[Closed] An embryonic bike race idea....

Peak Dale MX track by any chance? I'm in for whatever it is.

No, not there.

where is this pook? i would be in

When you say MX race venue what do you mean, a motocross track or a venue that hosts enduros? Most (well all) of the MX tracks I have raced or practiced at a mountain bike event wouldn't be feasible at (can't get up the jump faces as they are too steep for example.) An enduro course might be more feasible (still the ones I have been to you couldn't as once again a bicycle wouldn't make it round.) If you have found an MX track that you can get round a dirt crit (so super short duration) would work well as the width would enable a bunch of riders to get round at once and passing would be easy.

Iain

It's a venue that hosts enduro races, but with loads of land, woods and perfect singletrack. I'm not suggesting using the mx track as the loop, although some parts of it could be included.

It's near matlock

Lunch time start evening (dark) finish. Solo/teams. hour loop but proper techy riding.
sounds good to me:-)

Camping or not bothered?

matlock? sweet not far from me.

Camping or not bothered?

depends on what you want to make it really. If it's a 12 hour race or maybe a ss event then it's a get together and a mini festival so camping would be necessary imho. However if you want to make it a 2 hour race etc then prob giving yourself more headaches by adding camping.

Could always volunteer for ssuk 2012?...

interesting. I think camping is a nice option but I prefer events that run in one day, better chance of getting the time off from family life.

start small Chris.

make it a couple of hours, no camping this time. see how it goes and take it from there.

It's a venue that hosts enduro races, but with loads of land, woods and perfect singletrack. I'm not suggesting using the mx track as the loop, although some parts of it could be included.

It's near matlock

Sounds like it could be a goer, if as suggested above you do a shorter race how about copying a motocross format. Say 3 20min motos or 2 35+2laps, it's a format that most wont be familiar with which will give it a novelty value to make it stand out from other races and as long as there are plenty of passing opportunities it will make for very good racing.

Iain

Sounds good Chris.

4 hr HTN jobbie would be cool.Is it Butt's Quarry any chance?

Work out your costs before you go any further!

Might be lee.

Harry, any tips?

Loads. 😀 What do you want to know?

e-mail in profile

Something low key to begin with, like 90mins xc on a week night? Nae camping or any of that bollox, local race for local people. Something like that would be great, but if you're talking about a big deal for you to get it organised I could see it might not be worth your while. It would give you the feel of the place though prior to organising something more substantial.

Pook. YGM

you can do it you just need to think about it a bit more

you need to think about:
1. are you commercial (Nutcracker, Pat Adams, Martyn Salt) or not for profit/ charitable (HTN, us etc)
2. the venue (sound sorted, but you need to understand the costs)
3. what are you doing/ event format/ category structure (don't forget about kids and Vets)
4. find about another 6 people you can rely on to help you or risk divorce
5. breakdown the elements and build in redundancy what can go wrong will go wrong on the day
6. work out how many people you need on the day, make sure you work hard to get extra marshals etc as 25% usually have a hangover on the day and don't show
7. BC will provide limited help, cheap insurance and a way of publisising your event
8. electronic timing fails, have a manual backup at least one event alledgedly lost all it's results
9. kit, radios, course marking signs/ tape etc where are you getting it from?
10. website, you need one
11. online entry, you need it, XCRacer good and cheap, BC might be even cheaper

work out how many riders you need break even and a date by when you need to commit to costs,[b] and the biggest problem you will have will be getting people to pre-enter[/b], plenty of events fold because of this

obviously virual marketing etc helps (HTN are the experts)

the race/ event calendar in Sept is pretty full and you don't have enough time to get everything ready, Oct might be OK but the weather is a bigger risk (and the calendar now full of CX races)

sponsorship?? got any?? you need to find some

our next race is 21st August if you want to see our "endearingly shambolic" setup you are more than welcome to shadow our team and see what we do.

I'd aim for an early 2012 event/s, (the more events you do the more you spread the risk)

www.brownbacksracing.co.uk

like 90mins xc on a week night?

that will be in 2012 then

May as well make the advice that I sent public as it reflects what Paul form Brownbacks has posted.

Stuff you will need to consider (in no particular order)

Payment method
Advertising / website.
Timing
First aid
Marshals for the race
Marshals for parking and vehicle control before it (you don’t want your ambulance blocked in)
Head marshal and trusted staff to run the show on the day. As the organiser you should be doing very little during the event in case you are needed.
Communication. Walkie talkies if they will work at your location, mobile phones with lists of contact numbers if they won’t.
High vis clothing for all staff
Instruction/briefing for staff / marshals
Written procedures for marshals and first aid
Notification to the police (they are contacted in the event of a mountain rescue call out) so they can put it on their incident board in advance.
Signs, posts and stakes (with staple guns and hammers). If you are in a quarry with a hard floor how will you put your signs up?
Cones
Tape
Insurance
Risk assessment
Right of way closures (if necessary)
PA
Toilets
Catering
Parking
Litter collection
Set up time
Clean up time
Waste bins, bags, skip etc

Most importantly - A very accurate budget and a clear idea of pricing and numbers to break even. You also need to know when the go / no go date is. If you have to cancel you don’t want to expose yourself to any financial risk.

You also need to join British Cycling to register the event. This will get you on their calendar and you need them for insurance. BC will supply an event commissar to check that the course, insurance and risk assessments are all up to scratch (you will have to pay his expenses)

HtN has always tried to make itself look a bit "Two blokes making it up as they go along". It isn't. Behind each race is a ton of paperwork and many hours of planning.

Bugger it up and you will get flamed and it will cost you a fortune.

"Two blokes making it up as they go along".

we are 9 blokes and a lady making it up as we go along. 😉

don't underestimate the number of people you need on site (we are well into the 30's)

There is no course in event organising, there is a 85% useful BC document available upon request http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/mtb/article/mtbst_Mountain-Bike-Organiser-Support

If you are serious and set yourself up clearly as volunteer run/ charitable aim then we'd help, you will also get a lot of community help if people think you are not trying to make a buck off them.

You should try and grant hunt to start up (we got a £500 grant, we have since given £3000 to charity and run 14 events to date so arguably a good investment), a well known popular annual event receives a public subsidy to assist in costs

If you have ambitions to be the next Martyn Salt then good luck

The last one was just one bloke (Terrahawk)!

Cheers all - this is hugely helpful.

Report for duty at 6:00am at the next HtN and you can see it all first hand.

I'll be competing!