. no doubt the programmers are limited to working with various clunky web based APIs to get the relevant data from the satellite paging provider to the event real time map display and integrate all of the racer specific data (i.e. mapping the tracker ID to the racer number), and thus everything is not as smooth when you scale it up to the 120 or so motorcycles, etc...
4. YB vs. RacingTrax. The packaging of of the YB were bulky. The wanted to mount them on the bike with ZIP ties. Really ? to their credit, the tech person admitted this was weak and said it would be better for the solo riders (i.e. Ironman) to just put them in the pack. I can't wait to try the new RacingTrax motorcycle units at SS300.
5. event politics... I felt like there was some tensions between the different organizations. I finished early and was instructed by BITD to return the YB tracker to the YB tent inside the fenced off start/finish area. The guard at the gate didn't want to let me go through and then the local guy in charge of the area (it was the gate for the media) said no one except media can come in the area and I had to go to the main entrance (which you need tickets for)... anyway, after he checked with his manager, they consented to having the guard at the gate collect the trackers and take them over to the collection bin. needless to say, I didn't feel that great about this scheme because of the $1000 lost unit fee they were going to charge us... luckily, I have some witnesses.
overall, I thought the race was great and I had a great time. some of these things are political and glitches happened, just want to provide some feedback here. maybe if enough people had similar impressions and voiced it, it would provide some feedback to event organizers for the next time.
most of all I was disappointed by the lack of free t-shirt and the attitude by the event staff providing security, towards the racers. after all, we are paying to provide the content for your promotion. it would be nicer if the attitude towards us was a little more respectful than just random spectators. I noticed the same thing at the UTV championship last year, were the main pit security people wouldn't let me back into the pits with my bike to retrieve my vehicle. maybe it's just attitude towards the motorcycle guys, because we don't bring as much publicity as the UTV and other steering wheel guys, but it would be nice if were were treated a little better than spectators.