Race Timing

Would anyone be in favor of a better timing system? with a slight increase in entry $

  • Yes

    Votes: 6 26.1%
  • Hell yes

    Votes: 7 30.4%
  • No

    Votes: 2 8.7%
  • Hell no

    Votes: 8 34.8%

  • Total voters
    23

monkey boy

Self-Imposed Exile
After quite the debate last night I would like to ask the racing public a question.

Would you be willing to pay an extra couple of bucks per race to have a timing system similar to the running, chip based system?

Yes,hell yes, no, or hell no
 

anrothar

entirely thrilled
25 bucks is expensive?? i would happily pay 30 for championchip timing, as long as we didn't have to stop and scan in between each lap. it would have to be similar to the running setup, where the sensor is a strip on the ground at the start/finish. logisticly, it might make it more difficult in a race like rumble in the jungle, where the start and finish were in different locations.
 
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Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Yes I think $25 is expensive. No need to get into the usual "Do you know how much it costs to fatten the veal they use for these races?" argument. For me and my finances I think $25 is plenty to pay as it is.
 

anrothar

entirely thrilled
i thought 25 was cheap as hell just based on the fact that i think that's the same as we used to pay back in the early-mid nineties.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's awful. But I always fear the "slow creep" of costs. It also depends what you get out of it, right? If you show up, race, and go home it's more expensive than if you show up at 8:30 and leave at 1:30 like I did yesterday. Certainly if you use it as an "event" it's a cheap gathering with some free bananas and water. If you just show, warm, and race it can be a little expensive if you think of it as just $25 for 90 minutes.
 

wmbarace

Member
from a promotors point of view the timing would make our job easier. timing and results are a pita to put together. as far as pricing. the hours that go into putting on a race are immense. for us (wmba) the $$$ generated provides us with the funds to do trail maintence, pay insurance, and do other social activities through out the year.

i would say that I am HELL YEAH for a timing company to come in and take care of business...


chris
wmbarace@yahoo.com
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Like I said, let's not pick up that well-beaten drum. Let's keep the discussion on-topic until at least a handful of people have had a chance to comment.
 

monkey boy

Self-Imposed Exile
25 bucks is expensive?? i would happily pay 30 for championchip timing, as long as we didn't have to stop and scan in between each lap it would have to be similar to the running setup, where the sensor is a strip on the ground at the start/finish. logisticly, it might make it more difficult in a race like rumble in the jungle, where the start and finish were in different locations..

The Champion system is exactly what I am talking about.
I just commited to MTB from the road world and one of the reasons that I came over is due to the huge cost of entering a road race. worst of all when it is all over you usually walk away with nothing but a sore ass and brused ego. no bananas nothing.
The runners really are on to something.
IMHO if we make the scoring / timing smoother and more accurate it will draw in more racers wich would keep costs down in the long run.
I am willing to bet that the whole shebang is going in this direction anyway.
How nice would it be to get a chip with your licence and not have to worry about having the scoring get screwed up by someone not paying attention at the finish line.
yes I am a bit of a NERD

and when I fall off my soapbox I will probiably break something :)
 
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Glancing Aft

Active Member
Hell no, I'm already giving H2H/Campmor $225 a year for these races, plus all the money they get from me when my bike breaks. I think with all that money they could find a way to have a better timing system without charging extra for it.

What I think they NEED to do is, F'n post the results up sooner and have an updated series spreadsheet quicker! I shouldn't go to the next race in a series before I know my standings from the previous race!
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I'm into it in theory. And the more people that race the more likely it becomes due to economy of scale. I believe the MASS series contracts a timing company for the season. They're a much tighter organization than...well, I guess H2H isn't really an organization it's just a collection of races. The MASS series has a bunch of "director like" people with a website with results and so on. The H2H races has nothing like that. IMO that's something that needs to happen along with any effort to make the whole thing more "big time".

Edit: Witness GlancingAft's objections as well. More fuel to the fire of my argument.
 

DownhillR3

Well-Known Member
Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's awful. But I always fear the "slow creep" of costs. It also depends what you get out of it, right? If you show up, race, and go home it's more expensive than if you show up at 8:30 and leave at 1:30 like I did yesterday. Certainly if you use it as an "event" it's a cheap gathering with some free bananas and water. If you just show, warm, and race it can be a little expensive if you think of it as just $25 for 90 minutes.

I agree.
 

ryderX

Well-Known Member
Hell no, I'm already giving H2H/Campmor $225 a year for these races, plus all the money they get from me when my bike breaks. I think with all that money they could find a way to have a better timing system without charging extra for it.

What I think they NEED to do is, F'n post the results up sooner and have an updated series spreadsheet quicker! I shouldn't go to the next race in a series before I know my standings from the previous race!
Gotta love the view from the outside looking in.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Gotta love the view from the outside looking in.

Why is the MASS series able to do it? They had the results for the sport class entered in a laptop & printed out Sunday before I left. It should be simple to ship that off to some computer nerd and have it tallied up in a matter of hours or less after the race is over.
 

NJ Jess

Active Member
And the Root 66 series

I'm into it in theory. And the more people that race the more likely it becomes due to economy of scale. I believe the MASS series contracts a timing company for the season. They're a much tighter organization than...well, I guess H2H isn't really an organization it's just a collection of races. The MASS series has a bunch of "director like" people with a website with results and so on. The H2H races has nothing like that. IMO that's something that needs to happen along with any effort to make the whole thing more "big time".

Edit: Witness GlancingAft's objections as well. More fuel to the fire of my argument.

The Root 66 series is also another for profit organization in race promotion. The have a race director and a guy that sponsors the whole thing. It's quite a sight, but it doesn't help the parks or bike clubs that put on the races as much as the Campmor H2H series. Our series actually gives to NJ more than it takes. If I can jog your memory,.....remember that the Lewis Morris race was done with a "timing company" and it was terribly inaccurate.
 

Glancing Aft

Active Member
Gotta love the view from the outside looking in.

Sorry if that came off harsh, I'm sure it's harder then it appears from an outsider. It just gets annoying at times. For instance this upcoming weekend, I have a wedding to attend Saturdy Night. Now do I get drunk and have a great time, or do I call it am early night and go up to Tymor Park Challenge. A decision that would be much easier to make would the series statistics be updated past lewis morris.

From Campmor H2H Series Rules,
15. Results will be posted on the individual promoter’s website and the Campmor site within one week of the completion of the race. Please give the promoters time to enter all the information and post the results.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
The Root 66 series is also another for profit organization in race promotion. The have a race director and a guy that sponsors the whole thing. It's quite a sight, but it doesn't help the parks or bike clubs that put on the races as much as the Campmor H2H series. Our series actually gives to NJ more than it takes. If I can jog your memory,.....remember that the Lewis Morris race was done with a "timing company" and it was terribly inaccurate.

OK, well thanks for the counterpoint. If I'm anything I'm more than willing to discuss both sides of an issue. If they paid for the LMC timing they got ripped, because all I remember was a woman in a lawn chair with a clipboard. I think the MASS races (at least the Granogue race) had electronic timing but I could be mistaken (enduros were scored differently so I had no first hand experience).

I also don't have any hands-on with the races so I don't know how well those trails are maintained after the races. I will say that the MASS series did just change their entire lineup from '06 to '07 which would support your contention. And the Summer Sizzler was cancelled though that was due to a change in administration at GCCC as far as I'm led to believe.

But the "central admin" of the MASS series isn't paid. They're working folk who volunteer time like many of us. I am sure that in a weekend I could design something that would allow the race results to be entered and calculated with the click of a button.
 

BiknBen

Well-Known Member
I'm also a Hell No.

The running establishment may use the timing chips because they have thousands or tens of thousands of entrants to process. The runners also demand exact timing because they also want to compare times with other events. I've done 10k events with hundreds of entrants. No chips were required.

In XC MTB, time means nothing. Your finishing place is what matters. A few spotters with clip boards can handle this. I can't recall experiencing an error in finishing places.

I think the promoters could invest their time and money smarter to make the events easier to run and better for the racers. I don't think timing chips are the answer at this point.
 

NJ-XC-Justin

KY-DH-Freddy
In XC MTB, time means nothing. Your finishing place is what matters. A few spotters with clip boards can handle this. I can't recall experiencing an error in finishing places.

Although this is true, I've experienced my times be incorrect more than once this year, and it's frustrating and gives you doubt about the system as a whole -- if my time can be wrong by 5 minutes, who's to say the places are correct? Our race series needs credibility, first and foremost, and while I don't want to spend more, I can easily justify spending $30 for trusted results as opposed to a suspect $25.
 
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