Let me preface my remarks with the following… I have only
been involved in one trials event, Motorama 2004. That event
used the U system. Joe Merrill, event organizer had Kris
Holms (U system creator) there to help with set up and to
offer guidance. I have great respect and admiration for each
of these men for the uni skills and event organizing
knowledge they brought to this event. I have also read the
standard trials event system that is used for bicycle trials
events. These are way too difficult and complex in my book.
It might be that my lack of experience in this event gives
me a fresh look at it. OR, maybe I am missing some critical
points due to my inexperience. Thus a post for your thoughts
and ideas!
Someone help me here, I lost the link to Kris' U system
description. Please post the link for those unfamiliar with
the U system.
I have been thinking more about the U system for trials. I
think one of the strong points of this system is the
simplicity of it. Easier to judge and to score. At Motorama
this past spring it worked very well. The main point of
this post is…If it’s a better system because it is simpler,
why not make it even simpler? I really liked the overall
system and have a few ideas that might make it easier to
use. One of my main concerns with the U system is that it
takes a very knowledgable person to establish the point
value for each section. In my opinion, that makes it harder
for event organizers to use it. If it was simpler, it would
be easier for someone to put together a uni trials event,
thus it would be more likely to be done. In keeping with
the simpler version thinking I have the following thoughts
for your comments.
OPTION # 1 (the ultimate in simplicity?) Don’t assign
difficulty ratings or points to each section. Just have
numbered identification for each section. Scoring is done by
showing a point for each section completed.
Advantages:
1. Easiest to set up, requires less time for rating and
more time is available for setting up and building
the sections.
2. Beginning riders don’t have as great a gap between
their scores and the top rider scores. This may help to
encourage the newbies.
3. Quick and easy tallying of scores at the end of an
event. Less room for math errors and easier to verify
the total score.
Disadvantages:
4. Top riders don’t get to rack up mega scores. May not
look as impressive.
5. It’s harder for spectators to know which sections are
the highest difficulty.
6. It might be easier for the people setting up the course
to overlook some key skills.
OPTION # 2 (slighty more involved that # 1) Assign U system
difficulty ratings to each section. This rating would then
become the point value of the section. For example, a U4
difficulty section would be worth 4 points, U5 worth 5
points, etc.
Advantages:
7. Would be more useful in showing the difficulty of the
sections in an event, especially if signs were posted
that spectators could see.
8. Would also give riders a sense of the difficulty level
they can ride.
9. Closer attention to the U system levels would help
create a more balanced course, all the skills would
have a better chance of being included at each level.
Disadvantages:
10. It would be harder to set up the course for the
organizer of the event. Takes more knowledge of
uni trials.
11. This would require a well defined description of
each U level.
One last idea.. In case of a tie score for first place I
think it would be a great idea to have a ride off. A
strength of the U system is that the time used for the event
can be controlled very precisely. That allows the organizers
to allow time at the end if needed for a ride off to break a
tie. A ride off would be a great event for spectators as the
top riders fight for the top spot! Each of the riders picks
two sections to attempt (strategy and drama here!) Then each
rider gets 3 attempts to complete each section. If both
riders complete a section, then the one doing it in least
attempts wins that section. I think it would be a lot of fun
to watch a ride off as a spectator and it gives additional
exposure to the top riders. It might even be fun to do this
with the top 3 or 4 riders even if there wasn’t a tie. A
rider challenge just for the fun of it and to give the top
riders a victory lap.
Again, I feel the U system is a good one. But it is young
and still getting established. I hope my $.02 worth of ideas
might help make it a little better.
Bill
[B]
--
billham
Direction is everything, distance is secondary.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
billham's Profile: unicyclist.com4625Open ↗
View this thread: unicyclist.com31759Open ↗