Weekend Roundup from Monson & HHRR
After enjoying a rare weekend off it was back to the black tent this weekend for the Cyclonauts Monson Road Race and the Housatonic Hills Road Race. Two great road races but for us it means two days of non stop data entry. The big challenge with road events like these is that once the finishers start coming across the line, they don't stop for hours.
This year we've had it a bit easier thanks to Alan Atwood's supurbe tweaking of our results spreadsheet so sorting out the large fields and the riders mixed in the vairous categories is much easier. Of course to use the spreadsheet you have to have power, and that proved to be a problem on Saturday. About an hour into the race our trusty little suitcase generator started to sound like it was running in molasses. As the riders rolled up the final climb it looked like we just might make it through the the day. We got through the Pro 1/2, the Women, the 3/4 and the 4/5 and the masters 30/40 and 50..... well not all of the 50's.
With the break across the line and the field sprint looming our little engine that could finally couldn't and the screens went blank. The generator had quit... So it was time to go old school and with pencil and paper (plus consultations with the officials) we managed to get almost all but 2 riders in the field. We even managed to get the little generator back running for the final 20 minutes of the race!
The upside of everyone coming across the line at the same time is that you get home a bit earlier, and we managed to get home to our local power equipment store 10 minutes before they closed. We walked out with 2 new Honda generators (and a big hole in the wallet) so we were good to go for Sunday. As a bonus the new gennies will work with the external fuel tank, so we'll have all the power we need all day long.
Housatonic Hills is one of the largest races we do all year, and with good reason. the course is beautiful, the hills are huge, and the whole event runs really smoothly. I'd have to say that for such a large event, the guys at Zephyr really have the number pickup thing down to a science. They have a lot of stuff to hand out in a short time, and the system they have makes it really easy. Promoters- if you are looking for ways to improve the quality of your events this is something you should try to emulate.
The results went really smoothly, and with the new generators we had no issues at all. The highlight of the day had to be John Funk blowing kisses to the camera as he won the 45+. Too Cool.
Next week it's back to criteriums with the NBX Bikes and Cox Charities races. See you there!
This year we've had it a bit easier thanks to Alan Atwood's supurbe tweaking of our results spreadsheet so sorting out the large fields and the riders mixed in the vairous categories is much easier. Of course to use the spreadsheet you have to have power, and that proved to be a problem on Saturday. About an hour into the race our trusty little suitcase generator started to sound like it was running in molasses. As the riders rolled up the final climb it looked like we just might make it through the the day. We got through the Pro 1/2, the Women, the 3/4 and the 4/5 and the masters 30/40 and 50..... well not all of the 50's.
With the break across the line and the field sprint looming our little engine that could finally couldn't and the screens went blank. The generator had quit... So it was time to go old school and with pencil and paper (plus consultations with the officials) we managed to get almost all but 2 riders in the field. We even managed to get the little generator back running for the final 20 minutes of the race! The upside of everyone coming across the line at the same time is that you get home a bit earlier, and we managed to get home to our local power equipment store 10 minutes before they closed. We walked out with 2 new Honda generators (and a big hole in the wallet) so we were good to go for Sunday. As a bonus the new gennies will work with the external fuel tank, so we'll have all the power we need all day long.
Housatonic Hills is one of the largest races we do all year, and with good reason. the course is beautiful, the hills are huge, and the whole event runs really smoothly. I'd have to say that for such a large event, the guys at Zephyr really have the number pickup thing down to a science. They have a lot of stuff to hand out in a short time, and the system they have makes it really easy. Promoters- if you are looking for ways to improve the quality of your events this is something you should try to emulate.
The results went really smoothly, and with the new generators we had no issues at all. The highlight of the day had to be John Funk blowing kisses to the camera as he won the 45+. Too Cool.Next week it's back to criteriums with the NBX Bikes and Cox Charities races. See you there!
Labels: road racing
posted by JD at
6:12 AM
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