CRASH-B satellite races

[jlawson58]

I know I have no chance (and probably never will) of getting C2 to pay my way to CRASH-Bs from a satellite event, so that is not why I am asking, but out of curiosity I was looking at the qualifying times, and unless I am a complete moron (possible) the times are faster than the world record (as least in the category I checked). Do you really have to set a WR to get them to pay your way?

[luckylindy]

Do you mean the times in this page ( http://www.concept2.com/us/racing/crash ... b_qual.asp )? At least in the younger ages for Mens, those are pretty far from WR paces. I can't speak for the more veteran categories though.

[jlawson58]

Yeah, I see where I messed up twice. I meant to say "do you really need a time that is faster than anybody has produced in the last 5 years of results at CRASH-B. Even that is wrong though. I see the qt is a 6:23.5 for my age group and over the past few years results exactly 2 people have done that per year in the 50+

[Bob S.]

Yeah, I see where I messed up twice. I meant to say "do you really need a time that is faster than anybody has produced in the last 5 years of results at CRASH-B. Even that is wrong though. I see the qt is a 6:23.5 for my age group and over the past few years results exactly 2 people have done that per year in the 50+

The qualifying times have always been a bit weird. In 1996, the first year of the 2k, I had the best M Lwt 70-79 time so it was the WR until it was beaten late in the next season. It was done at a satellite and was well under the qualifying time, so I made the trip to Boston. The next year the qualifying time was lowered to a few tenths of a second below my WR time. At the time the QTs were announced, my record had not yet been broken. I was quite discouraged about the new, much more stringent QT and didn't even make a try for that. I was sure that I would have lost some time during that year. In retrospect that was a mistake, since I had not really been training specifically for the erg, just general training mostly on the water.

This year I could have just paddled to make either lwt or hwt for the 85-89. The QT is 9:45 for each. My actual time was under 8:17, so I was told. I didn't get a chance to see the posted results, but I did see 2:04.x for the average on the monitor at the end of the "race." Note: I did qualify, of course, but I don't plan to make the trip.

Bob S.

[NavigationHazard]

I'd like to point out that Bob broke the 85-59 WR on Saturday at the Long Beach Sprints. That incontrovertably beat the qualifying time.

It's also worth pointing out that beating the qualifying time in your event doesn't automatically get you free airfare to Boston. Concept-2 covers up to 4 qualifiers from each satellite regatta. If there are more than 4 qualifiers from any one regatta it's up to those organizers to figure out who gets to go. When Bob comes along he can fill in details - I'm pretty sure that on at least one occasion, there have been more than 4 qualifiers from Long Beach....

[Bob S.]

I'd like to point out that Bob broke the 85-59 WR on Saturday at the Long Beach Sprints. That incontrovertably beat the qualifying time.

It's also worth pointing out that beating the qualifying time in your event doesn't automatically get you free airfare to Boston. Concept-2 covers up to 4 qualifiers from each satellite regatta. If there are more than 4 qualifiers from any one regatta it's up to those organizers to figure out who gets to go. When Bob comes along he can fill in details - I'm pretty sure that on at least one occasion, there have been more than 4 qualifiers from Long Beach....

Not this time, Nav. Last season, at the Beach Sprints, I set the heavy weight record at 8:15.3 and three weeks later, at the Crash-B, I set the light weight record at 8:13.6. (Each one by 40.1 seconds - how is that for a coincidence??). I now have the number for this season's Beach Sprints and it was 8:16.7. I wasn't going for record this time. I figured that I couldn't erase a year's worth of physical deterioration and especially not improve on it. My goal was to pick up some nonathlon points and to have a respectable time - which I decided would be under 8:20. (My best previous time this season here at altitude was 8:35.3). Rob Perrot offered to cox me again this year and I told him what I was shooting for. He did a great job, as before, and brought me in better that 3 seconds under that. When I had a chat with him a while later, he asked me to remind him what I got last year. When I told him that it was 8:15.x, he said, "Why didn't you tell me before, I could have got you under 8:15!" Well, I think that he was kidding, but it did make me wonder afterwards.

I got off to a fairly slow start. We didn't have any post race data available, so I don't have the exact splits, but I saw a lot of 2:06s early on and at the half-way point, the average was still over 2:05. Toward the end I was seeing a fair number of 2:03s and 2:02s and even a sub-2 once in a while, so maybe a little more push early on would have done the trick, but it might just as well have brought about a brenschluss.

I haven't entered the times for the nonathlon yet, but I did the 500m a couple of days before and the 1k about 2hours after the race. Both them were a significant improvement over my old 4,000ft elevation times, so I should be picking up several score of nonathlon points. I have hopes it will be enough to get me back up to 3rd, which I lost recently. Of course there are still a couple of folks who have the potential to pass me easily when they get around to completing all the events.

When there are more than four qualifiers at any particular satellite regatta, the local regatta directors have the responsibility to set their own rules. At Long Beach, if there are more than four qualifiers, preference goes to those who beat the qualifying times by the most time. Since the qualifying time for my category was ridiculously high, I would have had first preference, but I had no intention of going this year. Actually, It would be a lot more fair to base it on watts, but it would make it a lot more complicated. On one occasion, Long Beach had around 9 qualifiers, but not all of them were interested in going.

Bob S.

[NavigationHazard]

Cheers Bob- I misread the results page on the Beach Sprints web site. It still has last year's results breathlessly described....

[Bob S.]

Cheers Bob- I misread the results page on the Beach Sprints web site. It still has last year's results breathlessly described....

Hi Nav,

Yeah, they hadn't had a chance to get it updated yet. In fact, the morning results had not yet been posted at the club when I left in mid afternoon. I still didn't know my exact time other than Rob had told me that it was under 8:17. It should get posted in the rankings by C2 one of these days, but I wanted to enter it in the nonathlon. So I called John V.B. last night to get the exact time and he told me that there had been some changes introduced to the procedure this year and it resulted in a longer delay than normal. The people doing all the hard work at these events are club member volunteers, so I have no compliant about having to wait. They are a dedicated bunch.

Regards,
Bob

[NavigationHazard]

I don't know how John van Blom manages to organize as well as row. Running the event must add 15 seconds or more to his score, easily.

[Joanvb]

Congratulations to Bob S. Bob looked stronger than ever to me...just amazing. I will post a photo soon.
The reason for the delays in posting results up was because there was an upgrade in the C2 race software this year, which created a compatibility issue with Ergo, the results software. The race organizers had to manually sort the results, which delayed posting...but I'll note that the races all went off on time...every 15 minutes from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with a couple of planned breaks.
Thanks, Nav, for the kind words about John VB. After a pre-race day of assembling machines and setting up, followed by running the race along with rowing in it, then take down, etc., followed by a 12 km row yesterday morning, he was down for the count with a 103 temp yesterday afternoon and to the doctors today. He'll survive, I think.
Results should be available at longbeachrowing.org soon, along with row2K.

[Mike Caviston]

The Van Bloms are a class act. Thanks so much for letting me stay at your place, which was one more distraction for you and John during a busy weekend. I’ve attended many different erg races around the country over the years, and I respect all the organizers for the effort they give and the job they do. Few people recognize all the difficulties associated with putting on an event, from setting up, to handling the technical glitches with race equipment and software, to graciously dealing with last-minute entries, distributing medals in a timely manner, and so on. The Beach Sprints always manage to start on time and stay on schedule, in no small part due to John’s efforts. So Joan, give him my best. And pat yourself on the back for continuing to encourage and inspire so many others – I saw the effect your advice, coxing, and cheering had on a number of people who walked away with a good experience as a result.

– Mike

[Bob S.]

Few people recognize all the difficulties associated with putting on an event, from setting up, to handling the technical glitches with race equipment and software, to graciously dealing with last-minute entries, distributing medals in a timely manner, and so on.

For an idea of just how much work is involved on a grand scale, check out:

http://concept2.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... a&start=45

and scroll down to the 6th message (by Alex Skelton of the C2 staff) to get the full story on what it takes to run a major erg competition.

Bob S.

[Joanvb]

Here's Bob S. last Saturday in Long Beach at the Beach Sprints.

[Bob S.]

Here's Bob S. last Saturday in Long Beach at the Beach Sprints.

Whoops! My arms were already bent, but it looks like my legs had not fully straightened.

Bob S.