Classic Festival returns to Pukekohe for 2015

[Voltaire]

Can I Sit on it?

sure, can I drive your BMW with you swinging?

Here is one of Gordie taken recently


that's Simon Templar on the bike

[sidecar bob]

Would you per chance have a link to more details? When, where, how much etc.

Been meaning to make it to Hampton Downs but other commitments keep getting in the way.


Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.

I just put a thread up about it. Stupid I pad, can't link it to this thread.

[Big Dog]

Cool, will look.


Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.

[nodrog:Me]

sure, can I drive your BMW with you swinging?

Can I get the goat to fill in for me?

[Voltaire]

Can I get the goat to fill in for me?

only if it comes with a " you've been Swallowed sticker"

[Kickaha]

When I arrived on Friday there were some bikes parked on the crossing with some blokes taking pics so had to bleedin wait ten friggin minutes...

Should have just driven around them, apparently there's meant to be seven of those old shitters at the SOT you should come down for it

Can I Sit on it?

You'd break it

[old rig]

only if it comes with a " you've been Swallowed sticker"

Goridy wants a sticker that says

I KNOW PETE

Sent from my XT535 using Tapatalk 2

[jasonu]

All I want is to be able to attend this type of event in the future:
* without constantly hearing the event is in jeopardy because of low spectator turnout.
* with my wife and child without feeling like a leper for bringing them.
* to be able to recommend the event to all my friends.

A nice bonus would be to hear about the event with enough time to schedule it in and have funds available instead of hearing about it the week after as happened the last few years.

None of which sounds demanding or unreasonable

I suspect your ass is owned bro, you may want to look into that.
You either want to come & see a weekend of classic bike racing for thirty bucks, or you don't. No amount of pandering to people who expect champagne on a beer budget will change that.
P.s, did you get an earful for not being able to predict the future? That's not a very good husband now is it.
Here's business idea for you. You could approach the organisers about running a stall that sells all the bits & bobs you thought should be on sale there, clearly you suspect it will do a roaring trade. They are doing it all again next weekend at Hampton Downs, i can hook you up with the chief organiser.

This group represents $120 at the gate and maybe another $??? at the consessions.

I have to agree with Bob, The race controllers really do have a hard time keeping things flowing, not everything goes according to plan. God forbid people have even been known to fall off , how dare they fuck with your families schedule. They should bleed in their own time so that you may cross the track at your leisure.

Sorry Buddy for being facetious but is the sky bridge really that onerous.

I love the kids coming to watch, they are the clubs future & maybe we need to do more to entertain them or even better, inspire them

It wasn't that the gate wouldn't open, he was told the gate wouldn't open until 5pm then a few minutes later it did in fact open which led to a pissed off wife (which can ruin pretty much anyones day)...

Mate, many has been the time I have stood for 10 hours in the mud in foul weather to watch a days racing. But I only make up 25% of the people I am responsible for, less again of the potential spend for the weekend.

It ain't about ownership or bring soft. It is about wether I could be fucked bringing others. I have no reservations recommending paeroa or nationals to families. I'd like to feel the same about the classic festival.


Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.

This looks like a case of sub standard customer service causing his groups main complaint re the track crossing info. This caused them to have to lug 2 kids worth of stuff up and down some stairs and shortly thereafter seeing the track crossing open causing Dad to cop an earful from a pissed off her indoors.
Paying customers are the main source of funding that keeps the racing happening. Repeat customers are vital as a not rugby or cricket sport in NZ cannot rely on new customers magically showing up because they happened across a piece of (apparently) meager advertising. An incident like this can easily cost the next meeting 4 paying customers. This guy has actually done the event organizers a favor by pointing out an issue that could easily and freely be improved. As he said it is not as if he fronted up to the gate and pitched a fit because the marshal wouldn't open it right away. Maybe the same thing happened to some 1st time customers who haven't posted their concerns or complaints here and just won't be back.

[trustme]

From the race controllers point of view, they are under a bloody tight schedule, noise restrictions limit the time available for racing , we ran out of time on Saturday & Sundays programme was altered to compensate . That's part of the reason there are not more Postie races . The gates are generally opened when there is a bike rescue happening, it happens on an adhoc , as required basis with no set timing .

The gate controller has no idea when that will happen, the race controller has more on his plate than he can cope with , without worrying about spectators wanting to cross the track.

Would you prefer to be told it would open in 5 minutes only to find you wait 1/2 an hour, her in doors would still be going off.

Agreed some of the communication is poor , there is a bit to be learned from the meeting but overall a bloody good effort.

[Voltaire]

I'm led to believe that NZ is one of the few places that the public can actually wander around the pits, which as mentioned is over the other side of the track.
For nice comfortable viewing with children there are nice grandstands and grassy banks.
If my US company was running it the public would not get to the other side of the track.
You don't go to the Zoo and expect to wander around with the residents

[swarfie]

From the race controllers point of view, they are under a bloody tight schedule, noise restrictions limit the time available for racing , we ran out of time on Saturday & Sundays programme was altered to compensate . That's part of the reason there are not more Postie races . The gates are generally opened when there is a bike rescue happening, it happens on an adhoc , as required basis with no set timing .

The gate controller has no idea when that will happen, the race controller has more on his plate than he can cope with , without worrying about spectators wanting to cross the track.

Would you prefer to be told it would open in 5 minutes only to find you wait 1/2 an hour, her in doors would still be going off.

Agreed some of the communication is poor , there is a bit to be learned from the meeting but overall a bloody good effort.

Another problem the team had was to do with the coms. Radios were not working as good as they could have and the committee is well aware that they will have to update the two-way radios that the track marshals and officials use. To be honest this is not a new problem but hopefully it will be fixed in the future. As Trustme said the schedule was tight and unfortunately at Pukekohe the bloody nags still rule the roost, we weren't able to start any racing until at least 10 o'clock. Also there was another factor that wasn't taken into account with the planning of the schedule, being that the track now has an extra chicane which adds another nine or ten seconds per lap. This added significantly to the days program when you consider the amount of races that have to be squeezed in.

[sidecar bob]

In about 2006 I went to the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix at Albert park.
Tickets were over $200 for one particular allotted seat all weekend, but they did include "free" earplugs, a small bottle of sunblock & a hat in a goodie bag at the gate.
The controlled pit lane walk was a further $70, but due to the fact that it started at 7am I decided not to run with that.
Later a member of our group that did, said that only one garage had the door up & it was a complete waste of time & money.
Judging by the feedback here, the classic register could learn a lot from that, as it's clearly what the people are asking for.
I also still fail to see why a chap is taking a yelling at for a situation that is beyond his control.
To be honest mate, I can see you having a better time by yourself next time.

In light of jasonu's bling, to people that have no idea how the classic register is run, it may well look like a case of piss poor customer service. However, nobody that spent hundreds of their own hours organising the event drew a wage, all personell on site on the day were volunteers, including Swarfies wife, who spent the weekend doing clerical work with a smile for around 150 competitors that had all forgotten to bring their mum's & needed spoon feeding.
All the flaggies & gate staff were doing it for the love of the sport & the fact that it "may" have made a buck just means we can do it again next year.
Its an amateur sport run by non paid people & the gate price & "customer service" reflect that.

[scrivy]

Rather than taking sides in this and turning a great event into a shit fight, why do you not simply list all complaints/concerns/issues etc etc... that way organisers can have a committee meeting and try and rectify the concerns.

I know from my old TRRS, I loved getting feedback from anyone! Be it good or bad!
I can remember having over 40 criticisms after one meeting in the early years - I still have a list of them.....

BUT.... I didn't ignore them, I fixed them, so I could make a better event. It grew from year to year, and with less and less 'niggles'.

If clubs know about issues, then they can rectify them. Its a win/win!

Let's be positive and make changes for everyones benefit.

Right, let's start a list for the committee:
1. I wish I had gone.......
2.
3.

[swarfie]

However, nobody that spent hundreds of their own hours organising the event drew a wage, all personell on site on the day were volunteers, including Swarfies wife, who spent the weekend doing clerical work with a smile for around 150 competitors that had all forgotten to bring their mum's & needed spoon feeding.

[scrivy]

including Swarfies wife, who spent the weekend doing clerical work with a smile for around 150 competitors that had all forgotten to bring their mum's & needed spoon feeding.

Yeah, but...... I bet Nev never 'got any' that night cause Cheryl was stretched like a band.....