Baptism by Fire

Last night was the third weekly UVU crit series race. I was the official. The only official. For a brand new official, it was a bit nerve wracking.

Especially as the evening progressed.

The kids race was first. Biggest group of kids to show up yet: six of them. This race was cake to score since the field got strung out from the start line. Plus, the kids were just there to have fun with little worries about winning or losing. They were all really cute with their enthusiasm.

I stole the following picture of me officiating the kid's race from one of the kids' dad's blog.

Next up were the A/B flite racers. This field was smaller than usual this week. Only 11 racers. One dropped out early, deciding to race with the later C/D flite instead. Scoring ten, much faster, racers was a little more challenging, but not bad. They raced for 50 minutes. I heard several of the guys commenting on how different the race was this week without Sleevie there putting on the hurt. Only one guy came and asked me if I got him finishing where he thought he finished. My results were right on.

After the A/B racers were finished, the organizer came over and told me that the field size for the C/D flite was around 30 racers. What?!? I tried to keep myself calm as I imagined how I was going to pull off scoring that many racers all by myself. I considered splitting the field into two groups: a C flite and a separate D flite, but decided it would be better to keep them all together.

As the C/D flite lined up, I jokingly told them that it would be great if they could all organize themselves early on and stay in the same order for the whole race without any lapping going on. They didn't take me seriously. I also told them that on a race course this short they really didn't need their saddle bags, so about six or eight guys tossed their bags off to the side. I later found two forgotton saddle bags left on the grass. (So if you're reading this and you're missing your bag and need it before next week, contact Mason at 801-891-5275.) I counted 27 riders at the start line.

I was really hoping that the field would get strung out, but they managed to stay pretty bunched up for the most part with a lead group, some chasers, the main pack and a few who were dropped off the back. There was no way I could get every number written down every lap as they flew past me. These guys were holding the same lap times (around 1:15) as the guys in the A/B flite! Lucky for me, they were all good boys on the last lap, and they lined up nicely so I could write every number down. I only had a couple of results issues to deal with after this race: one rider disappeared so I only had 26 finishing (it would help a lot if riders would tell the officials they are leaving), and I had scored a couple of guys higher than they actually finished because I didn't see them get lapped. Luckily, this group hung around waiting for their results and were able to help me straighten it out, and I feel pretty good about the way the race was scored.

After the races were over I had a hard time calming down. It was pretty exciting to have the weight of keeping track of so many racers all by myself. I wish there was a way I could practice scoring without it being an actual race. I guess the best thing is just to keep showing up at the races to scorekeep when even when the job is not all on my head. My next officiating job is tomorrow after I race the Sugar House Crit. I'll stick around and officiate the afternoon races. Luckily, I'll have lots of other officials around at Sugar House. I'm determined to be one of the best officials, but it's going to take a lot of practice.

Officiating bike races is a lot of fun! Maybe not as fun as racing them, but still a thrill. I think I'll jump back into racer mode for next week's UVU crit.