State Games of Michigan Race Report

The State Games of Michigan Mountain Bike Race was held this past Saturday.  I’d give you a nice race report about the strengths/weaknesses from this race, but I can’t.  My duties as assistant race director took priority of me racing.  I was pre-registered and the RD is going to reimburse me the funds (which I didn’t ask for) so I thought that was a nice gesture.

My duties included getting some sponsorships (Village Bike Shop, Kenda Tire), setting up the course, registration, course tear-down, etc.  Volunteers were in short-supply so my wife helped with the registration.

The day ended very well.  We had close to 100 racers over last years numbers, which is good considering this is only the third year for the event.  The RD did an excellent job keeping everything flowing well.

I did learn a few things being on this side of a race.

• Racer’s ask a lot of questions.  Not a bad thing at all. But all the questions were explained in the race registration.  I know points are on the line and I had zero problems answering the questions, just really surprised at how many there were.

 

• Racers don’t familiarize themselves with the lap/finish line area.  This I don’t understand. As a racer myself, I always know where to go for laps and where to go for the finish.  This year I stood at the finish line and directed people in the right direction for laps or to the finish line.  I was surprised how many racers asked me how many laps they need to do DURING the race.  Seriously surprised by this. (You can see me in the gray shorts in the picture to the right).

 

• Racers don’t understand the timing mats.  We used chips for timing.  Once the racer went over the mat, their time was recorded for the next lap or for their finished time.  The finish chute was about 20 feet after the mats and the area racers went to get off the course and collect chips.  Racers were sprinting toward this chute like it was the timing mat.  Never mind they already crossed it. Sprint to the mats.

 

• Racers want their medals ASAP.  I can understand this.

 

Like I said, just a few things I learned being on the other side of the race.  I’ve been ARD since this race started three years ago, but this is my first time not racing, thus seeing all the different classes play out.  At the end of the day, it was a ton of fun being around the racers and seeing them enjoy the event.

On a side note: I got a bad sun-burn.