We got hit with more rain again this weekend, leaving us again with a single day of rolls. And what a typical day of rolls it was — a spin in the chute, unwelcome guests on the course, and more in this weekend’s rolls report. Plus, we have the addition of a video report this week!
| Team | Saturday |
|---|---|
| Apex | Solaris, Molotov, Scorch |
| CIA | Goldfinch, Kingfisher |
| Fringe | Baltic, Blind Faith |
| Robobuggy | Short Circuit, NAND |
| SDC | Paranoia, Lust, Vice |
| Spirit | Zuke, Inviscid, Kingpin |
General Observations
- We unfortunately had our “motor vehicle ignorantly breaks through the barricades” event of the year. An EMS responder on a motorcycle shot between the chute barricades, luckily during Robobuggy’s roll, eventually exiting at Circuit Road.
- In addition to motor vehicles, we also had our fair share of willfully ignorant pedestrians. While they haven’t been hit yet, their insistence that “they know what they’re doing” is directly at odds with their decisions to cross the road right in front of a buggy.
- Finally, I’ve received reports of a buggy almost hitting a deer, perhaps the most ignorant creature of all. We don’t have confirmation as to which buggy, but if you know, please reach out!
- Between teams dropping bags and the smaller number of teams out, some teams had 7 rounds in the rolls order. The lack of 2-day weekends so far means that these teams likely won’t have as much of a chance to build a big bank of rolls to max out their carryover, but several drivers have hit the 1:1 carryover cap.[1]
Team Observations
Apex — Another weekend rolling 3 buggies puts Apex in the lead for most total rolls. However, we’ve yet to see some of Apex’s newer buggies (like Helios or Kerosene) on the course. Despite having a volume of rolls, none of the buggies were moving notably fast, or having great roll ups. I will caveat with saying their wheels looked like real beater rolls wheels, so that may be masking how well their buggies can actually roll.
CIA — We saw Goldfinch and Kingfisher out this week from CIA. Both seem to be running smoothly, though Goldfinch looks to be faster between the two of them. The CFA (CIA-Fringe-Apex) flagging alliance is still going strong, but this year it looks like CIA has changed up their signature flag. Their blue background with red triangle has now changed to a GREEN triangle. If you can’t tell the difference, it may be time to check if you’re colorblind.
Fringe — With Baltic and Blind Faith out this weekend, Fringe is in a similar boat to Apex, with us asking where Beetle is. We’ve been assured that their driver just hasn’t found time to cape yet. However, their older buggies still have some juice in them, with Baltic especially getting some respectable roll ups on Hill 3.
Robobuggy — This year, Robobuggy continues to roll smoothly, and it looks like they have both buggies on VR headsets now. Short Circuit and NAND were out and rolling, even getting in a pass near transition. They were the unfortunate victims of the EMS motorcycle incident, but I think everyone was happy it was them and not another org.
SDC — This week, SDC brought out Vice, Lust, and Paranoia. Midway through rolls, we had our first stop in the chute. Paranoia started sliding around the apex of the chute, hitting the inner bales with the right wheel. Both, driver and buggy were alright, but SDC took it easier for the remainder of the morning, only getting in one more roll with Vice before the end of the day.
Spirit — Over the two days of rolls so far, we’ve seen all of Spirits 4 buggies make it out on to the course with Zuke and Kingpin debuting this weekend. Although their buggies were there, I’m not sure where the rest of their team was. A couple teams jumped in to cover their backhills pushing throughout the day, with the first roll of the morning starting with Fringe catching Zuke and yelling at the SDC pusher on Hill 5 to hold on to the push bar. In terms of actual rolls, things seemed to be a bit hit or miss. Kingpin sounded rattly going around the course, but getting Zuke without bags burned their Hill 3.
Thanks to Guillermo and Rob for helping with notes and photo/video coverage this week!
If you’d like to come out to gather notes or pictures during rolls, feel free to sign up here. Links to upload photos are there, and if you would like to be credited, reach out via email (data@cmubuggy.org) or on Discord (@Barsham). Additional notes and corrections to this report are welcome, reach out via email (jameswong@cmubuggy.org) or on Discord (@jamestwong)
- The updated rules surrounding carryover lets drivers carry over additional rolls, but after 8, you need 7 rolls to net 1 additional carryover roll. ↩︎