Thanks for the good advice Don, but I have to take exception
to your remarks about inexperienced and/or younger drivers.
When I was out taking pictures in the 1st run group this past
weekend, I saw an appallingly poor performance from an
experienced driver whom I'm not going to name. This person
was standing there talking to his friend while cones were
flying right under his nose, and more than once workers
from other stations had to cross the track and run over to
reset them.
As Dennis The Outcast pointed out: "Everyone simply
must be working all the time to keep things under control."
Au
At 10:59 AM 7/13/00 -0700, Donald R McKenna wrote:
>Like Dave, I've made all the mistakes we see others make, so my comments
>come from my learning from my own mistakes. I'm sure there have been
>circumstances where a worker (appeared to be) "indolent". However, I think
>the bulk of observed course-worker "mistakes" are due to in-experience,
>ignorance or the "cool" attitude and posture observed amongst some of the
>younger participants. The thing we, more experienced competitors, should do
>is to actually make a point of explaining to deficient/in-experienced
>workers the finer points of working the course as part of, even, a voluntary
>extra work assignment. I've done that and surprised myself as to how many
>things needed to be communicated in order to just do the basic job.The
>following aren't, by any stretch, all of the important things to be learned,
>just a few key points.
>
> 1. STRESS never working in a position where you can't keep your eyes on
>the car(s) near you on the course.
>
> 2. Emphasize the need to QUICKLY RUN to, and FROM the dis-placed cone(s)
>to correct the course for the following competitors while maintaining
>personal safety by keeping an eye out for the following car. Remember
>there's only, nominally, 25-30 seconds between cars.
>
> 3. When following a car on its path focus on the rear of the car, not
>the front, or worse yet, ahead of the car. By looking at the rear of the car
>you see the course imediately after the car passes and the opportunity to
>see wiggling or dis-placed cones is vastly improved.
>
> 4 Always pick up the red flag and hold it at all times, furled but NOT
>rolled-up!! And, don't hesitate to use it if an errant driver isn't
>recovering fast enough or the course isn't getting fixed fast enough for the
>workers' safety. As we all gain more experience, we are more able to,
>safely, judge when to withold the use of the red flag. New workers should
>err on the side of safety.
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