BeaveRun This Weekend - Who's Going?

[kiggy74]

Last STT track day of the year for the Midwest. Looking forward to seeing you all there. Thanks in advance to the O'Toole family of Pittsburgh who's offering free room and board to the crew of stinky riders.

[kiggy74]

Only one image can describe this weekend at BeaveRun....

http://www.vividblurry.com/mt-archives/red-flag.gif

Crappy way to end the season, but probably not unexpected when you pack 50+ "advanced" riders onto a 1.53 mile loop. I hope all that were injured (there were many) get well quickly.

[Marcmcm]

They had 50 people in the Advanced group at Beaverun?

[kiggy74]

I was told by an STT staff member that in at least one session there were 50+ riders in the advanced group. The track was crowded.

[davetlr]

I was told by an STT staff member that in at least one session there were 50+ riders in the advanced group. The track was crowded.

That's close to a CSS novice grid. Guess it would be good practice getting through traffic!!

[STT-GUY]

We actually had a light turnout Sunday but it seemed like many were indeed hell bent on tossing themselves down the track. Guess they figured that there was plenty of time to heal and fix stuff up during the off-season.

FWIW "A" group had 33 one day and 34 the other plus some staff riders. No way there were "over 50" riders in A, that's bullshit plain and simple. We had 75 total so that would leave only 25 between N and I. IIRC, the only track we allow 50 riders on is Road America which is 4 mile long.

BeaveRun is a track where riders do seem to "clump up" and that can make passing a challange. Normally I'd say pit in and go back out but the pit out there is sketchy and I wouldn't want someone to experience that more than they absolutely have to. I've seen more pit-out crashes in a a single (chilly) weekend at Beaver that all our other events combined.

Thanks for coming out.

[Dutch]

Track density has less to do with number of red flags then one would think. We steadily decreased our class limits at Pocono FUSA over a 5 year period and the incident rate either stayed the same or whent up each year.

[STT-GUY]

Track density has less to do with number of red flags then one would think. We steadily decreased our class limits at Pocono FUSA over a 5 year period and the incident rate either stayed the same or whent up each year.

Dutch -

Agreed. We've had an event Friday at LVMS with 95 riders and not a single red flag and only one slow tip-over.

You and I have been at this for a year or two... Do you notice red flags vary by geographic region? Such as East, Midwest, South?

[STT-GUY]

Track density has less to do with number of red flags then one would think. We steadily decreased our class limits at Pocono FUSA over a 5 year period and the incident rate either stayed the same or whent up each year.


FUSA is a challenge for sure!

[Dutch]

It's really hard to say. I've had flag free days at Summit Main and I've had days when I had to shut down at 10 am for lunch because all our ambulances were gone already. I don't know that it's a geographic thing as much as it is a who showed up to ride with their brains attached to their right wrist thing. The other thing that I do notice is if we run in the wet we tend to have less incidents

[Mongo]

On the racing end, it's cyclical and every track/class/level has their turn in the barrel.

[kiggy74]

BeaveRun is a track where riders do seem to "clump up" and that can make passing a challange. Normally I'd say pit in and go back out but the pit out there is sketchy and I wouldn't want someone to experience that more than they absolutely have to. I've seen more pit-out crashes in a a single (chilly) weekend at Beaver that all our other events combined.

Thanks for coming out.

Normally I'd agree, a quick pit in and let the clump go by. But each pit in just led to another clump as there were many. And agreed, pitting out at the Beave can be a perilous proposition. Don't know how many people you had registered Monte, and whether or not this includes all of the East/Midwest staff that showed up, but there were A LOT of people on the track at once, especially on Saturday afternoon.

I did the counting on the way home, and this weekend was my 21st and 22nd track day this year, most of which were with STT. Between this year and last, I've never seen so many wrecks in one weekend. It's a shame, because other than the brief shower that came through Sunday AM it could have been a perfect weekend.

Oh well, still better than golfing. It's always a great time at the track with lots of great people. Can't wait to get back out.:beer:

[Gigantic]

Saturday had a few red flags, but I've been to far worse days. Ever done a day at FUSA? I've done one, that was enough. I rode saturday between stints of tending the BBQ and all Sunday afternoon, while the grid seemed heavy, I never had a problem with traffic. then again, I'm slow, it's hard to run into the big packs when everyone is passing you...;) (jk) seriously though, I've found that by gridding @ the front, I'm able to avid much of the heavy traffic. The guys that are way faster than I fly by me in the first couple laps & I spend most of the session in relatively light traffic. By the time I catch up to the big groups of riders, it's towards the end of the session- I either call it & pit out because I'm getting tired anyway or I work on my passing technique. Try it some time- it really works!
Cheers,
Lance

[ayotte6pc]

It must be a Beaver Run thing this month. I was there Wednesday for a investor day. I was wreck 2 outta 4 and I think that there was a total of maybe 15 or so people there. I lost my brakes on the back straight going into 10, went off the track into the grass, did a small solo airshow, and helped the facility remove dirt with my shoulder and planted all kinds of pretty yellow fiberglass "Flowers" up along the tire wall. Looks nice, but my shoulder hurts like hell.

The other 3 incidents were yardsales of great proportions........ Thank God none was anything major as far as bodily injury, but as for the surrounding situations.........Dont even ask. Scary.

If you happen to bounce around the web and are near bikerplanet.net, stop in and read the thread.... It'll explain it in full.

ANywho, hope everyone heals well and the further days are better!

[kiggy74]

Saturday had a few red flags, but I've been to far worse days. Ever done a day at FUSA? I've done one, that was enough. I rode saturday between stints of tending the BBQ and all Sunday afternoon, while the grid seemed heavy, I never had a problem with traffic. then again, I'm slow, it's hard to run into the big packs when everyone is passing you...;) (jk) seriously though, I've found that by gridding @ the front, I'm able to avid much of the heavy traffic. The guys that are way faster than I fly by me in the first couple laps & I spend most of the session in relatively light traffic. By the time I catch up to the big groups of riders, it's towards the end of the session- I either call it & pit out because I'm getting tired anyway or I work on my passing technique. Try it some time- it really works!
Cheers,
Lance


I think every session but 1 was red flagged on Saturday. Sunday didn't seem quite as bad, but only because most people didn't ride in the morning on the wet track.

Oh well, I'm not going to dwell on it. Like I said, we all still had a great time, just wish we would have gotten our money's worth of track time.

[Six3SixGal]

i ran in A all weekend.. i didnt have any problems passing at alll... just have to be strategic about it! lol....

[f4idrew]

i ran in A all weekend.. i didnt have any problems passing at alll... just have to be strategic about it! lol....

Exactly.. I thought the traffic was rather fun! Hell, we didnt even have any problem passing two up!:D

[Gigantic]

you were lookin' good out there Drewbie!:Poke:

[Six3SixGal]

Exactly.. I thought the traffic was rather fun! Hell, we didnt even have any problem passing two up!:D

YOUUUU didnt have troubel... meanwhile i am in my helmet with my eyes shut because i can feel how bad the front pushed with me on the back like that.. haha... but no, you didnt have a problem doing it, even with ME hitting your chest to slow down haha

[tzrboy]

The pace for the A group was faster than what some have come to expect for the last 5 years there in early October as a lot of us came from Reduc and it was a once a year date-our "Octoberfest" if you will, and a very small and tight club with both Jean and Marco being very detailed oriented-because they had no other distractions.

That being said and riding for Doug at SVP this weekend both days-and catching some of the crashes on video..... people make mistakes, just like machines break..... but those that didn't were treated to friendly and missed faces, new faces, and great weather and riding...and Lance's BBQ

I had no problem going anywhere in any group, being courteous, passing as explained in club rules, expecting people to be having fun, and all the while riding a stock 04 Daytona 600 Triumph for Doug..never on that bike at that track.

With the exception of owing 636Gal an apology..."got a bit close up the hill -sorry again", as I had an interest in slowing some of the liter bike riders with less skills-down and showing the proper lines. Gravity prevailed later in the day with that guy anyway.

I run 2's there, not the fastest...but I know the track.


I'm thankful that I can ride-period. If I only got 1 session, vs. "paying for 6-7 I thought".......read about Justin or Morgan just trying to wake up or even open there eyes...how about Abe killed on the street in Japan...

As the season winds down- I thank the folks that put this event on, good-bad-or ugly....no one makes us ride.

:beer:

[Gigantic]

The pace for the A group was faster than what some have come to expect for the last 5 years there in early October as a lot of us came from Reduc and it was a once a year date-our "Octoberfest" if you will, and a very small and tight club with both Jean and Marco being very detailed oriented-because they had no other distractions.


Good point CG- the A group was quite a bit faster than the normal STT east A-group, due in part to a large # of midwestern, North Central WERA guys being there. It seemed like a lot of the people that were the most upset were former Reduc people who were accustomed to a somewhat gentler Advanced Group pace.