There's Hot. And Then There's FUCKING Hot.

To call Puerto Rico in July Africa-hot is a fair claim.

The good news is that scoring & timing is in an air-conditioned tent. The bad news is that the judges claim they can't see properly through the clear plastic side of the tent, so they draw the tent side back during classes - thus letting all the A/C flow out.

Grrrrrrrr.

The clear plastic looks pretty clear to me. But hey, I'm not a judge.
The finish of the 3-Day Eventing Showjumping phase.

I couldn't find a Daktronics board or a video wall to rent locally, so I'm using 3 D-Lines boards.
3-Day Eventing participants walk the course.
Ooops. Forgot to put the ladder away.
Despite the fact that equestrian is the most expensive sport in the Central American Games to produce, not having it for a Pan Am or Central American Games is out of the question due to the importance of equestrian sports to the participating countries' military forces. Many Central and South American countries still train their officers on horseback.

There were 4 or 5 military officers in the 3-Day Eventing, including a General. A Sergeant finished 2nd.
A better view of the D-Lines (and the ladder).
Joe and Dustin, from Spruce Meadows., are my crew here. Notice the slight fuzziness of this photo. I had just walked out of one of the air-conditioned tents into the inferno, and the humidity in the air instantly fogged my camera lens.
This is Guillermo. He's San Juan's District Attorney. I'm told he's a major bad-ass in his professional life, and is known throughout the country. He's sort of the Elliot Spitzer of Puerto Rico, minus Spitzer's hooker scandal. He has taken a week off to help manage the equestrian venue. He has been very helpful to the scoring & timing crew.

Great guy. Until you break a law, evidently.

Bayamon, Puerto Rico: The Showjumping Stadium at Central American & Carribean Games

The main reason for my visit to Puerto Rico was to survey the equestrian venue at Julio Monagas Park in Bayamon. Skunkware is doing the timing & scoring for all timed events, i.e. the 3-Day X-C, the 3-Day showjumping, and all the showjumping.

Puerto Rico has received record rains over the past month. Note the massive amounts of mud ringing the main showjumping arena. This tractor is spreading more sand for the jumping surface.


Puddles in the sand arena. There is still a massive amount of painting, grading, and pretty-ing up on the punch list. Note the lights. The showjumping classes will all be held in the late afternoons, as the Puerto Rican climate is too hot, and therefore too hard on the horses, to hold classes in the heat of the day. Just in case the classes run late, the lights will kick in.

The water jump for the 3-Day X-C needs some work....but it suffers from no shortage of water.

The ROC has, very shrewdly, designed the 3-Day X-C course so that it both starts and finishes in the showjumping ring. GREAT IDEA, from the standpoint of spectator seating, timing, scoreboards, sponsorship signage, hospitality, and about a zillion other things. Would be nice if some other events I know (which shall remain nameless) would design their venues this cleverly.



No shortage of electrical power.

The main warmup ring, immediately adjacent to the main sand ring. The In-Gate to the main arena is visible on the far right.

This is the pre-warmup ring, which is up on a bluff, so it drains extremely well. Even so, there are still a few puddles from the record rains.

New Velodrome in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico

I helped out my friend The Fred by doing a site check at his timing venue for the Mayaguez 2010 Central American Games, the new Aguadilla velodrome.

Nice logo on the infield.
Not much on the infield yet. All the commissaires, timing & scoring, competitor, and race secretary areas will be in temporary facilities.

Antolino Velez of the Mayaguez 2010 Organizing Committee points out electrical access.

When asking for directions, I was told "you can't miss it - it is right at the airport".

Uh...yeah. You think?

View from the grandstands.

Plywood construction.

This tunnel is the only way in and out of the 'drome. It was flooded when we arrived, but the powerful pumping system cleared it out in 5 minutes.