Where have all the old boys gone

[Nathan S]

So if you have old and young blokes racing on the track at the same time, for different awards, is this a problem or not?

(As a [relatively] young bloke, I wager Yes - I hate getting rounded up by guys older than my dad... )

[Freakshow]

Accessability.  tis the tyranny of distance.

[firko]

What's the problem with accessability Freaky? When the Motocross Nats were on in Tanunda in '95 and Port Pirie in 2000 a large number of riders came from as far away as Queensland. Shit I towed four bikes on a three bike trailer from Sydney to Tanunda behind an almost rooted VB 253 Commodore in '95 for my last ever Nats ride, I was so keen to be there. There were a lot more just like me too. Distance is nothing if you're keen.

[YSS]

Exactly

[no.13]

Giday Nathan in answer to your question we try where ever possible to separate younger and older age groupings but still come to maximum grids.Why not come up and see for yourself.Should have a big field of sidecars as well.

[Freakshow]

Exactly

distance helps thats all im saying, make em accessable and they will come. 

and where the hell is Tununda, sounds red neck to me. 

[Yamaboy]

Accessable to who Freaky? You? I went to the Tanunda and Port Pirie Nats and the first WA Nats as well and agree with Firko that accessability is nothing if you've got a reliable car, a quid in your pocket and a will to ride the event. Using distance is a cop out. You're surely taking the piss not knowing where Tanunda is, right?

[AjayVMX]

I think the real issue is wanting to ride isn't it? 

All other stuff becomes irrelevant if you truly want to do something.... 

[YSS]

Finally we are there. I am one of those one event per year racers. If the circumstances and the atmosphere is right , distance or weather has no meaning. I fully agree with AJ . And like I said it before , CD s  have all the igredients and thats why the numbers are there.
If you made 5 CD per year , it would all fall in a heap. It takes me 11 months to clean my bike and heal my body. 

[vmx42]

Hi Guys,
I think you are missing the point of this thread slightly, or maybe it has just diverted slightly off course.

It is not about 'wanting to go' to an event. There will always be people who will do anything to attend. We are trying to find a way to attract the fence sitters back to events. The hard core will always find a way to attend.

Also, the argument that age classifications were vital back in the day - no argument there [and they are still relevant to Championship events]. But with the utmost respect we are trying to look forward and look for alternatives to attract participants/spectators/etc to the sport.

And as for "all other stuff becoming irrelevant if you truely want to do something…" well I suggest you let you significant other read that statement and see if the bravado is still intact. If it were that easy we wouldn't be having this discussion - life is a bit more complicated than that, we aren't 18 anymore.

I think if you read Donnies post you can see where we should be heading. The Coffs boys [and girls] know how to put on an event [not just a boring 'same old, same old' club day]. They look at last years event and try to add to it each time, they aren't scared of trying something different to see if it works.

We would be better trimming some dates from the calendar and putting on a smaller number of quality events. You need people to think that if they don't attend then they are going to be missing out on something special. Include significant social participation and we could be onto something.

Back to you
VMX42

[Freakshow]

Accessable to who Freaky? You? I went to the Tanunda and Port Pirie Nats and the first WA Nats as well and agree with Firko that accessability is nothing if you've got a reliable car, a quid in your pocket and a will to ride the event. Using distance is a cop out. You're surely taking the piss not knowing where Tanunda is, right?

No as in easy accessable to 'all', including spectators this is an all encompassing question. 

How do you measure success and numbers ? are they even the same thing ?

A venue caters for a few old retirees who can pack up and travel the road and shout commiment or one somewhere central so all folks, there familys, work , wife,  life commitments and other Real life stuff can be accomodated so you get more people out?  This thread touches on getting out the old boys, but what about boosting the sport with family and freinds and widening the circle at these events, a national event should be all encompasing, to be a better and bigger event you cant just count on shouting commitment, it will only get you 20 rider at best, wagga may be a yard stick, what else could have been done there to get more people  involve, what else swap meets, family day, timed with the local fair day, i dont know im just thinking a bit bigger here, if its going to be a bigger event, or are you wanting to set up a secret handshake and keep numbers low ?

i thought this thread was about how to get more scope, more people and a bigger result i got the feeling for a moment you guys where trying to get a bigger national event, and not end up with the same 15 guys riding and a few hangers on ? ( and no im not having a go at anyone before i get roasted again.)    I was simply adding the point - you need to make it accessable in the equation, if you make it in FNQ or in tununda your less likely to get the feilds you hope to start to generate. 

I for one would welcome Tununda as its only down the road, but rather than race against 7 other die hards that can afford to make that trip, the reality is for a truly NAtional full event it needs to be central like Vic or at worse canberra :O).

Im brainstorming here and pointing out the obvious, so work with me.  :'(

[firko]

With due respect to the fine people of Port Pirie South Australia, you couldn't get a more inaccessible shithole than Pirie. It's miles from Adelaide, hot, dusty and smells funny but they still had 200 entries for the VMX Nats in 2000. It was a great meeting. What we have to do to get the Nats (both VMX and VDT) back to their rightful position as the pinnacle of our sport is to make it something you want to go to.
 Past history has shown that travel isn't The problem. The WA guys who travel all over Australia every year do it because they love it and the vintage racers that have chased the big meetings all over the country for years have done it because it was a great adventure. No matter where you hold an event it's sure to be inconvenient for somebody. 

What we do need to do though is to make the Nats a cheaper event, both for promoters and competitors. I can't understand why MA charges small clubs running minor meetings that just happen to have the word Championship in the title the same fees as a big comercial promoter who can easily recoup that money with through the gate spectator takings and sponsorship income. Once that inquality is addressed maybe we can see the lower costs passed on to the competitor. As well as making it cheaper we need to make the Nats attractive. We need to make it an icon meeting that everyone wants to race at. Not every one is a winner and most racers ride the Nats for the experience knowing quite well they won't win a trophy. These blokes are the heart of what our sports about and they need to be looked after by offering age group categories again. At the risk of repeating myself, age group racing is the single most obvious attraction that our section of the sport can offer that others don't. It works better than any other feature in keeping the Joe Average rider happy and interested.

If the high costs are reduced, age groups reintroduced and the party/festival atmosphere emphasised as strongly as the racing, these meetings will come back as big, if not bigger than in the past. It can be done but just talking about it on a forum isn't going to do it. We need to lobby MA through our commissioners to to lower the costs and if that succeeds the others points will be quickly self repair.

[AjayVMX]

Can someone clarify a couple of points for me regarding the Wagga DT nationals.

1.  Were age classes initially in the sup regs?  (I thought that the original intention was to run age classes)

2.  What was the entry fee per class?

[maicopunk]

I was just reading this thread after returning to work from a Melbourne Cup lunch and a question jumped into my head.

Would it be feasible to combine the Nats with Classic Dirt

The logistics would need some serious planning and if the venue was suitable it could accommodate all aspects of the VMX movement in the one long weekend. Separate committees could be formed, one to look after the 'event' and another to look after the race meet, and if promoted well it could draw the enthusiast restorers as well as the racers...

HHmmmm...
How would you fit in all the classes and free ride sessions in the one weekend?
Who would still have enough energy to race after a few days of riding, beer, bullshitting, sleeping on the ground, riding, margaritas, Fernando's potion, etc, etc...    sounds like hell....

[AjayVMX]

Sorry, I can squash that one right at the outset.  It aint gonna happen.

The requirements for the two different types of event are completely opposite, so it probably wouldn't work, even if it were theoretically possible.  Certainly there is no spare track time at either event to run the other activity (racing or free riding).

In any case, we are busy enough organising Classic Dirt without having the added issues of having to run races etc...  

That's what clubs are for.