There is a lot of discussion lately about chips and chip timing and rightfully so.  I would like to address some of what I am hearing and give a little background.  We are not trying to hide anything.  We want everyone to have the information:
 
-          The chips don’t work – False.  The actual chips do work.  There have been cases of about three chips that were reading incorrectly, but they have been replaced.  We also had an issue at one race where the timing box that was sent to us the previous day did not work.  But, the chips are accurate and work as advertised.  All of our issues have been handling the data and getting all of the registration information in the software to use the data.
 
-          USA Cycling is getting a kickback on chip sales – False.  If we would have gone with the other system (AMB) USAC would have received a kick back.  But, Winning Time actually gave us a $4.00 discount for UCA riders when they purchase the chips.  The UCA and USAC get no money.  
 
-          Tax Day was cancelled due to chips – False.  The UCA has offered all promoters to help them with expenses if they feel that using chip timing is too much of a financial burden.  This offer was also made specifically to the Tax Day promoters on several occasions.  Frankly, it has been a wash or some promoters have even made money with chips because we give the $10 rental fee directly to the promoter to help offset costs.  Tax Day was cancelled due to the lack of volunteers.
 
-          Some chips were not reading – True.  I made the mistake of suggesting that riders use electrical tape to secure their chip until we had the mounting system shipped.  This was a big mistake.  Electrical tape is designed to insulate electrical signals.  I can now attest that it works.  Once we got the tape off of the chips, they have been working extremely well.
 
-          If the chip code is not in the database, you get a DNS – True.  We are working with SBO and SBE to correct this problem.  SBO has made great strides to correct it.  The chip reader does nothing more than give a time stamp that is associated with the chip ID every time a chip crosses the line.  It is the SBO software that actually takes the times and processes it so we can get an actual result.  The SBO software will correlate the chip ID with the rider associated with that ID and give them a time.  When all works well, it will place the rider in the proper field and then sort them based on time.  The problem arises when there is no rider associated with a chip ID or the rider’s chip ID was entered incorrectly.  That creates the “DNS” since the software doesn’t correlate any reading for the rider it thinks that he/she never started.  We also had about 30 chips that were shipped with a different ID number on the chip and the label on the packaging.  Many riders entered the ID from the label.
 
-          Registering same day creates a greater chance of error – True.  Until recently, when a rider registers same day, the chip code had to be entered by hand.  However, SBO has worked up a software fix in their registration that most of the time will bring the chip code over to the same day registration file.  But, it doesn’t work for all circumstances.  We are also having a huge issue with riders showing up within thirty minutes of their start time and registering.  This creates havoc and chaos at registration which leads to mistakes.  Data entry is the biggest reason we are having issues.
 
-          There have been incorrect times posted using the chips – True.  But, the chips have been to blame in only three instances.  As state earlier, we had about three chips that were misreading.  Other than that, they are always correct.  Again, all of our problems are human error.  At the State Time Trial Championships, we had an issue with everyone’s time being off by about 14 seconds.  This was caused by the starter’s clock and the chip reader’s clock being off by that amount.  The difference between the hand scored times and the chip times was virtually static.
 
-          The Chip System failed at the State Time Trial Championships – False.  We had a big issue in the latter fields because there were multiple times where riders in the same field were assigned the same bib number.  That obviously caused the software to lock up when it couldn’t determine which file went to which rider.  Again, human error.
 
This explains most of the problems.  If you are still with me and interested, here is how the process should work:  Everyone has a chip.  If you do not have one, you can rent one for $10 at the race.  The rental chips have been purchased by the UCA.  The proceeds from the rentals go directly to the promoter to offset expenses.  In almost all cases, SBE is responsible to time the race.  They are the ones that set up the chip reader and produce the raw data that has the chip ID associated with a time stamp.  SBO registers the riders and ensures that all of the chip IDs are associated with all the riders in the registration file.  SBO takes the raw data provided by SBE and runs it through a program called “Race Day”.  The program will associate the times with the riders and produce a result.  In the meantime, the officials are hand-scoring the race.  The results that are produced by SBE and SBO are given to the chief judge to go over.  If there have been anomalies (free laps due to a mechanical for instance), the chief judge will inform SBO and the changes are made to the results and they are posted.  Riders have 15 minutes to protest.  If there is a legitimate protest, the 15 minutes starts again once the corrected results are posted.  The UCA pays SBO to handle the posting of the results to the website.  SBO posts them to the website and assigns the proper points in accordance with the bylaws.
 
The season is far enough along that on June 17 we are going to have a meeting to discuss where we stand with the chips (among other things).  Hopefully, we can continue to streamline the process and get things working as advertised.  When everything goes as planned, it is a great process and results are very accurate and timely.  This has been evident at several races.  We need to get the system to work well at every race.  We will get there.  I am sorry that there have been so many issues so far.  But, the system will become one where you as the rider will grow to appreciate it and trust it.  Again, the chips work.  We are just struggling with some human and operating issues that we are working through.  Thanks for your understanding and patience.  As always, please feel free to ask questions or comment.
 
Ferg