we're pretty much following the common sense rules, along with the honor system.
we haven't had anyone sandbagging at any of the races when it counts. everyone knows each other, and we all know who the fastest riders are.
in other races, the heats were just people going through the motions. everyone was gonna end up in the final, and despite an attempt at the last grange race to line the top finishers up in the order they placed in the heats, that still didn't work, due entirely to no one enforcing it.
my next race, your position at the start will be determined by your place in the heats. it's simple enough to point out who shouldn't be on the front line and move them back. once this is actually enforced, i don't think anyone's gonna try to elbow in where they don't belong.
when i raced autocross, you started out as a novice, whether you were driving a stock hyundia or a full built crx. after you won, you were put into a class with comparable cars. if you consistantly won your class, they'd bump you up again, to keep you from dominating (at least at the local, small time level. there was a guy in an insane early model mini cooper that raced against the corvettes, and still smoked them. there wasn't a class he wouldn't dominate...)
i have the entry level class for beginners and slower bikes, and unfortunately, there aren't enough riders to seperate the beginners from the experienced racers with low powered bikes.
we haven't had an issue yet where a low powered bike with an experienced racer dominates, but doesn't have the power to be competitive in the next class up. yet. again, this is because there's just not enough guys to make a class for everyone.
the unlimited class is another story. but everyone needs to remember that it's really not that important. it's the minority and more of an exhibition class. not too many people out there are pushing the limits and building 100mph motorcycles with pedals, but for those that want to, i don't care if you're running motorcycle tires and rocket fuel, or an electrical system that can power a motorhead concert. it's exciting, innovative, and will always be "run whatcha brung."
the fact is, until we start getting 100+ riders show up, classes, qualifying, and everything else doesn't even matter. if we classed everyone by skill, by bike, by speed, by age, by wheel size, by displacement, wattage, etc... we'd be running one or two guys on the track at a time.
then we might as well just give out lap time slips.
if 2 dozen ebike guys all show up (or stock 2 strokes, or...) with the same bikes and want to race against each other only, awesome. you've got a class by yourself.
you guys should see where i'm going with this. we don't have 300 bmx'rs on the exact same bikes, we've got a handful of kooks working independently in a dimly lit garage, or in a backyard somewhere, making contraptions out of lawn mowers and erecter sets.
we need the numbers before we can set down the basic rules.
i plan on getting to adams before my next race and running the track different ways to make it more pass-friendly, because i don't think the race should be won in the straights. most of us know how much it sucks to follow someone who's slower in the corners, and then be overpowered in the straightaway. i know i coulda easily buzzed a bunch of rear tires through the S's if i wanted to be a jerk.
i also promise you guys this.
every rider's meeting, i'll listen to what you guys want, and if a majority wants a change, we'll change it. don't be afraid to speak up. i'm not doing this to make money (obviously
, ) i'm doing this because i love to race.
