Excellent and interesting discussion!
I have to echo the sentiments of Kris with regard to the fact that I too
don't believe the top ranking riders at previous events would have
changed had one of these options been used. When I have some free time
I'll take a look at both the 2003 & 2004 TOque games scores and see what
would have happened.
As to the question of whether a rider should spend all her time working
on a hard problem worth more points (by the current system) or attempt
many easier sections ... that is clearly up to the rider and the
strategy she uses.
I believe a rider going only for the hardest problems is still
displaying all around skill. Those hard lines typically require a number
of the basic trials skills in order to complete them successfully.
One issue that I do think that has to be addressed is that of ties. The
2003 and 2004 TOque Games both had ties for top spot in the expert
category and the sport category had multiple ties aswell. There was a
tie for top expert spot at Motorama. It's great that we have the option
of a tie breaker line or PRS (which I think is a great idea), but out of
the 5 or so trials events that I know of (2003/2004 TOque, Unicon, 2003
NAUCC, 2004 Motorama) that have used the u-rating system 3 of them have
had ties and typically the top riders completed all the lines.
Competitions need to be setup so that ties don't happen at the majority
of events. Either more lines need to be setup or lines have to more
difficult or idealy both.
One observation I've made about course and line setup is that it's the
top riders that typically do the setup and rate the lines. While I'm
sure every intention is made by those individuals to create difficult
lines, subconsciously I would guess that they are relatively confident
that they will be able to pull the line off.
At this years TOque games I was almost positive that we would not have a
tie for first in the expert category due to the fact that we split the
classes up which allowed us to create more difficult problems for the
experts. But alas, I was wrong. With just seconds to spare Ryan
completed the last line which Kris had cleared just minutes earlier.
That being said I think the addition of some hard lines would have made
all the difference. I think one of the goal trials organizers should aim
for is having more lines setup that can be humanly completed in the
alotted time.
Now that there are some trials events outside of the Unicon and NAUCC
circle we really have the chance to try different systems and ideas.
Carl
Just wait for TOque Games 2005!!
--
muni_guy - Carl Hoyer
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