I came to understand how the race went about yesterday from the
Race Crew and here are my comments.
Most of the participants seriously needs better thinking skills.
There are many ways into reading the clue. As long as it does not
violate the instructions given in the clue, you can do it. I
understand Ben had some creative ideas on the clues and checkpoint
tasks, of course with pepper spice and everything nice from the
rest of the Race Crew. Good job.
Thanggam LRT for example. The clue tells you to "Copy down the
timings...." Most of you REALLY went to copy down on pen and paper.
You waste time travelling from the LRT station to the bus stop and
back.. Fortunately the bus stop code was given, if not I think
dunno which bus stop you all would find and copy down the timings.
One of the teams was smart enough to snap the entire bus stop pole
with timings and stuff then write them down on the way back to the
checkpoint. Good job.
Thereafter they tell you to go to Roxy Square. Clue states that
you can take the LRT. Please la even if you dont know the Parkway
shuttle exists at least know there's an underlying reason why the
clue allows you to take the LRT right? Alan's choice of taking 578
was a wise one but failed due to timing coordination. Knew you
missed the Parkway shuttle that's why went to attempt 578?
Picking Sunshine place was a wise clue. There's three places in
Singapore with the word Sunshine: One is Sunshine Terr at near
Braddell/Bartley Rd junction, two is Sunshine Plaza at Middle Rd,
last being the one at CCK.
I understand some teams do not know how to get from Rumah Tinggi
to Vivo the fastest way. Take 63 transfer 145 ah? Wrong! In a race
if you take this method you are at risk of falling behind man. Best
way is to walk thru the HDB blocks to Alexandra Hospital stop and
take any bus to Harbourfront.
I would recommend taking a systematic direction instead of a
runaround race. Going from amdep to Pasir Ris and back to Jln Kayu
is a waste of time. Other than that the flow was managable.
I also recommend scaling down the coverage area to prevent teams
from lagging too far behind and had to catch up by skipping
the stations. Maybe concentrate in a few HDB towns, or CBD area or
even somewhere ulu or something.
I understand the tasks at the checkpoints were quite challenging
and had adequate coverage of some of the basic knowledge a bus
enthusiast would need to know. However, one aspect was missed out
almost totally. Instead of focusing on checkpoint tasks, the clue
from one checkpoint to another should be more focused on the route
to getting there. For example, from Pt A to Pt B there are 4 direct
routes, 5 routes that require 1 xfer, and 9 routes that require 2
xfers. The clue can state the place of the next checkpoint, and
then at the bottom state the route that the team should take e.g.
Your route should only consist of 1 transfer only, or Your route
should consist of passing by XYA Bldg / plying XTE Rd. This
way you can minimise the chances of the team being lost and falling
behind.
Overall, good job though I believe there's lots of room for
improvement. Keep it up.
