Marshalling?

kingofthetailwind

I'm marshalling for the first time on Sunday, at the Irish Cyclocross Championships. (Vets and Junior race)

We'll be given instructions by the head marshall before the race, but I was wondering what it's likely to entail? So that I don't look completely clueless on the day!

I presume it will mainly be stopping walkers going onto the course etc?

tgotb

Varies from event to event, but generally keeping people and dogs off the course (or managing a crossing point), acting as a visible contact point for interested passers-by who want to know what's going on, and taking appropriate action if there is an accident. Not generally too stressful, and can be a good way to watch the race, though generally requires enough concentration that you can't combine it with taking photographs.

I normally seem to spend most of the time chatting to other cyclists and random members of the public...

kingofthetailwind

OK cool. Even I couldn't mess that up then! Cheers for the reply.

tgotb

The only thing I've ever found stressful is dogs (or, more specifically, some dog owners). Not really an issue for cross races where riders are slower and tend to come in a continuous stream after a few laps, but on a closed circuit road course some owners will see an empty track and insist that their dog is perfectly under control and doesn't need to be put on a lead. Suddenly a pack of 50 riders appears, doing 25-30mph almost silently, and the dog either goes bonkers or tries to chase them...

VamP

So is that the story behind your sig line?

tgotb

LOL - hadn't noticed that. No, but a good reason to keep it!

kingofthetailwind

No loose dogs thankfully. Had to ask a few people to wait as they tried to cross the track in front of oncoming riders though. :shock:

I was stationed at "Carnage Corner". Adverse camber tight left hand corner down a muddy hill. Lived up to its name! I think I'll stick to the road.

barry_kellett99

Give it a go, you will love it.
Safer and far better racing than road.

Best marshalling point by far

kingofthetailwind

With my bike handling skills I'd still be going now! Well done on the top ten finish.

barry_kellett99

Thanks
Best way to improve your bike skills though, everyone starts somewhere!

NeXXus

Marshalling offroad events is strangely fun, road not so much

Were at the Seacourt CX Barry? Myself(+2)built that course :P

barry_kellett99

NeXXus wrote:

Marshalling offroad events is strangely fun, road not so much

Were at the Seacourt CX Barry? Myself(+2)built that course :P

Yea, Totally different but really excellent course also. Very cyclocrossy compared to some others which still insist on some very mountain bike style sections.

Was 4th that day, actually rode around thinking I was 3rd. Should have been looking in front of me attacking rather than defending from the 2 guys chasing me down!!

NeXXus

I got caught up with looking after the kids race and didn't have time to warmup for my own. Dropped out after a lap with HR in my eyeballs. Didn't help that I'd been off the bike injured for two months with sparingly few miles done.

Every event's an eyeopener. World Police & Fire games was amazing to be part of