Rolls Report: October 15 & 16 – A relatively smooth weekend

It was a dry weekend that made for some excellent rolls this past weekend. Saturday was a bit chilly, but Sunday was absolutely beautiful. 7 teams made it out to at least one day of rolls with SAE and SigNu still trying to get through capes. Sweepstakes has been doing an excellent job keeping the teams organized at the top of the hill and Sunday they managed to get most teams 6 rolls. In an effort to create a more friendly and cooperative environment, Sweepstakes held a “can you name all the chairmen” challenge at last Chairmen’s meeting. Apex and SDC tied and shared a piñata filled with candy after rolls.

We are happy to report that it was a relatively uneventful weekend of rolls. Only SDC had any issues and those turned out to be relatively minor (more details below).

This week some members of the BAA were beta testing a new app that is effectively a collaborative effort to acquire timing data. Although the timing won’t be exact, it has great potential for general trends and split times. We’ll have updates on that in the future. Thanks to the efforts of one of our more dedicated alums, we should have more detailed timing data for you later on this week.

In Attendance 

Org Saturday Sunday
Apex  Phoenix  Phoenix
CIA  Tempest, Icarus, Equinox, Impulse  Icarus, Impulse, Equinox, Orca
Fringe Boson, Beacon, Bissa, Bolt Boson, Beacon, Bissa, Bolt
PiKA Raptor Raptor, Cliodhna
SDC Malice, Havoc, Avarice, Bane  Malice, Havoc, Bane, Avarice
SigEp  Kraken
Spirit  Inviscid, Kingpin, Zuke  Kingpin, Seraph, Zuke

Observations (Saturday Gallery | Sunday Gallery) Continue reading

Rolls Report: October 9 – The Actual First Day of Rolls!

Saturday was again too soggy for Rolls, and practice was again called off early by Sweepstakes. Sunday, although a bit chilly, was sunny, dry, and finally buggies were making their way around the course. We had 7 of the 9 teams out (SigNu and PhiDelt still need capes), and it was a relatively smooth first day of Rolls. The local fauna seem to have forgotten about the morning traditions on Flagstaff and a few deer were meandering around the Freeroll before eventually scampering off. More pressing, there were no barricaders by the Scaife parking lot with the explanation being that the team didn’t show up for Rolls and was just going to eat the fine. There was also no outer barricade at Panther, just a small sign requesting motorists not run over the buggies. The barricaders themselves took a while to find their groove when it came to yelling at cyclists, leading to several bikes on the course throughout Rolls.

Flaggers seemed to either be quite out of practice getting to the hills on time or just too new to know what they should be doing and when. Getting some of the flaggers to their positions required driving them down the Freeroll after buggies had started rolling (resulting in only a brief on-hold period at the beginning of rolls). The PiKA flaggers had even greater issues and had to ask an alum in the Chute where they were supposed to go (no, that alum was not former PiKA). The boys then proceeded to fight American Gladiator style with the flags in the Chute turn and then climbed on the statue in front of Phipps before eventually finding their way to flagging positions.

Sweepstakes had some additional issues at top of the hill thanks to a water main break to Park Mansions which has forced them to repave their main driveway. Because of the closure, residents had to use the cobblestone road (sometimes called Hill 6) and be let through the barricade to leave via Schenley. Without a barricader to direct traffic, many annoyed motorists found themselves waiting for a an organization or two before someone found their way to open the barricade for them. The main driveway has been under repairs for the last several weeks and has no known completion date at this point.

In Attendance

Org Sunday
Apex Phoenix
CIA Icarus, Impulse, Equinox, Tempest, Orca
Fringe Beacon, Bissa, Bolt, Boson
PiKA Raptor, Cliodhna
SDC Malice, Havoc, Bane, Avarice, Vice
SigEp Kraken
Spirit Inviscid, King Pin, Seraph, Zuke

Observations (Sunday Gallery) Continue reading

2017 Buggy Season Kickoff Newsletter for all!

Hello Buggy people! Despite another wet Saturday, Buggies finally got rolling this Sunday with teams getting their first taste of the Raceday 2017 season. Our reporters are getting back in gear and working on compiling their photos and notes for the first rolls report of the season. While they work on getting that put together, we have a special surprise for all buggy fans this year.

We are happy to announce and release our first major publication to kickoff this season of Buggy! Our writers and committee members have been hard at work putting together a recap of last year’s races as well as some predictions about the coming year. Unlike the Raceday Preview, this newsletter is free to all, so please feel free to share it with your friends, your enemies, or even random strangers on the street! If you want to ensure that you will receive the Preview, it’s never to early to put in your donation to the BAA.

We hope you enjoy this year’s Kickoff!

Rolls Report: October 1 & 2 First Day of Rolls! Just Kidding.

Students and alumni alike were champing at the bit for some sweet, sweet buggy action this weekend. Unfortunately, rolls were called off mid-afternoon on Friday due to ominous weather predictions. Fortunately, for those in Pittsburgh, we were still able to get our buggy fix from Tom Wood’s always wonderful History of Buggy presentation as part of parents’ weekend.

Our intrepid teams were out and ready to roll Sunday morning. The BAA was there is full support (and maybe showing off to parents) with coffee and donuts at the top of Hill 1. But alas, wet roads meant buggies couldn’t roll. Practice was called before anyone made it around the course. This year’s Sweepstakes committee really have their eye on  keeping everyone safe, and we are in full support of that.

 

Hopefully we’ll be back next week with something a little more exciting than just “Rolls were canceled.”


Rolls Report Contributors
Ben M.