I’m sooooo looking forward to this years nationals! Do I get a prize for coming the farthest?! 
Absolutely!
The honor of running a beer pong tourney?
What would you recommend to a young kid just learning to ride? My son can make it about 50 feet - after only a few practices. By the nationals he might be able to ride quite a bit farther, but it is unlikely that he will be ready for competition. Should he register as a non-competitor or competitor? Are there events for kids he can take part in as a non-competitor? Can he take part in workshops as a non-competitor? Can we register as a non-competitor now and pay the difference if he is really improves before we arrive?
On another note, I am planning on riding the marathon on my 29. Since there is only one class for the race I plan on waving goodbye as the 36ers and schumpfs ride off into the distance. My goal is just to finish it. How much time do I have before the sag wagon sweeps me off the course? Hopefully there will be other 29ers riding.
he should be fine as a non-competitor
You didn’t mention an age. Our experience is that children learn very quickly. If he is into riding I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by his progress by the time NAUCC rolls around. My wife’s regret from her first NAUCC is that she DIDN’T register as a Competitor. She could barely freemount and couldn’t do much more than ride forwards, but she saw that there were events that she would have liked to ride in and couldn’t because of her registration status. Track events are awesome for newer riders as are the Beginner MUni events. Potentially even Hockey too.
There will be some non-competitor events, but many will be workshops and a couple of fun rides. Typically the competitions have a lot of kids in them. Age groups for all!
Regarding the Marathon: there is a 5 hour time limit for completion. If you look at the course there is a lollipop section. It is large, but it’s there. There will be a time limit to get to the start of the loop part of the course. If you’re not there by that time you will be able to just turn around and ride back towards the start.
I’d say get some long rides in and get an idea of your speed. Try to complete a Marathon on your own- with some hills would be ideal.
I disagree. If you want to actually compete in ANY event, you must be a Competitor.
Jigywigy: 5 hours for the marathon should be totally doable. If you can maintain 6 mph, you’re done in plenty of time. Go for it!
Thanks unigoat, steveyo, and knoxuni,
If I can only get the extra cost of registration past the head of household I will register him as a competitor.
I just did my lunch ride of 3.5 miles on a packed dirt path with an average of 6.1 mph. I don’t know if I can sustain it for 26, but I am determined to try. So now my goal is to make it to the lollipop. 6 is about my average, but I soon hope to switch some shorter cranks in there and a smooth tire for my knobby.
Maybe my wife will surprise me and buy me a 36 for my upcoming birthday. It was my lat birthday that they gave me my first unicycle - a 24.
Thanks, we are looking forward to being there.
A 36 would be a great gift! Let them know the Nimbus Titan is a great value.
Don’t forget to ride some hills too. There are definitely some around here.
Note: the lollipop starts almost 10 miles into the course so if a turn around is needed a person can still have an almost 20 mile ride in on the day.
We’re excited about having Maine represented!
NAUCC competition is geared to all ages and ability levels. If your son is enjoying the unicycle now, I highly recommend registering as a competitor. Also it gives him more to do while he’s there! 
It’s been noted elsewhere, but not here:
Early Bird Registration ends Saturday the 20th. The price goes from $85 to $105 overnight. http://http://uninationals2013.com/reg/
You don’t want to miss this year. Many new exciting details and opportunities have begun to take shape this week. We’ll let you know when they finalize.
In a big stroke of luck I discovered I had “loyalty” points from a credit card I used years ago. The most recent one I had I didn’t even activate since I received it almost 2 years ago. But we were going on a trip and I thought we should have a credit card for any emergencies. I called the company and, during the activation process, the rep informed me that I had 100’s of thousands of points that would expire in 2 weeks! Those points were worth almost the price of a Coker. I cashed them in immediately and I am in the process of getting a Big One.
I am also getting an extra set of 125 mm cranks which I will put on my daughter’s Torker LX 24 for the track races.
The only thing I need to find now is to find a cheap 24 that I can cut the frame on so my son has a bigger uni. Right now he rides a 16. For him a 24 would be like me riding a 36.
We managed to fit it in, barely, between summer camps and are registered and going as Team Lobster. We are even having shirts made up with a lobster on a unicycle. The kids are excited about that.
Are there any videos showing the marathon route like there are for MUNI? I can only ‘street view’ part of the course. It looks great with all those open fields. I want to get a visual of those hills. I have been to Pittsburgh once and I know it isn’t flat.
The short story: not to my knowledge. That probably means they don’t exist.
For an idea of what you’re up against (pun intended), check the elevation profile. The blue title link on the page takes you to EveryTrail.
The longer, more boring story:
The video for MUni was created because from our experience the courses at Moraine are significantly more difficult than what has been labeled as Advanced and Expert in the past. People should challenge themselves, but on a MUni course with rocks it is good to know what you’re signing up for. At the same time I wanted to point out that even though there are tech sections on the Advanced Course they can be walked and they aren’t incredibly long. The Expert can be walked too, but that will take a lot of the fun out of it.
As far as the Marathon course goes, road rash is most likely injury to be incurred. The rocks in MUni have a lot more potential for inflicting damage.
Back to the Marathon: please read the page’s description. There was only one hill I struggled with and didn’t clear on 100s. It has around a 15% or so grade, but only for 50 feet or so. The rest of the course is good. I don’t endorse 100s as the popular crank choice though.
Now for a tangent:
I might need someone to verify, but I think this is the first time an NAUCC has had the GPS data up for the Distance and MUni courses well ahead of the event. The video for Advanced MUni was a bonus. I personally like to know the numbers.
I want others to know them too. We were hoping that these efforts would result in close to record attendance. With Early Bird registration having come and gone we are far behind those goals. A HUGE thanks to those riders who are registered. We have promised the public quite a show of unicycling.
We just now need the unicyclists to show. We need people to register. If you’re planning on coming it is better to register sooner than later. Our PR efforts are in high gear and some of our plans are contingent upon the number of riders in attendance. If the current number of people registered remains constant we will deliver on all that we have disclosed. If it grows, we can do more. I actually just replied to an exciting opportunity via email in another browser. We require more riders to pull it off.
Thanks Unigoat. That is encouraging. I am a very poor climber, but I am working on it. It is nice to see those open fields and empty roads. I looked at part of it using ‘street view’ and didn’t see a single car. We are looking forward to it.
[QUOTE=unigoat;1582928
We just now need the unicyclists to show. We need people to register.
[/QUOTE]
This looks like it will be a great event. People should register. For our family we are combining a vacation with unicycling. Having been to Pittsburgh before we know it is a great town to visit. While I ride the marathon the rest of my family will be enjoying Pittsburgh. And that are of Pennsylvania is also very pretty.
We had info up for the Distance courses using MapMyRide which gave elevation data too.
Yes. Distance data was up for the 2011 courses via Map My Ride. Riding the course multiple times with a GPS (on a bike) showed almost double the elevation change with the GPS vs. Map my Ride. Map my ride only listed the course as 1100ft elevation (gain and loss) and the Garmin (set to sample every second) listed the elevation gain and loss in the 2000ft neighborhood.
NAUCC 2011 was the benchmark for recent USA Conventions. We hope to live up to those standards.
Ok this is a silly question but can we change the events we are registered for after we have registered.
I want to add my name for a number of things like the coker cross and some of the distance events but i cant seem to find the link to change my entry.
Thanks
Davey
Thanks Scott!
NAUCC 2011 was a definite benchmark to live up to. The Distance courses were excellent. In fact, almost everything about the event was perfect.
I’m not trying to discredit those efforts in the least.
I initially put the route in MapMyRide. It lists the elevation changes for the course as 1063ft. Knowing those roads well I was a bit suspect of that number. It seemed like it should be much greater.
Thanks to Chas at Pro Bikes and Garmin I was able to use a Garmin 910XT GPS for course mapping. Multiple rides of the course (a couple of bicycle and one unicycle) with the Garmin set to sample every second gave me an elevation change of about 2000ft (on average). That seemed much more reasonable.
Are there any videos showing the marathon route like there are for MUNI? I can only ‘street view’ part of the course. It looks great with all those open fields. I want to get a visual of those hills. I have been to Pittsburgh once and I know it isn’t flat.
After thinking about the request for a video, I remembered I had uploaded this:
It’s not video, and I can’t promise the quality is great as I just shot a ton of pics while riding my bike. It starts midway through the course as that’s the point closest to my house and I rode to the the course, rode the course, and then rode home.
DO NOT make gradient generalizations from the pictures. Use the GPS data. These pics were just to give a general idea of what to expect shade and scenery wise on the course (they were shot between 12 and 2pm or so in August of 2012). They were NOT taken to show the hills!
I hope they’re still of some help.
You should be able to log back in and edit your registration from the site with your email address and password you registered with. There should be an Edit button and a Summary button. Let us know if you can’t get it to work.
[quote=unigoat;1583056
After thinking about the request for a video, I remembered I had uploaded this:
It’s not video, and I can’t promise the quality is great as I just shot a ton of pics while riding my bike. It starts midway through the course as that’s the point closest to my house and I rode to the the course, rode the course, and then rode home.
DO NOT make gradient generalizations from the pictures. Use the GPS data. These pics were just to give a general idea of what to expect shade and scenery wise on the course (they were shot between 12 and 2pm or so in August of 2012). They were NOT taken to show the hills!
I hope they’re still of some help.
[/quote]
Thanks UniGoat! They are perfect. I am even more motivated. to get out there and ride. I just hope to finish it. Those roads look perfect and with nice scenery, too. Living in the Pine Tree state I am not used to seeing so many open fields. 
Looking forward to it. Thx!