Who will be going to NAUCC?

That wouldn’t even pay for the drugs; not much incentive. How about a nice video of the 1988 version? :slight_smile:

Do you really have video of that? Share it!

Ok, how about I get the drugs. We cool now?

Just bring Morty with you. He can stay at my house and play with the dog

is the freestyle competition going to have a bigger area than last years little taped square?

It’s on VHS. Someday I’ll get my hands on a box to convert that and a load of other old VHS tapes I have…

Competition Freestyle gives you a huge 11 x 14 meters to ride in. This is larger than most stages. Was that what you were referring to? By next year we might have rules that allow you to go outside the box to get speed or otherwise as necessary, but we’ll probably stick with that size area.

The size of the performance area is set in Section 3.13 of the USA’s Official Competition Rulebook.

Maximum wheel size for competition is 24"

I just discovered that the maximum wheel size for participation in any NAUCC competition is 24". This is outlined in the rule book mentioned above. This should be clearly mentioned on the NAUCC websites. On the 2007 site, they have added it to the links page. I think it should be on the front page. To a lot of people on this board, this stuff may be obvious. It is not.

I was considering competing in the 10K, which at my current level of fitness I would only be able to do on my 29". So I guess I won’t. I wasn’t even planning to bring my 24".

I would suggest that anyone planning to compete look over the rule book to avoid any unfortunate surprises.

–tom

In past events, the 10K race has usually had at least two divisions: A division for unicycles meeting the 24" racing rules, and unlimited. The unlimited division has included all unicycles larger than 36" and, more recently, geared unicycles. I could not find any information on the registration forms or on the NAUCC 2007 Web site regarding different divisions for the 10K race this year. I’m sure Wendy or one of the other organizers will see your message and answer your question.

bigger than 36?

I think you meant “all unicycles larger than 24”

I’ve actually been chatting with them offline, but I think there is a bigger issue here that goes beyond this one event. I understand that NAUCC plus the website is a lot of work. And often thankless work at that. I run web server and email infrastructure for a living and work with content creators all the time.

I don’t want to be critical, but I shouldn’t have to ask basic questions like this for an event that is open to the general public. If there are 2 divisions, it should say so. If there are general requirements, they should be obvious. At least I should be aware that these requirements exist. How would I know to ask? I could find no such info on previous years web sites. Most of this should be “boilerplate” anyway, and tweaked as changes are made in subsequent years.

For those of you out there that host unicycling events, please don’t assume that people coming to your site are going to already know all these details unless you put them (or links to them) on your site. You can provide web links to details that the more experienced attendee would already know.
Having to dig around for this information can make otherwise welcoming events appear to be secret society meetings.

Please take these as suggestions and not a rant. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t say anything.

–tom

dang 14x11 seems really small to me. cuz like on coasts and stuf it usually takes me a good 20-30 feet just to build the speed. and by then id be almost out of bounds. steering coasts gets kidna hard for me. whatever though. when life gives you aids make lemonaids i guess.

oh and i jsut read the thing in there about objectioanl language in your music. does that mean if i use a song with cussing im disqualified, or can i use it?

Please come to the USA meeting on Saturday night at NAUCC and bring up this point. It sure is valid and needs to be addressed.

The Memphis contingent is up to 9. That includes 5 adults and 4 non-adults (is that politically correct?). That also includes 7 riders, one non-rider and one almost rider.

Sorry, you don’t qualify. Maybe you can organize your own party for young gimps who hurt themselves unicycling.

Seriously though, it will be good to see you again Jamey. I hope we get a chance to drink a beer or two together.

You’re absolutely right. I noticed that the PDF (mail-in) version of the registration form has lots more detail than the online one, but there is no indication of this in the site either, so how would you know? As always, the NAUCC organizing committee is probably understaffed, and doing their best. But it seems with the clubs who have a longer history of doing these, they tend to do things the “old” way (Redford hosted its first Nationals in 1981), with a sort of assumption that attendees have all done it before.

There is only one 10k event listed, grouped with all the others so it is not obvious whether there is an unlimited category planned. Oops. I’m sure it is, but I would definitely want to ask before lugging my Coker across the country.

For other things, like MUni racing, one can expect attendees to take an interest in the rules so they aren’t caught by surprise. But the way both registration forms are structured, it would also appear that 24" is the maximum size for the MUni events as well. The rulebook states that registration forms should be “approved by a representative of the USA Rules Committee” to make sure the form covers all the necessary things people may need to register for, such as different age categories for different artistic events. If this was done in 2007, their representative let them down. I’m sorry I didn’t take a closer look at it when the site was first announced, and point these things out. :frowning:

But your post brought up another issue that’s been looming. Our rulebook keeps getting bigger and more complicated over the years, and it’s nearly impossible for a new person to read through it and know exactly what they need, and what to do, to be fully prepared for each event. There are so many bits and pieces of necessary information scattered around in there that even we Rules Committee members often have to look things up to make sure we’re reporting them correctly. It probably needs to be restructured to keep related items closer together.

People have often talked of having “abridged” versions, but I have resisted because it would be a lot of work keeping both versions up to date with each other. We already have a similar but larger problem with the similarities and differences between the USA and IUF rulebooks. I’m trying to get it to where the parts that are supposed to be identical are linked so we don’t have to parallel-edit anymore.

It’s issues like the one above that would be good to discuss at the USA Annual Meeting. Discussion about specific rules and events is usually relegated to the Rules Committee itself, but this might involve more of a change in policy that has to happen at a higher level.

BTW, here’s another interesting bit of USA Rulebook information. Since late last year, the USA Rules Committee has been working on changes and updates to the rulebook. This is done using an online discussion forum where each new proposal is discussed, then voted upon. Sixteen new proposals have been passed* but there has been no followup. I created an updated version of the rulebook (which I have done most of the updates on for many years) containing the first fifteen of those passed proposals, but never heard back on it. As far as I know it has not been reviewed by more than a handful of people. What’s supposed to happen next is for the USA Executive Board to approve the final text to make it the new official set of rules. To my knowledge this hasn’t happened yet. Web site:
http://www.unicycling.org/usa/committee/rulebook/2007/

Some members of the USA Board may be annoyed at me for posting this here, but I already have an open email to all of them asking what’s going on the the world of USA and not a one has replied. So this member is not a happy camper. USA membership is no longer a choice, as you have to join to participate at NAUCC or to be a member of some of the larger unicycle clubs. This needs to be addressed at the USA Annual Meeting as well.

So what’s going to happen in terms of rules at NAUCC 2007? Big mystery. My guess is that the officials will want to use the new rules, even though there is no approved document where people can study them.

  • This includes the last proposal to be passed, which happened two months after all the other proposals and only received four votes (3:1). It is a massive change in the way Freestyle performances are judged. If you are training for a Freestyle performance, which set of judging rules are you basing it on? The ones in the rulebook, or the ones you don’t know about?

I don’t mean to stand in the way of progress. But at the same time, our progress shouldn’t step on the toes of competitors; especially the ones that are attending their first convention. “Knowing the right people” should not be a requirement of being prepared. Apparently I don’t know the right people, as I have no idea what’s going on within the USA.

I might offer to do a workshop to talk about conventions and competition stuff. I’ll get in touch with Wendy about that and to give her a head’s up on the rulebook thing, as I don’t think she’s a member of the USA Board.

Thanks for posting that, John. Quick question for you. In one of the discussions of proposed changes, the one regarding freestyle judging, you said: "“Categories are determined by both age and level of skill successfully performed in the routine (see chart).” This is not known until after the fact. I recommend changing it to “Categories are determined by both age and level of skill difficulty in the routine (see chart).”

Could you tell me where I could find that chart? Last NAUCC, my son Christopher, age 10, was one of the ones who got bumped to advanced after his initial routine. He had included a seat drag, coasting, and a couple of other things that were outside the intermediate category. It wasnt a big deal and Connie did an excellent job of explaining to him how and why it happened.

He signed up for advanced this year. He is level 7, but has at least 3 tricks from levels 8-10 in his artistic routine this year.

Jethro,

The only known charts are in the IUF Rulebook.
http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/

I think the bit about “successfully performed in the routine” applies to how the skills are judged. Naturally you don’t need to worry about skills the rider might have done, but didn’t manage to pull off in the routine. But the IUF doesn’t use the USA’s system of Freestyle categories. See section 3.2.2 for that. All of the text in that area relates to the existing judging criteria, and does not apply as well to the new stuff that may or may not be used this year.

As always, don’t worry too much about actual skill levels achieved or tricks one is able to do in relation to Freestyle category. Your difficulty level is only part of the overall performance.

I’ve got an email in to Wendy, as my only known contact person for NAUCC to give her a heads-up on this whole rules thing. I’ll keep everyone posted, either here or in a new thread dedicated just to NAUCC rules and events.

Thanks for your persistance, John.

UPDATES!

I’m posting updated information on competition events, venues, rules and race courses here:

Please read about that stuff there. Please try to keep that thread useful.