What a weekend we had, while Sweepstakes had a smooth Saturday, the BAA had a small showing at this year’s Highland Games with CMU’s Pittsburgh Chapter. We had a blast showing off buggy to the Scots that showed up and are definitely planning on heading back for next year’s Games. This weekend we also finally got to see the full field enter the fray as the last couple teams completed their capabilities tests.
Sunday was possibly the most chaotic day as this was the first year that rolls have happened the same day as the Great Race. Any other year, the City would have not granted permits for this day, and now we know why. With a good portion of bus routes blocked off due to the Forbes and 5th closures, many were re-routed up Schenley drive, straight through the course. Being a little shorthanded, Sweepstakes got a little help from past chairs and other alums to help ease the mess. Eventually, the routine became easier, but then rolls ended. Teams were still able to get a few rolls each, but Sweepstakes is looking to never coincide with the Great Race again.
In Attendance
| Org | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| AEPi | Kamikaze | |
| Apex | Phoenix | Phoenix |
| CIA | Equinox, Icarus, Impulse, Orca, Ascension | Equinox, Icarus, Ascension |
| Fringe | Balious, X1, Beacon, Bissa | Balious, Beacon |
| PhiDelt | Perun | Perun |
| PiKA | Banshee | Banshee |
| SDC | Malice, Avarice | Havoc, Vice, Malice, Avarice |
| SigEp | Pandora | Kraken, Pandora |
| SigNu | Bungarus Krait | |
| Spirit | Inviscid, Kingpin II, Zuke, Seraph | Inviscid, Kingpin II, Seraph |
| Robo | Transistor | Transistor |
Observations (Saturday Gallery | Sunday Gallery) Continue reading
Sorry for the delay, we are working out the kinks of our new reporting machine here at BAA HQ. Special thanks this week to Anthony Pacella, Tom Wood, And Lou Conley for notes, video and pictures from rolls with more to come as we continue to untie the knots.
Truck weekend generally went smoothly, if a bit slow. All teams were frantically getting as many rolls as possible with this being the only two-day weekend of the season. Amazingly, all teams managed to qualify completely so there are going to be no need for any exemptions. Saturday photos will be posted this evening, there were some format issues that prevented them from getting out earlier.
This weekend unfortunately had an other missed day with Saturday getting rained out through the morning. With that, teams have only had a total of 3 days of rolls this spring, and it is beginning to show. There were several stoppages through the morning as teams attempted to pick up speed while also working on getting their required pass-tests. Aside from the regular rolls, Robobuggy tested out their new shell and the crash test SURG ran their first, real-buggy experiment.
The weekend started on a sour note as Saturday got cancelled on account of snow early in the morning. Fortuantely, someone still got use of the roads as the crash test SURG project was able to test their setup by running a weighted mock buggy into the haybales at speed. There was no data gathered, but the results were still spectacular. Sunday was frigid, but lacked snow allowing teams to roll. Many drivers seemed to be having trouble with sun glare going up the backhills. Teams have only one regular weekend left before Truck to get the rolls they need. We can only assume that there will be several more exemptions than normal this year, the only hope being that it doesn’t also cause an increase in incidents.
Finally able to kick off the year, all teams were out on Saturday for the first Day of Spring rolls. After weeks and weeks of cold and icy roads, the weather finally cooperated long enough for Saturday. For some reason there were no permits for Sunday, so even though the weather was nice enough, teams were forced to sleep in and/or stay warm. As it happened, this Saturday was also Greek Sing which made it even more impressive to see the teams (including the frats) in mostly full force. Clearly the teams understand what needs to get done in this extremely short lead-up to Raceday.
With Saturday being sub 20 degrees, rolls were cancelled by Friday afternoon, but Sunday warmed right up and made for a surprisingly pleasant last day of rolls. Rolls were delayed early on due to wet roads and some teams were a little more hesitant than that and waited to see how everyone else did before giving it a go.
Now that teams have some extra daylight savings time, they got a chance to square off against each other and compete in a slightly early Mini-Raceday. Sweepstakes managed to get timers out for all splits around the course and teams got to get a rough time for front hills, Freeroll, backhills, and overall (if they did all 3). Some teams seemed burned out by Mini-Raceday and Sunday quickly turned into a free-for-all of roll-arounds for the teams willing to put in the effort. Teams that rolled both days were rewarded with a relatively warm morning after a quite frigid Mini-Raceday.
Saturday was called off for all the Halloween shenanigans leaving teams only with the extra long, daylight-savings-adjusted Sunday. Despite there only being 6 teams out, they managed to rack up a full 90 rolls around the course. After a smooth start to the morning, things got more hectic as teams scratched for a break in the madness causing a cascade of scratching as teams weren’t ready for the quick turn around.
After a few weeks of smooth, calm rolls, taking the midsemester weekend off seemed to undo all of that with several spins and some scary crashes. On top of that a truck made it onto the course and an ambulance was called for the second time this year. Teams are moving faster and apparently drivers are still working on keeping their control through the chute in some cases, and in others drivers continue to race through or spin out while stopping for flags when they’re thrown. There are 4 potential weekends left for teams to make their move, but after a weekend like this, we are looking to see who returns and who might not.