2 Races per month.......? Please Read and Respond!!

[Curtis Newkirk]

OK, you guys seem to be covering many of the important issues to most riders. I respect everything that has been mentioned and appreciate all that D&D have done it Tooele. Still, I want to cover an issue that Jason brought up that is important to most parents: timliness. Please do not take what I say too harshly. Just consider our situation:

It is very distressing for our family to show up and have races start 30 minutes late (as they almost always did). It is near-devastating to have races start 1.5 hours late as in the case of the race that followed the Manti SCR. My two youngest kids were a wreck before the races even began. Now I don't expect the world to stop spinning because we have young kids, but the reality is that many races are delayed for the sake of a few while the majoity suffer. Many of those waiting do not suffer too much, but as a family we do. As such, we keep our attendance limited to only those races at Tooele that we need to attend.

Now granted, I am not very objective when it comes to schedules because we have three young children. One of which races seriously. It is our desire to get him to every race we can, but it is hard for us to sacrifice the stability that a regular schedule bings to a familys home. Please make a better attempt to start on time. Believe it or not, people WILL find a way to get there if Tooele sets that standard. Rad runs a pretty militant schedule and it seems to work well.

If you guys can commit to starting within 20-30 minutes of your scheduled start time we will be out there nearly every weekend. Reduce the races to twice a month and keep starting late and we will be out maybe three or four times next year. I do not say this to be harsh or judjemental. It is just a fact of life for us.

Should I mention the music? One time Ian thankfully jumped over the fence and pulled a rather offensive Godsmack CD. They were saying something like "F*** the whores". Now, I listen to Godsmack all the time when I am alone in my car, but c'mon. This is about the kids! I think Ian put in Charlie Daniels which I normally hate, but it was much more comfortable for many who were listening.

I sure hate to be so harsh. We have had some great times at that track. We really want those great times to continue and even do more of it. The opinions I am giving here are not to try to tear you guys down. They are to attempt to increase the appeal of the track AS IT PERTAINS TO US. That being said, my opinion may not even be popular; however, I will guarantee that my opinion will be shared by many who have young children. Please take it as constructive criticism.

Thanks,

[greg]

Now, I listen to Godsmack all the time when I am alone in my car

Now come on Curtis, you know that when you're alone you still pop in that Vanilla Ice CD!!

[J Gallo]

LMAO @ Vanilla Ice!! Too funny Greg!

Curtis, you said it much better than I did. Most of us have families, and those late nights are hard to do, especially if you're dragging along kids who don't race.

So, on that note, I have an idea. I'll let the current poll run for a few days, but I'll run another one just for kicks that reads "Would you be more willing to race DPBMX if they started racing on time (7:30pm)?".

Or, maybe we could run one that says "What time would you like to see racing start at DPBMX? Then select from 6:00, 6:30, 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 8:30.

Any thoughts?

[Curtis Newkirk]

OK Greg - you busted me on the Vanilla Ice thing. I mainly like his hair though so I tend to run the videos while I am driving. Not very safe, but it works for me

Or, maybe we could run one that says "What time would you like to see racing start at DPBMX? Then select from 6:00, 6:30, 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 8:30.

Any thoughts?

On Saturday?? I would like to see you add 5:30PM on that list. If we shoot for 5:30 start we can finish by 7:00 and I can get my kids in bed by 8:00.

Either way, if an earlier time is selected I will be happy to help with track reconfiguration labor to have a East-facing gate.

[J Gallo]

Ok, 2 schools of thought here:

I know that Diana is concerned about starting too early so it doesn't interfere with Manti. But I'd like to know, how often is Manti racing and how many people really go all that way for single pointers? It would seem to me that Manti and Deseret Peak could possibly run on alternate saturdays to prevent overlapping.

Either way, if an earlier time is selected I will be happy to help with track reconfiguration labor to have a East-facing gate.

Now that the starting hill has been cemented, I don't think that is an option. BUT, keep in mind that in the summer, the sun doesn't set until 9 - 9:30, so if we could start @ 5:30 and be done around 7, the sun would not be a factor at all.

[Curtis Newkirk]

Good point. I forgot about the cemented hill...

You are right about summer though. Heck, Iwould even be up for an earlier time than 5:30. I have never been to Manti - mainly because it is too far. I love the area though and might make it once this year...maybe the SCR. Still, I think Tooele has much more rider potential because it is reasonably close. Further, I just like the track...

[Guest]

The first thing I want to say here, is that there is no need for a poll on sign-up or racing times on this or any website.

DPBMX will not be changing sign up or racing times, we have had much earlier times in the past and through trial and error have found that the time it is set at is what is best for the majority of the racers and eveyone involved, anyone who has raced in the past at Tooele, or those who live in Tooele know that earlier in the day Tooele has a big problem with bugs and wind that sometimes make it dangerous to race on our track, when that is the case we have to wait and run the races later anyway so it turns into a big waste of time to hold it earlier.


Sorry to cut this off so quickly but this is the final decision on this issue.

I will not be replying anymore to any post's on this thread, I will continue to read it, and am open to recieving private emails, If I feel that something needs to be addressed I may send out a private email to an individual. What was intended as a question to help BMX in utah survive all over the state, has turned into a thread about all that has gone wrong in the past.

However becasue of some of the things that have been said here Darrin and I have decided to change the rules a bit so when I get them all written up, I will let everyone know and you can check out DPBMX to find out what they are.


Diana

[J Gallo]

What was intended as a question to help BMX in utah survive all over the state, has turned into a thread about all that has gone wrong in the past.

I have no idea where that came from? I believe all posts in this thread have been done in a respectful manor, aimed only at trying to target areas that could be looked at to improve the rider count at your track.

[TP]

Bottom line, sometimes less is more!!! Back when I was a kid each track raced once a week. more people showed up, less trophies to pay for and the T.O. and staff only had to give up one day. just my .02 but I have said for years that Utah had to much racing. I want my kids and other kids to have time to have fun doing other things and not live at the track six days a week. I want my kids to be in it for the long haul. I know some people probably think because I'm a Pro that my kids ride and practice all the time. well, my kids don't touch their bikes accept on race day! and I limit racing to two days a week. I always ask them when I do sprints if they want to go but 99% of the time the answer is no. Which is totally fine, I want my kids to be kids. I want them to try any sport or activity they desire. By the time they are 13-14 or so they will know what they really want to do and then they can choose to spend every day on that. I just hate to see kids get burned out. I might be off topic here but yes it would be nice if all the tracks cut back and all the tracks could survive. the way it is now I just don't see any track surviving other than Rad Canyon? I hope I am wrong!!! Well I have to jet but I'll babble some more later, TP

[Curtis Newkirk]

Well, the more I think about it, the better two races a month sounds like a good option. I certainly don't want the track to close and if you guys aren't going to consider ealier start times then that is a dead issue. I just hope you get the support you need and it all works out well and in a positive manner.

[tread]

Jeez, I go out of town for a couple of days log on tonight and : Not sure how to reply to this thread

[bnd]

What was intended as a question to help BMX in utah survive all over the state, has turned into a thread about all that has gone wrong in the past.

*b, shaking his head walking away* Good luck next season.

[D Cook]

To everyone,
I came on here earlier and posted that I would not be responding here anymore on this thread, and said

"What was intended as a question to help BMX in utah survive all over the state, has turned into a thread about all that has gone wrong in the past."

What sounded correct in my head when I thought it came out sounding really bad and maybe even mean spirited in print.

That was not my intention, I do like to know what people think we might be able to do better, the different things that you all would like to see changed and to here ideas on how to fix problems, today I did not feel there was much in the way of suggestions on how to make it better,
just a lot of telling me what we are doing wrong.

I tried to address each issue as it came up and tried to do so in a mannor that would not offend anyone, I also tried to not take anything that was said personally, I failed, some of the things that were said here were taken personally by me, I was hurt, and I lashed out, I am sorry, if anyone was offended, and I do appriciate all responces because that means that you all care about what is happening.

The only two issues I did not address here on this board were starting late and Music, I will address here.

Starting late -- all I can say is we do our best, sometimes it works out and sometimes things are completly out of our control and it does not, all I can hope for is that this next year things work out a lot more often and you all are able to be understanding and patient with us when it does not.
we have never started late on purpose, we do everything in our power each week to start on time, always have and always will.

Music -- we are sorry if some of the music that has been played at our track has offended anyone, we too have been offended by music that has on occasion suprised us, but have done everything in our power quickly to get it shut off, we have always tried our best to make sure that nothing gets played that should not, but sometimes our opinions differ from others, and sometimes songs get past us.
We have always tried to make DPBMX a family friendly track and will continue to do so. So in keeping with this frame of thought, I will be personally checking out each song on all of our CD's to make sure they have nothing on them that may be considered unaccetable before the 2005 opening race in April or May, I am also letting everyone know now and will again in the future that if you want us to play a song or CD at our track, It will need to be completly approved by me, at least a week in advance, I will have the final say as to weather or not it will be allowed at our track.

I am also asking that if anyone does not want or is not confortable with any song please let me know now what the song is and why it is a problem for you, please don't wait till it gets played and then be upset because it was not something that offended you.

Last but not least, I hope that we can all remember that we have a lot of different personalities and ages at our track, a lot of different likes and dislikes, I would hope that in the future we can all be respectful of eachother and tolerate, for a little bit what makes us unconfortable, just because we know it is important to someone else.

I know I have learned an important lesson here today and I will try to apply it in my life and my dealings this next year, again I am sorry that I offended some, by thinking and responding with my hurt feelings.

Diana

[Curtis Newkirk]

Diana,

You and Darrin are doing a very tough and sometimes thankless job. One that hardly anyone on this board or in the rest of the BMX community would want to do. For this, I am extremely grateful and will always appreciate your efforts regardless of what happens in the furutre.

Because you do this job that no one wants to do gives you the earned right to do things the way that you see fit. Everybody is going to try to give you an opinion when asked (and sometimes even when not asked), but it is YOUR blood, sweat, and tears that go into the track. I think most know and respect this, and I know I do.

Have a great weekend. I gotta stop getting up so early:)

Thanks,

[J Gallo]

I have just a quick suggestion about the music:

Obviously yes, the difference is music preference among riders will vary greatly. Anything from Hillary Duff to Godsmack to Vanilla Ice (Curtis ), so I am willing to put together a CD that combines ALL these types of music (well, the one's without the swear words!). I don't want to hijack this thread, so we can start a new thread with suggestions, or you can contact me directly to let me know what type of music you'd like to hear.

Let me know if this could work or not....