No chase truck?

[neandethal]

Hi, is it possible to compete at BMST without a chase vehicle, loads of my Brit mates dont fancy travelling to the US until they get the vaccine and as they are younger than me , they are behind me in the queue. Or is it just too manic cheers Ian

[Doc B.]

Yes, in fact chase vehicles are discouraged. Mostly used by streamliners. Most everyone else turns out after a run and rides the return road back to the pits/impound - or prestage if there is hotlapping.

[comet]

Hi neandethal
Generally a chase vehicle is not needed. As Doc says. Mostly riders turn out after their run, head to the return road and carry on. Chase vehicles can be used though if you need one. The driver can not run up the course after you of course. They can make their way up to you by using the return road.
Streamliners are the obvious exception and will always use a chase vehicle.
I have just seen on todays news that the travel ban from the UK to the US remains in place except for essential travel only. That really sucked to see.
I hope you are keeping well.

[Doc B.]

BMST=essential travel. By definition. I see no problem.

[comet]

BMST=essential travel. By definition. I see no problem.

Oh how I hope that will be the case. There is still plenty of time so 🤞. This stuff is important after all.

[Doc B.]

It's moving forward here. I'm turning 65 Saturday and they opened the 65 and over tier this week in Washington state. Just gotta wait to hear that they have some more vaccine. They are shooting for 45,000 vaccinations a day. At this rate we should all, hopefully, be in good shape before August.

[FreakhouseCustoms]

neandethal,

BMST, as an event, is an awesome site.  Bikes riding to and from the start line to finish, in and out of impound and Scrutineering.  Sometimes I just sit back and gaze at all the wild wonder.

No chase truck is REQUIRED, but please keep in mind the enormity of the event. 



The pits are located at the Measured Mile, so if you're on the Mountain course, depending on where you start, you've got to ride the bike 1-2 miles to the start.  Then you have to RACE your bike 2-3 miles and then turn around and either ride the mile or so back to Impound or start all over again.  If you're running the International course, basically double that mileage.  If you've got a high-strung race bike, you could be beating it up, riding it from Point A to Point B.  A mile here and a mile there might not sound like much, but remember you'll be in 100?F heat under a blazing sun.

That said, I raced my bike without a chase truck in 2016 & on a rigid bike in 2017.


--Comet & me

[gschuld]

I watched a YouTube video from BMST looking at the line of bikes getting ready to run the course.  Out of the 30 or so bikes on line that was shown, it looked like about 1/3 of the bikes were on trailers unattended with riders presumably enjoying the comfort of the chase vehicle. The good life.😎

For these cases I?m guessing most of these chase vehicles are for keeping the rider comfortable in line until it?s time to run, then they return to the pits waiting for the rider to run and drive themselves back?

Fuel capacity is something to consider given all the time at full power and the other miles of driving around.  3 gallons or so sounds like a bare minimum for 1000cc bike.

George

[comet]

It's not uncommon for a rider to have a car/truck accompany them to the start line. It's much easier to sit in an air conned car than it is to sit under the sun whilst wearing leathers.
All mile start points will have an eezi up and cold water to help riders with comfort. But it's still hard sitting in the heat for any length of time.

[Doc B.]

--Comet & me

Ah, a "Comet and me" thread. Cool! Interesting to note that Comet is not sitting in a car and he is out there the entire day. The guy is made of far steelier stuff than the rest of us.