Thanks to Alan, Mark and Steve for doing such a great job of organising it.
I enjoyed it probably more than any other convention for several years - and
since this was my 42nd convention, that’s not bad going.
(Of course the weather and my new Gazz tyre, which I took off road for the
first time, played their part. As did the fact that this was the first time
I’ve been away on my own since my daughter was born).
Richard, Pete and I arrived about half an hour after registration opened on
Friday afternoon. The TV crew were filming, but sadly they were packing up
by the time I got my UW out. We pitched our tents, then went to the
supermarket for beer - a wise move, as the bar turned out to have a choice
of lager or creamflow. Then after dinner Richard, Ali and I volunteered to
cover the registration desk for the evening. That way we got a table to
ourselves to play Torres.
I went to bed fairly early (before midnight) and enjoyed a night’s sleep
without the baby.
I got up in plenty of time for the hockey, but ended up in group B (which
wasn’t playing until the afternoon). By that time I didn’t feel like
hockey, so instead went for a muni ride with Tall Paul, Joe, Keith, and I
think Leo as well. Then we played on the IUF obstacle course, which I was
pleased to complete on my UW (though I didn’t bother being timed).
The show on Saturday evening was fantastic. At several points it looked as
though it could become quite school playish, as there were so many child
acts. But most of them were superb. The acts weren’t polished, but the
skill level was high. Particularly worthy of mention was Lucas, whose
performing style reminded me of Jamie Fletcher.
Alan’s compering was excellent, and was complemented perfectly by Roger
(who, having been up for 38 hours and consumed copious amounts of Red Bull,
couldn’t help but clown around).
After the bar closed, Joe, Leo, Keith, Roger and I went for a night ride. I
was particularly pleased when, on the first attempt, I successfully hopped
up a step that I would never have tried sober.
Then I went to bed for another good night’s sleep, having strange dreams
that involved muniing and lots of unicyclists riding round town and through
the woods yelling “Welease Woger”.
Sunday morning I was up in plenty of time for the most enjoyable muni ride
I’ve ever been on - largely due to my nice new Gazz tyre, which is so much
better than the one that came with the muni. The tyre means that I feel
able to try trails that I would have wussed out of before. Ironically, this
means I’m probably more likely to tumble and hurt myself at some point. So
I bought a pair of wristguards when I got back.
I took my waterproofs, confident that I would need them, but didn’t bother
with sun cream, since I decided the sun wasn’t likely to come out. Result -
one pink forehead. Although I now have brown forearms that I didn’t have on
Friday.
Then back to site, where I took my tent down instead of joining in the
games.
Although the timetable looked packed, this was actually the most relaxing
unicycle convention I’ve ever been to. Great job guys.
–
Danny Colyer (remove safety to reply) ( http://www.juggler.net/danny )
B4/5v c(+) rv d m(+) w++ q+ k e+ t+ (s) g+ f - http://www.lpbk.net/jc/
“I don’t think proofreading is adequate. All posts should be waxed and
buffed. Then they should wear little tuxedos.” - Greg Harper on usenet
