map the function of sk8 + travel= race
Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2006 8:41 am
A lot of skirmish for points Major, Main, prime basic.
my .02
A race series is always stronger than separate races. A race series benefits from (hopefully) even spacing of events + Sensible logistics, consistent rules and organization etc etc etc.
So for Promoters. If you want more attendance you can either rotate the status from year to year with other promoters within your series.
Here IMHO is what motivates most top racers.
1. Prize Money + Prizes.
2. Great race surface and hill and orgaization
3. cheap decent accommodations and easy airport access.
4. Temperate weather- little likelyhood of rain.
5. Killer after party.
Many top racers would be want to attend ones with prize money to make their hobby more affordable. A set of wheels doesn't cover airfare or hotel.
Good accommodations for less money in a good area means...bring the family. It's a mini vacation.
Easy airport access means you can expect some racers from far away to attend and add some International flavor.
Is it going to be rainy, or 40 degrees or 110 in the shade? If so I'm either going skiing up North or hitting the beach instead. The fam won't come to freeze or roast by the race side.
Killer after party? This the main attraction for skaters that haven't won prize money yet.
So my advice to promoters is to take an honest look at what you are offering (course- hill surface, party access, prizes) and talk with other regional promoters and sort it out.
I am for breaking down the Main and Prime status within competitions. Only if the hill dictates. So if hypothetically looked at The Gathering...Lots of racers BUT only
...OK hills for TS, AND nothing Main status about their GS hills.
IMHO Don't confer high status to contests on poor hills with bad pavement.
If you can form a series with other promoters in your region all attendance goes up.
I think a great fear of a promoter is that if his contest gets Basic status..that attendance will suffer. And IF there was a MAIN contest on the same day or following week....this could happen.
SO I would suggest that Promoters select dates according to the quality of the race venue and organization first. Giving those promoters with the best sites the higher status and rights to select dates first. And don't put any on the same weekends.
Those promoters should then select dates with the concept in mind to have racing in temps between 65 and 75 degrees. (Ideal spectator weather). So Northern most promoters would have races in the hotter months. More southern promoters would have races in the early spring and late fall.
That way the Prime and Basic races will not be in conflict- date wise with Main or Majors and should not suffer attendance drops.
Giving the USA races more Main status races means Europe has to the the same and in the end we just end up bumping everything up. IMHO it accomplishes nothing.
Its good to have Basic races for the locals in harder to get to locations without major airport access and Main/Major races with easy airport access where we draw racers from far away. It is fine to have many BAsic races across the coun try on the same dates so long as they are not in the same region.
IMHO it should be possible for a racer to do well in a regional series. And fly to a Major and perhaps either drive to 2 mains or fly to one of the two mains and have all the points he would need to be champion.
Total weekend warrior travel allotment 2 long week ends away from home. 2-3 regular weekends driving some distance. and a couple local 1 day races within a easy drive home for dinner.
Now that same racer could get more points by attending both Majors and not have to do as many small weekend races.
Finally the way to look at dividing the USA into regions should be done according to skater populations and airport access. Figure out where the pockets of slalom exist and divide that way. We can always rearrange later.
Give special notice to contest with gateway airports. for instance LA, NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, ...any airport hub where there is a significant slalom population deserves consideration. Unless you get free gas you'll find that discount flying in the USA is often cheaper than driving when you add up wear and tear on the car, the extra hotel night, speeding tickets, and lack of hot foreign stewardesses on the roads and your time. I can fly to St. Louis for $167 roundtrip fro Boston. Florida is $79 each way.
So travel access is more important a determining factor for dividing up the USA than distance. For instance It is far far far easier for me to fly from Boston to Salt Lake City than to drive to drive back home to Boston from the Gathering on 1-95 on a Sunday afternoon (last time I think it took about 14-18 hours with TK).
Only Mollica and Claude and WT are the road warriors that will drive more often than fly. Though the west coast skaters end to drive a lot farther before deciding to fly. (So they need more local series)
Here is the simple easy way to figure it all out with fancy math.
So get out a map- start sticking pins in it.
Put Big red circles in for gateway airports. (the circle diameter is a 90 minute drive time to the airport.
Put thumb tacks in for the races (if the race/racer lands in a red circle it is close to a gateway airport).
If a race has a great GS course rate it with a number of yellow push pins right on top of it. If a race has a great TS course put in a couple of white pins.
Now start sticking in small sewing pins for racers. top racers get special pins ...lol.. There are not so many american skaters to make this hard. (take a picture of the map and post it).
Pretty soon you'll get a visual picture of which races should be which status and when those races should occur. You'll also see what racers have access to airports.
Keep in mind that racers with nearby gateway home airports are in less need of local races because they would gladly change their weather to fly cheaply to another gateway airport race.
Local Basic races are most important in areas without easy cheap gateway airports.
For instance...regularly In November I actively look for races in California and Florida to beat the dreary North East Doldrums and would have little or no interest in attending a North East race in cold windy dark wet leaf November.
You can bet a Texan in 105 degree July starts looking with great interest at a race in Cool crisp Maine. So do skaters from the humid areas like DC and NC.
I hope this helps.
my .02
A race series is always stronger than separate races. A race series benefits from (hopefully) even spacing of events + Sensible logistics, consistent rules and organization etc etc etc.
So for Promoters. If you want more attendance you can either rotate the status from year to year with other promoters within your series.
Here IMHO is what motivates most top racers.
1. Prize Money + Prizes.
2. Great race surface and hill and orgaization
3. cheap decent accommodations and easy airport access.
4. Temperate weather- little likelyhood of rain.
5. Killer after party.
Many top racers would be want to attend ones with prize money to make their hobby more affordable. A set of wheels doesn't cover airfare or hotel.
Good accommodations for less money in a good area means...bring the family. It's a mini vacation.
Easy airport access means you can expect some racers from far away to attend and add some International flavor.
Is it going to be rainy, or 40 degrees or 110 in the shade? If so I'm either going skiing up North or hitting the beach instead. The fam won't come to freeze or roast by the race side.
Killer after party? This the main attraction for skaters that haven't won prize money yet.
So my advice to promoters is to take an honest look at what you are offering (course- hill surface, party access, prizes) and talk with other regional promoters and sort it out.
I am for breaking down the Main and Prime status within competitions. Only if the hill dictates. So if hypothetically looked at The Gathering...Lots of racers BUT only
...OK hills for TS, AND nothing Main status about their GS hills.
IMHO Don't confer high status to contests on poor hills with bad pavement.
If you can form a series with other promoters in your region all attendance goes up.
I think a great fear of a promoter is that if his contest gets Basic status..that attendance will suffer. And IF there was a MAIN contest on the same day or following week....this could happen.
SO I would suggest that Promoters select dates according to the quality of the race venue and organization first. Giving those promoters with the best sites the higher status and rights to select dates first. And don't put any on the same weekends.
Those promoters should then select dates with the concept in mind to have racing in temps between 65 and 75 degrees. (Ideal spectator weather). So Northern most promoters would have races in the hotter months. More southern promoters would have races in the early spring and late fall.
That way the Prime and Basic races will not be in conflict- date wise with Main or Majors and should not suffer attendance drops.
Giving the USA races more Main status races means Europe has to the the same and in the end we just end up bumping everything up. IMHO it accomplishes nothing.
Its good to have Basic races for the locals in harder to get to locations without major airport access and Main/Major races with easy airport access where we draw racers from far away. It is fine to have many BAsic races across the coun try on the same dates so long as they are not in the same region.
IMHO it should be possible for a racer to do well in a regional series. And fly to a Major and perhaps either drive to 2 mains or fly to one of the two mains and have all the points he would need to be champion.
Total weekend warrior travel allotment 2 long week ends away from home. 2-3 regular weekends driving some distance. and a couple local 1 day races within a easy drive home for dinner.
Now that same racer could get more points by attending both Majors and not have to do as many small weekend races.
Finally the way to look at dividing the USA into regions should be done according to skater populations and airport access. Figure out where the pockets of slalom exist and divide that way. We can always rearrange later.
Give special notice to contest with gateway airports. for instance LA, NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, ...any airport hub where there is a significant slalom population deserves consideration. Unless you get free gas you'll find that discount flying in the USA is often cheaper than driving when you add up wear and tear on the car, the extra hotel night, speeding tickets, and lack of hot foreign stewardesses on the roads and your time. I can fly to St. Louis for $167 roundtrip fro Boston. Florida is $79 each way.
So travel access is more important a determining factor for dividing up the USA than distance. For instance It is far far far easier for me to fly from Boston to Salt Lake City than to drive to drive back home to Boston from the Gathering on 1-95 on a Sunday afternoon (last time I think it took about 14-18 hours with TK).
Only Mollica and Claude and WT are the road warriors that will drive more often than fly. Though the west coast skaters end to drive a lot farther before deciding to fly. (So they need more local series)
Here is the simple easy way to figure it all out with fancy math.
So get out a map- start sticking pins in it.
Put Big red circles in for gateway airports. (the circle diameter is a 90 minute drive time to the airport.
Put thumb tacks in for the races (if the race/racer lands in a red circle it is close to a gateway airport).
If a race has a great GS course rate it with a number of yellow push pins right on top of it. If a race has a great TS course put in a couple of white pins.
Now start sticking in small sewing pins for racers. top racers get special pins ...lol.. There are not so many american skaters to make this hard. (take a picture of the map and post it).
Pretty soon you'll get a visual picture of which races should be which status and when those races should occur. You'll also see what racers have access to airports.
Keep in mind that racers with nearby gateway home airports are in less need of local races because they would gladly change their weather to fly cheaply to another gateway airport race.
Local Basic races are most important in areas without easy cheap gateway airports.
For instance...regularly In November I actively look for races in California and Florida to beat the dreary North East Doldrums and would have little or no interest in attending a North East race in cold windy dark wet leaf November.
You can bet a Texan in 105 degree July starts looking with great interest at a race in Cool crisp Maine. So do skaters from the humid areas like DC and NC.
I hope this helps.