Progress report - kids are both level 1

General
1

Last Thursday at our weekly club practice both of my kids attempted to pass
off level one. Sara (4) passed with flying colors. James (6) had no
problems with the mount and riding but he hadn’t developed graceful
dismounting ability so failed at that. Since learning to ride he always
just leaps off the front to dismount. This is apparent if you look at the
front bumper of his seat. Compared to his little sister’s uni his is really
thrashed.

We’ve been working on improving James’s freemounting and dismounting.
Tonight he succesfully freemounted on every attempt. His dismounts have
improved as well. He’s able to dismount with the uni in front about 90% of
the time. It still requires a little concentration on his part but he’s
started to make it his “default” dismount.

Now we’re on to level two. The 15cm drop is, I think, going to be the
hardest part for the kids. As small as my kids are and with a 16" wheel
that seems like a big drop.

I also had a bit of a breakthrough. Today I transitioned from riding to
wheel-walk and back succesfully about 75% of the time. Getting back to
pedals has really been hard for me to get. For those who are experienced
with this I have a question: Do you look at the pedal position as you go
back to pedals? I find that my success rate goes up when I look at my feet
and wait for the right pedal to come up around to the top. I then drop my
right foot, and quickly follow with my left.

I have a question about level testing. Must each skill be performed without
dismounting between skills? For example, is it appropriate in level 1 to
mount unassisted and ride only 3 revolutions then fall off. Then mount
assisted and ride 50m and fall off. And finally, mount assisted ride three
revolutions and dismount gracefully.

Perhaps a simpler way to ask the question is: can each skill in a given
skill level be demonstrated independently of the others?

-mg

2

Good on you and your kids, Michael. They’re going to be outriding you in about as week unless they’re already there and you’re not reporting it.

The skill for level one is mount, ride, dismount. It is one skill. For subsequent levels, other than mounts, the skill must be preceded by three complete revolutions and followed by the same. Each skill is independent.

When I pretend that I can wheel walk, I look at the pedal positions and wait until the right pedal is down or just coming up. Then, I go to them right foot first.

I thought it was a 10cm (4") drop. I’ll bet they do it first try.

3

Re: Progress report - kids are both level 1

----- Original Message -----
From: “Michael Grant” <michael_j_grant@msn.com>
Newsgroups: rec.sport.unicycling
To: <rsu@unicycling.org>
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2002 11:21 PM
Subject: Progress report - kids are both level 1

> I have a question about level testing. Must each skill be performed
without
> dismounting between skills? For example, is it appropriate in level 1 to
> mount unassisted and ride only 3 revolutions then fall off. Then mount
> assisted and ride 50m and fall off. And finally, mount assisted ride
three
> revolutions and dismount gracefully.
>
> Perhaps a simpler way to ask the question is: can each skill in a given
> skill level be demonstrated independently of the others?
>
> -mg

Michael,

Congrats on the progress.

On all the levels, the skills may be done independently of each other. So
yes, it is fine to mount and ride three revolutions then fall off for Level
1, as long as that is what you are attempting to do. You must do each skill
within two tries. You may also use help to get on to ride the 50 meters or
to do the dismount. Only the mount you are testing for must be unassisted.

Sometimes riders decide after they did the mount or other skill that they
were testing for it. That doesn’t work. They must let the tester know which
skill they are attempting.

It is a 15 cm vertical drop for Level 2. It’s usually easy for kids but
harder for many adults. It is actually not a hard skill, but it seems that
way and took me a long time to do. Also, remember that the rider must
continue for at least 3 revolutions after riding off the curb, or in doing
other skills, too.

Does that all make sense? If someone disagrees, please let me know. We are
in the process of reviewing many of the issues related to Skill Level
testing right now.

Thanks!

Carol
Minnesota
cettermclean at hotmail dot com

4

Skill levels

Wow, they’re doing great! Even in the later levels I think you have to mount unassisted for every skill, but they can be on seperate tries. I (13 years old) passed level one a few days ago, I also use a 16" unicycle and I think going over a 15 cm drop is the easiest part of level 2. Just tell them to release some of the pressure on the seat, even almost stand up on the pedals.

5

Agree with Carol =), disagree with Harper =( . Although it is easy to do in one shot, the three skills in Level 1 are separate skills. There is nothing in the current rules that makes Level 1 special. Level 3 is special because it specifically states that from then on the same mount done on opposite sides cannot be counted as two mounts. Level 7 is also special because then from then on all mounts must be done into advanced riding skills; riding (which I suppose includes backwards?) and plain idling are no longer acceptable.

For the dismount in Level 1 the rider will have had to ride 3 revs before doing the dismount, regardless of his/her mounting approach.

6

Re: Progress report - kids are both level 1

Thank you for your responses.

I am now equally confused as before.

Greg Harper says:
>The skill for level one is mount, ride, dismount. It is one skill.

Yet Carol McLean says:
>On all the levels, the skills may be done independently of each other. So
> yes, it is fine to mount and ride three revolutions then fall off for
Level
> 1, as long as that is what you are attempting to do. You must do each
skill
> within two tries. You may also use help to get on to ride the 50 meters
or
> to do the dismount. Only the mount you are testing for must be
unassisted.

So, can we get Carol and Greg together for a thumb-wrestling match or
something?

As I read the level one skill description it seems to me that there are
three distinct skills being demonstrated

  1. Mount Unicycle unassisted (What constitutes assistance anyway? I used
    the pedals and cranks for “assistance”. Without them my freemounts would be
    much more difficult.)
  2. Ride 50 meters
  3. Dismount gracefully with unicycle in front

Accordingly it seems that each “skill” should be able to be demonstrated
independent of the others.

This seems to be something of an ongoing issue. It seems that different
examiners have different degrees of “strictness” to their testing.

But Harper’s right. This will all be academic by next week as the kids are
bound to make incredible progress. It’s quite exciting for me to watch my
children take an interest in, and excel at, something that I’ve long been
passionate about.

-mg

7

Strictly speaking, it isn’t academic because a prerequisite for level 2 is level 1. “All preceding levels must be passed before testing for a higher skill level.” This may sound heavy and picky but if/when unicycling is going to make it into the Olympics these issues will become important. It’s good to get riders into the habit of being aware of these fine points from the very beginning.

If a level 10 tester so desires, he may require the testee to repeat each level test in order first. Personally, I think that a level 10 should be required to do so. I can’t find where I read that, though, at the moment.

Only when you are using level testing as a loose guide for general advancement does the issue become academic.

Oh, and I just found that for the Level 1 test, the rider can’t be assisted to mount for the dismount skill or the riding skill: "Rider cannot use any external aids (people, walls, etc.) during any part of testing for any level. ". This means that during the Level 1 test, the rider has to freemount successfully for each skill. So I disagree with Carol on that one.

8

Carol is the educated one here. Her information on levels and level testing is bound to be much more accurate than mine. Remember to send her those stomach-on-seat rear view photos that she is collecting when your kids both get there.

9

Re: Progress report - kids are both level 1

----- Original Message -----
From: “Michael Grant” <michael_j_grant@msn.com>
Newsgroups: rec.sport.unicycling
To: <rsu@unicycling.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 1:13 PM
Subject: Re: Progress report - kids are both level 1

>>
> So, can we get Carol and Greg together for a thumb-wrestling match or
> something?
>

Ok. When?

Carol
Minnesota
USA Skill Levels Committee Chair

10

Re: Progress report - kids are both level 1

----- Original Message -----
From: “U-Turn” <U-Turn.cxtx1@timelimit.unicyclist.com>
Newsgroups: rec.sport.unicycling
To: <rsu@unicycling.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 1:28 PM
Subject: Re: Progress report - kids are both level 1

> Oh, and I just found that for the Level 1 test, the rider can’t be
> assisted to mount for the dismount skill or the riding skill: "Rider
> cannot use any external aids (people, walls, etc.) during any part of
> testing for any level. ". This means that during the Level 1 test, the
> rider has to freemount successfully at least once. So I disagree with
> Carol on that one.

That’s true. The Rulebook does spell that out. I guess that would mean
that the rider must freemount unassisted in order to ride forward three
revolutions and then do the dismount, if doing that skill separately. So,
even if it takes many attempts to do that freemount, riders would still have
to begin riding without assistance for that skill.

I think most people do all three skills at once, so it doesn’t come up that
often.

Good point, though. So, to clarify, yes the skills in Level 1 may be done
separately, but no, a rider can’t use outside assistance for any part of the
test according to the Rulebook.

Example: The rider says he is testing for the Level 1 mount and does it on
either the first or second try and rides three revolutions after mounting.
He passes that skill. Then he attempts the dismount skill and takes 5
attempts to freemount, rides three revolutions, and dismounts with the
unicycle in front. He also passes that skill, even though he wasn’t able to
freemount on the first or second try. Does this sound right to everyone?

Sorry about the confusion. Let me know if you have other comments about
this.

Thanks.

Carol
Minnesota
cettermclean at hotmail dot com

11

Re: Progress report - kids are both level 1

On Mon, 21 Oct 2002 22:21:58 -0600, “Michael Grant”
<michael_j_grant@msn.com> wrote:

(kids are level 1)

Good job for them, and at those young ages!

About skills levels,
On Tue, 22 Oct 2002 11:01:03 -0500, “Carol McLean”
<cettermclean@hotmail.com> wrote:

>On all the levels, the skills may be done independently of each other. So
>yes, it is fine to mount and ride three revolutions then fall off for Level
>1, as long as that is what you are attempting to do.
So you might say to the tester “I am now attempting to ride 50 m but I
am not trying to dismount gracefully.”. (Logical punctuation.) Funny
that, but strictly right.

> You must do each skill
>within two tries.
For level 1, yes, but not in general. You are allowed a second try for
max. 3 skills per level.

>You may also use help to get on to ride the 50 meters or
>to do the dismount. Only the mount you are testing for must be unassisted.
Not so. IUF says “Rider cannot use any external aids (people, walls,
etc.) during any part of testing for any level.” Superfluously, it
says for level 1 “mount unicycle unassisted”.

On Tue, 22 Oct 2002 00:38:31 -0500, harper
<harper.cwu9p@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>The skill for level one is mount, ride, dismount. It is one skill.
IUF rules state them as three separate lines (without commas). I
interpret that as separate skills.

On Tue, 22 Oct 2002 13:16:46 -0500, U-Turn
<U-Turn.cxt82@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>Level 7 is also
>special because then from then on all mounts must be done into advanced
>riding skills; riding (which I suppose includes backwards?) and plain
>idling are no longer acceptable.
Where is that stated?

On Tue, 22 Oct 2002 13:28:54 -0500, U-Turn
<U-Turn.cxtx1@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>If a level 10 tester so desires, he may require the testee to repeat
>each level test in order first. Personally, I think that a level 10
>should be required to do so. I can’t find where I read that, though, at
>the moment.
If one can show certificates signed by certified testers for levels 1
through 9, it would be silly to require a demonstration of them. Of
course, for an audience it would be nice to see all the level skills
demonstrated as one set.

Klaas Bil

I posted only a single copy of this message.

12

This one is easy; page 45 says:

“For Level 7 and above, riders must mount to a skill other than riding or a standard idle. An exception may be made if
the mount is difficult (example: 360 spin side jump mount). While the ending skill may be repeated, the mounts all
have to be different. Examples: Jump mount to one-foot idle, kick up mount to wheel walk, or rolling mount to one-foot
leg extended.”

Carol’s interpretation of the multiple attempts to freemount in order to do a successful “graceful dismount” sounds right to me… as long as the dismount didn’t fail that many times. Also, as long as the freemount had already been passed; otherwise the multiple attempts to freemount would be properly interpreted as “practicing within the test” which is prohibited:

“During the test, the rider may not practice any skills for that level.”

13

Re: Progress report - kids are both level 1

On Wed, 23 Oct 2002 10:08:59 -0500, U-Turn
<U-Turn.czfbm@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:

>This one is easy; page 45 says:
>
>For Level 7 and above, riders must mount to a skill other than riding or
>a standard idle. (etc)

I have a text file on my hard disk, probably downloaded from
somewhere, that begins with:

The 10 Skill Levels of Unicycling
8 - IUF ACHIEVEMENT SKILL LEVELS

It does NOT contain the text you quoted. It may be a difference
between USA and IUF rules, or some version thing? Oh well.

Klaas Bil

I posted only a single copy of this message.

14

You are correct, Klaas. I clumsily quoted from the USA Rulebook. The IUF Rulebook does not contain that text, so apparently the two organizations do not agree on that point. Here is the latest IUF text (and many others):

http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/

15

Re: Progress report - kids are both level 1

On Thu, 24 Oct 2002 10:15:49 -0500, U-Turn
<U-Turn.d1a7z@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:

>You are correct, Klaas. I clumsily quoted from the USA Rulebook. The
>IUF Rulebook does not contain that text, so apparently the two
>organizations do not agree on that point.

That seems to imply that the IUF Rulebook is to be preferred over the
USA Rulebook? If so, why? Why are there different rulebooks in the
first place? One must have been first, and then another was written.
Seems foolish. Now you have to say: I’m level 7 “according to IUF”
etc. What a pain!

Klaas Bil

I posted only a single copy of this message.

16

Re: Progress report - kids are both level 1

Klaas Bil wrote:

>That seems to imply that the IUF Rulebook is to be preferred over the
>USA Rulebook? If so, why? Why are there different rulebooks in the
>first place? One must have been first, and then another was written.
>Seems foolish. Now you have to say: I’m level 7 “according to IUF”
>etc. What a pain!

Mention of the Skill Levels always refers to the IUF, Inc. rules, unless
otherwise specified. The USA, Inc. rules apply only to the USA, Inc., a
rather small, though vocal, part of organized unicycling. The IUF,
Inc. rules apply to the entire world of unicycling, in a literal sense.

Sincerely,

Ken Fuchs <kfuchs@winternet.com>

17

Way to go kids!

Michael,

Every moment is great when a father watches his children accomplish something new. Go ahead, be proud! You deserve it.

Bruce

18

Re: Re: Progress report - kids are both level 1

Except that my skill level cards are from the Unicycle Society of America. Are there IUF cards? Can a cyclist state to a tester that he/she wants to be tested under a certain set of rules?