If you’re a member you should have found our legendary Members-only Raceday Preview in your inbox by now. Enjoy it. If you didn’t get a copy, you should know that it’s not too late. Join up, forward us the gift receipt to join@cmubuggy, and we’ll hook you up pronto. If you thought you were a member, maybe we don’t have your email or have it wrong or something, let us know. Lots of people plan on joining while they’re on campus, but we’ve got some serious ground to cover to match last year’s membership total, so don’t be shy.
Lead Truck Auction
Can you believe this is our 4th time putting on the lead truck auction? It seems like just the other day that we announced the first iteration of our biggest fundraiser of the year. It continues to be a fan favorite, so we’re back at it again. If you haven’t ridden in the lead truck before, you should definitely get in the mix and snap up a heat you like the looks of. If you’re a veteran, you know that it’s a great way to mix up your raceday experience. Bidding starts tomorrow morning at 9am and will run for 36 hours until 9pm Wednesday. Full description of the rules can be found on the auction page. We’ve got a new version of our home-grown auction software this year. We hope you like it! (and that it doesn’t break!).
It may have been April 1st, but there’re no pranks here, rolls happened on Sunday, they were fun, and we’ve got the details for you. Saturday was rained out, but in one day we got more headline material than the last couple of weeks put together. One new buggy, one radical renovation, one new team on the course, one new animal-theme paint job, and a spin for good measure. Lots of alumni in the chute and following along with our live streaming broadcast was just icing on the cake.
After almost two full weeks of ridiculously beautiful weather while the kids took two weekends off for spring break, Pittsburgh slapped the reality back into us with a cool down and enough rain to cancel Saturday’s rolls. Sunday was still overcast but dry, and 8 of our teams made it out the morning after greek sing for four cycles through the order. I was out of town on Sunday, so big thanks to Zatch and Vincent who supplied the bulk of the narrative and all of the multimedia. Read on for the details of a Fringe buggy out of retirement, some new PiKA wheels, and a couple of chute mishaps, but no new buggies!
We’re making T-shirts for the first time since 2008, and I think you’re going to want one. They will be available at carnival and we got a great deal which we’re passing on to you:
With precipitation on 7 of the last 10 days and temperatures swinging from the 20s to the 60s faster than you can add or remove layers, it’s hard to know what to expect, but buggy demonstrated some toughness and got in two solid days this weekend. Saturday was pretty enjoyable with lots of sun and no wind making it more comfortable than the thermometers (or smartphones) were indicating. Sunday was less pleasant and teams seemed worn out from it. Snow came and went a few times during Sunday but never stuck to the ground enough to warrant Sweepstakes to cancel although Fringe, SDC, and PiKA (I think) all scratched for the day before 9.
When the alarm went off it was dark and it looked cold and I considered getting back in bed. What was I thinking?! Rolls are awesome, I just needed a reminder, and the first day of rolls did the job. Apex made it out, PiKA made it back out, CIA rolled the first new buggy of 2012, and 6 other teams came out to start the spring with a healthy crowd. Sunday was deemed too cold to roll (26 F, 8mph wind) so everyone had a short buggy weekend to get back into the groove.
