24hr event in MK (Recumbent friendly)

 

Or both?

 

I can't see many BHPC folk wanting to do 24 hours solo and I don't see any reason why we would want to use our insurance to cover an event that excluded some of our members... So as far as I'm concerned it would need to be for teams as well as nutters solo riders...

It's me who is trying to get this thing going.

The date is set on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th August, which is the bank holiday weekend. It MAY be possible to change the date, but even if it is, it would need to be done before the end of November, so not much time.

At the moment, I'm only seeing if I can actually get this event going.

It will be run under the rules of BHPC.

 

Solo or Team?

I say solos only, for now. The circuit is very short and I think that more than 50 riders will be too many so don't want to be overwhelmed. If I get very poor interest from solos and lots of interest from people who will only ride as a team, then it will have to be a team event and soloists can ride as a one person team. If I am overwhelmed, then it'll have to be first come, first served unless I can expand the event onto the bigger circuit at The Bowl. But that would need much, much more commitement from many more volunteers, so I'm a bit reluctant to commit to that unless I also get a big response from willing volunteers.

 

I personally would prefer a no drafting rule, as I think that a TT should be a test of an individual. You can always ride alongside another rider and chat, assuming that is within the rules of BHPC. Same with MP3s or whatever. An intersting circuit would be nice, but I can only run an event on what is available. I think that only BC and CTT can run cycle races on public roads (rightly or wrongly) and they don't play ball with recumbents. The circuit I have can be used without any marshals and is practically in a cage.

 

I'd be gald to hear from anyone thinking of riding as either a soloist or team, so that I can have a better idea of whether to run it as a team or solo (or both) event. I'll also try and make this event known to upwrong cyclists (like myself) but I doubt it will get a big interest.

I hope that as well as some fast riders aiming for a big mileage, we also get lots of odd and interesting machines, people riding for charity, for their own personal challenge, for fun or for whatever reason.

 

Allowing teams would increase the potential number of riders on the track at one time because it makes it more inclusive unless I exclude people by saying, "Sorry, we're full." Ideally I'd have an event for soloists without needing to turn riders away, which is my main intention. Teams are, at present, a side issue, unless it becomes obvious that a soloist event would be a matter of one or two individuals. It's just a way of preventing overcrowding without turning people down. But I don't want to cut my nose off to spite my own face, so if I only get one or two wanting a solo ride and 20 teams interested, then its a no brainer for me to do it as a team event. So feedback is very welcome.

You'll have to bear with me because I'm not even a member of BHPC (yet) and am new to this. If I'm going to run a BHPC event, then I need to get a feel for BHPC and see how it works, otherwise I'll just do what only I want and might not get anyone riding the event, so I need to learn about BHPC and what BHPC riders want before I set rules down in stone. I'm aiming to run a 24 hour TT for all, but have to keep a lid on it so that I don't bite off more than I can chew and we end up with a mess of an event. It IS a race and being held up by big bunches lots of times is going to annoy a lot of people as well as probably get very risky. The Bowl is a limited resource, so I need a way of limiting the number of riders.

I could always say first come, first served, whether team or soloist and have a reserve list incase of pull outs and no-shows. Would that be preferable?

 

Offering BHPC insurance cover to non-members while effectively excluding some of our members (who pay for the insurance) from the event would obviously be a non-starter.

 

Not allowing teams is as exclusive to non BHPC members as it is to BHPC members. Everyone has to pay for their own insurance or am I wrong? Excluding riders when we don't have many of them certainly is a non starter. So again, it is looking to me as if soloists are the exception and they can ride as a one person team anyway, so perhaps a team event is the way to go and is looking to me to be the best option now, but I'll wait for more feedback first.

 

To me, BHPC is the format of the event I am hoping to run and I've chosen BHPC because it is the most inclusive. I don't care whether entries are from BHPC members or not, Obviously BHPC is the place for me to try and attract riders who otherwise wouldn't be able to ride a 24 hour TT because of their choice of machine, but I'll also be looking elsewhere. The idea is to run as an inclusive event as I can, primarily for individuals and within the limitations of what facilities I have. So I'm starting at the extreme end by only inviting soloists and seeing whether that can attract enough riders to run an event. There is obviously a demand for team events, but my intention is to primarily run an event for solos and secondly, run an event for teams. If I can only run an event for teams because of lack of interest in solo rides, then that's good too, but not my original aim. Perhaps someone else would like to run another event for teams in parallell on another weekend at MK Bowl? I have the contact details and you have until the end of November to set the date. As it is, I have no idea how popular or unpopular this will be so am assuming that most are wanting to ride a solo 24, which is what I was originally aiming to cater for, but if it doesn't get much interest, then it'll be primarily a team event.

Surely attracting non BHPC members to a BHPC event might possibly expand the membership of BHPC?

 

I agree with Fards regarding drafting... I also think it would be very difficult to police on a short circuit.

It would probably be impossible not to draft for short periods at times and common sense would be needed. But blatant drafting for many laps would be pretty obvious to the observent and riders can report other riders for rule breaking, as is the case in CTT events.

Again, nothing cast in stone, so I'm glad to hear of opinions and get an idea of what the majority wants and how BHPC events are normally run. I aim to please the majority, not dictate.