Next Autox Bowie 6/2/12

[FredK]

I'm pretty experienced at this stuff,I don't hit cones or go off course often. I can say that I have been called OC several times, sometimes in a row and I was 100% sure I was not OC....turns out I was wrong. The mind is a funny thing. Getting called mistakenly off once definately could happen, twice, doubtful. Definately not losing any sleep over anyway.
FredK

[Ben L]

I don't think Ben was trying to be negative. He's a really nice guy and very supportive of new participants. The point he is trying to make is that people make mistakes. Sometimes it's the corner workers and sometimes it's the drivers. I know I've seen new (and experienced) autocrossers adamantly claim that they are on-course and then continue to miss the same gate. This autocrossing thing is a difficult thing to master. If I'm understanding correctly you had your last run in the morning and your first run in the afternoon called off-course when you believe you were on-course. When the off-course runs are split between the morning and afternoon sessions I tend to believe that the driver is just confused somehow. When I rode with you on your 5th and 6th runs you seemed to know where you were going but you were also very focused on driving the right line to make sure you didn't go off course. That amount of focus could have been the difference. If you say you ran the same course during the 4th and 5th runs then I don't have any reason not to believe you and assume that the course workers made an incorrect call.

I was not trying to be negative. In fact, exactly the contrary. I am totally supportive of new folks, and want them to get better fast. Or fast better. Whichever.

v10 climber succinctly captured my point. And as to off courses, he is right on target and so is Fred. Many times we are the absolute worst judges of our own performance. For the same reasons, eyewitness identifications of criminals are increasingly understood to be less reliable than once thought. That's why I have learned to care more about what other people I respect saw, and less about what I think.

My other point was to just shake it off. Whether the calls were bad or good, it is very easy to get inside your own head in this game, and to obsess about stuff that really doesn't matter much, or get discouraged. None of that noise helps us get better, as I can tell you from experience.

That's all. No criticism or condemnation, here. Only love. Take it or leave it, as you wish.