Wow - what a great thread! What I really like is the "spirit" of the FES events does not seem to be forgotten! A ton of valid points being made here. A few thoughts..
1) I love the vintage class idea (gee...wonder who suggested it? ;)
2) Ride on Sunday - no points for Saturday. But...would not want to see someone who maybe gives a Sunday event a shot and finds out they are not ready for it, be prevented from doing the FES events in the future. Not sure how to accomplish that.
3) Also agree with limiting trophies in the mens "adult" classes
4) Really think its a great idea to have the little kids to the latest rows.
5) Should limit to strictly 1 "P" rider per "FES" participant (regardless of age..like others have said - just because you are older does not mean you dont need support on the trail!) If not a P rider, must be an X rider...and ALL X riders should go out well before the "competing" riders.
6) The passing topic is a tough one - one one hand, I can see a parent's reluctance to expose their little kid to a pass by a more agressive rider...but...I have seen instances where I swear a "P" rider really seemed to be deliberately "blocking" other riders from passing (and the kid they were with was not a real young one). Some expanded discussion of trail etiquitte really might be good at the riders meeting.
7) I think timekeeping should be part of the FES series - I really would hate to see all of them go to restart format. We need someway to pass down the "art" of timekeeping (not that I have it!)
8) I like Smit Dogs idea of some sort of "moving up to the Sunday events" incentive - be it financial or otherwise. (I admit my bias - one of my kids is a good move up candidate within the next couple years). Hey - how about this idea - I base this on a comment Mitch made to me - he said if he did a Sunday event, he would not want to do the Saturday event - just to much for a newbie to take on racing both days. His concern was that then negatively impacting FES standings. So what if a kid is doing the FES series, but forgoes a race to enter on Sunday - give them some FES points?
9) What about a set of published rules to hand out to participants? Include in that document some timekeeping basics, some info on etiquitte for passing etc.
9) This FES series is one fantastic thing - lets keep it rolling!
1) I love the vintage class idea (gee...wonder who suggested it? ;)
2) Ride on Sunday - no points for Saturday. But...would not want to see someone who maybe gives a Sunday event a shot and finds out they are not ready for it, be prevented from doing the FES events in the future. Not sure how to accomplish that.
3) Also agree with limiting trophies in the mens "adult" classes
4) Really think its a great idea to have the little kids to the latest rows.
5) Should limit to strictly 1 "P" rider per "FES" participant (regardless of age..like others have said - just because you are older does not mean you dont need support on the trail!) If not a P rider, must be an X rider...and ALL X riders should go out well before the "competing" riders.
6) The passing topic is a tough one - one one hand, I can see a parent's reluctance to expose their little kid to a pass by a more agressive rider...but...I have seen instances where I swear a "P" rider really seemed to be deliberately "blocking" other riders from passing (and the kid they were with was not a real young one). Some expanded discussion of trail etiquitte really might be good at the riders meeting.
7) I think timekeeping should be part of the FES series - I really would hate to see all of them go to restart format. We need someway to pass down the "art" of timekeeping (not that I have it!)
8) I like Smit Dogs idea of some sort of "moving up to the Sunday events" incentive - be it financial or otherwise. (I admit my bias - one of my kids is a good move up candidate within the next couple years). Hey - how about this idea - I base this on a comment Mitch made to me - he said if he did a Sunday event, he would not want to do the Saturday event - just to much for a newbie to take on racing both days. His concern was that then negatively impacting FES standings. So what if a kid is doing the FES series, but forgoes a race to enter on Sunday - give them some FES points?
9) What about a set of published rules to hand out to participants? Include in that document some timekeeping basics, some info on etiquitte for passing etc.
9) This FES series is one fantastic thing - lets keep it rolling!