Indoor races - California

[johnlvs2run]

I'm (mildly at this point) considering to go to one of the indoor races.
The possibilities are:

Long Beach - January 26 - 180 miles
http://www.longbeachrowing.org/events/B ... nfo_08.pdf
Sacramento - February 02 - 300 miles
http://www.csusaquaticcenter.com/Body_g ... Champs.asp
San Diego - February 9 - 300 miles cancelled - reinstated
http://www.sdrc-row.org/regattas_events/
Burlingame - February 10 - 250 miles
http://www.peninsulajuniorcrew.org/PIRCmain.htm

Most likely I would go to either Long Beach or San Diego. SD has 10 ergs and I'm not sure about LB. There are no schedules and not much information on either one of the sites. Perhaps some who have attended can comment, on the availability of ergs for warm up, temperature (if too hot etc), noise, general conditions and your general experience.

If you've attended a race, was it worth the trip and would you attend it again?

[Nosmo]

There is also the penisula indoor race on Feb 10 in the south Bay.

http://www.peninsulajuniorcrew.org/

[Bob S.]

There is also the penisula indoor race on Feb 10 in the south Bay.

http://www.peninsulajuniorcrew.org/

More specific is:

http://www.peninsulajuniorcrew.org/PIRCinfo.htm

Note: Mapquest quotes about 250 miles, Santa Maria to Burlingame

I believe that C2 sent 14 ergs to LB last season. The noise level in the competition room is quite high, but it is a great setting. The warm up machines are back in the boat bays and isolated from the noise of the crowd. I haven't been to NorCal events and it has been 12 years since I have been to the SD event, so I can't say what it would be like now. There were a lot of warm up ergs (Cs and Ds and even a few old Bs) at LB. As I remember, they were all updated to PM3s. (Note: If you use your logcard on a warm up erg and want the date to be correct, it is always a good idea to check out the monitor before you use it. I even ran into this problem on one of the brand new ergs at the hotel in Boston one year.)

Bob S.

P.S. I just took another look at the PIRC site and I see that they expect to have 30 ergs available for the competition.

[johnlvs2run]

Thanks for the info. I had mistakenly put Burlington, which is 500 miles.

How do you adjust to the noise?

What are the benefits of the first time attending an event?

[John Hendrie]

I'm (mildly at this point) considering to go to one of the indoor races.
The possibilities are:

Long Beach - January 26 - 180 miles
Sacramento - February 02 - 300 miles
San Diego - February 9 - 300 miles
Burlingame - February 10 - 250 miles

Most likely I would go to either Long Beach or San Diego. SD has 10 ergs and I'm not sure about LB. There are no schedules and not much information on either one of the sites. Perhaps some who have attended can comment, on the availability of ergs for warm up, temperature (if too hot etc), noise, general conditions and your general experience.

If you've attended a race, was it worth the trip and would you attend it again?

Burlingame info
http://www.peninsulajuniorcrew.org/PIRCmain.htm

San Diego info
http://www.sdrc-row.org/2007IndoorClassicEntryForm.doc

Long Beach info
http://www.longbeachrowing.org/events/B ... nfo_08.pdf

John - I have competed in the GSIRC (Sacramento) 3 times and am planning to do so again this year. The event is well organized, is run on schedule. Competition is semi outdoors (in the boat storage shed) so can be quite cool depending on the weather. I have always found ample ergs available for warmup and, as I recall, you get about 5 minutes to fine tune your race machine prior to the start.

If you decide on GSIRC let me know and we can arrange to meet. Fellow Ancient Mariner Dave Dawson will also be competing and I know we would like to meet the famous John Rupp

[johnlvs2run]

John,
Thanks for the info.
Do you recall the time of day for the race?
Too bad SD and Sac are the same weekend, and I'm right in between them.

Correction, Sac is the weekend between LB and SD.

[John Hendrie]

John,
Thanks for the info.
Do you recall the time of day for the race?
Too bad SD and Sac are the same weekend, and I'm right in between them.

John

Here is the web site for the GSIRC. It should answer many of yuor questions:

http://www.csusaquaticcenter.com/

As far as the time, in previous years it has run from 8:00-3:00 with the Mens Veterans usually in the afternoon but final schedules are never available until shortly before race day. The MV category includes ALL men over 50, both LWT and HWT as the competition is too small to break it down any further. They do, however, look at C2 categories for CRASH B qualifying (e.g., I could try to qualify for the 70-74 LWT bracket even if I am the only entry in that grouping.

Do consider the GSIRC. It is well attended but small enough to compete well. Based on your half marathon pace I would expect you to win Gold in the 60-64 bracket

john

[johnlvs2run]

The San Diego event has been canceled.

If I attend an event it will probably be Long Beach, then maybe one of the others.

Any more input on any of these events is appreciated.

[Joanvb]

Not that I'd be biased or anything like that , but I've been quite happy with the Long Beach event. This will be my 6th in a row, and it seems each year it gets better (not my times, though ).
It's not a huge event, usually around 300 competitors over the day, and the atmosphere is quite upbeat and friendly. 15 ergs run at a time, and I don't recall climate being a problem (by the water in Long Beach? Oh, come on.... )
Plenty of warm-up ergs, and, as Bob indicated, they are in the boat bays, away from the competition, but not too far away.
The boathouse is along the rowing course of the 1932 Olympics (a little history there), and it has spacious new shower and changing facilities.
Plus, if we're lucky, you're likely to see Xeno, Mike Caviston, and maybe even Bob Spenger

2007 Beach Sprints - (not a full race in this photo) Flat screen monitor on wall behind racers displays the "boats" racing


2007 Registration/Organizers/Announcer Table


2005 Beach Sprints


Event location, non-race day

[Jef]

Joan... that Beach Sprint pic looks intimidating ! who wants to face the crowd at such close quarters!

The only place I've done that is BIRC and thankfully the mob are far enough away all the others are the other way round.

[Joanvb]

Just make sure you have lots of friends and family attend to cheer you on...Last year, I was looking right at my 83 year old mother. Wasn't that bad...
For years, they did it with the crowd behind the racers, but when the event moved into the new room with the big windows...The alternative is that the racers face the (always shining )sun through the windows...

[Jef]

... but you've seen the ugly bunch over here... my team just as much as yours enough to throw anyones competition off !

[johnlvs2run]

Thanks for the info and great photos.

That's entirely different than I had expected.

Does the sun shine on the rowers?

[Joanvb]

Doesn't the sun always shine on rowers?
If you mean to make them too hot during the race...No, it's not that warm, and yes, if one is in front of a window or door and the sun is shining, it will shine on them. Hasn't been a problem that I'm aware of...and I've always been in front of a door (with a window) since they've been holding it this way. Can still see the monitor fine, as well.

BTW...I'm surprised to read that San Diego isn't happening. That's been an official C2 satellite race for at least 15 years.

[tstorm]

I had been planning on attending the San Diego Indoor Classic and was surprised to hear it had been cancelled. I just got an email from the event coordinator saying

"The Indoor Classic is on Saturday Feb. 9,2008. Let me know if you have any questions."

So San Diego is not cancelled.