TimBurg wrote:

Not sure what happened to all of Velogirl's teammates who were listed as DNP.

I think they went out for waffles!

seriously, I think chip timing is a step in the right direction. the NCNCA has budgeted to invest in a system this year and we're trying out three systems during the spring. Snelling was test #1.

The last three racing groups did not have chips, so if that E5 was a Master (M35 or 45+ 4/5 (A or B)), then there was no chip. We did catch a couple of folks who were taking a "free lap" after flatting, sounds like we missed that one.

In the morning block of races the chip line was long at points, but it seemed to move. I did Jr. rollout for both blocks of races, so I was near the chip tent watching that process. I'm sure if we continue to use this or another system we'll work the kinks out (and we all as racers will know to allow a little extra time for getting chips if needed). We'll all also know where the chips should be placed (saw them everywhere from the top and head tubes to the forks - even heard one person suggesting they went on the seat tube, facetiously).

The results of Snelling were done with the camera and manual scoring primarily, as GMeilahn noted. As far as I could see, the Chief Judge used chip records to backstop that process as well as to help confirm if racers had missed laps or the like. Unfortunately, despite the number of times it was posted and we asked them not to, a number of racers did cross back and forth past the finish line. This is a learning process and hopefully racers will know to dump off their chip before going back to watch their friends and teammates finish.

Not sure what happened to all of Velogirl's teammates who were listed as DNP.

We will be testing the New RaceDay software in March that will make scoring using Winning Time chips in Utah easy and fast. This is a add on to the RaceDay software that is being used in NorCal currently.

We will keep you updated but it is a lot easier to use that Run Score (Used at Snelling) We are selling the chip now for Utah racers, Replaceable battery new mounting system coming out in the next week or so.

actually, it would appear that anyone who was DNS, DNF, or DNP was listed as DNP.

peterpen wrote:velogirl wrote:but George, besides my three girls who did all three laps and received DNPs, I know one E5 who didn't do all his laps (flatted) and was placed in the lead group.

doesn't seem to be a foolproof system.

DNP doesn't mean you didn't do all the laps - that's DNF. DNP is Did Not Place.

Dunno what happened with the E5 rider.

Not all fields had the chips, maybe E5 was one of those. (Chips or not, I often question the day of race final results when something like this pops up. Easily corrected IF the rules and procedures allow for it, I think it requires approval by the head official or something like that.)

Seems if we adopt chips, regular racers would buy their own for the year (or until the next generation of timing system demands replacement). I think that how Oregon/OBRA does it. Yes, kudos for trying it; interested to get a report from officiating and/or race directing side of this. Results did seem to be posted faster than past years.

I wanted to give a big shout out to Velo Promo who, after 2 seasons of debate on this forum, about using some type of chip timing system, took the plunge and gave it a shot.

Ya the lines were a bit long and the zip tie and placement issues might have been a hassle. But at least they tried it.

I hope it all works out and becomes a more regular thing even if it adds a bit more time to reg or a couple of bucks via reg to have a timing system that will hopfully catch eveyone and help the officals do there job.

Thank you.. and good job Velo Promo!!

velogirl wrote:but George, besides my three girls who did all three laps and received DNPs, I know one E5 who didn't do all his laps (flatted) and was placed in the lead group.

doesn't seem to be a foolproof system.

DNP doesn't mean you didn't do all the laps - that's DNF. DNP is Did Not Place.

Dunno what happened with the E5 rider.

but George, besides my three girls who did all three laps and received DNPs, I know one E5 who didn't do all his laps (flatted) and was placed in the lead group.

doesn't seem to be a foolproof system.

We found the chips helpful in determining if particular riders had indeed done all the laps. The camera wasn't malfuntioning this year, since the weather was cooperative, yet there were still many numbers covered again. I don't know the answer to whether or not the chips stay with the rider (as a transponder system would allow.)

velogirl wrote:if this system is chosen, will racers be able to purchase a chip to use all season? if that's the case, we could eliminate the long line to get a chip.

I'm interested to hear from others about the accuracy of results. we found 3 errors (DNP) among our 9 racers.

were the official results generated from the chips or the officials or a combination of the two?

3 DNP's out of 9 is a very high rate of error. I wonder if their chips were placed on the top tube (like many I saw).

I placed my chip on the fork blade and added a piece of electrical tape to keep it from slipping. After the race I was able to slide it off the fork blade without having to use the cutters.

The company that did the timing for the Diablo Hill climb and the Infineon Races (It's About Time) used a chip holder that screwed onto the non quick release side of the skewer and therefore held the chip both low and in the same place for each racer.
http://www.buzzwordproductions.com/

This system seemed to work very well, though one possible drawback is not having the chip if the front wheel is replaced during the race.

if this system is chosen, will racers be able to purchase a chip to use all season? if that's the case, we could eliminate the long line to get a chip.

I'm interested to hear from others about the accuracy of results. we found 3 errors (DNP) among our 9 racers.

were the official results generated from the chips or the officials or a combination of the two?

the zip ties were a bit of an issue

depending on where you put them, you had to make it pretty snug to not have the chip slide around (like up & down your fork--i know one person who had to drop out because of that)

and if they were snug enough, it was easy to scratch your bike with the wire cutters.....

hopefully the other systems to be tested will have better ways to be attached....

The results seemed fairly quick.
The chip line was real long when I got in it, I would estimate over 100 in line. I think it took me about 25 minutes to get through it, so I was rushed after that to get to the starting line and didn't get any warm-up since I was in the first race of the day.

Actually I was wondering if we could get lap splits?

What did officials think about how this worked? The extra line was a bit of a hassle, but no big deal to me. I didn't place so I didn't wait to see if results were posted more quickly than usual.
-Peter

Another note about Snelling regarding the starting order of some fields.

Please post as well, thanks
Snelling
Starting Order Changes
Master 35+ 1/2/3 8:10
Cat 3 8:15
Cat 4 8:20
Cat 5-A 8:25
Cat 5-B 8:30
Women 4-A 8:35
Women 4-B 8:40
Jr Girls 8:40
Jr 15-16 8:45
Jr 13-14 8:50
Cat 1/2/Pro 12:15
Women 1&2 12:20
Women 3 12:25
Jr 17-18 12:32
Mstr 35+ 4/5-A 12:35
Mstr 45+ 12:40
Mstr 35+ 4/5-B 12:45