you forgot corner camping, too... he had a Boy Scout badge in corner camping, which was how he took out my buddy, N.
I totally agree with this. It's the proverbial "Right Stuff" of military test pilot fame - a set of cognitive abilities that just come naturally to some. Spatial awareness is one of these. The more naturally (and effortlessly) you can mentally picture your position in 3D space relative to objects around you, the more cognitive processing power you have available for other sensory tasks.
Nah. Just throw a trackday. I'll show up.... Call you Sunday or Monday. Gotta deal with Daytona first.
So, excellent discussion, good points. But, it doesn't answer the question of how to handle the folks riding in a class they shouldn't be. Specifically, the ones Rich talked about who do their very first track day ever in the Novice group/school on a Saturday, but don't want the structure on Sunday, so for their very second trackday ever they ride in intermediate, where some of the behaviors described above become apparent.
I think the reasonable solution is to restrict what group each STT member can sign up for. Initial group assignments would be worked out by STT staff, and some enhancements to the online STT Track Day Store would be required. Moving up (or down) a group would require official approval of STT staff. This is the system that NESBA uses, and from what I have observed it works fine for them. It may not be the perfect system, but it would eliminate members riding in a group for which they are under-qualified (or over-qualified), and would also do away with members signing up for an inappropriate group just so they can ride a sold-out event.
I'll admit flat out that I'm one of those that tends to learn the hard way, BUT I still try to re-frain from learning too hard if you know what I mean :wink: . In other words I have to test my limits and find the edge, but sometimes it can bite you. Just need more track time This is a really good discussion by the way :wink: 8) .
Here is a big problem. Intermediate and believe it or not, sometimes A riders sign up for our N group because I and A groups are sold out. Then they hope that through persistent bugging of a staff member that they will nag their way into a bump up to the group they wanted to be in the first place. We make a note of when groups fill. If an I (or A) rider signs up for Novice and we know it was after that respective group was full, guess what? They?re staying in Novice ALL day long. Example: At a summer Barber event last year, we had an A rider wait until the last minute and he signed up for the I group on Saturday and N group on Sunday. He had a history of last-minute registrations and horse trading to get into the correct group or just plain bugging the crap out of our staff until he got his way. I decided that he was going to have to ride where he registered this event and he pitched a fit about being "forced" to ride in the Novice group which he registered for. Then he rode around in the Novice group like a toolbox the first session passing staff members and everyone else. Then when asked if he would follow the group protocol, he blatantly refused and was a disruption to the event and our Staff. I pulled his ticket and darn near had he ejected from Barber. He pitched a fit and had a hissy fit and lived up to his toolbox reputation all over the web and now he?s banned from STT for life. We won't miss him. We are going to enforce group rules as tightly as possible this season and there are going to be a few pissed off people. Want to ride like a toolbox? we?re going to pull your sticker and when you think you can follow the rules you can come ask for it back. Two strikes and you?re gone for the day. If it?s day one of a two-day event, you?re out for the weekend with no refund of credit. If they are just a toolbox (my new favorite word) then they need to ride with another org or pick a nw hobby. Want to try and scam the registration system? Go ahead. If a clearly ?not an advanced rider? signs up for advanced we?re going to bump them for safety reasons?????? all the way to Novice. Yep. It?ll piss a few off but it?ll make a bunch of riders happy and make a safer riding day. We are going to treat rule violators like the safety hazard that they are. Mess with safety and you?re in trouble. This is also going to go for crashers? If someone is a crasher.. we need to have a serious discussion with them. Either they have poor or poorly set up equipment or they have their head in the wrong place. Either way, they need help and we want to help them out as best we can. If they continue to be an unacceptable safety risk we will encourage them to choose another hobby such as hang-gliding or bomb disposal in a solo setting. Seriously, a single crash is one ting but a pattern of it is unacceptable. So THAT?s what?s up for 2007. Oh yes and numbers on bikes.
Well done Monte. Hopefully,the correct people will get the message. Don't put down tool boxes though. My latest one rolls freely, takes the bumps well with it's oversize wheels, steers quickly and also has greatly improved stability over prior models. Though it is heavy when loaded.
Sounds good, Monte. Too bad you have to put up with all of that because a very few people have no common sense and/or feel the rules don't apply to them. quick6, I believe the number requirement is also for safety reasons, so if someone is breaking the rules, or has fluid leaking from their bike, etc., it can be called in by number. Otherwise, it's just "there's a red bike leaking oil". Yeah, ok, there's like 30 of those out there, good luck finding the right one. Numbers will make it a lot easier to identify somone who's having a problem, either them riding like a "toolbox" or a mechanical.
Oh, and the correct people will be forced to get the message, from the sound of Monte's above post. Those are ones who won't get it on their own. It's that common sense thing again.
A) Radio crackles.. and a call comes in.. the guy on the blue gsxr is passing too close... or B) Number 76, blue bike is passing too close. A lot easier to deal with hamburger B.
will the numbers be assigned on trackday like a desmo day? or will it just be a make sure your bike has numbers on them when we show up at the track?