Rolling Trials Competition Results

::
_1ST_ANNUAL_HCR_INVITATIONAL_ROLLING_TRIALS_COMPET ITION::[/b]_

*_24”/26”_CLASS_:

_1st_Place__: [b]Frank Brown*
_2nd_Place_: *Wolfgang (Wogri)*
_3rd_Place__: *Bill Hamilton*

_36”_CLASS_:

_1st_Place__: *Nick Vadala (DigitalAttrition)*
_2nd_Place_: *Tim Braun*
_3rd_Place__: *Brian MacKenzie* (taken out early due to injury)

Many thanks to everyone who participated in the First Annual HCR
Invitational Rolling Trials Competition. Also, special thanks to Leeanne
MacKenzie and Allison Sanford for helping me set up the Sections and for
cleaning up afterward – I would never have been able to pull it off
without your help… and to Dave Lowell for lugging his computer and color
printer back and forth to Cleveland for me and letting me use it
extensively.

Although things were quite hectic for me regarding preparing the
competition (it was the first time I ever did anything like this),
everything seemed to come together and everyone seemed to have had a
really great time. Being that I didn’t have time to provide the
competitors with a formal “walk-through” of all the Sections prior to
the start of the competition, I intended to try and ensure that the
start and finish lines of the Sections (that weren’t very obvious) were
clearly understood by all competitors who wanted to attempt them.

I wound up tagging along with Nick Brazzi, Wolfgang (Wogri), Frank
Brown, and Bill Hamilton for most of the event. These guys were amazing!
I had incredible fun just watching them ride through my Sections.

I watched in amazement as Bill Hamilton nailed Section 18 (a fairly
difficult Section involving an uneven ramp with a nice dip that led to a
really narrow teeter-totter) like a Pro in spectacular fashion on his
1st attempt (he admitted to me that he had practiced the line earlier),
but it was still his first attempt during the competition and quite
impressive, nonetheless!

Frank Brown is an absolutely AMAZING (24”/26” class) Rolling Trials
competitor and proved to me that many Sections that I thought were only
doable on a 36”er were totally doable on the MUni (though he did admit
that there were a few potential Sections that he felt were only doable
on the 36er). I watched in awe as Frank cleaned Section #9 (the pyramid
ramp), blew through two fairly difficult Sections (#10 and #11) – with
skinnies and whoops – in a row, as if they were nothing and then
cleaned the bi-level ramp with the hollow step (Section #16)!

Wogri wasn’t too far behind Frank, and is also an incredible (24”/26”
class) Rolling Trials competitor. Wogri had to focus on NOT hopping, as
he missed a few attempts because of a hopping DQ… but he ultimately
cleaned those lines without any hops. Wogri said he really liked the
“flow” of Rolling Trials riding and thought that it could really help
riders develop their skills. One highlight of the competition was
watching Wogri finally conquer Section #19 (a difficult Section
involving a log pile and a swing bridge). On his first few attempts, he
kept missing the finish line by literally just a couple of inches (he
had to clear a big log on the other side of the swing bridge) due to
falling or hopping. I was really psyched to watch him finally roll the
entire line and earn the point.

While not at the level of Frank Brown or Wogri, Bill Hamilton and Nick
Brazzi are both excellent Rolling Trials riders and I really enjoyed
watching them ride as well. With a little more practice, I think they
will both be a serious force to be reckoned with! That was great when
you nailed the big teeter-totter, Nick!

Though I unfortunately didn’t have much time to spend with the 36”
riders (Brian MacKenzie, Tim Braun, and Nick Vadala), I was fortunate
enough to catch Tim nailing the tabletop jump on his Coker – great job,
Tim! Unfortuantely, as you all know, Brian got taken out of the
competition early, due to his injury!

ShadowUni showed up late and was unable to compete, but I did enjoy
watching him ride as well. I wish I had more time to ride with
ShadowUni, but I was too busy wrapping up the competition. Maybe we can
ride together at the skatepark in Philly sometime. That was a great
wheel walk on the Coker, Shadow!

In summary, I feel that the 1st Annual HCR Invitational Rolling Trials
Competition was a complete success and proved to me that Rolling Trials
is an extremely enjoyable form of competition not just for me… but for
everyone else who gave it a shot. Furthermore the competition proved
that the sport works great not just for 36” uni riders, but for any
rider on a 24” wheel uni or bigger (there was a pretty skillful 20”
wheel uni rider who tagged along with the 24” guys and couldn’t get up
many of the ramps, despite excellent attempts… so I really don’t think
the sport would work too well for 20” riders). I truly believe that the
majority of people who try it will agree that Rolling Trials is a great
new form of competitive unicycling. I encourage everyone to give it a
try and/or attend an event. I will plan the 2nd Annual HCR Invitational
so that it doesn’t conflict with any other events. I hope to see you
there…


--
HardcoreCokerRider - Skateparks, MTB & Urban Insanity
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pics?


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Andrew, when are you going to be in Philly? I'd like to go for a ride
again.

The walkthrough was a good idea, it helped me understand what I had to
do, and I really had no questions after it.

All in all, this was a great competition. I definately believe that
rolling trials has the potential to be a new form of unicycling. It is
certainly challenging enough. Also, the terrain at Ray's forced the
riders to do things and make lines they thought they couldn't do, which
was the best part in my opinion. I will attend the next annual
competition. Thanks a lot for the certificate, I have it hanging above
my desk.

pics?


Sure, right he 'http://gallery.unicyclist.com/album470' (http://)


--
digitalattrition - Single Wheeled Attack Team

And Shepherds we shall be, for thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath
descended forth from Thy hand, our feet may swiftly carry out Thy
commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, and teeming with souls
shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sanct.

Main Men: Kevin, Tim, Dijohn, Joe, Jim, Bevan

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digitalattrition wrote:
*Andrew, when are you going to be in Philly? I'd like to go for a ride
again.

The walkthrough was a good idea, it helped me understand what I had to
do, and I really had no questions after it.

All in all, this was a great competition. I definately believe that
rolling trials has the potential to be a new form of unicycling. It
is certainly challenging enough. Also, the terrain at Ray's forced
the riders to do things and make lines they thought they couldn't do,
which was the best part in my opinion. I will attend the next annual
competition. Thanks a lot for the certificate, I have it hanging
above my desk.*

Thanks a lot, Nick... and congratulations on winning the competition and
becoming the standing 36" Rolling Trials Champion! I was psyched that
you were able to pull off Sections and Lines that you thought you
couldn't make... I only wish I could have had the time to watch you ride
and ride with you more... I was kind of preoccupied with the 24"/26"
guys because I was really curious as to what could and could not be done
on that size uni as compared to the 36" size (which I already have
experience riding and first-hand knowledge of) so that I could gauge the
potential of the sport on that wheel size. I'm really happy that you
like the certificate... I hope it becomes really meaningful due to the
sport gaining momentum worldwide and becoming really popular... then it
will be REALLY cool to have won the 1st competition and earned the
certificate - I just hope you don't auction it off on Ebay if that does
happen (just kidding )!

I haven't made any definitive plans to go to Philly, yet... but I would
like to get there sometime in the next month or so because the place is
awesome! The only problem with it is that it gets real crowded and it's
real easy to get in the way of a (fast moving) bicyclist (or vica
versa). It is possible, however, to rent the whole place out for $99.00
(which includes 5 riders... each additional rider is only $5), so if we
got 5 riders to go, it would be only $20.00 for two hours (and $5
additional per person for an additional 2 hours if we wanted).... which
would be awesome because we wouldn't have to worry about getting in
anyone's way. More info on rentals available at:
http://www.xgamesskatepark.com/phillybirthdays.html
Maybe we can get Shadow and a couple of members of SWAT to go so we can
rent the place! It would be great to ride with you and those guys!


--
HardcoreCokerRider - Skateparks, MTB & Urban Insanity
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Well, Shadow (Nick DiJohn) is in SWAT, and 5 of the 6 SWAT members
(Nick, Jim, Tim, Joe, and myself) all live within the immidiate
Philadelphia area, so we could do that. I will talk to the guys and see
if they want to do that.


--
digitalattrition - Single Wheeled Attack Team

And Shepherds we shall be, for thee, my Lord, for thee. Power hath
descended forth from Thy hand, our feet may swiftly carry out Thy
commands. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, and teeming with souls
shall it ever be. In Nomeni Patri Et Fili Spiritus Sanct.

Main Men: Kevin, Tim, Dijohn, Joe, Jim, Bevan

http://gallery.unicyclist.com/SWAT
http://singlewheeledattackteam.1hwy.com
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HardcoreCokerRider wrote:
*Maybe we can get Shadow and a couple of members of SWAT to go so we
can rent the place! It would be great to ride with you and those guys!
*



You should wait until I come home for summer. The I'd be game.


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him, and came here because of him" - KJ-52

"try not to annoy the great Obie, for he is better than us." - Murde
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5 dollars? 2 hours? let's rent out the whole damn thing again for thne
whole time, just like this weekend! Make it 5.5 hours of awesomeness

I'm game whenever. mid-end mar? We can get a bunch more filming done
as well, when not having dto deal with all the 'official' rollingtrials
stuff.

HCR may be a great rider, but watching him lay yellow tape down is
pretty boring


--
Brian MacKenzie - LAN Solo

TRAINING WHEEL NOT REQUIRED:
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Canadian Premiere is at UWO, London Ontario, Feb 27th. Group MUni rides
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Congrats Frank for representing Hell on Wheel and completely dominating!
And good job to everyone else too.


--
muniracer - Hell On Wheel

The Hell on Wheel Unicycle Gang owns you!!

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HardcoreCokerRider wrote:
*::
_1st_Annual_HCR_Invitational_Rolling_Trials_Compet ition::*_
I watched in amazement as Bill Hamilton nailed Section 18 (a fairly
difficult Section involving an uneven ramp with a nice dip that led to
a really narrow teeter-totter) like a Pro in spectacular fashion on
his 1st attempt (he admitted to me that he had practiced the line
earlier), but it was still his first attempt during the competition
and quite impressive, nonetheless!



Aw, shucks. Thanks!

Andrew - Fun competition and a great concept. It requires a different
type of riding and approach which I found enjoyable. I hope more events
will have rolling trials and the concept will grow.

Frank, Wolfgang and Nick - It was fun to ride/compete with you. I knew
I could keep up with you on the easy stuff, but as it got harder, you
pulled ahead as expected. Riding with you guys helped lift my riding to
a little higher level. Good times!

Bill


--
billham

Starting a local unicycle club! Averaging 20 riders for our weekly
practices.
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billham wrote:
*
Frank, Wolfgang and Nick - It was fun to ride/compete with you. I
knew I could keep up with you on the easy stuff, but as it got harder,
you pulled ahead as expected. Riding with you guys helped lift my
riding to a little higher level. Good times!
*


Bill, I think at least I didn't pull ahead of you; In my opinion we were
doing pretty equal. I'm still not an experienced rider, I got my first
unicycle 9 months ago, and there's still much to learn for me (for
example to reach the speed and stability frank can reach on a uni).

But hey, this was a great time, and my 'second place' certificate shines
from the edge of my table.

Unfortunately my internship ends in about a month, and I guess I won't
be there for next year. BUT (as another Austrian already said): I' ll be
back!

Wolfgang


--
wogri - Austrian American

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