[corey_rideDC]

there were a lot of great things about the whitetail races this weekend and a lot of things that could have been better. this is not intended to be a place for bitching and moaning, just as the title implies... constructive criticisms

first off, the courses were great. i had a blast on the dual course, on saturday's race and in the mud on sunday. ridiculous amounts of fun. all of my issues were with the administrative end of things.

here's my beef and how i would fix it:

MAC #2 was saturday, MAC #3 was sunday. you could race either or both. we stuck around saturday night, waiting for DH awards. after waiting through the dual awards, we were told they weren't doing awards for the individual races... just the combined scores.
:hot:
that would have been a good thing to publicize beforehand. plenty of people decided to race only one day out of the 2 ... the top 3s of MAC #2 got nothing, not even a chance to stand on the podium.

the winners of MAC #3 got to stand on the podium, got their shiny medals, but nothing else.

then there was a 3 hour wait for the combined results to be calculated. 3 hours to add 2 times together and delete the people that were only there one day. ridiculous.

so, $45,000 of prizes to be distributed to the 20-30 remaining riders... no ceremony, no nothing. i just got pointed to my pile of loot and sent home. at least i got some loot. plenty of folks waited around for nothing.

so, my suggestions for future events are:

• spread the awards across all events... you shouldn't have an event with NO awards ceremony.
• if the whole point of the event is the combined results, let people know that well in advance so they can plan accordingly

if i'm in the wrong, or there was stuff going on that i don't understand let me know. as of right now, i'm leaning toward skipping #4 and going to snowshoe where i trust the timers and the promoters.

 

[Matt H]

then there was a 3 hour wait for the combined results to be calculated. 3 hours to add 2 times together and delete the people that were only there one day. ridiculous.

Totally agree....with technology available on computers as of 1998, it should take about 10 seconds to combine times from multiple races. Time 1 + time 2 / 2, or apply your weighted formula as necessary...whatever it is, it should be established and configured before the racers even get there much less finish.

While it was annoying I can understand a little regarding the problem with getting the times in the first place...lost bike tags due to rain, general confusion thanks to rain, delays, new people, whatever, ****e happens...but like I said above, once you have those race times it should be matter of hitting the return key and then hitting the print button.

Sunday's course was great though, even in the slop it had some fun spots...I would love to run it again when (or if?) it dries up.

 

[whale]

there was also an announcement made on saturday pre-awards for the DS ceremony that EVERY winner of the capitol cup (combined 2 days race) would get a jersey. i didn't see any jerseys given out to winners, but there were a couple of them raffled off on sunday.

there really was a clear lack of communication with the way awards were going to be distributed. not trying to be greedy, but i really think that there should have been an awards ceremony for MAC#2 on saturday, MAC#3 on sunday, and Capital Cup on Sunday.

otherwise, i enjoyed riding both race courses from this weekend and the fun-filled attitudes of the guys waiting in the rain at the top yesterday for the race. it was a blast to ride a venue so close to DC and i hope we all can have access to ride at whitetail on a more permanent basis someday.

oh and to constructively critique myself and my fellow car poolers... we've gotta bring more BEER next time. that was my biggest dissapointment this weekend. it would have at least made the waiting around pass a bit quicker. :trophy_br

 

[Pi31412]

I had a great time at the race. The courses were rad, Saturday cleared up nicely, the food was good, and everyone (racers and organizers) seemed decent and no one needed their punk card pulled. That said...

1. Learn how to use a computer! Argh! MAC dudes, if you need someone to make up some scorekeeping software I'd be happy to do it for the low-low discount price of one race admission....or a new pair of gloves. I'm serious too.

2. If you don't know how to use a computer and it takes a dump, tell the crowd as someone might be able to help. Several "it'll be <5 mins" announcements is worse than "anyone have a laptop we can borrow?" One honest no-bs accessment would have been nice.

3. I would have happily helped with my laptop had I realized earlier that they were just using Excel.

4. Corey covered the prize situation well and I'd just like to add that for all us slowasses greedy for giveaways, it would have been nice to hang out and get door prizes. Daddy needs a new pair of gloves!

5. The bathroom situation was pretty bad. Some volunteer kept telling me there would be showers and lockerroom open and sadly there were neither. Good thing I didn't camp.

Anyhow, the races were great and overall I had a fantastic time. It was all a bit soured by the final debacle but still not enough to put me off the idea of doing another of the MAC races.

Oh and yes, more beer and more pocket bike races would be the way forward in the future. Something to keep us big kids all entertained for a few hours even just to spice up the weekend would be killer.



6. PONY RIDES!!!

 

[oldskoolbiker]

I will agree that the courses were great, two very different but equally good courses.

But is was very annoying with the schedule slippage and delays in posting times. I mean not being able to leave until 8:00PM each day was pretty bad.

Now one thing I am still confused with is the exactly how the races count. It was my understanding that there were two races, The Capital Cup, and the PA State Championship. As I understood it The Capital Cup was MAC#2, and PA State Championship was MAC#3. The Capital Cup would be the combined times of Sat and Sun, and PA State Championship would be Sunday time only. This would explain why no DH awards were given out on Saturday. Now this would mean if you screwed up on Sunday, (like Dustin for example with a busted hub), essentially two races would be screwed.

It seems it would be better if Saturday counted as MAC#2 and Sunday counted as MAC#3, but I can't find any clear definition on racersedge website.

Anybody know for sure how it is?

 

[dairy_dude]

My only real complaint was the wait for results. I hope they can fix that for next time.

 

[Pi31412]

Uh oh. So if you raced Saturday but not Sunday due to the weather or say, a mechanical, that Saturday was really for nothing in the grand scheme of things?

Bummer.

 

[b stevens]

as for the jersey's they are for the mac series not the capital cup and the score keeping was hired out, hope they dump and sue that ass, overall riding was great, people were great, scoring SUCKED big time, all the problems kept coming back to scoring all the delays and waiting, the lack of bathrooms was really bad also, but I think I will return for another mac race.

 

[oldskoolbiker]

Uh oh. So if you raced Saturday but not Sunday due to the weather or say, a mechanical, that Saturday was really for nothing in the grand scheme of things?

Bummer.

I hope not, but it's impossible to figure it out based on whats on the website and what they announced at the race. So as of right now I have no idea how points will be calculated.

Based on what I read on the website and saw onsite, I didn't think you could even register for Saturday DH race only.

 

[corey_rideDC]

as i understand it, saturday was mac #2, sunday was mac #3 and the capital cup has nothing to do with the series. so, essentially all the prizes were only for the capital cup (had to race both). this is all just guesswork though, as noone ever clarified any of this.

 

[whale]

got an email response from mike hartlove regarding prizes for the capitol cup:

"jerseys are for the Mid Atlantic Cup Series winners and will be awarded at the end of the year. Pa. Championship winners got medals and plates - that's all. Thanks for your patience Sunday - hope to see you at Wisp."

that clears things up as they went down for the prizes, but it would have been nice to know this beforehand. it still baffles me that MAC#2 got no recognition (no prizes or podium) and MAC#3 (podiumed with no prizes) and the only awards were given out to capitol cup winners.

 

[yellowrake]

there was also an announcement made on saturday pre-awards for the DS ceremony that EVERY winner of the capitol cup (combined 2 days race) would get a jersey. i didn't see any jerseys given out to winners, but there were a couple of them raffled off on sunday.

there really was a clear lack of communication with the way awards were going to be distributed. not trying to be greedy, but i really think that there should have been an awards ceremony for MAC#2 on saturday, MAC#3 on sunday, and Capital Cup on Sunday.

otherwise, i enjoyed riding both race courses from this weekend and the fun-filled attitudes of the guys waiting in the rain at the top yesterday for the race. it was a blast to ride a venue so close to DC and i hope we all can have access to ride at whitetail on a more permanent basis someday.

oh and to constructively critique myself and my fellow car poolers... we've gotta bring more BEER next time. that was my biggest dissapointment this weekend. it would have at least made the waiting around pass a bit quicker. :trophy_br

MID-ATLANTIC CUP Series CHAMPIONS all get jerseys Not Capital Cup winners
MAC #2 was the Capital Cup (Combined time event) MAC #3 was the Pa. State Championshi ( Sunday's race only ) this info has been available for some time. Perhaps better verbage would enlighten more folks. Thanks for the feedback - I promise we're listening.
All timing and results will be sub-contracted for the rest of the year.
Hope to see you at Wisp July 15-16.

 

[corey_rideDC]

aaaahhh, i see...

MAC #2 = Saturday & Sunday overall winners
MAC #3 = Sunday winners only

ah, that clears my issue up a bit, thanks mike. that info may have been available, but it's rather confusing. looking back at the website, i don't see anything about which race is which part of the MAC series anywhere. makes sense after your explanation above though.

still would have liked to see the winners of MAC #3 get prizes and not just a chance to stand on the podium.

hope you find someone reliable for the timing/scoring ... the excel problems were obviously a problem, but lots of folks had no faith in the recorded times. good to hear that's getting solved.

 

[oldskoolbiker]

aaaahhh, i see...

MAC #2 = Saturday & Sunday overall winners
MAC #3 = Sunday winners only

Ok this is how I thought it worked. However this will really screw some people. I know you get to drop one race, now lets say you had a mechanical on Sunday (like Dustin) and had a really bad time. This will cause you to have a bad time for both MAC #2 and MAC #3. But you will only get to drop one of them.

 

[Pi31412]

Guess it was a waste of time racing Saturday if I couldn't race Sunday. Wonderful.

Oh well.

 

[Stiff]

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I won't be going to Wisp, mostly because of the unacceptable organization and timing of MAC2 and 3, but best of luck to everyone. If I can't trust the timing, what have you got in DC racing? I was either 1st, 2nd, 8th, or somewhere in between. I know the organizers are really bummed about all this and I'm sympathetic to them, but I can't spend my little free time this way.

I'll be working on trail or freeriding Diablo instead.

 

[yellowrake]

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I won't be going to Wisp, mostly because of the unacceptable organization and timing of MAC2 and 3, but best of luck to everyone. If I can't trust the timing, what have you got in DC racing? I was either 1st, 2nd, 8th, or somewhere in between. I know the organizers are really bummed about all this and I'm sympathetic to them, but I can't spend my little free time this way.

I'll be working on trail or freeriding Diablo instead.

God bless America and the freedom of choice!
Sorry you're so bummed out on the MAC series, I promise it's getting better. Racer's Edge Inc. has fired the staffers hired to run the scoring. All scoring for the remainder of the year will be sub-contracted. As for the Wisp, they now have a new Dual track that could very well be one of the best in the country.