Number Pinning!!

[Legeai, Randall J]

After officiating at last week’s races, I thought it would be a good time for a refresher course on number pinning!!  Please take a look at the links below and be sure to instruct your new riders. We had quite a bit of trouble reading numbers early in the morning when the sun was relatively low and reflecting off of the numbers, especially the ones that were positioned too high on the riders’ backs.

 

A few key things to remember:

- The holes in the corners are for runners.  You are not a runner.

- Four pins are not enough.

- Check to see where the camera is.  If it’s not fifteen feet off the ground your number needs to be readable at about eye level from the side.

- Crumpling and folding your number will not make you faster, but it could get you penalized.

 

http://westernpaofficials.webs.com/numberpinning.htm

http://cyclingskills.blogspot.com/2008/07/race-numbers-pinning-and-placement.html

 

- Randy.

______________________________________
Randall Legeai
President, Louisiana-Mississippi Bicycle Racing Assn.
504-228-5891
http://www.lambra.org/

 

 

[Kim Aeschlimann]

In this collegiate road season, the race numbers were required to be
used for 18 total races. We have been rained on, nearly blown off the
road, and suffered crashes in multiple races. Some of our numbers even
have blood on them. Crumpling is unavoidable.

-kim

On Apr 24, 10:53 am, "Legeai, Randall J" <rleg...@tulane.edu> wrote:
> After officiating at last week's races, I thought it would be a good time for a refresher course on number pinning!!  Please take a look at the links below and be sure to instruct your new riders. We had quite a bit of trouble reading numbers early in the morning when the sun was relatively low and reflecting off of the numbers, especially the ones that were positioned too high on the riders' backs.
>
> A few key things to remember:
> - The holes in the corners are for runners.  You are not a runner.
> - Four pins are not enough.
> - Check to see where the camera is.  If it's not fifteen feet off the ground your number needs to be readable at about eye level from the side.
> - Crumpling and folding your number will not make you faster, but it could get you penalized.
>

> http://westernpaofficials.webs.com/numberpinning.htmhttp://cyclingskills.blogspot.com/2008/07/race-numbers-pinning-and-pl...

[Alan Moore]

I'm quite sure Randy's aware of all that but I do know that most racers can flatten out their numbers before pinning them on. Do what you need to do to make sure the numbers are readable if you want your finish to count. Put yourself in the place of the officials...if the numbers can't be seen or read it is not their fault. Un-crumple your number the best you can.

Alan

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[Legeai, Randall J]

Yes, it's amazing they survived at all! Fortunately crumpled numbers are only rarely a problem. Once at a stage race we had numbers with some sort of environmentally friendly ink (soy-based, I think) and after a long road race in the pouring rain some of the digits had nearly washed away! Unfortunately, a complete set of duplicate numbers, say 1-500, with pins will run around $200+, even with the USAC 15% discount, which I assume is the reason for the "permanent" numbers.
- Randy.

-kim

--

[Payne, Jacque L (TASC)]

I know it is a pain, but you can put the numbers between two towels and iron them out without melting!

From an official's viewpoint, crumpled, flapping or billowed numbers are hard to read - Especially the leaders who sit up, hands in the air to cross the finish line. That makes your number invisible to the camera.

Congratulations to everyone on a great weekend of racing! Matt kept me informed of the weekend's events while I was working the Sea Otter Classic.

Jacque

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[Carter, Julie]

We should use cloth numbers ... I have always wondered why we don't. They aren't much more expensive, and we could perhaps have a small fee for each racers' number that is used. We could use the same numbers for all 4 disciplines and even for multiple years.

You can throw them in the wash still pinned to the jersey.

If the conference purchased a few sets at the same time, we could fill in the gaps when someone graduates and another rider could take that number from the new set.

Just a thought ...

Julie

[Matthew Reynolds]

Thanks Julie, that's a good idea and I'll look into it for sure. Part of the problem this weekend was just the angle of the sun in relation to the finish line cameras, the glare made them almost impossible to read. Combined with the other issues with the numbers, it made it very tough on our officials at the crit.

Matthew Reynolds
(817)648-1601
Sent from my iPad

[Alan Moore]

No, you can't wash the numbers still pinned to the jerseys unless you like rust and rust marks on your jersey. Honestly, cloth numbers aren't that great either. They have their negatives, too. There's no perfect solution out there except to take care of the number that's given to you.

Alan

[Joey Martinez]

maybe we should just go this route (attached)....

[Andrew Armstrong]

Frame numbers would be another possible solution that might help for races that utulize a finish-line camera.  I know some conferences use them.  One frame number is issued to each rider for the whole season. 

Andrew Armstrong
Cell: 617-480-6705

Director: Texas High School Cycling League