Feedback - 2013 NSMBA Toonies

So what did you like? What didn't you like? I need to hear your feedback so I can make it better this coming summer.

My big debate is blind course vs posting the courses for next year. I've heard positives and negatives from both sides. Opinions?

the series rocked all round. i prefer blind; surprises are fun! (perhaps) encourages people to come out [HTML_REMOVED] try them all rather than cherry picking their favourite trails.

As a vollie and racer, the toonies were a ton of fun!
Maybe some posted and some mystery races?
Longer season!

Loved the format this year. In the past I would have loved to "pre-ride" the courses but in the end I found the "not knowing" very liberating as I had to be prepared for anything :)

Made me feel like a tourist visiting somewhere new, not just a local out riding my local trails over and over again.

Keep up the good work.

I went to all 6 races and really enjoyed them. It was fun to ride with new people and check out some trails I wouldn't usually ride.

I agree that having unannounced courses is fun and also has the added benefit of of keeping the concentrated rush of pre-riders off the trails. But the risk is that course uncertainty will deter some who would be scared by the prospect of more challenging courses. Maybe having blind courses but announcing a general area and what trails WON'T be included is an option.

It would also be fun to see some races on the other mountains (I have no idea about politics and the permission required to run a race, so please disregard if this is not possible).

A longer season would be great, maybe with races every 2 weeks instead of every week.

A couple of full-day weekend races would be fun too with some longer, more challenging stages.

A non-competitive event or 2 would be good as well. Squamish's 21 Trails event this year seemed like a blast.

Overall the series was great this year and it was awesome to see it so successful.

I'd like to see more participation (from racers) at the pub afterwards. Otherwise, great work!

You're asking for feedback, so here we go:

The toonie series was good. It was not fantastic. It was not a horrible experience. It did it's job in getting people out to ride and socialize.

There were things that were mentioned early on (kegs of beer, bbq's) that did not materialize, for whatever reason.

Timing wise, the timing system seemed to have some flaws at times (people's cards not working, etc) and some people lost their times in a couple of races, but they were isolated incidents. But, overall, I didn't really feel like it did anything that Strava couldn't do on a daily basis.

Event wise…. Maybe having a bbq or a gathering with prizes that can be easily accessed immediately afterwards? People just kind of dropped their timing chips and left, went home, and waited for their time to be posted online. it could be more of an event.

Categories would be nice as well. At the very least, a separate women's category. As much as we all strive to be, we're not all as fast a lot of the local pro's, and racing for the top of the bottom half gets a bit disheartening after 3 weeks.

1. Categories for the results! At the very least have them split into men and women. I think it would be more encouraging to female riders to go out and race if they were 6th out of 13 women instead of 83rd out of 90 riders.

2. Online pre-registration! Maybe something like a "Toonie Series Race pass" so all people will need to do is grab their time chip and go. (would also help with categorizing people)

3. Small prize giveaways! Whether it's "you are the 34th person to register here's a water bottle!" to random prizes on the trails. They don't have to be big prizes.

These things would definitely provide more incentive for people to come ride their backyard :)

Thanks for the feedback. The goal is for a bigger and better series in 2014.

From a volunteer perspective, the Toonies were well organized overall. I enjoyed hanging out on the race course and seeing the racers having fun (yes, even on the first race where pinch flats almost outpaced the quantity of pouring rain). Many said thanks for volunteering which was nice to hear. Having a copy of the race course/map was helpful too, especially to show racers who asked where to go next but were not familiar with the trails.

One comment: many riders would have kept riding right past me if I hadn't hollered out; perhaps we could have a sign that says "Finish line here - see me!" or something like that (we could carry that in and out). However, this still may not solve the problem for those zoned out and focused on going fast…

I only did one, the last one! I thought it was really good fun and the only criticism I can offer is the same as the guy above. I think a chequered flag would be best.

One comment: many riders would have kept riding right past me if I hadn't hollered out; perhaps we could have a sign that says "Finish line here - see me!" or something like that (we could carry that in and out). However, this still may not solve the problem for those zoned out and focused on going fast…

I could say that for every Enduro race I've ever done though. In an Oregon series round I finished one stage but didn't realise and mashed it all the way to the start of the next. I thought 'man this is a long stage' :lol:

Really looking forward to next years. If you can keep them on a different week to the Squamish XC Toonies that would be great ;)

I could say that for every Enduro race I've ever done though. In an Oregon series round I finished one stage but didn't realise and mashed it all the way to the start of the next. I thought 'man this is a long stage' :lol:

that's awesome!

Overall an excellent first year for the toonie races - I really appreciate all the hard work that went into them and looked forward to every Thursday night.

As for suggestions, I agree with some of the above posts - race categories would be ideal, and would allow for racers to set reasonable goals. As for blind vs. pre-posted courses, I don't mind either, however, if the courses were to be blind, they would need to be better marked and taped. I found a few times this year where the course direction was a little confusing.

Thanks again for the hard work.

Why can't there be a toonie dh series as well? Let everyone take care of themselves for shuttles. Seems the danger factor for an enduro and a dh are quite similar. At any rate I would for sure attend both series.