Attitude from race officials after (politely) protesting
05-10-10, 12:12 PM
#26
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The officials I've talked to who have dealt with chips in races said they were a disaster and took forever to generate results. I've also heard of incidents where the timer took elapsed time for each rider (from time they crossed the start to time they crossed the finish), which is utterly incorrect in a mass start race. Even if you can't afford a proper photo-finish camera, a minidv camera and a mac can make picking places (and keeping track of who is in the race and who is in the field) a lot easier.
05-10-10, 01:30 PM
#27
Elite Fred
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05-10-10, 03:00 PM
#28
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As a bottom rung (Class C) official who often gets to work understaffed 'local' events, I'll just toss in a few items:
1. Chip timing is expensive, and the manufacturers still don't have all the issues worked out for mass starts yet (see post just a couple above), plus sometimes they'll miss counting a lap
, totally screwing things up.
When they do get the bugs out, and they are cheap enough that you'll get one at the first race, keep it and reuse it for every race, you'll see them used a lot more. FYI: you may get to use one in cross before you do in road.
2. Good finish line cameras and equipment are expensive as well. Your bike is cheap in comparison. But that $ spent can be useless if you can't pin your number on correctly. By the time you reach Cat4 you should know how to do this.
Probably the #2 contributor to slow results posting.
3. In events where you have been lapped but not pulled, please do not contest the field sprint finish. Drift to the back. In 'local' events this one item can slow up the posting of results, and cause delays through protests, as much as anything else.
1. Chip timing is expensive, and the manufacturers still don't have all the issues worked out for mass starts yet (see post just a couple above), plus sometimes they'll miss counting a lap
, totally screwing things up. When they do get the bugs out, and they are cheap enough that you'll get one at the first race, keep it and reuse it for every race, you'll see them used a lot more. FYI: you may get to use one in cross before you do in road.
2. Good finish line cameras and equipment are expensive as well. Your bike is cheap in comparison. But that $ spent can be useless if you can't pin your number on correctly. By the time you reach Cat4 you should know how to do this.
Probably the #2 contributor to slow results posting.3. In events where you have been lapped but not pulled, please do not contest the field sprint finish. Drift to the back. In 'local' events this one item can slow up the posting of results, and cause delays through protests, as much as anything else.
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05-14-10, 08:04 PM
#29
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re: chips,
there is also a technical issue that the winner is the first wheel across the line, but you can't mount a sensor on the wheel, so you put it on the fork. Doesn't matter mostly, except when it does. So you still need a backup camera. Then there's the extra race-day hassle of distributing and collecting (if they aren't a one time use) the chips, mounting them. I assume they wouldn't malfunction much, but the extra cost and hassle is often not worth avoiding the occasional protest.
my .02
there is also a technical issue that the winner is the first wheel across the line, but you can't mount a sensor on the wheel, so you put it on the fork. Doesn't matter mostly, except when it does. So you still need a backup camera. Then there's the extra race-day hassle of distributing and collecting (if they aren't a one time use) the chips, mounting them. I assume they wouldn't malfunction much, but the extra cost and hassle is often not worth avoiding the occasional protest.
my .02
ibid on what kudude says. Too much hassle. We looked at getting them- pretty hefty investment. Data is pretty neat but we'd have to add personnel to each race. (One person to deal with timing system) This is in addition to the regular Finishlynx operator and the other officials. I've chatted with the folks over at USAC and we both agree its intriguing but not sure whether the technology is quite there. Cross Crusade tried chips one year and it was a complete debacle.
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