Public Track in Pearland [Archive]

cjtamu

04-08-2005, 04:40 PM

Y'all know we've been talking about trying to do this. First, let me say I don't see this track as competition for the existing private tracks. This would be more a way to put RC in a public venue and expose people who otherwise might not see it. It's likely we'd schedule a few races/exhibitions because the city will want to see it used and the idea is to bring new people in, but we'd work around THRC, RC Pro, Invites, etc. as much as possible. Biff, we could even do Sunday racing, LOL. If the track is good and people want to add it to the schedule then that would be up to the board. Anyway, the possibility of doing this with the City of Pearland kind of fell into our lap. I have a meeting with the Pearland Parks Director on April 18 to discuss. So, I need intelligent, well-thought out input on how/what we want to do. Off-road is the biggest segment, so I think that's a no-brainer. On-road, oval, a place for the mini track, etc. are all open for discussion as long as we can show it's feasible and it will get used. If we can get it done in one park then we can expand to others. Any comments, ideas, problems, etc. post it here, just keep it civil. I'm still trying to find out about the insurance, haven't heard back from Burt Bowers. All this has to happen pretty quickly because they're putting the master parks plan together right now. BTW Andy, I'm going to need my minis back next week. I'm going to take several cars with me and show her what I'm talking about.

Gary

04-08-2005, 05:39 PM

This thread deserves a "Sticky" :)

WTG bro!

Lets get to work. :)

Jason G

04-08-2005, 11:51 PM

an indoor facility would be perfect. maybe a designated corner of the facility to mini z track. I dont think those take up that much room. This way all the spectators dont have to go far to see the various forms of rc. mybe on sunday mini z racing and on sat. off road racing. maybe even a landing pad for helis, or planes.those are always a crown pleaser.

cjtamu

04-09-2005, 05:07 PM

Jason, indoor on and off-road is one of the things I'm taking a look at. need to see what the construction costs are, but no rainouts sure would be nice. People could do birthday parties, etc. if the city had a small fleet of rentals.

KevinLRC

04-09-2005, 07:59 PM

Indoor would be sweet but would the city actually go that far with it?

Gary

04-09-2005, 08:40 PM

Im wondering if the city would be more interested in what the track can do for them rather than the city catering to our wishes? Chris, do you have feel for why they are interested? Hate to throw politics into the mix but thats something that should be expected from any governmental commitee.

My first suggesstion would be to show how it helps give something for kids to do rather than hang out on the streets. Getting involved with drugs and gangs etc. After school programs could be a help. Bigmax and I were discussing that yesterday. Ill let him expound on what he told me. Just my opinion, but I think we need to do a sales pitch that would make the most conservative politician cry.

Weve got our hands full and I hope everyone pitches in. This is going to take a total team effort to pull this off. We all need to forget the past, wipe the slate clean and come at this challenge with full vigor. Hate to pull "Old school" on yall, but I just found this.

A note from the founder of the BRT, Biff: The BRT is about promoting the hobby of RC cars. Doesnt matter if ya race, or just run up and down the driveway. We feel that if we get enough people, pulling in the same direction, we can grow and make the hobby better. The best way to grow the hobby, is through new guys. If your a new guy, get hooked up with someone more knowledgable than yourself, and try to shorten the learning curve of racing. Some guys burn out real quick, if their gettin their butt kicked! Once youve become a veteran, its up to you to help the newbies, to get them up to speed quicker, and make the first few races more enjoyable. Odds are they will continue to race........

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Factory/8050/

I still belive.

Gary

04-09-2005, 09:02 PM

Just looking around, getting ideas.

http://www.isupportmynonprofit.com/supportmy/promote.asp

http://www.digital-women.com/howto11b.htm

Try putting promotion, selling an idea, whatever in yalls search engine. Lets go to work.

cjtamu

04-10-2005, 09:37 AM

Kev, they might. Won't know till we try. In general, it's better to ask for more and scale back as ong as teh cost isn't just outrageous. Biff, I posted a long answer on the THRC thread, but in general the city's going to be interested in knowing that the facility will get used frequently. The more use, the less the cost matters. They're building a skateboard park right now and that can't be cheap.

Gary

04-10-2005, 07:13 PM

I hope everyone wants to be involved with this project. Cant complain if you dont participate.

Searching the web. LOL

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."
-- Mark Twain

"If you never change your mind, why have one?"
-- Edward De Bono

"Nothing on earth can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude"
-- Thomas Jefferson

"I'm not telling you it is going to be easy - I'm telling you it's going to be worth it"
-- Art Williams

"The most painful thing to experience is not defeat but regret"
-- Leo Bascaglia

"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one."
-- Elbert Hubbard

"The trouble with many plans is that they are based on the way things are now. To be successful, your personal plan must focus on what you want, not what you have."
-- Nido Qubein

"The most complicated achievements of thought are possible without the assistance of consciousness."
-Sigmund Freud

"Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in working order."
-John Quincy Adams

"Few minds wear out; most rust out."
-Christian Nextell Bouee

KevinLRC

04-10-2005, 09:08 PM

I said a long time ago I wasn't going to be involved. I hope nobody gets mad at me, I don't have the time and definitely with the way gas prices are these days, the money. I will help all I can on race days but that is about as far as I can go with it. I'll help with decisions or with input that is if anybody actually would use my opinion. lol

Chris, the city is building skate parks to keep kids off of the sidewalks that businesses constantly ***** about skateboarders being on. As far as I know I don't think we are making a lot of business owners, tax payers, and voters mad. You are right though, we should definitely try and get the most we can.

madf1man

04-11-2005, 08:23 AM

Indoor would be nice but not needed so long as its covered.The combo overhead misting systems used to cool the air would be good for the offroad. Mini z would be nice but not needed I don,t think due to how many we have privately owned.RCP is by far the best surface and I,m afraid won,t hold up to public use.someone would probably carry it away!!!!. Onroad would be asphalt and covered again.I think its ok to aim high but you don,t want to aim to high.

cjtamu

04-11-2005, 10:21 AM

I don't wamt to leave the RCP down. It would be something you could go in, leave a deposit, use, then get the deposit back. Theyt do similar with other things. I just want to leave a space for it. What's an RCP track cost roughly?

madf1man

04-11-2005, 10:43 AM

199.00 per Large L. 3 maybe 4 would be needed to be fun.

ruf4play

04-11-2005, 11:45 AM

So we should all take our r/c cars out and try to be as much of a public menace as possible in order to convince the city that we need to keep it off the streets... :D hehehe!

I too, would skip the RCP track. Too easy to abuse. I don't know anyone that wants to leave a $1000 deposit.

cjtamu

04-11-2005, 11:55 AM

I did my part yesterday. I ran my Dominator around in my street in Sugar Land for about 20 minutes. I'll take my K3 to the elementary school soon as the weather clears, LOL.

Gary

04-11-2005, 05:10 PM

I agree about the RCP track. Trey allready has that set. But I can see where 1/18th scale racing will grow. Id like to have a 1/12th scale again too. Nitro sedan and 1/8th scale would require a big track and would defeat the purpose of running the smaller, more affordable cars. Id like to see an onroad track no bigger than Reflex.

For the offroad, its going to have to be low maintainance and high bite.

Im also in the same boat as Kevin. I work alot of hours and cant be counted on the be there much. Sundays only and not during the summer. Froggy and I are going fishing. :)

KevinLRC

04-12-2005, 11:56 AM

Why can't this track be raced on every week?

KevinLRC

04-12-2005, 12:01 PM

No offense to not hurting other track's business but what business are they getting exactly? The club racing scene is pretty awful these days, I actually thought that was kind of the reason for the track to begin with.

cjtamu

04-12-2005, 02:16 PM

It could be. That's kinda the point. It could be raced, practiced, played on, whatever. It's a public venue, it's up to the community as far as how it gets used. If the city springs for the timing system you probably have to coordinate use of it with them, but the track would be open anytime the park is. But I don't see any benefit to scheduling opposite THRC or any existing racing, unless it's flashlights. Sundays are wide open, you could run a Sunday series or whatever. But teh real reason for the track is to reach people who wouldn't otherwise see RC, so whether it's racing or whatever it's all good.

madf1man

04-12-2005, 02:18 PM

RCP is not a track you want people walking on,spilling soda water and so on.Its is very easy to take up and it will be moved and messed with and or stolen.Its not designed for public uncontrolled enviroment kinda stuff.I,d like to see it done,Mini scale racing is the cheapest easiest racing there is but believe the money would be better spent for permant track for on road.If mini scale was chosen as a venue and again its a good idea.Its cheap! Rental cars could even be done the surface would need to be carpet or better yet properly prep asphalt.Surface would need to be extremely smooth but with traction

cjtamu

04-12-2005, 02:41 PM

What about carpet Trey? It's not the greatest I know, but we're talking about getting people involved, not putting in a world-class mini facility. The minis are just so affordable and require so little space, it's easy for people to get started that way.

madf1man

04-12-2005, 03:21 PM

I know that a maintained carpet surface at a pro track is great.Again the public access deal.Dust,dirt and so on.I,m sure it would work for slower cars for the kids to have fun on though(rental cars, the most they could buy would be 12 as thats all the frequencys there are) and as noted that is a good part of the point to this.I don,t think this low budget idea needs to roll over into the larger scale tracks. They should be presented as a facility that could host a large event to benefit the city

Gary

04-12-2005, 05:51 PM

I think were all pretty close with our ideas. Im with Kevin about holding races every week. Regardless of other venues. Club racing is dead, electric racing is dead and so is onroad. I realize that 1/8th scale is the biggest class going but its getting done to death. Allmost every track is dedicated to 1/8th scalers and to build another may just dilute whats allready happening. Plus, its the most expensive. Hard to answer that question to a newbie.

How much does it cost?

Well, about 2k to get started.

SEE YA! LOL

The next biggest class right now, is Minis. We can allways get a small track just for Minis I guess, but I really think a permanant onroad track will be one of the biggest draws. Just a gut feeling, but I really see those 1/18th scale cars taking off big time. They are as cool as sedans, but cheap. The ultra fast guys will get 1/12th scalers. Still pretty cheap.

I think if we design the offroad track aimed at the 1/8th scale crowd were doomed to fail. If were lucky, we may end up in a rotation thing like what is happening now.

I think were dead on the money as far as attracting new guys. But how do we get the fast guys to come to our track?

You invite them. :)

KevinLRC

04-12-2005, 07:23 PM

I agree, don't design the track with just 1/8th in mind but definitely make it to where you can have fun racing them. You can't just shut out the biggest racing class in the world. They are definitely exciting and fun to watch, they'll be a crowd favorite. I'd still like to have one, but the cost factor is pretty high.

cjtamu

04-12-2005, 10:39 PM

Kevin, I told you anytime you wanna run 1/8 let me know, I'm just gonna race it off and on. I was gonna run the K3 this weekend 'cause it hasn't been on the track yet, but if you're off let me know. I have a MT I need to test out too and I can run it instead. BTW, the S7II in the K3 is scary, stoopid fast.

KevinLRC

04-13-2005, 01:25 AM

No, I'm still working. I'll let you know when I'm off though. lol

craig

04-13-2005, 10:16 AM

Bear in mind the City will probably treat any facility just as they do soccer or softball fields - public use with a city-approved schedule of events (might incur a leasing arrangement if it's from a for-profit organization). Zube Park here on the NW side is used almost entirely by private select soccer clubs and the live steam-train guys, but I think the soccer clubs have to lease the fields.

cjtamu

04-13-2005, 04:17 PM

Yeah Craig, but we don't have as many RCer's as soccer players. The city will certainly set the hours and schedule special events, but other than that it should be public access. If we suddenlt have 3 or 4 groups a weekend fighting over the track that might change, LOL. One of the things that might drive access is how the insurance shapes up. Still waiting to hear from NORRCA.

cjtamu

04-13-2005, 05:37 PM

LOL @ Biff. That's the beauty of it. Obviously, we'd like as much support as possible from existing RCer's, and we've had quite a bit. I'd like to know if THRC council's behind it, but so far no feedback. The more people behind it the better. But really, it's a local, community deal so as long as the support's there from that end then it's all good. And all the feedback I've had from people in that area has been positive.

Gary

04-13-2005, 05:51 PM

My intent wasnt to anger anyone, at least not much anyway. :) Im just a little dissapointed that there isnt much support for this deal. Its a chance to get what weve been talking about for awhile. An honest to goodness "Club Track" where as a group, we have our input and feel were part of getting what we think is the best thing going. Who knows? I may never race offroad again. But its not about me. Its about the hobby and pooling our resources with some of the best minds in RC to do something to be proud of. For "EVERYONE" to enjoy.

Im off my soapbox now. Wont bring it up again. :)

cjtamu

04-13-2005, 08:02 PM

Nah Biff, you gotta check the attitude. More people are excited about the possibility than you think, stuff going on behind the boards. I had someone actually go out and find another city that had done this, chase down the parks director and get the e-mail of the guy from the RC club and e-mail him. He got a reply that he forwarded to me today. Some great stuff in there, my fave is that they allow the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and other non-profits to sell at the concession stands to raise money. I've added that to my list. They say the response to the track has been great.

craig

04-15-2005, 12:18 AM

The advantage we have over something like soccer or softball is that we don't need nearly as much room. In the space of one soccer field you can build three nice RC tracks.

(http://www.southflorida.com/attractions/sfe-toptenspecialty,0,5146709.story?coll=sfe-attractions-utility)http://www.southflorida.com/attractions/sfe-toptenspecialty,0,5146709.story?coll=sfe-attractions-utility

3. RC Racing -- Mills Pond Park, 2201 NW Ninth Avenue (Powerline Road), between Oakland Park and Sunrise boulevards, Fort Lauderdale, 954-828-4565. This city park features a public remote-control racing track. For information on RC racing, call Broward County RC Club, 954-525-3304. (RC car racing also offered at South County Regional Park in Boca Raton, listed below.) Admission: adults $1, free for children under 12.

Here's another...

Cali track (http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/081104/tp8ew2.htm?date=081104&story=tp8ew2.htm)