In the IUF competition rulebook there is this definition:
“Stillstand:staying in place with no wheel movement”.
But for how long?? You know, i would just like to know how long do i have to stay on place so that it could be called stillstand (in accordance to iuf standard skills list). Most of time i can do some 3-5 sec stillstand and occasionaly i get 10-20 s runs.
I am not asking you guys how long can YOU hold the stillstand, (but if you would like to show off your records i wont stop you:))
but just if there is some official restriction in the skills that says
“if you stay for 3 secs it is stillstand…” or something like that.
well, anytime you aren’t moving the wheel you’re still standing. even if it’s just for a split second during a manuver, or adjusting your feet or something. doing a static mount often results in a brief stillstand. it’s impressive to do long ones, but anything when the wheel doesn’t move counts.
In standard skills the minimum required time for a stillstand is 3 seconds. But that’s only what is required to get the points in a standard skills routine. 3 seconds is a pretty short still stand, but it wouldn’t be practical to require something like a 15+ second still stand in the middle of a timed standard skills routine. You also have to remember that you have to hold that 3 second stillstand in standard skill form. That means complete control with the arms outstretched, palms down, fingers together, etc.
I don’t see 3 seconds as much of a stillstand. That’s way too short. A minimum of 10-15 seconds in control (rather than a slow prolonged fall to one side) is when I start to consider it a still stand. Going for longer just proves the point even more. One minute plus and it gets really impressive.
It’s about 3.8 points’ worth, according to the rules.
The thing to remember with Standard Skill, that most people often don’t think about until they’ve tried it, is the overall challenge. It’s not just a stillstand and 17 other figures. It’s 18 figures in three minutes. This is really hard! So time is also a factor on all skills. That’s why many figure-8 skills may see to be scored too high. They eat up a lot of time. Still, hardly anyone uses them, so they are probably not scored high enough.
The thing with the stillstand itself, is how much small wheel or upper body movement is acceptable? For a 3-second stillstand it’s not a problem, but as you go for many minutes, it may be necessary to get more strict about it.
I haven’t been able to think up a good way to quantify it. One is to have the rider stay on top of a small disk of flooring. They could start on a bigger platform and get centered, after which the part around their wheel could be dropped. But I think nearly any size of platform (like 20 cm diameter) would be enough to cover a decent stillstand; would not work as a “meter” to detect if the wheel rotated too much.
Another way might be to put up some little barriers in front of and behind the rider. Like a tiny little portable wall that more easily illustrates motion at the front and rear of the tire. You could set them up about 1" away (I know I’m mixing metric and non-metric) front and rear. This would also be much easier than a dropping floor system.
Should there also be some control over tire and rim type, and pressure, and ground surface type? A wide rim with very low pressure is very different than a narrow rim with very high pressure as far as still stands go. Similarly, doing one in a very soft surface is different from doing one on a very hard surface.
Finally, what kind of “wheel movement” is acceptable? Side-to-side? If so, it must be written in…
Perhaps electronic wands in the spokes could cause a buzzer to sound, like in fencing.
U-turn, I think the picture above pretty much answers your question. The line would have to be drawn somewhere. Though instead of regulating tire size it might instead be possible to regulate the size of the balancing surface? “Sure, ride whatever you want, you get a 3” disk to balance on."
Why not? We will call it spot stand instead of still stand. After all, it is the still part that causes the problems.
Any wheel, any size, any pressure as long as you can stay on top of a beer mat!
Personally I think the size of a CD (120 mm) would be better. And if you make that spot an inch high there will be no doubt whether the unicycle is on or off the spot.
