There was a section on the “easy” downhill course which was quite steep and relatively technical. I sat and watched maybe 20 riders attempt it, with no more than one or two riding it successfully. I was on a 29er and walked most of it; I probably would have ridden it on a 24", but it was not easy.
I think there’s a better argument that the XC course was too difficult than that the downhill course was too easy.
Ah, I did wonder how he outsprinted me to the line…I was pedalling as fast as I could!
There were various reasons why the track was chosen. Here are the ones I am aware of:
-The course was publicised on the map. Riders who went on the pre-ride with Tony were shown a course that was different to that publicised
-The harder course cut through the Uphill race track. That is not acceptable.
-The 73 rider petition was not actually 73 riders (because half of those were not entered for the DH).
If it makes you feel better, it was the second hardest DH track at a Unicon. The only more difficult one was at Unicon 13, which didn’t even have an XC race.
Much can be said about previous XC courses…Unicon 14 was a 10min ride around the park, Unicon 13 didn’t have an XC course (XC riders were forced to ride the ‘beginner’ DH course 
), and Unicon 12 was a 8min ride up and down a hill. Unicon 14 didn’t recognise any individual Muni race as world championship events- they were all lumped under an ‘overall Muni category’. To be World Champion you had to score the most points in all the Muni events, even though XC and DH are completely different sports. Yet how many people dressed up as clowns at those events?
There are several ways to improve on things you are unhappy with. Join the IUF rulebook committee, and get involved with organising Unicon. That way you get to have input into how races are run. It’s one reason that Unicon 15 had a decent length XC course.
A course can never cater for all riders, but to say that the DH course was designed for people with freestyle unicycles is complete nonsense.
Ken, you are saying that people who registered for unicon are not riders because they didn’t enter the downhill event? As an organiser you seem to like to exclude a lot of people. Riders who didn’t choose downhill are still riders- and some of them would have chosen downhill if they had known that a cross country unicycle was ideal for it. Not many people would have edited their entry after 1 Dec 2009 by paying the full NZ$500 registration fee because of last minute changes which affect whether they want to be a rider in the event or not.
People dressing up as clowns isn’t a very accurate measure of how well a MUni race is arranged.
Just because you disagree with the majority of riders does not make their opinion complete nonsense. It was nice of you to make the track suited to the freestyle riders. Good on you for being inclusive of everyone for a change! It seemed to suit the downhill clowns too.
I should also say that I was quite happy with the downhill, uphill and XC muni courses. I think the organizers did a good job. I don’t think anyone would have had any complaints if they didn’t realize there were potentially other options.
The downhill did become way to easy tho… the only real tech bit was that little steep downhill part with the 3 jumps that most people walked anyway. I for one did fall off but I went back to the top to try again and didn’t fall the second time. it put more time on but that was the only tech bit on the DH that was fun to ride for most people.
The DH was alright but all it was, was a slight slop with a few tree roots and a turn or two…
I personal done the harder DH is well even tho I didn’t get into the top 10 people were still allowed to do it they couldn’t stop you. the timers at the top of the start of the downhill didn’t really care if you did the harder downhill.
I did the DH on a 24" with 165mm should have used my 137mm.
I used 165mm on the uphill.
137mm with a high seat on the XC I did 3laps before my legs started to crap up so much it become hard to move my legs.
When I got to the train station my couldn’t bend my legs.
hi everyone- good idea for a thread. To start off i will answer the initinal question before going on a little rant about the DH.
I was on a 24" with schlumpf hub and 150mm cranks. I only really got to use the hub in two sections on the track- across the bottom and a little at the top (but by the 2nd and 3rd laps the legs were struggling to push it so shorter cranks might have been more ideal). I know that Beau Hoover and Wilton were on 24s with 125mm cranks- i have a feeling that tony was running the same basic setup (although with lots of exotic materials that made it almost lighter than air!). I thought the XC race was fantastic. Lots of climbing, some fast and tech dh sections and of a good endurance length- it catered to the worlds best riders and that is what the world championships is all about. To those of you that want to whinge- there was an easier novice race held beforehand that you could have gone in.
Ok now just a warning because here comes a RANT!!!
I don’t turn up to the world championships as a muni rider and expect the organisers to limit the tricks the elite freestylers are allowed to do so i can be involved in that element of the competition. As DH riders, we don’t get to do tricks- we ride damn hard trails. I find it outrageous that the organisers FOR ABSOLUTELY NO LOGICAL REASON chose to cater to the lowest common denominator for the DH and change what was a great track that all people that thought they were a contender to something that was easier than the XC course. The compromise that was made after our protest showed a complete lack of understanding from the organisers to our grievence. The top 15 riders that rode the lame DH (many of whom did not even decide to do the unofficial elite DH aspect) may not have been the best riders at the real DH course. This is reflected in the choices of wheelsize by the riders for the various DH events. I did not make the top 15 (i think i came in at 16th after some pretty elaborate bails in high gear) and as of such was not allowed to have my time for the real dh course recorded! WTF. I actually had a pretty good run in the real DH (as can be seen in the Max Schulze unicon video where i clear the hardest part of the track at decent speed). I know that my time is out there in a spread sheet somewhere but they chose not to publish it because i did not make some arbitrary cut off decided by organisers that think that downhill jsut means riding down a hill.
On top of this david W. kindly requested that the start line for the elite DH be taken to its original position at the start of the first technical section (not after 150m of easy 4wd track)- an offer that was blankly refused by connie- even though it was simply a matter of the 3 top marshalls moving their chairs down the course a little. This is what happens when you get people that, despite their best intentions, make decisions on matters they are not really learned about.
Ok. thats about it. I hope that the next unicon (which is supposed to have a focus on Muni!) can build from what was otherwise a really great set of courses at NZ. All i want to suggest is to spread out the events (not just the Muni ones but the Muni and Marathon as well- because of the rider overlap) and to maybe suggest an enduro style event. Something around the 30-40km off road mark with lots of climbing and maybe even some night riding?..drool.
Mark
The “CON” portion of the name of the event stands for CONVENTION. It is not only about the elite competitors; it is also about several hundred people who in this case came halfway around the world to participate in the events. There were almost 200 people signed up for the cross-country MUni race, which for someone like me represented possibly the most fun event of the week.
Frankly, the XC course was inappropriate and dangerous for the bulk of the participants.
I was in the first start group of 25 riders. Of those 25, perhaps 20 of them walked on the first uphill, including some very strong climbers. Two downhill sections were harder than anything on the downhill course; again, most riders likely walked most of them. The XC race shouldn’t be forcing most of the field to walk significant portions of the course.
I am a strong MUni rider; I do more XC MUni than any other activity. I wouldn’t have wanted to race on that course even if I had my 24", which I didn’t (I was on a 29"). The technical bits were too steep and had too high consequences to ride at race speed for all but the most elite riders. On my 29er, I walked them all–and still came in second in my age group and in the top third of all riders.
I’m the MUni director for NAUCC this year, and I am going to ensure that the courses are competitive for the top riders, but rideable by any reasonably strong rider. Because it sucks to travel for an event and not really get to participate.
So save your “whinger” comment for the guys who are complaining about finishing outside the top 15 in the downhill because they didn’t like the course. Oh, wait, that was you.
The “CON” portion of the name of the event stands for CONVENTION. It is not only about the elite competitors; it is also about several hundred people who in this case came halfway around the world to participate in the events. There were almost 200 people signed up for the cross-country MUni race, which for someone like me represented possibly the most fun event of the week.
Frankly, the XC course was inappropriate and dangerous for the bulk of the participants.
I was in the first start group of 25 riders. Of those 25, perhaps 20 of them walked on the first uphill, including some very strong climbers. Two downhill sections were harder than anything on the downhill course; again, most riders likely walked most of them. The XC race shouldn’t be forcing most of the field to walk significant portions of the course.
I am a strong MUni rider; I do more XC MUni than any other activity. I wouldn’t have wanted to race on that course even if I had my 24", which I didn’t (I was on a 29"). The technical bits were too steep and had too high consequences to ride at race speed for all but the most elite riders. On my 29er, I walked them all–and still came in second in my age group and in the top third of all riders.
I’m the MUni director for NAUCC this year, and I am going to ensure that the courses are competitive for the top riders, but rideable by any reasonably strong rider. Because it sucks to travel for an event and not really get to participate.
So save your “whinger” comment for the guys who are complaining about finishing outside the top 15 in the downhill because they fell on the course they’re claiming was too easy. Oh, wait, that was you.
Agreed- I would have liked a 50km XC, but again…we’d have just as many complaints.
You should come over to NZ for The Karapoti Classic in March. 50km of hills, big rocks, river crossings, and it’s the worlds oldest MUni race (with a Unicycle Category since 2003). I think there are a couple of Aussies heading over.
www.karapoti.co.nz
I haven’t downloaded my Garmin data, but here’s a quick outline, which people can add to with better details:
Uphill: I think it was about 350m of steepness; not technical at all. Except anything gets increasingly technical as it gets steeper. The steepest part was right near the beginning, which reduced most riders to out-of-breath wrecks by the time they got past it, making it hard to ride at any kind of speed on the latter part. Only a small percentage of riders were able to crank up the steepest part; most had to do a lot of hopping. I was able to manage it with some switchback riding, about half a dozen dismounts, and I must confess, a few hops. Someone please fill in the elevations? This race was run in small groups of 10-15 at a time.
Downhill: It started at the top of Mt. Victoria, at a place where there was plenty of room for people to move around and have a nice view while they waited their turns to start. Fast course, max. 1 km in length(?) ending at the park “entrance” at the “bottom” of the trail-covered portion of Mt. Victoria. One very steep, rooty section with a 1m drop off a root or log near the bottom, and a couple of other smaller technical spots; the rest was fast and relatively wide. One section of grass (always a challenge due to not being able to see the bumps) and another section of loose plant debris which, for me, was scary because I was barely keeping the cycle under control at the speed I was trying to go. I think I only walked that one big steep area and finished the rest in one shot. This race was run in a time trial format, with a single rider starting in 1-minute intervals.
Cross Country: The most grueling XC course ever at a Unicon. Four laps around Mt. Victoria, from the bottom of the park to nearly the top, for a total of about 12 km. Some pretty steep uphill sections and many more “regular steep” ones, which left most of us walking. Depending on your fitness level, walking is faster than riding on the uphills. At least four technical downhill sections (four that I walked per lap). One was about 100m of really steep roots & dirt; a sample of what was on the Tony Melton Downhill. Others not so long but still steep, making the downhill sections of that race much more technical than the Downhill course. And you got to do each four times! This course also passed through some bits of “the Shire” as filming locations from Lord of the Rings. The flatter portions were lots of fun to ride, and the trees sheltered the course from most of the Wellington winds. This race had several mass-start groups of 30-50 riders at a time, with plenty of space for them to spread out and pass before the trail got narrow.
BTW, my equipment was my trusty Wilder 24" MUni with heavy rim and tire, 145mm cranks, and no brakes. I really, really could have used brakes in the Downhill, XC and Marathon races!
Most of the whiny comments are coming from people who haven’t attended any other unicons, and have no idea what’s involved in planning and running such things. The MUni events were exceptionally well run. They started on time, they had plenty of people along the course to keep an eye on things, and everything seemed to run pretty smoothly. That’s a pretty good accomplishment for a bunch of untrained volunteers, who deserve our thanks.
All of which were applied consistently according to the IUF rules. If you think the safety gear rules should be different, there’s a forum to discuss those things. But I think you prefer just pointing out the disparities between the requirements for different events.
Large event organizers are funny like that. For some reason they don’t want people to get unnecessarily hurt at their events. Go figure.
I think letting the muni riders choose was the intent, but then the course details got bogged down by the changes; more on that below. I think Tony designed an excellent course for a fun ride, or for a non-speed technical race, but an awfully dangerous course for a purely timed event. In his tour of the course, I was almost stabbed in the chest by an inconveniently placed tree with a broken-off branch sticking out. It was located right on a turn, where many riders might have ended up. I caught the tree with my hands, and only got a cut on my arm.
Fortunately, David Weichenberger, one of the main proponents of the petition, is organizing Unicon XVI. When asked about how technical their Downhill race course would be, he replied that there would be three of them! Of course the world champions would only be the winners of the hardest one. I hope the course is spectator-friendly; that would be great fun for everyone to see, something that’s usually hard to do in the forest.
I understand where the opinions of the people entering the event would be the important ones. Others may have been in favor of it for watching or taking pictures of spectacular bails.
Amazing how rumors can take on a life of their own. Ken gave above what seems to be the best explanation of what happened, now I guess it’s just up to everyone if they want to decide to believe him. My understanding is that it went something like this:
You may not agree with that assessment, but that’s how I see it, with that one hole in the middle of exactly why the obvious changes were made. The end product was a very fast course, no matter how you look at it.
If that was the real DH for you, you should be happy you got to ride it. I’ll have to find that Max Schulze video!
The start location that was used made a lot of sense to me. What’s there a problem with riding an extra 150m downhill fast in a downhill race?
I’m with you on that one. Though it’s less likely the MUni events can be spread out (it depends on location; would have been easier at this Unicon), having the XC and Marathon races back-to-back was a bit brutal, and I think they appeal to a lot of the same riders.
Oddly, I found it much more acceptable than the DH course. As with any type of MUni ride, sections a rider doesn’t feel comfortable with should be walked, which is what I did (x4) in that race. Different from the DH, which I would not have entered in the Tony version as it would have been kind of pointless for me.
I go both ways on that one. The longer the total distance, the more acceptable (for me) it is to have some walking sections. Fit riders who may have to walk some can still make up for it on the riding bits. The shorter the race, the less effective this can be. I’m okay with having courses that favor the elite riders, but like Tom said, we shouldn’t exclude a majority of riders who may have a lot of fun in a less-challenging version of the event.
Oh and BTW, to anyone who thinks a MUni race course needs to be all-rideable, or should be too hard for all but the top riders, or that a downhill race should be as technical as possible, let me point this out: “All courses should strive for a balance of speed, excitement and safety.” Also “A downhill MUni race is a test of speed and ability to handle terrain.” Those are quotes from the IUF Rules.
Unicon XV is now a part of history. A large number of people worked their butts off to make it a success. For the bits that people didn’t like, we can use them as examples of things to avoid in the future. In fact the MUni section in the 2010 IUF Rulebook has updated information in it to address some of the problems encountered in previous Unicon events. Suggestions for changes are welcome. I very much look forward to Unicon XVI and the mountain emphasis. I can’t wait to see what David W. has in store for us!
This is where I’ve been working on for several years to try and rectify…and will be trying again this year. An XC race is the fastest from start to finish. There has to be running allowed…what on earth is walking trying to prove? In 1997 the Mountainbike World Cup was held on Mt Victoria. I recall a guy by the name of Cadel Evans (podium finishes at the TDF, current Road Cycling World Champ, previous MTB World Cup series Champ) running a technical section and winning that race. Cross-country is about speed and endurance…it is not off-road trials so there is nothing to prove by walking a section instead of running it. If anyone feels the same way then feel free to join us on the next IUF rulebook committee.
The most recent IUF rulebook 2010 recommends that Cross-Country is at least 5km long. It’s still nowhere near adequate, but addresses issues at previous Unicons where they have been 10min races. In my view, a World Championship XC race needs to be at least 1hr long (which equates to 10-15km depending on how technical the terrrain is). That is simply to reflect what regular Muni riders do. Most people ride for at least an hour if they were to go out on a MUni ride.
For ‘serious’ cross-country riders, he would need a minimum 3-4hr race- probably 40-60km, if he is to be consistent with his view on the Unicon XV downhill course.
I can hardly wait (drool)
Do we get to dress up as clowns if it’s anything less? 
The CON side of the convention was covered with the ride at Makara peak. It was a MUni ride that was not competitive so people who registered as non-competitor (or CON) could take part. The cross country was never intended to be a conventional ride- it was a World Champion competition! Part of being a skilled rider involves knowing which obstacles to ride fast on. You say “too steep and had too high consequences at race speed” but race speed is something each rider decides. Some people just go to have fun and walk the bits that are too dangerous, and that is their race speed. The rules stated only 10 meters of walking at a time maximum- I doubt that was practical.
In both the marathon and the XC a lot of riders who considered themselves strong had to walk quite often- the photos are full of walkers!
Who is editing the Uni setups in the lap time thingy?
You can add my 28" singlespeed with 89mm cranks to the description of Marathon lap times if you want. It is funny how Tony had two unis for that.
It’s the world champs, it’s meant to be hard. Grow some balls, or don’t compete! If you want to compete in an extreme type of unicycling be prepared to push yourself and try something out of your comfort zone.
Something noone has mentioned yet is the program. Which was released a good 2 weeks before unicon.
"Muni: Downhill
The downhill is a steep singletrack descent down Mt Victoria, with roots, crazy cambers and big gnarly trees that will jump out at you from nowhere. Approximately 600m in length, descending about 100m. NZ MUni experts recommended wheelsize: a 24" with a 150mm cranks and a brake. A 29" is suitable only if you enjoy flying through the air like Superman/Superwoman."
How can you change a course because of a map when a map shows nothing about the course? I can’t choose which unicycle to bring or know what the track will be like from a map. A lot of people including myself brought 24" unicycles for the DH but then we find out that a 29" will probably be fastest. Not very fair IMO.
If running is allowed–why bother bringing the unicycle? You could probably run the XC course faster than you could unicycle it. Unicycle races should include, you know, unicycles.
The same can be said of MTB racing.
Probably because everyone was riding 29"s because they realised walking 10m on the hardest section would be worth it for the time they would make up on the rest. And I know people still rode this section on 29"s so you can’t say it was hard. The hard downhill would of been very very hard to ride on a 29" which is a good thing. Generally 29"s are considered XC unicycles whereas 24" are DH.
+1!
I went on the Makara Peak ride (and I was one of two riders, Beau Hoover being the other, to make the climb all the way to the top). But the Makara Peak ride wasn’t on the same day as the XC race. In fact, there were no events other than the MUni events on the day of the XC race, so if you were still in Wellington, the only opportunity you had to participate was to do the MUni events.
As for “world championships”, the basketball tournament was the world championships, too, and we played against teams who clearly had never played basketball before. The freestyle competitions are the world championships, and there are also “age group” competitions which allow riders below expert level to participate. Similarly with track. You have to handle both the top riders and the rest of the riders.
I think the marathon course was difficult but acceptable; it became a bit ridiculous because of the wind. For the record, I walked none of it.
And what about street? Does a 5 and 7 set cater for all riders? However I think unicon overall needs a greater focus on the serious competitors. For example in high jump and long jump the top riders had to wait all day before the height/distance was up to their standard. Why not have a serious competition starting at 80cm for example for highjump for expert male. Then have another bar which is for people competing for fun.
No, I don’t think you could run entire MTB courses faster than you can MTB them.