Timing Data: April 2

Posted on | by Natalie McGuier | 7 Comments on Timing Data: April 2

Thanks to one of our dedicated alumni, we have speed data from rolls on April 2. Using a multi-camera system, Shafeeq was able to calculate terminal Freeroll speeds and rollout speed (i.e. buggy speed after leaving the chute). The table gives the time of the rolls, the team and buggy name where known, as well as the speeds in miles per hour. The Rollout:Freeroll Ratio is an estimate of how much speed the buggy preserves through the chute.

Worth noting is that Spirit, CIA, Fishing Club, SDC, and Fringe are all consistently reaching >32mph in the Freeroll. Of this group, Spirit and Fish hold most of the top slots with Fringe, SDC, and CIA keeping pace close behind. What may turn out to be exceedingly important is that CIA and Fringe maintain more of their speed through the chute compared to Spirit and Fish.  Though, SDC is coming out (unsurprisingly) as the most well-rounded team of the bunch.

Time Team Buggy Freeroll (mph) Rollout (mph) Rollout:Freeroll Ratio
7:20 Spirit Inviscid 35.9
7:21 Spirit Zuke 35.1
7:27 PiKA Raptor 34.2
7:29 SigEP Kraken 30.7
7:33 PiKA Banshee 35.3
7:35 SigEP Kraken 30.8
7:38 Apex Phoenix 26.9 10.8 0.401487
7:43 SDC Bane 32
7:44 SDC Havoc 31.2 12.9 0.413462
7:46 Fringe Bissa 34.7 17 0.489914
7:47 Fringe Beacon 30.8 14.3 0.464286
7:49 Spirit Inviscid 35.7 17.2 0.481793
7:49 Spirit Zuke 34.5 14.2 0.411594
7:50 Spirit III 32.4 12.9 0.398148
7:51 Spirit II 31.7 12.9 0.40694
7:52 PhiDelt Perun 30.4
7:55 PiKA Raptor 35.9 17 0.473538
7:57 SigEP Kraken 27.6 7.9 0.286232
7:57 SigEp Pandora 26.9
7:59 AEPi Kamikaze 27.5
8:03 CIA Icarus 35.1 18 0.512821
8:03 CIA Equinox 34.7 18 0.518732
8:04 CIA Impulse 30.7 11.8 0.384365
8:07 SDC Malice 35.7 18.2 0.509804
8:07 SDC Orange 33.6 15.8 0.470238
8:08 SDC Bane 31.7 13.8 0.435331
8:09 SDC Havoc 31.5 14.6 0.463492
8:11 Fringe Beacon 33.5 16.4 0.489552
8:11 Fringe Bissa 33.5 15.6 0.465672
8:11 Fringe Primer 31.3 12.8 0.408946
8:14 Spirit Inviscid 35.9 late
8:15 Spirit III 32.4
8:15 Spirit II 31.2 11.2 0.358974
8:34 PiKA Raptor 35.3
8:36 SigEP Kraken 29.1
8:38 Apex Phoenix 30.4 8.1 0.266447
8:41 CIA Icarus 34.5
8:42 CIA Equinox 33.1 16.1 0.486405
8:42 CIA Impulse 14

Rolls Report: April 2 – More snow and no spins

Posted on | by Natalie McGuier | 10 Comments on Rolls Report: April 2 – More snow and no spins

This past weekend we had our last regular day of rolls before Truck Weekend. That means Carnival is just a little more than a week away! Have you registered for things? More importantly are you a member of the BAA? If you want to receive the Raceday Preview, donate $10 to the BAA and become a member!

9 teams and 22 buggies were able to roll only on Saturday because Pittsburgh missed the memo about it being April, and snow again thwarted Sunday rolls. We are happy to report that there were no spins or unexpected stops on Saturday, which bodes well for safety on Raceday. There was one unexpected event when two fire trucks entered the course to investigate an alarm in/near Scaife Hall. They only hung around for 15 minutes before it was decided that there wasn’t actually a fire. All-in-all it was a fairly quiet day of rolls. Our alumni were out and taking timing data again this weekend. Tomorrow we will be able to post those speeds.

Some of the biggest news, that many have already heard, is that a new team has joined the buggy ranks. After having yet another alcohol incident at their house, the All Greek Community Standards Board (AGCSB) ruled that PiKA may not participate in buggy this year. As far as we understand the ruling, the punishment was restricted to buggy and the frat is allowed to join in other campus activities. After appealing to that board with Sweepstakes and some others, it was decided that Fishing Club, which includes several PiKA brothers, may participate in Raceday. The majority of the new team is not allowed to be PiKA brothers and the drivers must qualify as if they had not previously rolled this year, including capes and pass tests. From what we understand, rolls from the weekend of March 26 are going to count towards their qualification.

In Attendance 

Org Saturday Sunday
AEPi  Kamikaze
Apex  Phoenix, Ember
CIA  Tempest, Icarus, Equinox, Impulse
Fringe  Bolt, Beacon, Bissa
PiKA  Raptor
PhiDelt  Perun
SDC Malice, Havoc, Avarice, Bane
SigEp Pandora, Kraken
Spirit  Inviscid, Fuko, Seraph, Zuke

Observations (Saturday Gallery)

    • AEPi – Kamikaze was out and rolling this Saturday trying to get in those last few rolls to qualify the team’s second driver for Raceday. This was very much a rebuilding year for AEPi, and while they were unable to get a new buggy rolling this spring, they made good strides and have built up some foundational knowledge. Kamikaze is certainly not among the fastest buggies on the course, but we did see smooth and consistent chute turns.
    • Apex – Mostly rolling Phoenix this weekend, Apex is making a final push to get all 3 of their drivers qualified for Raceday. We saw a brief appearance of Ember for what appeared to be pass test purposes only. Phoenix wasn’t breaking any speed records, but was executing solid clean lines through the chute. Here’s to hoping they find some more speed during truck weekend.
    • CIA – CIA was clearly working on their Hill 3 pickups this week. Both Icarus and Equinox were regularly getting rollouts to the fire plug, but don’t seem to have reliable strategy for transitioning to pusher power. Impulse wasn’t getting quite as impressive rollouts, but the Hill 3 pushers had an easier time taking over. Tempest, the newest member of the CIA fleet, is starting to pick up some speed and was making to the emergency phone box midway up Hill 3. The team remains among the top 5 in Freeroll speeds, but is one of the few that retains that speed through the chute. With just one weekend left, CIA will likely be focusing on perfecting their Hill 2 send offs and Hill 3 pickups.
    • Fringe – Fringe continues to have one of the best overall performances for rolls. The team again was among the top 5 in terms of Freeroll speeds, scrubbed little speed through the chute, consistently has great lines, and the Hill 3 pushers are managing smooth pickups. Bissa was getting great rollouts up to the fire plug, Bolt was making it to the emergency phone, and Beacon was coming in third amongst the team for rollouts. The only thing that wasn’t particularly smooth for Fringe on Saturday was that during one roll the tape holding Bolt’s fairing came loose and it dragged on the pavement throughout the roll. It was promptly secured. At this stage in the game, Fringe is looking extremely competitive and just needs to keep doing what their doing, but faster.
    • PhiDelt -Perun had a relatively uneventful day of rolls, completing clean chute lines and working on picking up some more speed. She did lose a rear hatch on one roll, but that issue was quickly resolved. The PhiDelt pushers might be a little optimistic about Perun’s rollouts, as they kept trying to pick her up midway on Hill 3, and ended up running down hill to meet her. The team has come along very well this year and their hard work is taking tangible shape.
    • PiKA Fishing Club – Fishing Club was out and rolling with Raptor (borrowed from PiKA) this Saturday. At the moment both drivers and both Raptor and RD16 need pass tests to qualify for Raceday. The team change hasn’t slowed down Raptor, and she continues to dominate in the Freeroll. While she loses some speed through the chute, she is still one of the fastest buggies hitting Hill 3, and is getting rollouts to the bike rack in front of Porter. Equally as impressive was the woman who was iron-manning some beastly Hill 1 & 2 combos. Given the restrictions on how many PiKA brothers can be on any given push team, it seems that the only thing holding back Fishing Club will be their back hill performance. Next week should be very telling. Despite how much promise the team is showing with only 2 weekends of rolls under their belts, we wonder if the team will be able to come to the day 2 of Raceday. Opening day of PA trout season is Saturday April 16th.
    • SDC – SDC also had a stellar day of rolls. As per usual, they were one of the top 5 fastest teams rolling and were scrubbing little speed through the chute. All 4 buggies were getting great rollouts ranging between the emergency phone and the fire plug on Hill 3. Most of the SDC drivers continue to take a tight line into the chute, but go quite wide once within the hay bales. This had previously been thought to be an old habit to avoid a now-paved pothole, but may have more to do with shedding enough speed to maintain control of the buggy during the turn. Regardless, SDC is a force to be reckoned with on the course and will be amongst the top contenders come Raceday.
    • SigEp – Krait Kraken and Pandora were both out and rolling this weekend. Pandora is as loud as ever with one alum in the chute likening her to a B17 bomber. While SigEp hasn’t been looking so fast, we know from previous years that something magical arrives (wheels) for them on truck weekend and we can expect to see an explosive speed boost from them.
    • Spirit – Spirit has really bloomed this spring and had some of the fastest Freeroll times and best Hill 3 rollouts of the day. It seems that the drivers are still trying to nail down their final chute lines as there was a fair amount of within and between buggy variability. Whatever they are doing, it kept them spin-free this weekend. Inviscid was getting some truly great rollouts (at leats to the fire plug) only to be met with lack luster pickups. The Hill 3 pushers were diligent though and by the end of rolls the pickup/transition was going much smoother. Assuming their pushers are anywhere near the caliber of years past, Spirit is going to be a top contender this Raceday.

—
Rolls Report Contributors:
Shafeeq S
Ben M

Lead Truck Auction 2016

Posted on | by Dan Becerra | 7 Comments on Lead Truck Auction 2016

The BAA is once again holding our lead truck auction this year. It’s the one chance you (or a buggy fanatic in your life) have of being right in the middle of the action on Raceday. You’ll sit in the back of the lead truck for whatever race(s) you want.

Proceeds help with all the costs of putting on such a spectacular event, including the Jumbotrons everyone loves, the pilot test of the current timing system, and maintenance of a detailed historical archive.

Here’s how it works:

  • The auction will open at 9 AM EDT on Tuesday April 12th. A link will be posted on our website.
  • Just like last year, we will run the auction on a third-party website. You will need to create an account with the auction site, and you can set up email alerts if you are outbid. Each heat will have a $10 minimum bid. The minimum bidding increment is $1. You may specify a maximum amount you wish to bid for any heat. Then, the site will automatically increase your bid in $1 increments as needed until your maximum is exceeded by someone else.
  • There will be separate auctions for each heat of Day 1, and picks for finals heats will be split up into multiple items meaning that you will be able to bid for multiple finals picks. For example, you could bid separately for 1st pick of the men’s finals and 2nd pick of the women’s. This will also allow you to potentially win multiple finals heat picks, though for the sake of inclusiveness we encourage you to only bid for one of each men’s and women’s picks.
  • Bid as much as you want, as often as you want until the auction closes at 11:59pm EDT on Wednesday April 13th
  • We will send out an email to the winners, along with instructions on how to pay.
  • On Raceday, check in WELL BEFORE your heat at the alumni tent and sign the waiver. Then you must be at the top of hill 2 before the start of your heat. If you’re late, then you miss your chance. The BAA cannot be the cause of delays.
  • Lead truck rides are transferable. If you can’t be in town or don’t like trucks, feel free to bid on an auction and then tell us who gets to take the ride. You can also just will it to your organization of choice and we’ll let the lucky team pick who gets to ride. All riders must be at least 18 years old.

 

If you have any questions, be sure to email Dan at danbecerra@cmubuggy.org or comment below, we want to address as much as we can before the auction.

We are, of course extremely thankful to sweepstakes for allowing us to use a spot in the lead truck to create this opportunity and raise some money so that the Buggy Alumni Association can pursue its mission to support buggy.

 

Fine Print Details

All heats will be auctioned simultaneously

The bidding will start at 9am EDT Tuesday April 12th

Bidding will end at 11:59pm EDT Wednesday April 13th

Payment must be received before winners take their rides. Credit card payment will be available and is strongly preferred. Cash and Check will also be accepted at the races.

All winning bids will be considered a gift to the Buggy Alumni Association. We have worked closely with the university to make sure that your gift to the BAA is also credited as a gift to Carnegie Mellon. Be assured that 100% of your gift will go to the Buggy Alumni Association. Also, if you’re an alum celebrating a reunion, your gift to the BAA will be counted towards your class totals.

For tax recognition purposes the donor can only claim their gift amount above the Fair Market Value of the Ride Auction. The fair market value of the Buggy Alumni Association Ride Auction is $10.00. Only the amount of your donation above the fair market value of the EVENT is tax deductible. Please consult your tax advisor for more information.

If two people specify the same maximum bid, and the auction ends without any higher bids, the person that entered their maximum bid first will be the winner.

The end time (11:59pm EDT Wednesday April 13th) is fixed. There will be no extensions to allow for last minute bids. Get your bids in early and make use of the max bid feature!

Any heats that get rained out or otherwise cancelled will just void the auction for those heats. Of course, if winners of cancelled heats want to make their donations anyway, we won’t complain.

Winners should be present at the top of hill 2 at the end of the preceding heat. Failure to show up in a timely manner will result in forfeiting the ride. We can’t be the cause of any delays, so the Buggy Alumni Association will have to be conservative in our estimation of “timely manner.” Be there!

The Buggy Alumni Association and Sweepstakes reserve the right to refund donations from and refuse a ride to anyone that is intoxicated or otherwise unable to safely ride in the back of a truck.

No rides may violate Pennsylvania’s laws concerning riding in a pickup truck. Basically this means the passenger must be over 18.

Sweepstakes also reserves the right to cancel rides and have us refund donations if they need to for any reason.

Buggy Watch Parties in YOUR AREA!

Posted on | by ben | 21 Comments on Buggy Watch Parties in YOUR AREA!
The BAA is making a push to encourage local alumni groups to host Race Day Watch Parties on the Saturday morning of Carnival as a way of bringing the buggy alumni community closer together, generating a spark that leads to a more cohesive community across the country!
Are you interested in seeing Watch Party come to your city? Help us push forward the plan to host simultaneous alumni gatherings throughout major cities on the day of the Finals. For each city, we will need one person to take the lead in either securing a location or arranging for a viewing at someone’s home. Contact Jillian Brinberg at jrbrinberg (at) gmail.com if this piques your interest, you want to take part in it, you have any questions, or you’d like to talk through some of your own ideas!

Timing Data: March 26

Posted on | by Natalie McGuier | 3 Comments on Timing Data: March 26

This past weekend a couple of our alumni were out recording buggy speeds in two different locations on the course. One took timing data after the chute turn, but we unfortunately don’t have that compiled yet and is summarized in the second table. These data are listed in roll order as several of the buggy IDs were unable to to be collected. Shafeeq was out and using his camera system on Sunday to get terminal Freeroll speeds. That data is summarized in the first table. The rolls are ordered by increasing speed.

Unsurprisingly, SDC, Spirit, CIA, PiKA, and Fringe had the fastest rolls of the day, with Spirit and PiKA each taking 3 of the top 10 spots (Banshee for PiKA and Inviscid for Spirit). What’s truly noteworthy is that Spirit has stepped up to the top of the class. And they’re getting through the chute successfully, though they fall a second or two behind SDC/PiKA/CIA/Fringe by the time they reach Hill 3. It’s likely that driver skill and pusher beefiness are going to play big rolls in determining placement this Raceday.

Freeroll Speeds

Time Team Buggy Speed (mph)
7:32 PhiDelt Perun 23.2
8:24 Apex Ember 26.2
8:18 SigEP Pandora 26.6
8:43 SigEP Pandora 27.1
8:19 SigEP Kraken 27.6
7:37 AEPi Kamikaze 28.3
8:42 SigEP Kraken 28.5
7:59 AEPi Kamikaze 28.9
8:21 AEPi Kamikaze 28.9
7:57 SigEP Kraken 29.3
8:45 AEPi Kamikaze 29.4
7:41 Apex Phoenix 29.6
8:01 SAE Lucy 29.6
8:39 PhiDelt Perun 29.7
7:54 PhiDelt Perun 29.9
8:03 Apex Phoenix 29.9
7:39 SAE Lucy 30
8:15 PhiDelt Perun 30.1
7:35 SigEP Kraken 30.8
7:48 SDC Havoc 31.3
8:05 CIA Impulse 31.3
8:35 Fringe Beacon 31.3
8:37 Spirit II 31.7
8:11 Fringe Balius 31.8
7:47 SDC Bane 32
8:34 Fringe II 32.2
8:31 SDC Bane 32.4
8:28 CIA Tempest 32.4
8:34 Fringe Balius 32.5
7:46 SDC Orange 32.5
7:53 Spirit II 32.5
7:30 Spirit II 32.7
8:09 SDC Bane 32.8
7:50 Fringe Balius 33.5
7:50 Fringe II 33.9
7:30 Spirit Zuke 34.5
7:43 CIA Equinox 34.7
8:13 Spirit Zuke 34.7
7:52 Spirit I 34.8
8:04 CIA Equinox 34.8
8:11 Fringe Bissa 34.8
7:43 CIA Icarus 35.1
8:34 Fringe Bissa 35.1
8:37 Spirit I 35.1
8:40 PiKA Banshee 35.1
7:33 PiKA Banshee 35.3
7:50 Fringe Bissa 35.3
7:56 PiKA Banshee 35.3
8:16 PiKA Banshee 35.9
8:27 CIA Equinox 35.9
8:07 SDC Malice 36.1
8:36 Spirit Inviscid 36.1
7:52 Spirit Inviscid 36.4
7:29 Spirit Inviscid 36.6
7:46 SDC Malice 36.6

 

Chute Speeds (taken at light post)

  MPH
PIKA 23.4497
   Unable to see
  23.9282
  17.6503
CIA 28.5972
CIA 26.8215
  23.1847
  24.2822
  21.0987
Fringe 29.3121
  24.2106
SDC 29.6296
  20.8309
PIKA 22.9899
  14.2242
  19.8726
CIA 26.3057
CIA 28.5972
  23.9282
SDC 27.1768
  23.1194
Fringe 27.1768
  23.3829
  26.9095
  24.3543
  22.0629
  22.3635
  20.5185
  22.5478
  19.7768
CIA-B/R 27.1768
  22.6723
  26.3903
  23.5844
  22.4860
  22.3635
Fringe 27.2671
  24.5730
  22.9257
  20.4673

Rolls Report: March 26 & 27 – Two weeks until Raceday!

Posted on | by Natalie McGuier | 8 Comments on Rolls Report: March 26 & 27 – Two weeks until Raceday!

Spring was in the air this week and Pittsburgh finally let us have a nice full weekend of rolls. All 10 teams rolled at least one day and what’s more, we are happy to report that although there were a couple controlled stops, there were no spins or other accidents. This always great to see as Raceday rapidly approaches. We had a couple alumni taking times for max Freeroll speed and Chute times. We don’t as of yet have the data for you, but we will be posting the Freeroll speeds Thursday. To tide you over, we can report that the teams with the fastest individual Freerolls this weekend were (in descending order): SDC, Spirit, PiKA, CIA and Fringe. This is none too surprising given last year’s Raceday results.

Speaking of that glorious day that we’ve been looking forward to all year, be sure to check out the planned buggy-related events. You can find an interactive calendar of events here.

In Attendance 

Org Saturday Sunday
AEPi  Kamikaze  Kamikaze
Apex  Phoenix  Phoenix, Ember
CIA  Tempest, Orca, Icarus, Equinox, Impulse  Icarus, Impulse, Equinox, Tempest
Fringe  Balius, Bissa  Balius, Bissa, Bolt, RD16
PiKA  Banshee, RD16  RD16
PhiDelt  Perun  Perun
SAE  Lucy  Lucy
SDC Malice, Havoc, Avarice, Bane  Malice, Havoc, Bane, Avarice
SigEp Pandora, Kraken
Spirit  Inviscid, Fuko, Seraph  Inviscid, Fuko, Seraph, Zuke

Observations (Saturday Gallery | Sunday Gallery) Continue reading →

Rolls Report: March 19 – Snowy Rolls

Posted on | by Natalie McGuier | 6 Comments on Rolls Report: March 19 – Snowy Rolls

With last week being CMU’s spring break, we’ve been going through some serious buggy withdrawal for two weekends in a row. This past Saturday saw 7 teams and 17 buggies making their way around the course. After the first two teams rolled on Sunday, Pittsburgh decided that heavy snow was in order.  Given that no team currently has windshield wipers installed on their buggies, Sweepstakes called it and all parties returned home.  There are only 3 weekends left before Carnival, and it’s starting to get desperate for teams to be qualified to compete on Raceday. In the coming weeks, we will hopefully be seeing a strong showing from all the teams.

Unfortunately this week the BAA was unable to get the speed trap up and running, so there isn’t any timing data for last weekend. Given how close we are to Carnival, we should have everything setup for data collection in the coming weeks.

In Attendance 

Org Saturday Sunday
Apex  Phoenix
CIA  Tempest, Orca, Icarus, Equinox
Fringe  Balius, Bissa
PiKA  Banshee
SDC  Malice, Havoc, Avarice
SigEp Kraken
Spirit  Inviscid, Zuke, Fuko, Seraph

Observations (Saturday Gallery | Sunday Gallery) Continue reading →

A word from our Head Raceday Preview Editor

Posted on | by ben | 3 Comments on A word from our Head Raceday Preview Editor

And now a word from Aileen:

Hello BAA members! It’s almost the best time of the year – Spring Carnival time! Every year we publish a detailed Raceday Preview. This year, we’re looking for new input – do you have exciting insider information? Opinions about new wheels, aerodynamics, or other buggy trends? A list of complaints about how things used to be better? We would love any and all new articles, or help with existing article ideas including team season recaps and interviews with key buggy personnel. If you’re interested in getting involved with the Raceday preview, contact Aileen at aileen@cmubuggy.org.

Remember to renew your membership TODAY if you would like to get your preview as soon as it’s available. http://cmubuggy.org/membership

ONE Month to Raceday! We Want New Voices!

Posted on | by ben

Calling all buggy people!

Friday Buggy Panel

With Carnival only a few short weeks away, we would like to invite anyone and everyone to come to our second Raceday Buggy Panel! We will be holding it at the same time as last year, but likely in a new location (more details on that later). We had a wonderful group of panelists last year and we would love to have some new voices on the panel this year. We are looking for both students and alumni to join the panel to give us a wide range of ideas and experiences to share with anyone that attends.

Wednesday WRCT broadcast

Continuing on, we will be having our Wednesday night broadcast on WRCT before the races to give you a live discussion of what to look out for while you’re at the races or watching from home. We are looking for some current students or local alums to join us in the booth and talk all things buggy from this year!

If you are interested in being a part of the Friday Panel or the WRCT broadcast, please contact Ben Matzke (ben.matzke@cmubuggy.org) and let him know that you’re available!