Claus Willemer wrote:
>we have to reduce the number of age groups, may be until 10 (=children),16
>(or18 =juniors),35 (=adults) and over 35 (=seniors).
Currently the minimum age groups for IUF racing are 0-10 (20"), 0-13, 14-18,
19-29, 30-up. This is only one group more than Claus suggests, but divided
differently. Remember the host can always add age groups as desired. This year
we had the new rule where age groups could be combined if there were not enough
entries. This was generally not a problem for racing, rather we had the
opposite problem.
Even with fewer age groups and a far lesser chance of the average rider winning,
large numbers of people entered anyway. This tells us people will play to play,
and aren’t there just to win. So even with no age groups, there would probably
be big participation in racing, because people like it.
Our problem at UNICON was massive numbers of riders for each age group, but
limited number of lanes on the track, so lots and lots of heats had to be held
for each race. The 400m race took most of the day to run!
But the way things look, even with less age groups, at a big UNICON (or NUC) we
will still have hundreds of riders for each race.
>Second it might be good to make track days with competitions for children an
>juniors and other days for the adults and seniors.
I didn’t like the division of male/female at UNICON (all the girls raced, then
all the guys). But I don’t know if that division would be an improvement either.
Of course it wouldn’t for families (maybe the parents would choose to watch the
kids and then not participate on the next day). My ideas below.
>National elimination is in my opinion in this moment not a good idea, first
>there are many nations with only a few unicyclists and others with a lot more.
Elimination by country would not be so bad (it’s one of many possibilities in my
mind). Let’s say five entries are allowed per country per race event (age
group). For a country like Germany, there is enough organization where a
competition can be held in Germany, before UNICON to find the German champions.
This is how it’s done with artistic bicycling. All those people who want to
participate get to ride at that event. For the small countries, all of their
only five riders get to participate. This gives maximum chance to encourge more
participation from that country, and it’s similar to the Olympics with its
Jamaican bobsled team, etc.
More difficult would be the middle countries. Let’s say there are 20 riders
coming from Australia. They don’t have a national competition, and the 20 people
are from far flung parts of the country and have never met. If there is no
national organization in Australia, who decides? They can submit race times from
their own practices, but someone will have to believe them.
>Beside the competitions shold be place for fun and training, certainly one
>always open hall or good and central place outside (depending on the weather)
>for training and exchange of experiences.
This has been a central theme from nearly everyone involved in this. I agree we
must push it for future conventions. But we can’t “mandate” it in the
competition rules, because it’s a convention thing, not a rules thing.
>Please dont flame me, just a few thoughts (and I knew that it is not possible
>to organize all together in an optimal way, so aknowlidges to everybody who
>organizes such events)…
Don’t flame me either. And let’s follow Claus’ lead in congratulating the
organizers of UNICON (and NUC) on great conventions! Both were very large, and
both tried many new things for the first time. Yaaay!
My ideas (so far):
We learned this year that reducing the number of age groups saves money on
medals and makes them more meaningful, but does not seem to cut down on the
amount of participation. We almost got buried by racing heats, and spoke very
seriously about cutting events like the wheel walk, even though it’s part of the
World Racing Champion points. We did cut the Relay and Ultimate Wheel races.
So maybe we should do some races that are open to all, and others that are for
specialists only. We already do this to some degree. Our marathon has
traditionally been an “everybody” race, even though the vast majority of
competitors are out there for fun and not to win. The same is true for the 100
and 400m races. At UNICON III in Japan (851 registered riders!!!) the 100 and
400 races had huge participation while the rest of the track events were limited
to the international attendees and the top Japanese riders.
We can keep open enrollment for some races (like those), but restrict it for
others to “expert”. Then the big races can have age groups (at host’s
discretion), while the expert races need none (like the Olympics). This is
how we originally did events like gliding and coasting. But how to choose
the experts?
Pre-qualifying is messy. From some countries, like USA or Germany, it would
probably be easy. We have our own competitions here, where we record the results
of races and it’s pretty solid data. But what about Japan or China? At our
current level of communication, there is still a lot that isn’t being understood
between our language barriers. This is illustrated by the constant changes made
in registration information at the convention, and consistent bad results in
Standard Skill by riders who don’t have rules available in their own language.
We might get qualifying times from these countries but they may not have been
determined in the same way…
But let’s grant that some riders can be pre-qualified. The USA (or U.S.
branch of IUF) can verify that Dana Schneider is worthy of expert races, and
she shouldn’t have to take up valuable convention time proving it. But many
other riders don’t have a way to prove this. So eliminations will still be
needed at UNICON.
Here’s an easy way: On the first “track” day of the convention, riders try to
qualify for the Expert races, and some “everybody” races are held. Enough of
both to keep it interesting. “Qualifications for the 100 meter race will be held
for the next hour”. Riders get in line, ride 100 meters at top speed and their
time is recorded. They don’t need to ride with age groups or in complicated
heats, just one at a time with an electronic system taking the times. If the
time isn’t fast, it need not be recorded at all. This can be done on both sides
of the track at the same time for most events. The only purpose of this is to
see if you’re good enough for the experts. Maybe you even get two attempts, like
slow races and obstacle? Later the list of qualifiers is announced.
Riders who are not serious about these races will be less likely to take up time
in the qualification round, because there is nothing to win. But they should be
welcome to try their luck, so they know how they measure up. I think that’s why
many riders do it.
If we want, we can choose enough finalists for several heats of each race. There
will be no age groups in the expert races. If a kid in the 11-12 age group can
set a new record in the 1500 (which I’m pretty sure Yingxin Du did at 4:03.55),
we don’t need age groups. Let’s say we get 24 finalists per event. This gives us
three heats on an 8 lane track. Those heats are organized by qualifying time, so
the fastest riders race together where they can pace each other. Then there can
be a final “world championship” race of the top 8 or 5 of them. Surely that
would be interesting for spectators!
But not for the 1500. Our method for running the 1500 was not followed this
year. It is figured differently from the other races for two reasons that are
very obvious if you’re a rider:
- Riders shouldn’t have to do it twice, at least not the same day!
- Riders of similar levels must be on the track together because this race
involves pacing, psychology and other factors that are not as important in
the shorter races.
Riders should only be admitted into the 1500 final(s) unless they have
submitted their practice times in a verifiable way. I don’t know what way. It’s
okay to let the liars look like fools out on the track, but not if there’s too
many of them.
As an alternative to the qualification round, each attending country can have an
appointed representative. It is this person’s job to make the list of which
riders from his or her team are going to participate in each racing event. This
can be figured out before the convention if possible, or at the convention by
going out to the track and running the races informally with the other members
of the team. This method should work fine, but requires a recognized leader from
each country. Some groups may fight over who gets to be the leader from their
country…
Now to address the age group crowd. “If we have no age groups, what about the
kids/old people?” There are other reasons why we come to the conventions.
Instead of beating the other 11 year olds in the 1500, I’d like to see more
games and fun events that all can play. This year Steve Dressler and I
organized a very informal Sumo competition. It was a blast, but toward the end
I realized there were a lot of riders watching who wanted to play, but were too
small. We were just putting two riders against each other and letting them go
at it (with some rules). This event needs age (or weight or size) divisions to
be fun for all.
So instead of going for that medal in all those races, equal fun can be had by
doing other things. Let’s come up with more ideas for things!
I’ve written enough now, more later!
John Foss
