Posted on | by Natalie McGuier

Welcome back Buggy fans! It’s that time of the year again! The leaves are falling, temperatures are dropping, and students are suffering through the first round of exams. We all know what that means: time for Buggy! This past weekend our beloved tradition got started on the right wheel with clear skies and tolerable temperatures. 8 teams were out rolling their buggies tallying up 49 rolls between Saturday and Sunday, although SigNu and AEPi are expected to be joining the roll order soon.

In Attendance 

Org Saturday Sunday
Apex Firefly, Phoenix Phoenix
CIA Orca, Icarus, Impulse, Equinox, Tempest Orca, Emperor, Equinox, Tempest
Fringe Boson, Blueshift, Bissa, Bolt Boson, Blueshift, Bissa, Bolt
PhiDelt Argo
PiKA Cliodhna Cliodhna
SDC  Inferno, Malice Inferno, Malice, Avarice
SigEp  Kraken, Barracuda
Spirit  Inviscid, Zuke, King Pin, Seraph Inviscid, Zuke, King Pin, Seraph

Observations (Saturday Gallery | Sunday Gallery)

Saturday was a fairly uneventful with just a few noteworthy items. Tom Wood, our resident buggy historian and attendee to most weekends of Rolls, was conspicuously absent. In his place was a small flock of Canadian geese. Given their temperament, we’re anxiously awaiting Tom’s return. Rolls started on time (7:05am) with 8 brave new drivers across all the teams working their way around Flagstaff. Newbies remained bagged throughout the day and some of the veteran ditching their mini parachutes after the first roll. We also saw the return of terminator robotic buggies, although they were being carefully guided around the course with a human handler. Along the lines of robot overloads, a UAV was spotted over the course, but apparently did not record anything due to technical issues. Providing us with a beautiful opportunity for puns, the Safety Chair is using a VW Beetle as a safety car – a Safety Buggy if you will.

Spirit and CIA were feeling the need for speed. Whenever Spirit was called clear to roll they essentially powered through a complete Hill 1. And by the third roll through, CIA was sending veteran drivers in the Freeroll with full pushoffs. Hill 3 pushers were burned in a hilarious fashion.

Spirit provided the most teeth-clenching excitement for the day when two of their drivers made beautifully controlled stops during the same roll. Apparently the driver’s scarf shifted into her eyes causing her to pull towards the monument just after the transition flag and come to a stop. The following buggy was thrown a stop flag and the driver slowed to a gentle stop along the curb. Really, it wasn’t that exciting, but like we said, it was a pretty uneventful day.

CIA and SigEp are duking it out for the “Loudest Buggy” superlative. Kraken came to a complete stop in the chute while making a loud rattling noise which may have been due to a loose hatch or just being Kraken. Impulse and Icarus were just louder than normal. Even buggies have a hard time waking up.

It seemed that the barricaders were having a hard time keeping awake during rolls. The Chute barricader kept falling asleep allowing cyclists, longboarders, and runners through to the course. The person also wasn’t reacting to cars trying to get into Phipps. Maybe next week EMS can set up caffeine IV drips for all the barricaders…

Sunday was a little more eventful in an unfortunate sort of way. Surprisingly, SDC provided most of the excitement. During the team’s first roll, Vice got a little lost and took a left at Panther. The driver didn’t hit the brakes until the follow car pulled up along the buggy. In the same roll, Avarice turned a little to shallow at the Chute and had to brake to a stop before hitting the barricade. For Act II, Vice lost an axle during their second roll. And for the grand finale, later in the day, Avarice seemed to have lost control while making a Chute turn and headed into the outer bales. The hatch popped loose and “crunched on impact”. The driver is doing well. Hopefully next Rolls go a little easier for the team.

PiKA and Apex both spun in the Chute. While Pike’s appeared to be a routine spin, Apex’s likely resulted from hitting the grate, losing the hatch, and a hard brake. The driver controlled the spin without contact and was allowed to finish the roll.

One of the Spirit buggies was making unsettling sounds through the chute, possibly due to loose wheel covers or bad bearings. Inviscid got our hearts pounding with a severe fishtail through the Chute during one roll, but the driver was able to correct her buggy and exit the Chute without issue. During a different roll, the Hill 4 Spirit pusher had to do a surprise 4-5 double and kept their frustration in check by calling a pushoff to himself.

With all the stops and spins, the CIA chair suggested that the chair of whatever organization is responsible for stopping rolls must hold a plank for the duration of the stop. The idea was rejected as that would probably further prolong the delay.

Robobuggy and Atlas were seen walking around the course. Atlas is still in the process of fixing up Quasar, an old CIA buggy. Until then Atlas is using a re-jiggered jogging stroller as a test bed.

After repeated requests, we will now start including cumulative roll counts for each buggy/driver combo. An asterisk in the following table indicates a new driver:

Team Buggy Driver Rolls To Date
AEPi Kamikaze Rachel* 0
Apex Firefly Sam 4
Phoenix Ari* 0
Vicki* 5
CIA Orca Vicky 2
Tanvi* 6
Emperor Rachel* 3
Icarus Rishi* 2
Impulse Yushuan 2
Rachel* 3
Kevin* 0
Equinox Emily  8
Tempest Kady  8
Fringe Boson Helen 5
Blueshift Amy 3
Nina 3
Bissa Tishya* 4
Nina 2
Bolt Sarah* 3
PhiDelt Argo Sarah 2
PiKA Cliodhna Victoria 6
Banshee Victoria 0
SAE
SDC Inferno Annie 4
Kyoko 3
Malice Annie 3
Kyoko 4
Vice Elaine* 0
Avarice Amanda* 1
SigEp Beyonce Nazil 0
Haiwen* 0
Kraken Nazli 2
Haiwen* 0
Barricuda Sophie 2
Beccy* 0
SigNu Krait Claire* 0
Spirit Seraph Rebecca 0
Sarah* 4
Lillie* 2
Zuke Diamond 6
Kingpin Rebecca* 8
Lillie* 0
Sarah* 0
Inviscid Veichen 7

—
Rolls Report Contributors:
Ben M.
Natalie M.

12 thoughts on “Rolls Report: Sept 30 & Oct 1- First Weekend of Rolls!!”

  • Declan Kelly says:

    Barely a mention of Fringe and you spelt my favorite buggy “Blueshit”… I’ll try not to take it personally

  • Dave Conley says:

    Please clarify….the Apex buggy was permitted to continue it’s roll, without its windshield/nosecone – which represents the bulk of the frontal safety cage for the driver, after this fell off from hitting a bump in the road? Seems to me the Safety Chair and the Apex Chair should maybe read the rulebook or at least exercise some common sense.

    • Connor Hayes says:

      If I am not mistaken (I was not there) Driver was checked to see if she was okay after spinning. She did not hit anything. Safety chair and mechanics checked buggy and it was okay to roll. Her hatch was reinstalled and she was pushed back up the hill instead of taking the time to unload the driver and further delaying rolls

      • come on says:

        buggy and follow car should be moved off course to one of the side roads. quick and easy. and there better be a punishment for losing a FRONT hatch…like how is no one upset about this?

        • Connor Hayes says:

          As per the Rules (https://thebridge.cmu.edu/organization/sweepstakes) all drivers must be checked by EMS if they are present after a crash. The buggy was inspected by the safety chairman before being allowed to continue the roll, and was given an okay to roll. Once given the clear, the fastest course of action is to push the buggy up the hill rather than carry it off the course. Again, in 5 years Phoenix has never lost a front hatch and yet the hatch attachment has already been changed by the team to ensure it does not happen again. This is not being taken lightly by any member of APEX.

    • Connor Hayes says:

      Also a new attachment is being worked on for the front hatch after this incident. The buggy has been rolling 5 years and has never lost a front hatch before but the Apex chairman and head mechanic are being proactive with this

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