Tuff Blocks on the Track

motoBRD
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motoBRD
Edited Date/Time 1/9/2013 11:11am
Seemed like a problem at A1. Alessi at the finish line jacks his bike up and DNF's. Okay whatever, that happens. Then I read that Tickle also crashed into a Tuff Block that Villopoto kicked onto the track after one of his many crashes. Finishes 18th. Seems like I've read many threads about flaggers not doing their job at local tracks or whatever. If there is anything on the track, there should be flags to help the riders avoid the danger and possible injury, especially when they're going so fast to blind landings. If that was a down rider that Alessi or Tickle plowed into it would be a different story.

I guess the question with these cases is the time between when it got kicked onto the track and when the riders hit them. Still, somebody should be on that right away to help avoid injuries. Just something I've seen before, what do you all think? Bring back the hay and bangers in the rear wheel... Nah.
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TDeath21
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TDeath21 1/8/2013 8:53am
1/8/2013 8:53am
There are flags to warn them. The track workers move them as soon as the coast is clear. If you hit one before then, it's just bad luck. There's nothing more that can be done.
jtomasik
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jtomasik 1/8/2013 8:54am
1/8/2013 8:54am
They should line the track with barbed wire.....that'd contain those riders!
motoBRD
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motoBRD 1/8/2013 8:59am
1/8/2013 8:59am
Yeah I guess I never noticed flags for tuff blocks. Obviously someone moves them when they notice them, so I guess two guys just got unlucky.
Sandberm
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Sandberm 1/8/2013 9:04am
1/8/2013 9:04am
We brought this up last year when Trey got landed on.

Theres TOO MANY TUFFBLOCKS!!! The track doesnt need that many to keep the riders on the track and in fact it keeps them from re-entering the track when they do go off of it.

The only reason I can see why there is so many tuffblocks is $$$$$$$$$$$$. Each block has a sponsers cover on it. It must be like selling ad space, the bigger the space the more money Feld can charge.

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jndmx
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jndmx 1/8/2013 9:05am
1/8/2013 9:05am Edited Date/Time 1/8/2013 9:05am
I didn't see the Alessi one but Tickle hit a Tuff block that had just been hit and knocked onto the track right in front of him by RV.
The thing had barely stopped moving when he hit it.
gt80rider
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gt80rider 1/8/2013 9:05am
1/8/2013 9:05am
I thought they were gonna fix the whole tuff block thing... Cost Alessi saturday... heck at every supercross they end up ruining somebodies race....
mt798
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mt798 1/8/2013 9:08am
1/8/2013 9:08am
The section where Villopoto landed on that Tuff Block seemed narrow compared to most parts of the track. Could have been camera angle (watching from home) or the Tuff Blocks being placed on the peak of that particular section made that landing more narrow. Hard to tell on TV. It just didn't seem to be the right place to put one right on the peak of the jump. Had that block not been there I think the pass would have been made and the tuff block would not have taken out another rider as well. Who decides tuff block placement in the first place? Why have them directly on the peak of a jump/landing?
lumpy790
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lumpy790 1/8/2013 9:30am
1/8/2013 9:30am
Remember TP199 and JS7 crashing big time but landed on a tuff block .... saved their asses from getting hurt.
Sandberm
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Sandberm 1/8/2013 9:36am
1/8/2013 9:36am
lumpy790 wrote:
Remember TP199 and JS7 crashing big time but landed on a tuff block .... saved their asses from getting hurt.
Sure, landing on them like a failed backflip into the foam pit is cool, but when you endo over one that has been knocked onto the track and land head first into the ground it sucks.

Something about 6's and half dozens I guess....though Im in the camp that says they are more of a hazard because of when they are not where they are supposed to be.

Comision Nerd to do a study on this.
TerryK
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TerryK 1/8/2013 9:40am
1/8/2013 9:40am
Sandberm wrote:
We brought this up last year when Trey got landed on. Theres TOO MANY TUFFBLOCKS!!! The track doesnt need that many to keep the riders on...
We brought this up last year when Trey got landed on.

Theres TOO MANY TUFFBLOCKS!!! The track doesnt need that many to keep the riders on the track and in fact it keeps them from re-entering the track when they do go off of it.

The only reason I can see why there is so many tuffblocks is $$$$$$$$$$$$. Each block has a sponsers cover on it. It must be like selling ad space, the bigger the space the more money Feld can charge.
No Tuff Blocks, no money, no money, no races.

Tuff Blocks sole purpose is advertising.
peelout
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peelout 1/8/2013 10:12am
1/8/2013 10:12am Edited Date/Time 1/8/2013 10:16am
the tuff blocks cause more problems for the RACERS than they do help the racers.

however, for sponsorship and funding, they are necessary.

what gets me is when an entire section is lined like MXvsATV and there isn't an inch space between them.

i think it cost Reed a potential podium in 2011 also, he got stuck on one in between a rhythm section. everyone else was able to triple over it, he had to double for some reason and ran into it head on.
Torco1
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Torco1 1/8/2013 10:22am
1/8/2013 10:22am
Hologram tuff blocks.....

VoR
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VoR 1/8/2013 10:29am
1/8/2013 10:29am
It's actually a conspiracy by Big Hay, big hay is looking for a way back into the sport. Hay Bales don't move across the entire track like chicom imported tuff blocks...
TripleFive 1/8/2013 10:43am
1/8/2013 10:43am
I'm glad 2pac showed up in this discussion.
IWreckALot
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IWreckALot 1/8/2013 12:28pm
1/8/2013 12:28pm
Is there a reason they can't teather them in place with some sort of bungy cord? So if they are bumped or somthing they just spring back to where they belong? I'm not an engineer but it seems like it would solve the problem of them getting knocked out on the track and there would be elasticity there so the rider isn't hitting a stationary item.

You can make the paycheck out to me FELD. . . You're welcome.
AS64
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AS64 1/8/2013 12:33pm
1/8/2013 12:33pm Edited Date/Time 1/8/2013 12:36pm
It's better than hay bails. Any of you ever hit a hail bail 3rd pinned? Talk about flying. Anyway tuff blocks are there for a reason, to contain the riders. At least they are somewhat light. Maybe banners are the solution who knows.
FIREfish148
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FIREfish148 1/8/2013 12:36pm
1/8/2013 12:36pm
Torco1 wrote:
Hologram tuff blocks..... [img]http://thewordeyeheard.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tupac-hologram.jpeg[/img]
Hologram tuff blocks.....

hahahahahahaha
motosmith
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motosmith 1/8/2013 12:37pm
1/8/2013 12:37pm
There is absolutely no need to have tough blocks on the inside of a corner and that seems to be where 75% of the covers get snagged on foot pegs.

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FIREfish148
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FIREfish148 1/8/2013 1:00pm
1/8/2013 1:00pm
I blame Eric Sorbey
jndmx
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jndmx 1/8/2013 1:20pm
1/8/2013 1:20pm
motosmith wrote:
There is absolutely no need to have tough blocks on the inside of a corner and that seems to be where 75% of the covers get...
There is absolutely no need to have tough blocks on the inside of a corner and that seems to be where 75% of the covers get snagged on foot pegs.
So what do you put on the inside of the corner to mark where the track boundry is?

Those guys are jumping and landing millimeters from the ege of the track and sometimes it bites them
motosmith
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motosmith 1/8/2013 1:29pm
1/8/2013 1:29pm
motosmith wrote:
There is absolutely no need to have tough blocks on the inside of a corner and that seems to be where 75% of the covers get...
There is absolutely no need to have tough blocks on the inside of a corner and that seems to be where 75% of the covers get snagged on foot pegs.
jndmx wrote:
So what do you put on the inside of the corner to mark where the track boundry is? Those guys are jumping and landing millimeters from...
So what do you put on the inside of the corner to mark where the track boundry is?

Those guys are jumping and landing millimeters from the ege of the track and sometimes it bites them
They could use the yellow markers they use in MX or maybe build a mound of dirt to discourage cutting inside too far.
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jndmx 1/8/2013 1:34pm
1/8/2013 1:34pm Edited Date/Time 1/8/2013 1:34pm
motosmith wrote:
There is absolutely no need to have tough blocks on the inside of a corner and that seems to be where 75% of the covers get...
There is absolutely no need to have tough blocks on the inside of a corner and that seems to be where 75% of the covers get snagged on foot pegs.
jndmx wrote:
So what do you put on the inside of the corner to mark where the track boundry is? Those guys are jumping and landing millimeters from...
So what do you put on the inside of the corner to mark where the track boundry is?

Those guys are jumping and landing millimeters from the ege of the track and sometimes it bites them
motosmith wrote:
They could use the yellow markers they use in MX or maybe build a mound of dirt to discourage cutting inside too far.
The track markers don't work for crap in MX and in SX you have opposing lanes of traffic in spots.
Don't you think effectively putting a ramp on the edge of the track between those lanes might be a bad thing.....lol.

I'm not in love with the Tuff blocks either but there isn't much choice otherwise.
motosmith
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motosmith 1/8/2013 1:49pm
1/8/2013 1:49pm
jndmx wrote:
So what do you put on the inside of the corner to mark where the track boundry is? Those guys are jumping and landing millimeters from...
So what do you put on the inside of the corner to mark where the track boundry is?

Those guys are jumping and landing millimeters from the ege of the track and sometimes it bites them
motosmith wrote:
They could use the yellow markers they use in MX or maybe build a mound of dirt to discourage cutting inside too far.
jndmx wrote:
The track markers don't work for crap in MX and in SX you have opposing lanes of traffic in spots. Don't you think effectively putting a...
The track markers don't work for crap in MX and in SX you have opposing lanes of traffic in spots.
Don't you think effectively putting a ramp on the edge of the track between those lanes might be a bad thing.....lol.

I'm not in love with the Tuff blocks either but there isn't much choice otherwise.
I'm talking about inside corners only. I think blocks are necessary on straights and outside corners. I just think they should be removed from inside corners because they aren't necessary and create more problems than they solve.
jbomx363
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jbomx363 1/8/2013 1:55pm
1/8/2013 1:55pm Edited Date/Time 1/8/2013 1:56pm
IWreckALot wrote:
Is there a reason they can't teather them in place with some sort of bungy cord? So if they are bumped or somthing they just spring...
Is there a reason they can't teather them in place with some sort of bungy cord? So if they are bumped or somthing they just spring back to where they belong? I'm not an engineer but it seems like it would solve the problem of them getting knocked out on the track and there would be elasticity there so the rider isn't hitting a stationary item.

You can make the paycheck out to me FELD. . . You're welcome.
Some sort of tethering them makes sense, whatever that may be. Just enough to "give a little".
Choppy
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Choppy 1/8/2013 2:17pm
1/8/2013 2:17pm
Brotocross reported that 9 tuff blocks cost 500k. Why not lower the amount of tuff blocks but raise the cost to sponsor them so it evens out.

That way you get less tuff blocks, but the same amount of money.
Ryno23
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Ryno23 1/8/2013 2:18pm
1/8/2013 2:18pm
I think they should explode when you hit them. Maybe blue paint or something? Oh... and SX needs a gator pit, a fire jump, and random road blocks. Yeah, that would be cool...... Or just leave it the way it is and stop bitching about the stupid freaking tuff blocks!!!!!!!!!!
Choppy
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Choppy 1/8/2013 2:21pm
1/8/2013 2:21pm
Ryno23 wrote:
I think they should explode when you hit them. Maybe blue paint or something? Oh... and SX needs a gator pit, a fire jump, and random...
I think they should explode when you hit them. Maybe blue paint or something? Oh... and SX needs a gator pit, a fire jump, and random road blocks. Yeah, that would be cool...... Or just leave it the way it is and stop bitching about the stupid freaking tuff blocks!!!!!!!!!!
I agree. Lets just let riders keep hitting tuff blocks that have been hit in the middle of the track and get hurt.
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Ryno23 1/8/2013 2:29pm
1/8/2013 2:29pm Edited Date/Time 1/8/2013 2:29pm
The tuff blocks aren't even CLOSE to the biggest cause of injuries on the track! That's like saying make the triples smaller or the rythym sections easier so the riders don't get hurt as well Maybe somebody should have "tethered" Jessy Nelson before he left the gate Saturday night? Since he did a better job than ANY tough block ever has! It's part of the sport and the tuff blocks aren't a MAJOR problem in it at all. Just my .02
Zaugg
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Zaugg 1/8/2013 2:43pm
1/8/2013 2:43pm
Yeah....let's blame the tuff block. I'm sure they're just lying in wait, plotting to ruin someone's night. It's in no way a rider's fault for riding over his head or the victim of a freak accident.

(MATH= number of tuff block incidents / number of riders x number of laps x number of races s= small percentage. Let the over reacting begin.) LOL

I mean, we can all predict where the next crash will be...just put all the tuff blocks there right?

Problem solved.
Torco1
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Torco1 1/8/2013 2:48pm
1/8/2013 2:48pm
I like Ryno's idea of making them explode when you hit them.....maybe fill them up with confetti......or baby rattlesnakes.

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