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Hello.
Since I conceived of this web site, several months back, I've invested many hundreds of hours into making it the best site I could. Right from the start, I have invited contributions from others. I've sought to make motorscooter racing more widely known by making information about the sport more accessible. I've done this almost entirely alone, entirely out of pocket, for a bunch of people whom I hardly knew. For the most part, it's been a rewarding experience. I've made some friends, and learned a lot about racing in the process.
I believe that this site is an asset to the scooter racing community. With support and continued development, it could become an even bigger asset. Yahoo groups alone cannot present the information about scooter racing in any way as clearly or completely as WhizWheels does. To the best of my knowledge, no other site does what WhizWheels does.
I've been faced with challenges all along the way. For instance, the ASRA people have not once ever shared information about their organization, advice for others interested in racing, or shared links. That's right, although I've had several links to the ASRA web site, posted their race schedules, information about their tracks, and promoted their events, they do not respond to any of my emails, and have not once ever put a link to WhizWheels on their site. The most important avenue to success for any web site is to share links. ASRA has benefitted from my links to their site, but fails to cooperate by simply responding in kind. Is this the action of a group interested in promoting the sport? I can't see how. From where I stand, it appears they're only interested in promoting ASRA.
Infrequently, articles about races get written for the MASS and ESRA Groups on Yahoo. They're announced and stored in the Files section. How many people actually read them there? Not many, for a number of reasons. To begin with, only members of the group have access to the files section. That instantly limits the readership to a small number. Also, the announcement of their presence takes the form of a message, which usually disappears within a day or two, and is thereafter only accessible to a person who searches for that message. Finally, reading anything on Yahoo is a royal pain in the butt, because of the pop-up ads and ad pages inserted between users and the messages they want to read. WhizWheels is more accessible, ad-free, and free. What can be the reason authors post articles in a place where few will read them, ignoring the best available and most popular scooter racing site: WhizWheels? If you're going to post an article, why not post it where the most people will have access to it?
Other challenges include petty sniping about me from people who seem to think I somehow profit from this enterprise. I have been accused of playing favorites when I post an interview with one of only three people who has helped me by actually writing an article for the site. Some have promised articles, but never delivered. Incredibly, there are reportedly some who gossip about me. This I truly don't understand. I may be a pain sometimes, like when I'm in town for a race, and can't drive a semi around from bar to bar in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Who cares? This isn't about me, it's about the sport. What difference do my religious opinions make? Or how old I am, or whether I'm married or single? Or that I'm a newbie who has yet to actually participate in a real race?
Hey, I may be an older, bald atheist, confirmed bachelor who's never been in a race, but I'm an older, bald atheist, confirmed bachelor newbie who's promoting your sport in a way nobody else is. Whether you like me or not, it's in your best interest to help me, because I can help you. The site isn't about me, it's about the sport.
Despite all this, WhizWheels is a success. Even during these summer months, when traffic on all the web sites and groups is down, WhizWheels is still averaging about 650 direct hits a month. Add to that several hundred page views per month. True, many other sites are bigger, but most of those have been around longer, have an actual advertising budget, have more people working on them, or have a much broader focus. WhizWheels is reaching the uninformed masses of people who may have been, like me just one year ago, totally unaware that otherwise sane people put on leathers and hit the track on motorscooters. No other site can say that.
The Bottom Line
Recently I've switched jobs, and no longer have as much time available to work on WhizWheels. To be more accurate, I still have the time, but rather now I'm spending it on my own scooters, my house, my family, and my new job. I cannot afford to spend the time necessary to constantly update the site with new information. Unhappily, I cannot attend any races this year. Simply put, I can no longer do this alone.
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of people attending scooter races across the country this summer. Is there not one person who is willing to gather some pictures of the event, write a short article, and/or post the results? I need volunteers. WhizWheels needs volunteers. Without fresh content, the site will fade away and die. I care about this, and don't want it to happen. Are there any good people out there who agree that this site is an asset, and who are willing to spend a bit of their own time helping to keep it alive?
If there are none, then the site is doomed. I will continue to maintain the site for the next few months, and will post articles for authors. If no volunteers speak up, then I will close the site.
Chris Densmore
July, 2002
Due to the Yahoo groups being overloaded with personal messages, I do not monitor them. Sorry, but there's just too much volume, and I don't have the time. To respond to this call for help, or to express an opinion, email me at chris@whizwheels.com
