RC Indoors on Sunday.

[bnd]

It was nice seeing everyone on Sunday. We will be hitting up some of the races come January so I guess we should dust off the cobwebs.

- What happened to the kid that got carted off in the ambulance?
- Jenni, Danita will be racing so you need to start getting the word out that the older girl cruiser classes are shopping for some new riders.
- I don't know about you guys but it was freezing in the arena today.
- How about a "bnd design" change to the next indoor layout......ala Rock Springs, get rid of that rythem section & put in a decision maker. 18ft' dubs on one side & a small 4 or 6 pak on the other. It's always been a hit up in Wyoming. Mike Kelly & I have built some killer, off the wall tracks up there the last 2 years. Just a thought.
- There was a kid who found a wallet(?) & returned it. He then got a cash reward. Props to him.
- What would it take to have a mobile trailer-gate made & used at the indoors? Rock Springs has one & it reduces the time & amount of dirt needed for a starting hill & building the track.
- What was the deal with the Mt. bike races that was supposed to happen on Saturday night? I heard it didn't go over very well. How can we change that?

b.

[J Gallo]

I've got a few things I'd like to add to the race report, but I'll have to get to it later when I get a little more time.

But for now, I wanted to include the link to the pics from this weekend. The majority (well, ok all of the pics) are a combination of the Grass Roots clinic on Saturday afternoon, and practice and race action from Sunday. If you raced Friday or Saturday and I didn't get your pic I sincerely apologize Here's the link:

RAD Indoor Race Pics

And Bruce, it was GREAT seeing you and Danita! And boy was Rich Hardy a sight for sore eyes too!!!

[justinsbmxmom]

I've been trying to get the word out to women about racing since I started racing. Most of them think I'm crazy. Maybe I am but I'm having the time of my life and I feel great!

[J Gallo]

Just a couple observations from this weekends racing:

• Hats off to ALL of the volunteers who put in countless hours to give us an opportunity to race this weekend. I apologize if I forget anyone, but here's who I remember: The Halladay's, The Anderson's, The Lowry's, The Snow's, Steve Spencer, Jason Melton, Dave Williams, The Prawitt's, The Cody's, The Smith's, The Dale's, The Donner's, Rob Both, and ???
• I said it before, but it was great to see Bruce and Danita Ritter and Rich Hardy back out at the track. It's been awhile
• Moto count was decent, but I had hoped for more. If I remember right we had 30 on Friday, 32 on Saturday and 21 on Sunday.
• I had a little tear in my eye watching the heavy equipment tear down the track on sunday.
• I sincerely hope that Seage(sp?) Farrington is OK after that scary crash on Sunday. If anyone knows how he's doing please let us know. There is nothing more depressing than seeing a rider taken off in an ambulance, it's something no one ever wants to happen.
• The Grassroots clinic held on saturday by the Staats/Lizard Skins team went GREAT! I signed up my daughter (who had only raced once a year ago) and it really helped her tremendously. She was able to balance on her own and set her pedals after about 3 or 4 tries in the gate. Get out and participate in one of these clinics, you won't be disappointed!
• We are losing our regular announcer, Rob Both. Rob did a great job and will truly be missed.
• I rode clipped in for the first time this weekend. I was happy to just stay upright on the bike, no matter how I finished in my races.
• Thanks to a previous post by Greg Prawitt, I now have photographic proof that Ian Elliot and Heather Allred are truly "joined at the hip"
• Is there anyone more dedicated than Ian and Heather when it comes to helping BMX'ers with their bike problems? Seriously, the only time Ian got in any laps this weekend was during his moto's, during practice he was too busy playing mechanic.
• Though she had to race the guys, seeing Jenni Allen back on a bike was an inspiration.
• I'm always in awe over the bike handling abilities of the Patterson brothers. If you haven't seen their pictures I took of them on Sunday, check them out. Robby and Danny have more skill in the air than they know what to do with.
• I'm calling out all 28-35 year old riders out there to come compete in the Intermediate 20" class. I need some new people to lose to, getting beat by only Oblad, Elliot, Melton, etc is getting old!
• I don't know the final numbers, but it sure seemed like a TON of new riders came out and signed up to race. When I signed my daughter up on saturday they had run out of new rider packets!
  
  That's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure I'll remember a few more things tonight. Anyone else have anything to add??
  

[justinsbmxmom]

Thank you Jason. YOU"RE AWESOME! I'm living proof it's ok not to listen to your doctor's advice. I didn't try as hard as I wanted to but it felt great to be back out there with everyone. I'm at home on the track. Danita and Kim better come back so we can have a class.
I had the most fun watching Justin race again. I love watching the little guys with so much drive to win. Justin is still just out there to have fun. To me he seems faster and he was estatic to finally be able to get on the track again. He thinks he's ready to do the gate by himself until he gets up to the gate. When we got to the track Friday night he said, "Oh Mom. Don't crash this time. I don't want to have to look for you." Then when he saw the ambulance pull in, he lookeds at me and said, "Oh dear, I hope the mommy isn't lost." What a nut!

[D Dale]

Good News!!!

Seage Farrington is ok. They did and MRI and it was normal. They took x-rays of his neck and everything is fine. Yesterday, he had a Knarly headache and was pretty exhausted.

The first thing he asked about was if his bike was ok. He is a true BMXer.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

P.S. Remember you are what you eat. (Turkey's)

[Guest]

Bruce i'm in the process of designing a indooor gate on a 25 foot by8foot trailer. I won't be able to build it this year for the lack of material, i've talked to my dad who runs a place that sells trailer axles and anything else that has to do with trailers, I just need to get alot of angle and other metal to start. rob

[bnd]

I wonder how much it would cost for material. If a gate is already had, I would imagine building a frame(s) would not be that much. After thinking about it, you could design/build it in 2-3 pieces then bolt it together. This way it would be light enough for just a few people to move it & load it on a trailer. An arc welder, chop saw, & drill would be all you would need to build it. Iv'e got access to all of this if need be, & I'm not a bad welder.

Maybe asking a donation from a steel company would be a start. If you put "Wasatch Steel" & their # in a big logo right on the thing, they might go for it. Welded on of course.
Another is 50/50 donations, a raffle, or just a "Let's build a new gate" donation......I don't know, I'm just throwing out ideas.

Even if this is a next year project, I think using some sort of fill material like 55 gal. drums, big tables made out of wood- 5ft T x 4ft W x 8ft L x 2 would work to save dirt & labor.

b.

[J Gallo]

I've got some bubble gum and bailing wire

Hey Rob, if you ever get this built, and you need someone to come over and "test" it for you, I'm your man! I'll keep taking gate after gate after gate to make sure it works right!!

[justinsbmxmom]

I have the man's fixit for ANYTHING. I have duct tape!

[Guest]

my idea is to make a regular 25by8 with18inch sides, then build the gate right on top of the trailer, the back of the gate will fold down for the riders to walk up,the front of the gate will be normal just put a piece of wood down the front side of the trailer and stack dirt in front and your done. Then you need to put jacks on all four corner to stablize the trailer, then your done fold everything back up and haul away. what do you think, all we need is material?

[sspencer]

Bruce,
Robert and I were talking about the portable gate set up during the race. I wish we could just slap one together but I am sure that outside of the initial cost of materials there are time constraints for everyone involved. I am not sure about you guys but it seems that I dont have a moment to spare anymore. I guess the phrase "No rest for the wicked" is appropriate.
The idea of obtaining sponsors for the gate is a great idea. If Robert is spear-heading this project, maybe we should look to someone who could drum up some sponsors unless there is someone out there with an inside line on them (Ron Melton???) Anyone else out there who can assist in gathering funds or who make have relationships with any/or all the applicable sources (steel suppliers, lumber yards, trailer dealers, etc)???

Robert,
Get with me on your current design concepts and I can apply some of my prior experience with similar set ups. I can draft it up in Auto-CAD to create a blue print to follow once it is ready to be built.

Steve

[Guest]

steve my dad run henderson wheel and whse. which sells axles and trailer supplys, my idea is to go see them about giving me a great deal for the stuff I need then I will put their name on the side of the trailer, so that everyone cn see it, so we will have handrails on each end of the trailer for advertizing, it sure would save tons of dirt and would save alot of time on track building, it takes about 1- 2 hours just building the starting hill,getting the gate put together etc. it sure would be nice to have about 8000.00 dollars and we could have pro-gate build one of those gate he brings out to the nationals. but I figure with myself and other building it that we will save alot of money. we'll I'm of to go and work on the design of our new indoor gate.

[greg]

I'm more then willing to do the leg work in finding donations if you need me to. My brother has been a fabricator for many years, but just recently sold his business. I'm sure he still has ties to various sources that I can use, plus, I don't mind approaching people to get donations.

I'm really just wondering why a whole new gate is needed? Would it not be possible to just obtain a flat bed trailer, mount the existing gate to it making repairs or upgrades as needed, and maybe fabricate ramps for a starting hill instead of using dirt? Come race day, just pull the trailer in place, mount the ramps for the starting hill, and maybe ramps for riders to get onto the gate from behind, and your done. No piling up dirt and packing it, no soft spots coming out of the gate, just full traction on a nice stable ramp.

Anyway, let me know if you need any help. I'm happy to offer leg work, labor, or ideas (I've had many many years of experience in mobile equipement set up and teardown in the military).

[greg]

oh, and wouldn't it be great to have some kind of BMX league?

just a thought

I'm also trying to come up with a way to address ianheather...or is it ian/heather....or heatherian....lol I kind of like the last one when you say it real fast....heatherian...just has a good ring to it.

So, what WAS the story on the MTB races? I don't really socialize too much at the track, and I haven't seen anything on here, so what's the beef? I know that MTB races have gone over very well at other tracks, so what was different here?

I was also wondering about new rider turnout. It seemed to be quite good. I placed a couple of posters at Golsan's and Taylor's, and passed out probably 200 flyers at Halloween, and am wondering if anybody else did simular things. Does anybody know if the Halloween flyers from RAD generated any interest?