Another successfull NZUni weekend took place over the last few days and
there was a lot of fun had by the few dozen unicyclists who attended.
A full write up will probably turn up once people have had a chance to
catch up on the many hours of missed sleep.
Here are a few of my personal highlights and observations:
* Watching Joe Dyson and Peter Van Boekhout battle for first place in
high jump. This was a very nice change from it being a battle between
Tony and myself. Joe and Peter both used the forward rolling hop
technique and Joe set a new NZ record with 80cm.
* Peter VB won the long jump with a very impressive 2.45cm, blasting
the old record out of the water by 47cm. The level of ability in both
high and long jump was much higher than in previous years, in part due
to the increasing popularity of trials riding in NZ.
* Going on a trials ride with more than 20 riders. This was by far the
largest group I have ever been trials riding with. All levels of
ability were represented and Wellington boasts enough variety that
everyone could find something to challenge their ability. My personal
favourite was a sequence of 6 park benches, all in a row and all about
1 metre apart. It took me the best part of half an hour to nail
getting on the first one, along all of them and off the last one.
Around me people were going much bigger but I felt very satisfied.
* Seeing more females getting involved. NZ unicycling has been male
dominated for a while and it is nice to see a growing number of female
riders who are as keen and in many cases gutsier than the guys.
* Finding out that my age (aka experience) and extra weight do actually
help occasionally rather than hinder. I can still take anybody down in
unicycle sumo :-) (Even if my clothes don't survive the experience
very well).
* Watching people pick up new high level skills in just one weekend. I
saw people learning all kinds of stuff on the BC wheel, pulling off
seat drag in back, unispins, new mounts and a ton of other freestyle
stuff.
I'm looking forward to seeing just how much everyone improves over the
next year.
Peter
It was fantastic to see the number of relatively new riders who came
along and took part in everything. The next generation of NZ
unicyclists are really pushing their boundaries and picking up skills
fast. Several riders have developed to world class level in just the
last year and there are plenty more well on their way.
--
peter.bier
-Peter Bier
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