Originally Posted by
taras0000
During mass start races, only officials are allowed to be trackside, out of the infield. Trying to communicate with a rider during a mass start race is not only a distraction, but it can be dangerous. If you're in the midst of a mass start race, your attention should be focused on what is going on within the race, not trying to pick out your coach and decipher their messages.
Most racers won't have a true idea of the points scoreboard outside of their own points. They'll be tracking their own points and maybe those of a couple of other favourites, but they'll only have an idea of who has how many points. Unless you're in a small break, then there are too many riders to keep an exacting score....
COS allowed one person track-side for each rider. Part of that is due to the bubble and the COS venue where you could not be on the outside. Yes, riders should learn to count their points. But is is helpful to know where you stand. In 40min of circles having an idea of where your opponents were or ranking seemed like useful information. I asked a couple NT coaches and they went into lengthy explanation on the sign language they use. It was of course something to learn, but I was wondering how many here do points races and have opponents numbers communicated to them. It seems not many.
In LA I did my first split calling, and it was less than perfect. I go quite a bit better, so that I was also able to help other kids.