OldmanWheeler
11-09-2004, 01:14 PM
I would like to thank every team; sponsor, volunteer and spectator who helped make this year’s 12 Hours of ATV America the best ever!
I’ve read a few of the forums and the different concerns and issues that have been raised. I would like to try to offer an honest response to the more common ones. First, I would like to make everyone aware of the time tabled we had to work with this year. The facility we used last year was no longer available to us, and in addition to this, the future home of the 12 Hours of ATV America was not ready for this year’s race. Consequently, we spent most of the year trying to find an adequate location for this year’s race. We were very close to moving the race to a temporary site elsewhere in Iowa or the Midwest. Finally two local land owners offered their adjoining land for this year’s event in order to keep it in Fort Dodge. By the time we got all of the necessary permits and waivers the race was less then a month away. This year’s track was designed and laid out in less then two weeks. In fact, with the help of the Fort Dodge Convention and Visitors Bureau and many local volunteers who have no ties to ATV racing, we did in less than three weeks what we would normally take 6 – 8 months to do.
Before I respond to some of the concerns I’ve read on the forums I want to touch on some positive comments that teams have e-mailed me or called me with. Safety has always been our number one concern so I’m going to start there. I received a lot of positive feedback on the flashing LED’s on the tow quads and the EMT’s quads. They were especially effective during the night session. Riders also like the yellow/green reflective vest that the volunteers were required to wear. Here again it was most beneficial during the night session. Team’s felt we did a better job getting to quads that needed towing in much faster then we have in the past. I attribute this to two changes we made this year: 1) the LED’s made the tow quads more visible and riders were able to identify them and flagged them down, 2) it also seemed to help speed up recovery time by assigning tow quads to specific sections of the track and have them roam that area. Teams seemed to like the new pit set up; however, we saw to many people crossing the track in front of quads going 60 MPH – way to many close calls! Any suggestions? Once again, safety comes first. Teams seem to like the shorter intermission – some type of intermission will most likely always be in place so that the track can be inspected before the night session.
First, I will touch on a couple topics I know were a hassle for ever one this year. Local motel rooms were in very short supply this year because the State High School Cross Country Championship, which has always been held the first weekend of November, was scheduled for the same weekend as our event and the Iowa High School Athletic Association basically reserved every available room in a 30 mile radius of Fort Dodge. To avoid this next year we have already talked to two motels about reserving their entire motel from Thursday through Saturday next year and hopefully at a special room rate.
We used the standard formula to determine how many port-a-potties and garbage containers we would need. Obviously the formula was way off. Next year you will see more port-a-potties along with a new provider who will come out Saturday morning and clean the units before the race starts. As for the garbage it was lithely a last minute detail since we did not have to be concerned with providing the containers the past two years. I called a private sanitation company Friday night right at 5:00 and they were kind enough to bring us a 20 cubic yard garbage container. Unfortunately, the container proofed not to be large enough so next year we will have a 20 cubic yard container for every 50 teams.
I know there were a lot of comments about cheaters. Obviously, no one wants teams or riders who feel the need to cheat. Unfortunately, there is no way we could get enough volunteers to police every spot where someone might cheat. In this year’s case only one team provided information to Tom Prendergast about a team that was cheating and the location where they were cutting the course at. Consequently, once we verified that this team was cutting the course they received a 10 lap penalty. We could tell by the lap times that certain teams had to be cutting the course. Even when we put a chase quad behind them it’s very difficult to verify where they were cutting the course because they very seldom do it two laps in a row. The bottom line is that we need your help in catching cheaters. Next year do not hesitate to report who is cheating and where they are cheating at. We never reveal our sources so you don’t have to worry about turning someone in. I’m sure you would all agree that before we penalize a team for cutting the course it is extremely important that we first be able to verify that they are in deed cheating. After all if the shoe was on the other foot and someone reported that your team was cheating you would want us to verify that you where cheating before we penalized your team. We can’t penalize a team just on someone’s complaint – we need to verify that they did cut the course and then issue them the 10 lap penalty.
We are however; working on some innovative ideas that would not only eliminate cheating but would provide an unprecedented level of safety to our race. It would work something like this: a small GPS transmitter would be attached to your frame the same way the scoring transmitters were attached this year. A dot would appear on a computer screen with the team number located above the dot. If a quad veered off the track by more then a specific distance the dot would flash blue and give the location of the violation. That team would then receive a 10 lap penalty and we would be able to tell the rider exactly where he cut the course at. If a quad stops and does not move for a specific amount of time their dot would flash red and provide the exact location on the track. Every tow quad, EMT and official would also have a transmitter attached to their quad so the nearest person can respond to the location. If you need medical attention an EMT would be dispatched to your location. If you need a tow the system will allow us to get you back to your pit as quickly as possible. Some day it would even be nice if we could show the top five quads in each class on a plasma TV screen. Can such a system be implemented? Definitely, NASCAR is already using this technology. The question is can this technology be brought to our sport at a reasonable investment. Perhaps there is a sponsor out there who would be interested in offering this system to events who would benefit from it. We are currently researching this technology with GPS manufactures.
Once in a while location and date came up. Next year our new facility should be ready for us. It is located a primary road leading into town and will be offer easy access to motels, restaurants, shopping, etc. It well consist of approximately 1,000 – 1,500 acres, two ATV specific MX tracks and miles & miles of wooded trails. The new facility will easily accommodate 150 teams which obviously would require a longer track. If there are 150 teams you can expect a track between 12 to 15 miles in length. I’m open to feedback on this. The new location will also allow us to design the track as basically one big loop so those few riders who feel the need to cheat will not have nearly as many opportunities to do so. The idea of two separate tracks was that, only an idea, it’s no longer being considered. Every year you can expect a different lay out – just to keep it interesting. Once everyone sees the new facility I’m confident you will agree it was worth the wait.
The delay in getting the final results was due to a generator that ran out of gas with just over a lap remaining in the race. Bay Racing did an outstanding job of making sure accurate results were provided. I for one am glad they choose accuracy over speed; however, next year there will be “human” backup scoring in place – just in case.
There was clearly a communication problem in regards to contingency prizes. I can assure you that this will not happen next year. We will have one person whose sole responsibility will be awards and contingency prizes.
When putting together an event of this magnitude it is essential that you be open minded and willing to listen to the riders, sponsors, vendors, volunteers and even spectators in order to make the event better the following year. It’s a consent learning process and at times a real challenge. Our goal is simple – to use your feedback, innovative ideas and common sense to make every year better then the prior year. Your feedback is important so if I have not addressed your concern please feel free to make a post, send me a private message or e-mail me at rdfleege@********.com. Once again thanks to every one for a successful 12 Hours of ATV America and we look forward to seeing everyone again at next year’s event schedule for October 29, 2005.
I’ve read a few of the forums and the different concerns and issues that have been raised. I would like to try to offer an honest response to the more common ones. First, I would like to make everyone aware of the time tabled we had to work with this year. The facility we used last year was no longer available to us, and in addition to this, the future home of the 12 Hours of ATV America was not ready for this year’s race. Consequently, we spent most of the year trying to find an adequate location for this year’s race. We were very close to moving the race to a temporary site elsewhere in Iowa or the Midwest. Finally two local land owners offered their adjoining land for this year’s event in order to keep it in Fort Dodge. By the time we got all of the necessary permits and waivers the race was less then a month away. This year’s track was designed and laid out in less then two weeks. In fact, with the help of the Fort Dodge Convention and Visitors Bureau and many local volunteers who have no ties to ATV racing, we did in less than three weeks what we would normally take 6 – 8 months to do.
Before I respond to some of the concerns I’ve read on the forums I want to touch on some positive comments that teams have e-mailed me or called me with. Safety has always been our number one concern so I’m going to start there. I received a lot of positive feedback on the flashing LED’s on the tow quads and the EMT’s quads. They were especially effective during the night session. Riders also like the yellow/green reflective vest that the volunteers were required to wear. Here again it was most beneficial during the night session. Team’s felt we did a better job getting to quads that needed towing in much faster then we have in the past. I attribute this to two changes we made this year: 1) the LED’s made the tow quads more visible and riders were able to identify them and flagged them down, 2) it also seemed to help speed up recovery time by assigning tow quads to specific sections of the track and have them roam that area. Teams seemed to like the new pit set up; however, we saw to many people crossing the track in front of quads going 60 MPH – way to many close calls! Any suggestions? Once again, safety comes first. Teams seem to like the shorter intermission – some type of intermission will most likely always be in place so that the track can be inspected before the night session.
First, I will touch on a couple topics I know were a hassle for ever one this year. Local motel rooms were in very short supply this year because the State High School Cross Country Championship, which has always been held the first weekend of November, was scheduled for the same weekend as our event and the Iowa High School Athletic Association basically reserved every available room in a 30 mile radius of Fort Dodge. To avoid this next year we have already talked to two motels about reserving their entire motel from Thursday through Saturday next year and hopefully at a special room rate.
We used the standard formula to determine how many port-a-potties and garbage containers we would need. Obviously the formula was way off. Next year you will see more port-a-potties along with a new provider who will come out Saturday morning and clean the units before the race starts. As for the garbage it was lithely a last minute detail since we did not have to be concerned with providing the containers the past two years. I called a private sanitation company Friday night right at 5:00 and they were kind enough to bring us a 20 cubic yard garbage container. Unfortunately, the container proofed not to be large enough so next year we will have a 20 cubic yard container for every 50 teams.
I know there were a lot of comments about cheaters. Obviously, no one wants teams or riders who feel the need to cheat. Unfortunately, there is no way we could get enough volunteers to police every spot where someone might cheat. In this year’s case only one team provided information to Tom Prendergast about a team that was cheating and the location where they were cutting the course at. Consequently, once we verified that this team was cutting the course they received a 10 lap penalty. We could tell by the lap times that certain teams had to be cutting the course. Even when we put a chase quad behind them it’s very difficult to verify where they were cutting the course because they very seldom do it two laps in a row. The bottom line is that we need your help in catching cheaters. Next year do not hesitate to report who is cheating and where they are cheating at. We never reveal our sources so you don’t have to worry about turning someone in. I’m sure you would all agree that before we penalize a team for cutting the course it is extremely important that we first be able to verify that they are in deed cheating. After all if the shoe was on the other foot and someone reported that your team was cheating you would want us to verify that you where cheating before we penalized your team. We can’t penalize a team just on someone’s complaint – we need to verify that they did cut the course and then issue them the 10 lap penalty.
We are however; working on some innovative ideas that would not only eliminate cheating but would provide an unprecedented level of safety to our race. It would work something like this: a small GPS transmitter would be attached to your frame the same way the scoring transmitters were attached this year. A dot would appear on a computer screen with the team number located above the dot. If a quad veered off the track by more then a specific distance the dot would flash blue and give the location of the violation. That team would then receive a 10 lap penalty and we would be able to tell the rider exactly where he cut the course at. If a quad stops and does not move for a specific amount of time their dot would flash red and provide the exact location on the track. Every tow quad, EMT and official would also have a transmitter attached to their quad so the nearest person can respond to the location. If you need medical attention an EMT would be dispatched to your location. If you need a tow the system will allow us to get you back to your pit as quickly as possible. Some day it would even be nice if we could show the top five quads in each class on a plasma TV screen. Can such a system be implemented? Definitely, NASCAR is already using this technology. The question is can this technology be brought to our sport at a reasonable investment. Perhaps there is a sponsor out there who would be interested in offering this system to events who would benefit from it. We are currently researching this technology with GPS manufactures.
Once in a while location and date came up. Next year our new facility should be ready for us. It is located a primary road leading into town and will be offer easy access to motels, restaurants, shopping, etc. It well consist of approximately 1,000 – 1,500 acres, two ATV specific MX tracks and miles & miles of wooded trails. The new facility will easily accommodate 150 teams which obviously would require a longer track. If there are 150 teams you can expect a track between 12 to 15 miles in length. I’m open to feedback on this. The new location will also allow us to design the track as basically one big loop so those few riders who feel the need to cheat will not have nearly as many opportunities to do so. The idea of two separate tracks was that, only an idea, it’s no longer being considered. Every year you can expect a different lay out – just to keep it interesting. Once everyone sees the new facility I’m confident you will agree it was worth the wait.
The delay in getting the final results was due to a generator that ran out of gas with just over a lap remaining in the race. Bay Racing did an outstanding job of making sure accurate results were provided. I for one am glad they choose accuracy over speed; however, next year there will be “human” backup scoring in place – just in case.
There was clearly a communication problem in regards to contingency prizes. I can assure you that this will not happen next year. We will have one person whose sole responsibility will be awards and contingency prizes.
When putting together an event of this magnitude it is essential that you be open minded and willing to listen to the riders, sponsors, vendors, volunteers and even spectators in order to make the event better the following year. It’s a consent learning process and at times a real challenge. Our goal is simple – to use your feedback, innovative ideas and common sense to make every year better then the prior year. Your feedback is important so if I have not addressed your concern please feel free to make a post, send me a private message or e-mail me at rdfleege@********.com. Once again thanks to every one for a successful 12 Hours of ATV America and we look forward to seeing everyone again at next year’s event schedule for October 29, 2005.