SPOKE PONY SHOWDOWN 3/6 RULES
Rules & Regulations
RACE CLASSES
The following classes will be recognized:
3 hour
Solo (Male and
Female)
6 hour
Solo (Male and
Female)
Duo Open (any
combo of two riders)
3 Person FAST
(BEGINNER, any combo of three riders)
3 Person
SUPAFAST (SPORT/EXPERT, any combo of three riders)
The 3 person
Men's Solo and Women's Solo: All Solo racer applicants must
be 18 years or older. Only experienced ultra-endurance athletes will be
accepted. Acceptance as a solo racer is based on experience and
discretion of Heartland Sports Promotions staff.
Note: Racing and
the sport of mountain biking are about teamwork, comradery and sportsmanship. A
big part of sportsmanship is honor. We don't believe that this sport should
ever need mountain bike police. Each racer is on their honor when signing up
for a race class. We ask that you sign up for the class in which you would
normally race. Whether you have a NORBA license is irrelevant. If you race
Expert, you know it. Sandbagging is definitely not cool. Enough said.
STARTING
PROCEDURES
Each starting racer must log-in at the Log-in Tent no later than 5 minutes
prior to the start of the race. They will receive their baton for the first lap
when they log-in. Starting racers must have their bikes pre-positioned in the
bike racks provided at the Start/Finish area. The Spoke Pony Showdwon event uses
a Le-Mans style start, where the racers must run to their bikes from the
starting line.
1]Team Pit Area
Teams must designate one and only one
pit area. Typically, this is at your campsite. Racers may change or
repair any equipment in their Pit Area. Pit areas are not allowed on the course
or in the Start/Finish area. However, emergency repairs may be performed in the
Start/Finish area; they may even swap entire bikes. In the Start/Finish area or
the team's pit area, racers may accept support from anyone. Teams may bring as
many support people as they would like, but their support is limited to the
Start/Finish and the team's pit areas, not on the course.
2]Pre-race Meeting
The team captain or co-captain must attend the pre-race meeting; however,
everyone is welcome.
3]Team Captains
Each team will designate a team captain and co-captain. Team captains will
represent the team in all official correspondence and communications before,
during and after the event. The co-captain may represent the team during the
event when the captain is unavailable. Only team captains and co-captains may
file protests.
4]Support on the
Course
Support on the course may only be supplied by registered racers. Supporting
racers must access the course under their own power (i.e. foot travel or on
bike) and that access can only be achieved by following the course in either
direction. Short-cutting the course is not allowed (see rule #10). Supporting
racers should stay clear of all competing racers. Supporting racers may take
any equipment or tools with them; they may even swap bikes with their
teammates. Cannibalizing bike parts is legal. Support can be provided by any
registered racer on any team to any registered racer on any team.
5]Permitted course
riders
Only registered racers,and event staff may ride the race course during the
event
6]Water and Food
Water and food may be supplied to any racer, by anyone, anywhere on the course.
However, racers must stay well clear of the course when taking food or water. Note: Please do not leave energy food
wrappers on the ground. Remember: Leave No Trace.
7]Drafting
Racers may draft, but they may only draft registered racers. Drafting other
vehicles or a non-registered rider is grounds for disqualification.
8]Rider
Substitutions
Once race day registration is closed, no rider substitutions may be made. All
substitute riders are required to turn in a completed and signed Accident
Waiver before the close of race day registration.
9]Team Number
Display
Racers must display their race number on their backs and display the bike
handlebar number on the front of their bikes, whenever on-course. In the case
of a bike swap, racers must swap the bike number to the new bike prior to
continuing the race. Race officials may request to see this at any time.
10]Short-cutting
Short-cutting the course by any logged-in racer shall result in a
disqualification of that racer's team.
11]Right of Way
Racers riding bicycles have the right of way over racers pushing bicycles. When
practical, racers pushing or carrying their bikes should stay on the least
rideable portion of the trail when being passed. Racers pushing or carrying
their bikes may overtake a racer riding his bike provided that they do not interfere
with the riding racer.
12]Lapped racers
Lapped racers should yield to leaders. Leaders should be very vocal when
preparing to pass any racer. "PASSING on your LEFT!," "PASSING
on your RIGHT!" should be called out. It is the responsibility of the challenging
racer to overtake safely. Racers being lapped must yield on the first command.
13]Vying for
Position
When two racers are vying for position, the leading racer does not necessarily
have to yield position to the challenging racer. However, a racer may not
bodily interfere, intending to impede another racer's progress; this is
considered to be highly unsportsmanlike behavior (see rule #14).
14]Sportsmanship
Foul riding, use of profane or abusive language and other unsportsmanlike
behavior will be taken very seriously. Such behavior by any racer shall subject
that racer's team to a warning or immediate disqualification. This will be
strictly applied when such behavior is directed at course officials, volunteers
or spectators. The penalty imposed is at the discretion of the race director or
co-director, should the race director be unavailable.
15]Law Abiding
Federal, state and county laws and ordinances will be abided by at all times.
16]Quiet Hours
Quiet hours for events conducted at night, will be imposed from
17]Protests
Protests can only be made by team captains or co-captains. Protests will be
made in writing and delivered to the race director or co-director any time
during the race or after the end of the race, up to 30 minutes after the
posting of the final results. Protests should contain any information that
supports the protest, including description of the incident, witnesses, names,
addresses, phone numbers and signature of protesting team captain. A $40 fee
shall be submitted, in cash, with the protest. The race director, after his own
discovery, will promptly rule on the protest. The fee will be forfeited to the
race director if the protest is denied or refunded if the protest is upheld.
18]Final Rulings
The race director has the final say in any ruling, including rulings made by
the co-director.
19]Lights Burning
Racers entering the course two hours before sunset on Saturday and up to
one-half hour before sunrise on Sunday must have both primary and secondary
light sources installed and in good working order. Racing with lights out to
save batteries or racing with discharged batteries is dangerous and is done so
at the riders own risk.
20]Lighting
Lighting requirements for events conducted at night: During the night ride,
racers must have a primary light source with a minimum rated power of 10 watts.
In addition, each racer must carry a secondary or backup light source in the
form of a penlight, flashlight or other lighting system. (
21]Log-in Tent
Racers must log-in and log-out on each lap at the Log-in Tent located at the
Start/Finish Area. The team baton must be passed from the racer logging out to
the registrar, who records the log-out time, and then from the registrar (after
the log-out time has been recorded), to the racer logging in, before the racer
logging in may start his or her lap. Once the baton is passed from the racer
logging out to the registrar, then that racer has officially logged-out. The
log-out time of that racer automatically becomes the log-in time for the next
racer logging in (regardless of whether or not there is a racer ready to
receive the baton from the registrar). In other words, the clock is ticking the
entire time. Helpful Hint: Racers
"on-deck" should give their names to the registrars well in advance
to avoid confusion during the baton exchange.
22]Consecutive Laps
A racer may ride consecutive laps, but must log-out at the Log-in Tent after
his first lap in order to log-in for his second lap. If a racer is staying in
for an additional lap, that racer must log-out from the first lap by passing
the baton to the registrar, then after the registrar has recorded his log-out
time for his first lap, he will receive the baton back from the registrar and
begin his additional lap. If the racer does not do this, only one lap will be
counted (not two). Solo racers will do this every lap.
23] Verifying the
Log Sheet
Lap times will be recorded and compiled for each racer and listed on the bottom
section of each team's log sheet. It is the team's responsibility to verify
that each racer is logged-in and logged-out correctly. Please be courteous and
patient while verifying information with your registrar. Registrars and race
officials may request to see your race number on your back or your handlebar at
any time. Helpful Hint: When the racer "on-deck" receives the baton
from the registrar, they should repeat their team # and name to confirm that
the registrar is logging them in correctly.
24] Canceling a Lap
Once on-course, a racer must complete his or her lap. However, the team has the
option of canceling a racer's lap and restarting the lap from the Log-in Tent
with another teammate. This is a difficult and costly decision, but if the
first racer is unable to complete the lap for any reason, it may be to the team's
advantage to cancel that racer's lap. Any team member can cancel a racer's lap
by notifying the team's registrar at the Log-in Tent and initializing the
Log-sheet next to the canceled lap. If a team cancels a racer's lap and is
restarting with a new racer, a new baton will be issued without penalty. The
new racer inherits the log-in time of the canceled racer's lap. Once a
cancellation has been made, it cannot be rescinded. The canceled lap does not
count as a completed lap.
25] Loss of Baton
Penalty
Loss of the baton will result in a 5-minute time penalty which will be applied
to the team's finish time on its last lap and will accrue to the racer
finishing that final lap. The registrar will issue a new baton.
26] Catastrophic
Failure
In the case of catastrophic failure due to weather or another extenuating
circumstance that prevents the on-going scoring of the event or creates a
racing environment that is deemed too dangerous for the participants, the race
director may call the race as of a certain time. Final results will be
calculated based on each team's placement at the call-time as determined by
that team's last completed lap. This rule is intended to be exercised as a last
resort, in the most dire situations, when no other means is available to
continue scoring the event or when the potential for serious harm or loss of
life becomes imminent.
27]
The Finish
Both the 3-hour race and the 6-hour race start at 12 p.m Each team's final placing will be determined
by the number of laps the team has completed and the sequential order of finish
within the team's last lap. For example, a team that has completed 14 laps with
a finish time of
28]
Qualification for finisher T-shirt and Ride ‘Em All awards
Each rider must complete 2 laps to receive a finisher t-shirt
and be eligible for the rode ‘em all awards.
Questions or Comments?
Write us at Heartland Sports Promotions http://www.heartlandrace.com