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How accurate is the race timing?


waveydavey

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Just wondering the general feeling on Racetec accuracy?

I never thought to question it by my wife did the Argus for the first time this year and I rode with her.

 

We started in the same group and rode over the finish holding hands for the photo.

 

Racetec have us 29 seconds apart.

 

On this one I really don't care but it makes you wonder. If you are seriously racing then a 29 second error factor is massive.

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Mmmmm. That is very interesting.

Please mail them and ask the question.

Please post their reply here.

Really like to hear their response.

 

Can be that your chip did not registered at the end and only registered on the second mat just before the medal handout station. According to them the second mat is there for just in case the finish mat did not recorded.

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Just wondering the general feeling on Racetec accuracy?

I never thought to question it by my wife did the Argus for the first time this year and I rode with her.

 

We started in the same group and rode over the finish holding hands for the photo.

 

Racetec have us 29 seconds apart.

 

On this one I really don't care but it makes you wonder. If you are seriously racing then a 29 second error factor is massive.

 

The results are provisional for a few weeks after the event as gremlins and queries are cleared up. Be good to know the answer to this one.

 

Is your interest heightened as they have her faster than you? (smiley face)

 

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Did you guys roll over the starting mat at the same time as well?

This shouldn't matter because timing starts from the gun, not from when you roll over the start mat.

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This is my reply from Racetec, they either did not get the question or deliberately ignored it.

 

"Good day David

I trust my email finds you well

 

Kindly notet hat I have amended the results and it should reflect correctly in the morning"

 

I have replied again to point out that the question was how does it happen? On this one I don't care but if somebody is racing and gets 25 seconds behind their nearest competitor does that mean they may have been faster?

 

Like I said I don't care, the racetec app had me 40 seconds faster, the website had my wife 20 seconds faster. (For the record although holding hands I tried to hold marginally behind her)

 

My issue is not the 20-30 seconds but it's unusual to have it this solid to show it's wrong, if one is that far out how many can be relied upon?

 

BTW we started togather, crossed the start mates togather, crossed the finish mats togather and crossed the backup mats side by side.

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How slowly were you going over.. And how many other people... One of you could have been read before the mat and the other after.. Or as someone mentioned not read at all till the second mat

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They have just uploaded the pictures and you can just see one other wheel besides us on the two mats. We were both riding so even if not fast it was certainly not slow.

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Same thing happened to me and my Dad. My best guess is that the 30s or so that was added on was from crossing the second set of mats after the finnish line.

 

My theory is that the mats are overloaded and can't scan multiple chips at the same time, so it missed the chip over the first and then picks it up on the second mat.

Edited by DuncanCT
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They have just uploaded the pictures and you can just see one other wheel besides us on the two mats. We were both riding so even if not fast it was certainly not slow.

 

30 seconds! Luxury!! Other timing companies do not even give you a time or just make up the time and are 5 minutes out. Unless you are on  3:00:01 30 seconds is not that big deal. 

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How many finish mats did they have at the finish? If they had more than one your wife's chip might have registered on the first mat and your at the 2nd mat.

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From a technical perspective, it would be nice to know a bit more about the tech and capabilities of the timing system. We all know the principle but what are the limits and how are the different mats synchronised.

 

I also have a discrepancy in the time I kept vs. Racetec's, but haven't given it much thought until now.

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Two years back at 94.7 I finished just under 3 hours. Strava has it as 2:59 and some change. My official time however was 3:00:01. I did query it, but they just said "you're wrong, we're right.)

 

From my perspective, their timing is always out by a bit.

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This is exactly the point of the question. They say we are individually timed but there are clearly errors in the system.

 

In this case I provide photo evidence that it's wrong but all they do is change one.

 

Personally I think they should explain how it works and where the errors come in.

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I'm not sure about that big a margin of error, but I've had several RaceTec timed races in the past where the finish line photo shows different places to those suggested by the chip times. I tend to believe the photo over the chip ;)

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This is exactly the point of the question. They say we are individually timed but there are clearly errors in the system.

 

In this case I provide photo evidence that it's wrong but all they do is change one.

 

Personally I think they should explain how it works and where the errors come in.

 

Yes, CTCT is supposed to be the world's largest individually timed bike race, but they also state that your start time is recorded when the group you start in moves across the mat, in other words, everyone in the same start group will share the same start time.

 

Not reaaaalllly individual, nê?

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