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If you already own an RFID timing pad, you can feed its reads straight into the timer instead of typing bibs by hand.
Time2Bike identifies riders by bib number and nothing else. There’s no chip database to build here, no transponder list to import, and nothing to reconcile before the race. Whatever bib number your reader reports is the rider Time2Bike credits.Pairing a chip to a rider is handled in your reader’s own software, the way you already do it. That’s the only place it needs to happen.

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Watching your reader’s file

Best when your reader’s software writes to a file on the machine you’re timing from. It works with the usual systems — Impinj, MyLaps, and anything else that writes a line per read.
1

Open the RFID panel on the timing screen

It sits below the main number box.
2

Click 'Pick CSV & watch' and choose the file your reader writes to

RFID CSV import
3

Leave the tab open

Every new line the reader writes is picked up and recorded as it lands. Nothing to press.
Each line needs a bib and a timestamp. A typical line looks like:
Extra columns are ignored.
Continuous watching needs Chrome or Edge. In Safari and Firefox you get a one-shot import instead — re-pick the file to pull in newer rows. On a race day where the pad is running all afternoon, use Chrome.

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Things worth knowing

The watcher remembers its position in the file, so reopening the timer later doesn’t re-import everything and create duplicate finishes.Reset cursor deliberately re-reads the file from the top. Safe — reads already recorded aren’t doubled up — but expect a flurry of notifications.
Incoming reads go into whichever race is selected when they arrive. Set it before you start the watcher.
A read for a bib that isn’t on the start list is passed over rather than recorded against the wrong person.
If your reader reports which mat produced a read, you can tie each mat to a named split point: Timer setup → Races, pick the race, then set the mat id on that timing point. Reads from that mat land on that split automatically.→ Recording points
Some machines pause background tabs. Keep the timing tab in front, and if reads stop arriving, re-pick the file. If you swapped drives, the browser lost track of the file — re-pick it.
The number box keeps working while the watcher runs. If a chip doesn’t read, type the bib and it’s recorded the same way.

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Dual slalom

In two-lane racing the pad reads turn themselves into lane finishes: while a run is in flight, a read for a plate that started in the red lane records a red-lane finish. Reads for plates not currently on course are dropped. A Listening for plates panel shows exactly which two bibs the watcher is waiting for.
A pad mounted near the start line will fire on warm-up runs. Either move the pad or plan to clean up the extra reads afterwards — the Listening for plates panel is how you tell whether what you’re seeing is real.

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Reading from another machine

If the pad is on a different computer from the one you’re timing on, Time2Bike can accept reads over the network. Contact support and we’ll give you a small helper program that forwards reads from your reader into the timer — it signs in with a timing link, the same as any volunteer device.

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You don’t need any of this

An RFID pad is an option, not a requirement. Plenty of races are timed perfectly well with two volunteers typing bib numbers into phones.

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Next

Laser timing

Beam-break boxes, for when hundredths decide it.