Sept 9 - Brooksville

[Alizarin]

Looks like it rained a little bit here, and having learned my lesson last weekend about mowing wet grass, I decided to forgo that and do the results. Steve should have them in his inbox right now.

[Jamie]

Does walking around your lawn with a watering can count as "a little rain"?

[rippin mazda]

Yes.

Also, it rained like crazy for the first 10 miles of interstate.

Big thanks to everyone that came out and made this event a sucess.

[snookwheel]

Had a GREAT time. A fantastic event. Thanks.

[Loren]

Three posts and no mention of the event.

The course may have been somewhat difficult for first-timers to follow in a few places, but I thought that once you found the groove, the course flowed really well. The "fast line" was not obvious a lot of the time, either, which is a plus in my book. Pays dividends to the driver who can figure out "the puzzle". Definitely a challenging and fun course!

[Native]

Here's the results!





Tough course, but fair. I really liked it, even though I did not completely figure out "the puzzle" - I did get quicker as the day wore on. If only we'd a had, um, 8 more runs or so... 8)

60 drivers, 7 runs, a real lunch break, no rain, and while it was a long day, overall it went very smoothly. Especially considering the turnout.

I give it a big ol' sunburned thumb up! Good work, all!

[Alizarin]

I think Steve left out the link to the results, so here it is.

Now that I've had a chance to shower, eat dinner, and unwind a bit...

The almost constant breeze we had was a nice bonus. If I had remembered to charge the batteries for the timing equipment we might not have had as many problems as we did post-lunch. At least the time display worked 8)

[Jamie]

The course may have been somewhat difficult for first-timers to follow in a few places....

A risk we'd discussed when Ryan showed off the course map...IMO, it either needed a few extra cones or a few less to make the course (not necessarily the fast line) more visible. But even most of the novices got the hang of it by the afternoon session, so not that much of an issue. Great flow...I especially liked the finish (although I only did it well once).

Great hustle from the course workers -- people really moved out there today! I need to come up with a new method for work assignments...the no-shows (all 20 of them) were concentrated in a couple of classes, rather than spread across the field like usual. I have an idea for a more flexible system...we'll see how it works next month.

[miazda man]

great job everyone. it was a blast and the course was a little challenging but not impossible. it was kind of frustrating watching people that drove not working. it's not like your asking alot out of everyone. they get to race and eat lunch yet can't give a litte back. sorry for venting. we still had a super time

[Native]

I think Steve left out the link to the results, so here it is.

nyah, nyah, did not!

At least the time display worked

and very nicely too - thanks for coordinating that.

it was kind of frustrating watching people that drove not working.

yeah, there was a bit of that, and also a little disrespect for the farmland around the tarmac. Plan is to be a little more diligent about reminding folks at the drivers' meeting about that stuff, and a little more...

[rippin mazda]

It is kind of silly that "Please do not leave your water bottles in the grid area" needs to be added to the drivers meeting.

In retrospect, the last 1/3rd of the course could have been layed out better. The more times I went around the course the more I forgot how the finish went. It was very easy to over think the course.

In the end, I think everyone had atleast one soild time posted. I don't remember anyone having 7 DNFs. Which goes to show the how much the FAST instuctors care. 8)

[muddy]

I was not happy with this event. My gripes:

1. I didn't get my first run until 4 hours after I had walked the course. I was in run group 3.

2. My first run was a 73.x???? Obviously this is wrong and I was not notified that I should have a rerun.

3. The area at corner 4 was a sea of cones. I was called off course 3 times and never changed my path through the cones. I even had someone ride with me and we did not see a problem.

4. I left early because I did not want to wait another hour and a half to begin my last runs and not get home until after 5 pm.

This is the second time in a row where three run groups were used doing 2 run heats each. It doesn't work. Please stop doing it.

[Loren]

While I didn't have any issues with the course design, I agree with Muddy on at least one point.

If you're unlucky enough to be in the last run group, you could very well run after lunch... which would be a good 4 hours after you walked the course in the morning. If we take a break for lunch, it should be stated that the course is open for walking during lunch. That might help.

But, I definitely agree that "split run groups" is a bad idea. I'd have rather added 10-15 minutes to each of the first 3 run groups to get 6 runs in and call it a day after running everyone through once. We could have been home 2 hours earlier. I know the goal is less "exposure" for the course workers, but EVERYONE was out in the sun all day... and 15 minutes standing in one place vs. 2 hours standing in another seems like a no-brainer to me.

[WAFlowers]

Muddy, I'm chairing the next event and we will NOT be doing split run groups.

[kickslop]

My 2 cents

PROS:

* An autocross
* 7 runs for $30
* Good course
* Started on time!

CONS:

* Was home after 6PM
* A full hour (minimum) was added to the event due to courseworker cluelessness

MISC:

* Cap at 70! Please. Even that is being generous IMO.
* Never liked the 3 groups + 2 sessions. We had this discussion once before.

[Loren]

There were only 60 drivers at this event (regardless of the registration cap being at 70 or 80 or whatever it was).

Much of the problems encountered at this event were due to the LARGE number of novices present, and I don't think we handled them as well as we could have. That started with the driver's meeting, which nobody was prepared for. A few of the standard key points were hit, but certainly not all of them... and with a lot of novices (or any novices, really), EVERYTHING needs to be covered. Event Chairmen: Always, always, always prepare a checklist of items to cover in the driver's meeting.

Some of the other problems were due to the course, which I'll take partial blame for. It looked a lot different on paper, as they all do. It really did flow well, but navigation could have been better. I wasn't around when it was set up in the morning, and didn't want to make a bunch of changes to it after it was all set up and chalked, so we ran it as it was set.

The remaining problems were just the 3x2 run format, which made for a long day. But, that was a decision that was made early on. Some folks like it, some don't. On a cooler day with a smaller group of drivers, I would like it better.

[Native]

It is kind of silly that "Please do not leave your water bottles in the grid area" needs to be added to the drivers meeting.

Silly, yes, that a group of adults needs to be reminded to clean up after themselves. But it needs to become a routine reminder, along with clear directions to the garbage cans.

I think I'll take it upon myself to put together a simple bulleted list of talking points for the drivers' meeting that I will laminate and we can keep in the trailer. Over time we can edit it with the markers and periodically update it as needed.

Course-wise, offset double-coned gates, like on the return, are very confusing, especially when they are only 50-60 feet apart (as some were). The spacing really enhances the "sea of cones" effect, which leads to DNFs.

[Loren]

I think it would be worthwhile to buy a couple of actual trash cans. Put one at the trailer, and one at the far end of the grid. Stuff like that gets left because people don't want to run the course with water bottles loose in the car (rightfully so), and get in the habit of putting it next to their car in grid. Then, after their last run, they proceed to parking rather than grid and forget about the bottle of water. I can't say that it's something I haven't done myself.

But, if there's a trash can nearby, I'll pick up any stray bottles that I see (as would lots of people) and pitch them.

[Charles]

Course-wise, offset double-coned gates, like on the return, are very confusing, especially when they are only 50-60 feet apart (as some were). The spacing really enhances the "sea of cones" effect, which leads to DNFs.

+1...........

+2 on the garbage cans........ as in I say we need 2, one for food area, one for grid.

Come to think of it I don't think we have ANY cans now?

I'd also suggest 2 cans that are stackable so they take up less room in the trailer......

[3dglasses]

Just wanted to say "THANKS" to everyone. This was my first fast event but will not be my last! I see a lot of valid "room for improvement" ideas above, but overall I think it was a great event. Cheers!


Scott

P.S. I was with the novice Mustang group and the people that had a lot of DNFs were mostly participants that did not print off the course or get a map ahead of time. Most got the hang of it after a couple of runs....