I never thought of charging a fee but I have spent hundreds of hours, in
the last 10 years, helping pin numbers on correctly. The people new to
racing always appreciate the help and the instruction on how to pin on
their numbers. Some have even proudly shown me their correctly pinned
number at the next race.
I quit helping the more advanced racers
because several were quite rude. One racer told me it was "his thing" to
pin his number on incorrectly besides Candi knows who he is and what
his number is. I tried to explain how it distracts the official who is
stuck on "What was that number?" as other racers pass. He did not care.
Not every official is Candi. Candi is a master she could spot
my son on his commuter bike in work clothes from 3 blocks away just by
the way he rode. Candi has a wealth of experience no one else will ever
touch. Most officials are lucky to be able to spot and write down well
pinned numbers as several racers blast past doing 25+ miles per hour.
I
have had a racer argue that there were so few in the field that it did
not matter that his number was on the wrong side--as an official I was
just supposed to know it was him. His fellow racers had to tell him to
shut up his protests as I repinned his number.
I say DQ the repeat offenders--I think that is what it is going to take to change their ways.
Geri Bossen
From: listbd@comcast.net
To: obra@list.obra.org
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2010 09:08:06 -0700
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Numbers
Perhaps some enterprising teenager could set up a booth and
offer this service for a small fee. OBRA could certify their pinning skills and
racers would be guaranteed placing if their numbers are pinned on by a
certified pinner-on-er.
From:
obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On Behalf Of STEVEN
R HOLLAND
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 8:51 AM
To: mike.murray@obra.org
Cc: OBRA remailer
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Numbers
This whole "can't read the # thing" is sooooooo
easy to fix it gives me a nose bleed.
I have a great solution...............DON'T SCORE
THEM...................You're welcome, anything else?
STEVEN R HOLLAND
6015 NW Perthshire Rd
Vancouver, WA 98663
C(360) 600-2702
From: Mike Murray
Cc: OBRA remailer
Sent: Mon, October 18, 2010 8:28:57 AM
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Numbers
Unfortunately it is not a lack of information on how to put on numbers. There
is one particular top finishing A rider who constantly folds his number and
places it in the middle of his back. He has been spoken to several times and
has had pictures from the FinishLynx that show his not visible number sent to
him. This week he was snitty with an official who re-pinned his number at the
line. He is relatively easy to pick because he is often leading but each lap
you have to look up his number to input it into the scoring program. It is
worse that back in the middle of the pack there are other less visible guys who
have their number pinned the same way.
Badly pinned numbers are expected in the beginner field. Unfortunately they are
often more common in the A field. I suspect that this is because the A riders
feel they have be around long enough that we should magically know who they are
or that they want to wear their number in a "Euro" fashion.
People should come by the finish area and look over the shoulders of the camera
operator or the manual pickers to see how difficult identifying riders is.
Mike Murray - Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
From: Shane Gibson
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2010 07:56:55 -0700
To:
Cc: OBRA remailer
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Numbers
Screw them. That's what I say. You guys work way to hard to
accommodate a few childish and selfish racers out there. They can't pin
their numbers correctly - they don't deserve results. I believe that you
guys have done a good job of letting racers know how to pin their numbers.
There certainly are a few legit issues that deserve attention regarding this.
Say, a safety pin that gives out in a race, or mud covering the numbers.
Maybe the only suggestion I could make is post a series of
posters with instructions and big pictures showing correct placement.
Post it on a-boards at the start chutes, the registration tents, etc.
Thank you to ALL of the OBRA volunteers for the incredible
hard work you put in. You make racing fun and easy.
~~shane
--
"Opportunities multiply as they are seized." - Sun Tzu
On Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 10:19 PM, Mike Murray
wrote:
So Candi and I have both been up since very early this
morning and we are
now still working at completing the results from today's race. One of the
problems is numbers. Although most riders are doing a fine job of pinning
their numbers on there are a few who are pinning numbers on in a way that
makes them very difficult or impossible to read. Several of these riders
are very experienced riders and several of them have been spoken to about
their number pinning and placement several times before but have ignored
this. Each one of these bad numbers takes us much longer to resolve.
We
should not be stuck doing this. It is one thing if it is beginners who
know
nothing but to see seasoned riders with international experience with folded
and invisible numbers is really offensive. Candi is a soft touch and she
will work late into the night in part due to this. If I was the person
making the decisions I would enforce the rules:
"8.2 Technical requirements
Numbers will be block figures and will be easily read at a distance.
They will be black figures on a white background. Riders will place
their numbers according to the instructions of the officials and/or
race organizer.
8.3 Prohibitions
8.3.1 Modification of numbers
No rider shall cut, fold, mutilate, trim or apply stickers to the race
number, nor shall they sell, trade or give the issued number to
another individual. Penalty or disqualification is at the discretion of
the Race Official.
21
8.3.2 Drawn numbers
Hand drawn numbers are not allowed.
8.4 Unreadable numbers
Unreadable numbers may not be placed."
Mike Murray
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