Evolution of Scoring

By Derrick Morris

Prior to the mid 80’s scoring was done by either a scoring crew that would look at each score card and manually calculate the penalty points or it was done by a u-check system where the riders would score their own scorecard and then bring it to scoring and it would be verified and then put into the classes and results would be determined and posted on a board.

For the 1984 Quicksilver National Enduro we did our first computerized scoring venture.  There was some basic logic code that was donated to the Salinas Ramblers Motorcycle Club by the Delaware Enduro Riders.  I rewrote the program to run on the Commodore 64 computer using Commodore BASIC computer language which was more of a game console than computer, but it was what we had that was available at the time.  The backup for this computer was a tape player with audiotape.  The program would ask for the rider class, the rider number, the number of checks and which checks were tie breakers.  It would then allow the user to enter the score on each check and would save this information.  This National Enduro had over 600 participants.  We started tabulating the results when the first riders started coming in around 3:00 pm.  This “faster” method of scoring and results was not completed until 4:00 in the morning.  The amount of sorting and printing took much longer than was anticipated.  It was exponentially longer for each entry that was stored in the computer.

The next year, we knew 1 commodore computer could not do the job.  We came up with a plan to use 3 different Commodore 64 computers as these had become fairly popular and we were able to have three loaned to us by different club members for the event.  This did work out much better, using 1 computer for each class, but was still late into the evening before results were posted. This method was used for the next couple years.

Home computers were becoming available and the commodore 64 basic program was converted to MS-DOS Basic (Microsoft).  We continued to employ the 3 different computers, 1 for each class, to allow us to get the results out faster.  It was down to a couple hours after the last rider was in for each class.

The 3-computer approach was used through the 1990’s and into the early 2000’s.  There were many enhancements made to the MS-DOS version of the program over the 15 years it was used.  It would be able to determine class by rider number, would allow a check to “thrown” out and have everyone re-scored in the matter of seconds and just print out the revised results, determine the number of checks based on category, score the event and print results based on both a “National” race and “District” race concurrently, Allow for time offset to checks based on an “A”/”B” schedule and a “C” schedule, “C” schedule starting with check “2” and Ending at check “10” and “A”,”B” schedule starting at check “1” and going through check “15”.

Around 2003, we were able to network multiple computers together that allowed us to use multiple computers to score each class and have it all go into one data base to speed the data entry.  We also added second terminals to the computers so the rider could watch as they were scored.  This allowed for any discrepancies to be dealt with right then instead of the rider finding out the score when results were posted. The computer speed had come a long way and we were able to get results out as soon as the back up books got in to verify the top riders and allow them to be posted to start the protest period.  Trophies could be given out shortly thereafter.

The final two years of the Quicksilver, scoring used the final version of the scoring program, which was developed using Microsoft Access Data Base and we were using it on laptops.  It was a fully networked version and was by far the fastest and most robust version we have developed which could handle any combination of starting/ending checks, time offsets, “thrown out” checks, reports for easiest check, hardest check, riders per check, finishers, etc.  It would create the file that was required by AMA for enduro scoring and AMA had the final results of the race that night for all classes and categories.  It was emailed to AMA from the laptop via a satellite phone from the event where there is no phone or cell phone access for same day results to AMA.

This version of the scoring program sits waiting for Clear Creek to reopen and the Salinas Ramblers Motorcycle Club to be able to resurrect the Quicksilver National Enduro or maybe for “old” times sake a “Time Keeping” Enduro instead of the new National format.

The Delaware Scoring Program

by Ed Tobin

I went home to New Jersey to visit my family in the fall of 1983.  During the visit, I hooked up with Ed Hertfelder who lived in Haddon Township where I grew up.  He invited me to go down to Delaware, about an hour and a half drive, to work a check point at the Delaware National Enduro put on by the Delaware Enduro Riders. I jumped at the chance because I had heard a lot of good things about this event from friends in NJ and from Cycle News and Trail Rider articles.  They would route the course through abandoned farm houses and down the sluice. It turned out to be a long day as the check crew we were assigned to ran two checks, one early in the event and the second towards the end of the event.  Nice thing about the east coast is that most events are run in farm country on private property and there are a lot of paved roads to get around on so once we were done with the first check which was adjacent to a road, we loaded up and drove to the second location, also adjacent to a road.

After the check closed, we headed back to the start area in town.  The scoring was being done at the fire station and where they also had a dinner being served.  I introduced myself to some of the Delaware Enduro Rider members and during the conversations learned about the scoring program they were using.  Now, 1983 was still at the dawn of the personal computer industry and for those younger people accustomed to having a portable computer in your phone with hundreds of aps, most people did not have access to a personal computer back then. In fact this was the first enduro event that I had attended that had computerized scoring. Naturally I was curious and got to talking with the guy who created the program.  I learned that it was written in BASIC, a popular computer language at the time, and was running on a Radio Shack TRS80.  After learning that the Ramblers were also running a national enduro, he graciously agreed to give me the code but made it very clear he would not support it.  I turned over the basic program to Derrick and he worked his magic.