SteelCan

I was there. I photographed the event (and even had a the medical car which is the 2nd car in the caravan use my video camera to capture a lap up The Wall). I thought if anything, it needed "more cowbell" :-)
I will post the images and the video in a blog later in the week.

hurley.girl

I was at a crit last year where, just before the start, we noticed a little kid with a cowbell planted right at the S/F line. This bell sounded almost exactly like the official bell. We asked the officials if we could relocate the child elsewhere on the course or ask the child not to ring it, and were told rather emphatically that they would absolutetly NOT do anything of the sort. So we had to watch the official each lap to see if the bell was being rung for a prime. This crit was part of a stage race, and some of the primes were for GC points so this was rather annoying.

TheMudder

^

bingo.
Could we get a chime in from a BF official on this maybe?
To sit in the stands at a basket ball game and constantly blow a refs whistle....it seems like there is a solution. I know, I know, it's not that serious of a problem...

forrest_m

i'm pretty sure this would fall into the area where officials have a wide latitude to use their own judgment. If it were a safety issue, it'd be a no-brainer, but honestly, if it was me deciding between a) excited kid vs. b) amateur bike racers, can't tell you'd I'd be ruling in favor of the spandex...

hurley.girl

Yup. That was the explanation we were given.

gwchem

There might not be many officials telling that kid to stop. It doesn't seem to make the racing any less safe, just annoying, there's no rule against it, and anything to get that kid interested in bike racing is good for the sport.

But yeah, annoying for sure.