Racers,
A Thank You
First and foremost we want to give our tremendous thanks to every racer and spectator that joined us for the 2018 Dave Jordan Central Park Classic. The event was a great way to honor former CRCA President, Coach, Team Captain and Racer Dave Jordan. We are immensely thankful to the entire Jordan family for their continued support which has helped us raise thousands of dollars for the Century Road Club Development Foundation while also bringing top notch racing to Central Park year after year.
An Apology
At the same time we recognize that we owe you an apology - there were hiccups on Saturday that impacted certain elements of the race and may have contributed to an experience that did not live up to the high expectations we have for each of our Open Racing events. Put simply these races would not be possible without the great turnout we receive from the cycling community. We are immensely thankful for that support and remain committed to providing some of the best races in the region - including by addressing each of the key shortcomings we have identified from Saturday as discussed in more detail below.
With all that said, results for the 2018 CRCA Dave Jordan Central Park Classic are now posted on USAC. Unfortunately an error with the camera used by our results service impacted results for three of our fields: the Women’s Elite, Men 3 and Men 5. Our results service worked with our USAC judges to provide the most accurate results possible but there are limitations in what they could capture given the camera failure. Working with our USAC officials and using a first lap verification, all riders that were not able to be placed have been given equal placing after the last known rider. This gives all riders results and does not negatively impact USAC ranking points. We recognize this is imperfect and for the Women’s Elite, Men 3 and Men 5 fields in particular our results service will research any concerns/feedback submitted via this Google Form no later than noon on Wednesday June 5 (we want to get prize checks in the mail to our Elite Women ASAP).
An Explanation
In the interest of transparency here is some context around each of the significant complications that emerged on Saturday and how we are addressing them:
- Numbers: immediately prior to this year’s race we realized that our order of race numbers was missing several number series - the first time this has happened with our longstanding race number supplier. We proceeded with paper numbers as a backup but with the conditions in the park there were durability issues for some riders. To ensure this does not happen again we are placing a bulk order for backup numbers so we always have inventory available in the CRCA trailer.
- Registration: registration lines were longer than expected and delayed the race start. While we always encourage racers to arrive early to our Central Park Open Races (getting nearly 400 riders through registration takes time!) we are also reassessing our volunteer staffing levels with the hope of accelerating the process and ensuring our races start and finish on time.
- Results: Unfortunately the finish line camera utilized by our results service rebooted and went through a system update in the middle of the race. This impacted the Women and Men’s 3 fields. We have worked with our results service for many years and this is the first time this has ever happened. As discussed above, they are working hard to provide the most accurate results possible given the circumstances and we apologize for this complication. For future races we do request that riders who have finished refrain from entering the officials area until all races are complete - riders from shorter fields inadvertently blocked the view of our officials during the women’s finish, further impacting our results.
- Communication: We also realize that communication immediately post-race and in the days that followed was lackluster. This email is a first step to remedying that and we hope that the operational responses outlined above will get us back to providing quick and accurate results and communication following each of our Open Races.
Aside from the above referenced issues we would also like to remind all of our event participants that CRCA places the highest priority on the safety of our racers and other Central Park users. Several riders were disqualified for recreation lane violations on Saturday and we will continue to consider any violations and in particular repeat offenders for more significant sanctions including suspension from CRCA events.
As always if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to any of the volunteer CRCA Board Members.
Sincerely,
The CRCA Board
The prestigious Dave Jordan Central Park Classic is this weekend. Race instructions follow