Hi folks,

Any tips on how to time riders during an “enduro-style” fun event?

I’m taking a few of groups of teenagers out on some day rides over the next few months. How can i time them during a point-to-point section? They will be going off one at a time.

I’ve thought about walkie talkies (one at bottom of the section with stop watch) – but it’s in a forest, so may not get coverage. Also thought about starting 2 stop watches at the same time, one leader at end of section, and start the riders after, say, 2mins…

Any others…!?

possible replace walkie talkies with phones and text the start times from one to the other. Same issue with coverage but as it’s a different system it might be worth bearing in mind. Worst case would be that the times are only sent once phone A gets a signal, so once the last person has set off the starter could trot off and find a signal. Obviously phone B would need a signal too.

How far apart are the stat and finish? Could the starter not make a not of the times then get in the car and make it to the finish before the first finisher?

[edit]

Also thought about starting 2 stop watches at the same time, one leader at end of section, and start the riders after, say, 2mins…

Actually I quite like the simplicity of this approach, also encourage the riders not to faff around and get to the start gate on time. Any time spent faffing is time lost.

Just use two watches set to exactly the same time, one at the start and one at the end, record the start and finish time and work out the difference afterwards when you meet up.

Surely all teenagers have smartphones. In which case download the Strava app and set the timed sections as segments and it’ll do it all for you.

If two watches are used (one at start, one at finish, obvs) then *all* you need is to accurately record the start and finish times… and then work out how far off synchronised the watches are and then work out the difference between start and end times allowing for the synchronisation gap.

Which basically allows your ‘every two minutes’ idea to get a bit slack at the start if things go wrong!

Ayrshire Rossco, I was out riding with Craig from the bike shop in Prestwick yesterday and we were discussing the very same thing. He is building an electronic system featuring a start gate and finish line at the moment to session downhills and time it accurately.

Greg.

Cheers folks. The section i’m timing them on takes me around 1.5mins to ride, so (hopefully!) a tad longer for the teenagers!

No mobile coverage, so it looks like the two stop watches with two leaders (one at start, one at finish) is the favoured option.

Nobeeringthefridge, was it Craig from Carrick Cycles..!? Or is there another Craig that works in a bike shop quite near me!?

You could even do it with one person and one stopwatch if you pick a circular route.

Two watches, one at the start, one at the end. Give them EXACT start times (ie. 1400, 1402, 1404 etc) then just jot down the finishing times for each rider.

Works best with something like a Waveceptor that you know are gonna be synchronised.

I’ve been involved in large events (university national championships) where the two synchronsed stopwatch approach has worked fine. Admittedly it was as a backup to a proper system but the infor was always correct when needed. We had about 300 “runs” during the weekend.

As long as you get an accurate start and finish time you can just work out the difference. Means results won’t be instant.

Use a garmin gps unit to record the runs? swap the unit over between riders.

Admittedly you wont know until you upload the data.

Could you use an airhorn or something? Set the riders off one at a time, start the clock – person at the finish to sound the horn when the rider has crossed the line.