The 10^th World Unicycling Championships and Convention

UNICON X as I Saw It
by Alberto Ruiz

Introduction Racing Hotel and Amenities Basketball

Photo Galleries John Foss' Gallery Javier Ruiz's Gallery Sarah Miller's Gallery

Introduction

UNICON X (UX), which was held in Beijing China during August, 2000 was an extraordinary event.

The Chinese hosts invested a large amount of money and energy to make possible a very complex event. Over 400 overseas competitors, maybe the greatest collective unicycling talent ever assembled, invested nearly US$1,000,000 of their own (or their sponsors) money just to participate.

The event planning team was a truly global adventure. People in Germany, the United Kingdom, the USA, Puerto Rico, Japan, Hong Kong, and mainland China coordinated their efforts. This team speaks at least 5 different vernacular languages. Then you have all the different team leaders that worked hard organizing each team.

To complicate matters even further, the IUF, as part of its strategic plan, had decided to hold the event in China, a country with no previous experience running UNICONs. There was the possibility that the lack of experience could create problems. And there were problems, but they were solved.

The result was an excellent UNICON. For the first time ever, all events were held. There was a lot of socializing between the different delegations, and most people had a great time.

I am a lucky person. I was the IUF President, the coordinator of basketball, and the leader of the Puerto Rican team. I want to thank, and am proud of, all the individuals that worked so hard to make the first 10 days of August, 2000, a highlight in the life of most of us.

I hope that you all get a chance to attend UXI to be held in July or August, 2002 at North Bend, Washington, USA, in the Seattle area.

Racing

Once again, racing proved to be a great attraction. Whether horse racing or traditional racing on foot, humanity has always found it very exciting. Unicycling garners all the enthusiasm of those races, with the added risk of falling because you exceeded your limits.

At UX, racing was a long, time-consuming activity. There are many events and many categories that result in many tired officials and complicated schedules. I have mixed feelings about that.

We have received many complaints that so many categories, and so many competitors from the same country in the same race, detracts from a World Championship.

But we must remember that the reason why there were so many Chinese and Japanese in the races is because they did a better job of training. They dominated most of the racing events because they are faster. Some of those competitors came to UX mainly to race. So, I will take the easy way out and not take a position now.

Maybe that is the price of success. Everyone likes to compete internationally at UNICONs. So, I am not yet taking sides on whether or not we should limit racing. The IUF may consider it in the future.

There were many great races. The times were impressive taking into consideration that it was a slow track. Professional track people were in charge of running the races. They had some good equipment to measure time. John Foss was the Chief Referee. Traditional track persons usually have problems with the start of the races. John did a good job of explaining it to them. They did a good job.

Most complains were in the special races. We really must run that ourselves.

There were some problems at the finish line. The track people had suggested that we use some side numbers so that the computer could better identify the riders. It was not done, resulting in several claims. John set up a claims mechanism. Results were posted. That in itself was quite a job. The Results List covered just about all the walls of the lobby. Then John gave a deadline to file claims. He investigated and awarded the claims that were filed.

We must congratulate John Foss and the track people. For the first time (I believe) ever, all the events were actually run, and were actually finished on time, allowing everybody to attend the anticipated Tiananmen Square activity.

We should gain experience from every UNICON event. We must realize that something may work today, but we can still find a better way tomorrow. In this spirit, my suggestions for UNICON XI is that we can use experienced track people, but we must improve our communication with them prior to the event.

We must also make team leaders responsible for their competitors being ready when and where they are supposed to be. Announcements are only an added courtesy that we should keep doing, but it cannot transfer the responsibility from the team leader and/or competitor to the announcer. After all, we all know that 12 comes after 10. And 14 follows, etc. The team leader must realize that mispronunciation of names will occur.

Hotel and Amenities

The Jing Yan Hotel was the main hotel for UX. Most rooms were in a sorry state as it was been remodeled. The host had a second, more luxurious hotel a short distance away. Why, then, did almost everybody decided to stay at the Ying Jan.

Location. It was across the street from the sports facilities.

Price. Started from US$23 per night for a room with three beds and a private bath. That is less than US$8 per person per night.

Olympic Village. There was a real Olympic Village atmosphere at the hotel. They allowed us to ride unis in the lobby. They were very understanding of all unicycling activities. By the end of the week, there were UX results, memos, and schedules on just about every wall and column of the lobby. UX participants could meet anyplace at anytime. The meeting rooms were right at the hotel as was the dining rooms. I had never seen so much interaction between people from different nationalities as in UX. The rooms of the hotel did not meet the expectations of many persons, but the hotel did contribute to the camaraderie of the unicycling community that ruled in that part of Beijing that week in August.

Food. Good but definitely Chinese. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The nearby McDonald's received lots of business even from usual Big Mac haters. I liked the food, but people who are accustomed to Western food need a periodic relief. A Western breakfast alternative would have been a good idea. I still believe that the bones of the chicken haha that we were served at the Great Wall lunch were smaller than any chicken bone that I had ever seen.

Tiananmen Square Ride. I was impressed. They had a whole subway train reserved for us. There was a failed attempt to do some type of shows featuring small groups. Most riders wanted to share with each other, take thousand of photos and videos. And make the lines of riders interlocking arms. There were so many riders that they had to make at least three lines. We rode forward and then backwards at least 10 meters. I don't know how Andy was able to organize all of us, but he did. After the event, they took our unis back so that we could stay downtown and do some serious bargaining for souvenirs at the backstreets of downtown Beijing.

Great Wall. An optional trip that almost everybody attended. A long bus ride out of the city into the mountains, the Great Wall looked like a giant snake, or dragon, joining all the mountain tops. There were two ways up to the Wall. You could walk or you could take a cable car. I took the cable car. (OK, I am lazy). Once up there we enjoyed the great view. And we could ride on our unicycles. There was a third alternative to come down the wall, a giant slide. I took it, and boy that was fun.

Forbidden City. Another optional trip. Very impressive group of palaces right next to Tiananmen Square in downtown Beijing. To appreciate it you must read Chinese history and understand the role it played in separating the emperors and its close group from the people, and you must see some pictures.

Farewell Party. Another great success. We had a great farewell party in Puerto Rico in 1988 and there was a great one in Minnesota in 1994. I saw more intermingling of nationalities in this party than ever before. For the future UNICONs, we should not schedule anything else during the Farewell Party, no award ceremony and no workshop. Let it be a party.

Cheaper Cheaper. Part of the folklore. Everywhere you go, there are hundred of street peddlers offering their souvenirs. You could buy real a Rolex watch with real diamonds for US$3.75, after a starting price of US$30. Post cards for 6 cents each and T-Shirts with a theme printed for US$1.00. I normally don't feel comfortable in that type of situation, but in China it was fun. The peddlers never got angry and the prices were good. So, for those of you that received souvenirs from China, the person that gave it to you did not pay as much as s(he) told you, except maybe in extra luggage.

Basketball

The planning of the basketball tournament started way before we got to Beijing. There were at least three teams that were training hard and raising lots of money just to be able to compete in this tournament. We needed, and got, the assurance of the organizers that basketball would be considered an important event.

Hockey had a similar situation. So, Rolf Sanders and I (Alberto) communicated pre-UNICON to split the assigned time between hockey and basketball. Rolf encountered some technical problems, not of his own doing, that delayed the start of hockey, affecting basketball in two ways, both positive.

Basketball got 17 teams, more than expected, and we got an extra night to play games.

There were teams that attended UX exclusively or primarily for basketball. There were teams that had never played basketball in unicycles and saw UX as a unique opportunity to try it. There were some teams that had good riders and good basketball players, but had never put them both together. There were teams made up by (obviously because of their physical game) hockey players. And there were the Japanese princesses.

We were glad to have them all. To be fair, we split the 17 teams into 4 groups, including 8 seeds. Each group played a round robin so that every team would play at least three or four games. The top two finishers would go on to quarterfinals. Except for the first night, we were able to post the starting time of each game and kept very close to the schedule. So, players did not really have to stay all that long. Many of them did anyway and they were glad they did.

The Japanese B team consisted of some very young (and small) female players who were excellent riders and had played some basketball. The pre-game practice drill would include some stand-up gliding penetration so they could be closer to the basket and reach it. They were also very fast and extremely enthusiastic. Their opponents usually were twice their size. They showed some amazing unicycling skills, score some great baskets, and actually won a game. Typically, they would zoom in past an opposing player, steal the ball, turn around and say "Sorry . . . !".

The Chinese team showed an excellent, fast, well-coached team. Most of the players were quite small. In a very exciting game, they lost the bronze medal by one point to the USA.

The USA tied with European United for the bronze medal. The USA featured the tallest team, some excellent players who are top riders. Once they can practice together they will be a tough team to contend. European United had some tough players who obviously had played together and followed a system.

The finals were between the Semcycle team, that was the reigning World Champions, and Puerto Rico. At half-time, Semcycle was ahead by two points, but Puerto Rico came from behind to win a close, tough match. There were lots of chanting fans by the end of the game.

The success of basketball at UX will raise the skill level for future UNICONs. Semcycle wants a rematch with Puerto Rico and said that they will practice weekly to recapture the title. Puerto Rico knows that it must improve to keep its title. The Chinese will grow, and their lack of size seemed to be their only weakness. Team USA, centered around some Minnesota riders, can be a serious contender. I suspect that we will be seeing a European League in the future. The Japanese girls may be able to teach their male counterparts. And, who knows, we might see some rapid improvement from some of those teams that just wanted to try basketball and liked it.

I would like to thank all the people that helped to manage the tournament, including the three Abrahams brothers, Charles Perez, some of the other Semcycle and Puerto Rico players, the Chinese manager of the gym, and the Chinese translators, Ping Ping and Jane Sue. But, especially I want to thank the over 100 riders who participated in what probably was the largest basketball in unicycle tournament ever.