Gentlemen, ladies, and speed junkies of all sorts,
As I understand it, four racers went out the back door this past meet and the BLM came within a hair of closing down the meet.
We need to hold onto this thing. This “thing” called Elmo.
In the past, times were simpler. There were fewer non-racers to “interact” with, speeds, on average, were not so high, and there was no BLM.
I’ll bet if you’ve been to a drivers’ meeting lately, you’ve gotten the sense that our days at Elmo may be numbered. Staying open is getting harder and more procedure-bound at every event.
The BLM asks simply, “No one out the Back Door.” (They ask other things, but No Back Door is Item Number One). I kind of have to agree with them. I frankly think our days at Elmo are going to end the INSTANT one of our entrants hits and severely injures (or worse) some errant 6-year-old on a mini quad.
What to do? We've tried fines, cones, lights, balloons, and nothing works 100%.
Well, to me the answer is simple. It may not be easy, but it is simple, and I'm completely serious about this.
We need to race in the other direction, i.e., East to West.
The advantages are numerous – here are some:
1. Right off the bat, such positioning would project a much stronger race ”presence” for that entire end of the lake for the tourists who wander over our way wondering, “Hey, what’s going on here?” 50 or so trailers and motor homes spread across the lake, plus all the starting line hoopla, would be far more “informative” than the “magnet” of a lonely line of cones, and some 25MPH signs (“Hey, I wonder what those are for? Let’s go see.”). Might even boost revenue at the sales trailer, not to mention heightening spectator interest and creating more racers. A good thing since “some” of us seem to be getting older.
2. It’s closer to town (okay, that’s not too big a deal, but still).
3. No sun in your eyes on those early morning passes.
4. Fewer patrols needed. (Not nearly as many of those, “No one’s looking. I’ll just cut across here.”)
5. And most importantly - no “Back Door” happenings. Ever.
“Well,” you might say, “If someone goes out the Back Door, they’ll end up crashing into the pucker bushes.” (Or possibly add their vehicle to the inventory at Callaway’s Fine Used Cars.) True, life may get pretty tough for them pretty quick. But their problem will be theirs alone and won’t involve any innocent bystanders. Might even get them (us) to take shutting down (brakes, parachutes, etc.) more seriously.
They might end up bruised and battered. But, we’d still get to race. (And no one has ever said what we do is safe.)
The BLM might even consent to us closing off the entire West end of the lake since East to West orientation would make our “needs” finite.
And, yes, the lake surface isn’t as good starting from the East end. But it’s way better than no surface at all.
I know there’s more to this discussion. I simply want to start a conversation.
Frankly, I think our biggest hurdle may be our self-imposed inertia of “We’ve always done it this way.”
In that vein, let me remind you. Our notion of, “Oh, we can’t (or we won’t) do that,” doesn’t hold a candle to the Power of the BLM and their ability to utter the simple statement, “No more. Not here. Not ever. Period!”
Keep the shiny side up.
Jim Knapp