Hi everyone,
I’m starting this thread nice and early so that everyone on the forums can have a bit of a discussion about the next UNICON in Italy 2012. Everyone wants the event to be memorable and fair- especially those travelling a long way to get there. I think this would be a great place to discuss things that have and have not worked in previous world championships. I’m talking rules, competition layout etc. It would be great to get input from people representing all disciplines. If there is a general consensus about a particular event then we can approach the organisers in plenty of time to make it happen so the riders are happy with the outcome.
So, i’ll start off.
My bias is Muni- it is pretty much the only discipline I ride- and thats what the rest of my post will relate to.
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Safety Equipment. In previous events it has been mandatory for riders to not only wear gloves and a helmet but also knee pads. I would like the knee pads struck from the compulsory equipment for events. For those of you that do wear them- good on you. I personally do not ride with leg armour and have not for the last year and a half. Think of wearing pads as a self inflicted safety waiver- if you feel it is compulsory go ahead, if not you are taking responsibility for your own safety outcomes. Helmet and gloves are, i feel, compulsory safety elements. But you don’t see the UCI committee forcing XC of DH mountain bikers to wear leg armour or chest protection at their world championship events.
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Inclusion of an Enduro XC muni event. It would be great to have an event that caters to the long distance muni riders out there. Something along the lines of a 30Km race (I’d prefer longer but I guess you’d have to make it inclusive). Or it could be a 3hr race of the regular XC muni course where laps are counted- That would also cut down organisational pressures.
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Remember this is a WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. Events should cater to riders at the top of the sport. Sure it is also a convention and all riders abilities need to be catered for- but not for the main events! At UNICON XV- there was a fiasco with the DH muni course. A great, technical course was swapped out for a lame one (come on now- the XC race ended up being more technical than it!) because organisers wanted to make it too inclusive.
I guess this means a lot of social rides, and non competitive events should be scheduled so that we cater to all riders and don’t have numpties complaining about how hard the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MUNI courses are. At a World Championships- surely the world champion riders should end up being happy.
- Split mass starts. Personally I think they are a good idea AS LONG AS fast riders do not get stuck in the rear groups. At NZ Tony Melton and Jamey Mossengren (two very fast and skilled riders) got stuck in the rear starting group. They had to try and pass tens of slower riders on singletrack- something that surely hindered their race. I know there was a sign up sheet at the beginning of the event- but who puts their name down has no connection to that riders ability. Maybe there should be a submission process where a rider can list their last race/event results (national champs, previous Unicon, MTB race etc) and the Muni organiser can choose who goes in what wave. Sure not every single person will be happy- but it would result in a fairer race for the competitive riders.
That and more outrageous parties and I would be a very happy Muni rider at the next UNICON.
Lets have your ideas folks,
Mark