> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.time2.bike/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Waves
> Staggered starts within one race, and the difference between net time and gun time.
A **wave** is a group of riders released separately within the same race — 19-and-
under at 9:00, 20-to-39 at 9:03, everyone else at 9:06. Each wave gets its own
start time, and each rider's result is measured from their own wave.
Waves are optional. If you don't define any, nothing about the screen changes.
> !!-IMAGE-NEEDED-!! — The wave board with three waves: one running with a live clock, one started, one waiting.
## Setting waves up
Open the wave setup from the timing screen, then:
1. Add a wave and give it a label riders will recognise — "Juniors", "Wave 2".
2. Assign riders to it.
3. Optionally set a planned offset from the gun — "+3 minutes".
Riders you don't assign stay with the main field.
## Releasing them on the day
Once the race has started, each wave gets a **Start wave** button on the wave
board. Press it as that group is released; the clock for that wave starts and
runs live on screen.
**The gun comes first.** Waves can't be released until the race itself has been
started, because net time is measured from the wave and gun time from the race
start — a wave start with no gun doesn't mean anything.
### Pressed it early or late?
Each wave has an **Adjust** panel: nudge the start a few seconds either way, set
it to an exact time, restart it, or clear it entirely. Do it as soon as you
notice — riders in that wave are being timed against it.
### Forgot to release a wave?
It happens: wave 1 goes at 11:00 and somebody presses the button, wave 2 rolls
at 11:02 and nobody does. You don't have to press **Start wave** late and live
with a wrong time.
Tap the **clock** button next to that wave's **Start wave** and type the time it
actually went — `11:02`. If the wave had a planned offset, the dialog offers it
as a one-tap suggestion, which for a wave that left on schedule is the answer.
You can do this at any point, including after those riders have finished. Their
times are recalculated against the start you set, and the dialog tells you how
many finishes that affects before you commit.
A wave start can't be earlier than the race start or in the future — both would
produce times that can't exist, so the dialog blocks them and says why.
## Net time and gun time
Every rider ends up with both:
| | Measured from | Used for |
| ------------ | ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Net time** | Their own wave's start | Fair comparison between riders in different waves |
| **Gun time** | The race start | Overall finishing order, which is what usually decides the podium |
Both are recorded, and you choose which to show in results and exports.
The **actual** press is what counts. A wave's planned offset is only a fallback
for working out net time if that wave never got started live — so if you set
"+3 minutes" and released them at 3:40, the 3:40 is what's used.
## Waves vs separate races
Both split a field into groups. Which you want:
| Use waves when | Use separate races when |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| It's one race with one result list, released in groups for safety or road width | The groups are genuinely different races with their own results, prices, and categories |
| You want one overall finishing order | You want separate podiums per group |
If you already made them separate races and they all finish through one chute,
look at [combined finish](/timing/formats/combined-finish) instead.
## Next
One finish chute across every race in the event.