Club Races 2010

Race #19 - Surprise Race

August 19th, 2010

  Mark Armstrong stretching his legs.

Will McLaughlin scooping up points with a sizeable gap.

Dan Ritter making a solo effort.

In recent years the annual surprise race has been a night of fun and games.  Memorable races include the pool noodle relay, fixed gear crit (zip tied shifters), team pursuit, and a pirate theamed treasure hunt race.  In contrast, this year's race was designed to be hard and keep riders fighting until the end.  Since the race format was a surprise, none of the riders know what the format would be until just before the race.  When the details were announced the race director lost a lot of friends. 

The race was a tempo race with an undetermined number of laps.  Points were available at the end of every lap to only the first rider.  However, an additional point was available each lap.  So, the first lap was worth one point, the second was worth two point, the third three points and so on.  The final lap was worth the normal points plus three additional.  Therefore, it would be almost impossible for someone to take an early lead and try to hold on.  The real points had to be earned later in the race and the group grew tired.   However, since there was an unknown number of laps and no lap cards it was difficult for riders to know how long they should wait before trying to earn points.

Those working the race knew it would go on for 27 laps, but the riders didn't.  This made the race interesting as riders later explained when they thought it would end.  Dave Komives was watching the clock and figured the race would be something like '45 minutes plus 1 lap' or '1 hour plus 1 lap'.  The reality was, the number of laps was determined by something more scientific - there were only 27 lines notebook paper used to score.

Will McLaughlin won the race in style by grabbing points lap after lap.  He picked up early points by himself on laps 5, 6, and 7.  Later in the race, he went out alone and picked up bigger points on laps 20, 21, 22, and 23.  Mark Armstrong came in second picking up consecutive points while asking the race directors to hurry up and ring the bell.  Dave Komives (OCB) came in third after choosing his point laps wisely.

Here is a breakdown of the points:

Breakdown of Points and Lap Number

Points Per Rider

Average Points for Lap Winners = 54.42

Avarage Points for Everyone = 14.65

Standard Deviation of Points for Lap Winners = 45.61

Standard Deviation of Points for Everyone = 33.25

Conclusion:  A few riders took a majority of the points.

Results

Overall Standings