THSCC Forums

As the officers lay out the schedule for next year, I wanted to see which event day people prefer - Saturday or Sunday for autocross events. We used to hold events only on Sunday mainly because we couldn't get the sites on Saturday. These days, we have several sites we can easily get to on Saturday, so we have options. Here are some pros and cons to each:

Hold events on Sunday:
Pros- You have Saturday for chores, setup is on Saturday for the event chairs so they don't have to take off work
Cons- No time to rest up before work on Monday, and no way to go to church if you care about that.

Hold events on Saturday:
Pros:
- You have Sunday to rest up before Monday morning at work
- We might could run events a little later with less inconvenience if we wanted
- Sunday is available for rest, church, etc.
- For you hard core guys, you can run THSCC events on Saturday and other club's events the next day
Cons:
- The biggest one is that you have to set up on Friday, unless you consider starting later on Saturday. Depending on who the event chairs are, getting Friday afternoon for setup may or may not be a big problem.

What do you guys think?

I've put the poll below to get your opinions. I started to just ask which day you prefer, but I wanted to get a specific idea of just how many Saturday events, if any, people wanted. That would help us to know how strongly you prefer them.

Remember that we usually have 8 points Autocrosses per season, with 2 drops allowed. That way, if you could only run on Sunday or only run on Saturday, there could be two events that were on the other day and those would be the ones you'd drop.

Thanks for your input.

Miles

I think Miles really covered it well, I do agree though that setup on Friday is a logistics nightmare at times, and very frequently means vacation for the event chairs (and time is money).

Being able to rest up on Sunday is priceless...

Scott

I really like Saturday events. Like Scott said, the rest before the work week is wonderful.

This club is pretty efficient at getting things running in the morning; I'd bet that it would be easy to set up on Saturday morning, start a bit later than usual, and still get 5 runs in by 5 pm, instead of the more customary 3 or 4.

--Kevin H.

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2003 WRX (again!)

If it helps, I'll volunteer to chair one of the Saturday events next year. I have no doubt that if we just put the word out that we could get event chairs for the Saturday events.

Miles

I'll throw my name in the hat of potential event chairs for an '04 Saturday event. Since I've been running with the club for 4+ seasons, I guess it's about time I stepped up to the plate.

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Tom Freeman
'98 M3/4/5 | '93 Spec3 325i | '12 TSX sport wagon | '03 Tahoe
Team Silver Bullets '91 240SX

Does anyone notice that right now, with the results at 1-3-8-3-3, the bar chart looks like a hand giving the middle finger? Huh huh huh.

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

Food for thought

Potential Saturday cons:
1- In the past, the mix of members in the club generally had more confilcts on Saturday. I do not know how true this is anymore. I personally have a conflict every other Saturday when my wife works and I take care of the kids.
2- If Saturday events are started later, we may run into problems completing the event before nightfall.
3- If Saturday events start later, everyone will get home later.
4- If course design, setup and test runs are done the day of the event,
the event chairs will have a really long day.
5- If course design, setup and test runs are done the day of the event, course maps may not reflect the course.

Additional Sunday pros:
1- Have Saturday to complete car prep and load, which takes longer than unloading.
2- It's not the same as attending regular church, but you do get to attend The Church of Riding Around with friends!

Kurt Bishop
Ballpeen Engineering
EP2 Opel Manta

Morning setup usually works, but has resulted in courses with the biggest safety concerns. There have been a few events this year where I have held my breath for the whole event and was very, very relieved when we made it through with no incidents.

When possible we need to keep doing setup the day before UNLESS we can do a delayed start, so the VPs have a chance to evaluate safety.

At a lot of sites there are more safety concerns than most people realize. Like the hidden concrete embankments and runway light poles at Sanford, and the repercussions of hitting something at RBC (required police report).

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

I don't think Saturday morning setups are required for Saturday events to happen. If we had half of our events on Saturday- that's only four times a year that somebody has to set up on Friday.

I'll take one of them. Now you're down to needing only three other event chairs.

I may be the only person that enjoys going to church on Sunday with my family, but I doubt it.

For what it's worth, I've met a number of people over the years that write autox off as a potential sport for them because most of the events are on Sundays. We might find that we had a new group of people come on board if we had half of our events on Saturdays. I think that overall it would have positive benefits for the club.

The last I looked at the poll, it looked like doing half the events on Saturday and half on Sunday would be be a good compromise, but it's still too soon to tell as only a few people have voted.

Miles

Saturday events are very hard for us personally. We usually have to work late on Thursday nite getting maybe 4-5 hrs sleep, then Fri is our busiest day of the week and one where we stay open later. We don't usually even eat supper before 10PM on Fridays or get to bed < Midnite. Therefore there is no time for us to prepare for a Saturday event, clean the car, pack lunches, etc except early Sat AM before we leave. Except for RBC that means ~ 4 AM! Another no sleep nite, not the best condition to be in to AX, or especially for a 2 hr drive home after.
Sunday events mean we can get 8 hrs sleep on Fri nite, take our time getting everything ready on Sat, and go to bed early enough to get another full nite's sleep before getting up at 4 AM...

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

You could count me in on charing a Saturday event as well. I love having a day of rest before having to go back to work on Monday.

As far as setup on the day of....I disagree with Miles. IMO that is a bad idea. The reason are as I see it.......

a) later start=later finish (I drive 3 hours to Laurinburg)
b) not as much time for course walks if we are in a time pinch
c) safety concerns on a course not well thought out in advance
d) "design by committee" is enevitable because of all involved
e) no course map for the Novices....we should consider the newbies
f) adjustments required (aren't they always) will cause more delay

I have no problem taking a vacation day from work to setup the course the day before. I love to do this and it's another excuse to leave work!

Just my .02 worth

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

I don't know what I said to be so misunderstood.

I am not in favor of setting up on Saturday for a Saturday event. I do not think it is a problem to set up on Friday for a Saturday event.

Or to say it another way. I prefer to have setups on Friday for a Saturday event!!

So Vincent, I agree with everything you said.

Miles

I'm gonna have to say (as it was said in another thread about a totally different topic) if it ain't broke don't fix it. Every good auto weekend ends with dragging ass back home late on Sunday night smelling like brakes and hot rubber. It's tradition.

I think it's interesting to see that over 70% of the responses thus far want at least half of the events to be on Saturdays. I personally prefer saturdays, but the commute from CT will be tough for me regardless of the day.

I also thought Mike's Whitney's analysis was insightful. I doubt I could have come up with the same observation. I should have gone to MIT.

I understand Kurt's concerns, especially with the kids. Personally I would lock them in the closet while I was gone or bring them along and chain them to the tow vehicle for the day. But, that's just my soft side coming through I guess.

I like the idea of having a mix of Saturday and Sunday events.

Like most of us, I expect, I tend to take any slim opportunity to tell people about this sport, and a number of the folks I've talked to are visibly disappointed when they eventually ask the question, "So, when do you have these events?", and I tell them that the events are almost always on Sundays.

Granted, the circles I run in outside of work and autocross are disproportionately populated with church folk, and many of them have responsibilities at their churches on Sundays, so my experience is kind of a skewed demographic. But there are car people in this bunch that I'd love to be able to drag out to some of our events.

Outside of that, I think others have stated the logistical pros and cons quite well, and I think both are valid, leaving me liking the idea of a mixed calendar, some o' dis, some o' dat.

Mark

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Mark Musser
Black 1993 BMW 325is, DS20