RojoRacing
Donut Powered Wise-guy
Share your tips and tricks for fast efficient pit stops.
Ok 6 weeks till my next 24hr event and I'm starting to dial in "the plan". Last year I had the brilliant idea to use simple two way radios with a 33 mile range to communicate with my pit crew during the 18 miles laps. I clipped one to my handle bars so I could talk strait into it while still mounted. The problem was the 33 mile range was more like a single mile in the flat desert
. This meant I could only communicate for about 2 mins before and after a pit stop which you would think was enough time but it's hard to focus on everything all at once. I'd have several good ideas on the far side of the loop and forget half of them when it came time to speak and pit. Also figuring out and relaying my current placing among the field was hard to do in that tiny time frame. Most the time you guys thousands of miles away had a better idea of what place I was in then my crew. The radios weren't perfect but did do the job well enough that I'd consider them again.
This year the race changed the no headphones rule, to a single earbud in only one ear(right side) which is how it should have always been. This opens the possibilities to using my phone with my very nice sound isolation earbuds to listen to music, make and receive calls all one one device. I haven't tested it yet t see how well the pits can hear me over the wind but I can guarantee I'll hear them clear as day. I can also give out my phone # and you guys can call me in the wee hours of the night to chat with me and make sure I'm still awake. My crew chief Jon said when my battery gets low I can swap phones with him and he can use mine and charge it over a couple laps then swap back. I should only have to charge my phone once to make the full 24hrs I think. As for mounting my phone I'm thinking a quad lock case and attaching it to my bars landscape style right in the center where I can speak into it.
So I got my communication with the pits dialed but I'm still a bit unsure of the refueling plan. The pit are at this event is retarded to put it kindly. If your going to receive any kind of pit support they make you follow the red line in the picture which is as much an arc as it looks plus the area is super tiny and usually congested with other racers starting and stopping. Last year I always came to a complete stop and had my bottles exchanges but this year I need to get it done without stopping. The challenge is navigating the area slow enough not to kill anyone and get the bottles out and in. I'm think one person to grab the used bottles and another to jam the new ones in. Another possibility is I can remove both bottles in the last 1/4 mile holding one in my mouth and the other in my hand then tossing them as I roll in. I'll have 2 bottles that I swap out every 2-3 laps or 90-135 mins so we'll need to do this around a dozen times. Anyone who has swapped rear bottles on the fly have any tips I may be overlooking?
Literally every second counts when the riders your racing against only stopped for a total of 9 mins last year.
Ok 6 weeks till my next 24hr event and I'm starting to dial in "the plan". Last year I had the brilliant idea to use simple two way radios with a 33 mile range to communicate with my pit crew during the 18 miles laps. I clipped one to my handle bars so I could talk strait into it while still mounted. The problem was the 33 mile range was more like a single mile in the flat desert
. This meant I could only communicate for about 2 mins before and after a pit stop which you would think was enough time but it's hard to focus on everything all at once. I'd have several good ideas on the far side of the loop and forget half of them when it came time to speak and pit. Also figuring out and relaying my current placing among the field was hard to do in that tiny time frame. Most the time you guys thousands of miles away had a better idea of what place I was in then my crew. The radios weren't perfect but did do the job well enough that I'd consider them again. This year the race changed the no headphones rule, to a single earbud in only one ear(right side) which is how it should have always been. This opens the possibilities to using my phone with my very nice sound isolation earbuds to listen to music, make and receive calls all one one device. I haven't tested it yet t see how well the pits can hear me over the wind but I can guarantee I'll hear them clear as day. I can also give out my phone # and you guys can call me in the wee hours of the night to chat with me and make sure I'm still awake
. My crew chief Jon said when my battery gets low I can swap phones with him and he can use mine and charge it over a couple laps then swap back. I should only have to charge my phone once to make the full 24hrs I think. As for mounting my phone I'm thinking a quad lock case and attaching it to my bars landscape style right in the center where I can speak into it. So I got my communication with the pits dialed but I'm still a bit unsure of the refueling plan. The pit are at this event is retarded to put it kindly. If your going to receive any kind of pit support they make you follow the red line in the picture which is as much an arc as it looks plus the area is super tiny and usually congested with other racers starting and stopping. Last year I always came to a complete stop and had my bottles exchanges but this year I need to get it done without stopping. The challenge is navigating the area slow enough not to kill anyone and get the bottles out and in. I'm think one person to grab the used bottles and another to jam the new ones in. Another possibility is I can remove both bottles in the last 1/4 mile holding one in my mouth and the other in my hand then tossing them as I roll in. I'll have 2 bottles that I swap out every 2-3 laps or 90-135 mins so we'll need to do this around a dozen times. Anyone who has swapped rear bottles on the fly have any tips I may be overlooking?
Literally every second counts when the riders your racing against only stopped for a total of 9 mins last year.
