NAUCC 2004 MUni, road race events to be held at 2002 Olympic Winter Games venue

Folks,

Soldier Hollow has been selected as the venue for MUni events at the
2004 North American Unicycling Championships and Convention (NAUCC 2004)
on Sunday, July 18.

Soldier Hollow was the venue for cross-country skiing and biathlon
events during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. It is located at 2002
Olympic Drive in Midway, Utah. Soldier Hollow is about 20 minutes south
of Park City; is about a one-hour drive from the Salt Lake City area.

Due to the lack of suitable large hills at Soldier Hollow, the planned
MUni downhill event on Sunday, July 18 has been cancelled.

A 10k race utilizing paved trails at Soldier Hollow has been added to
the preliminary schedule on Sunday, July 18.

In order to minimize driving times and to take advantage of superior
facilities, the location of the closing dinner and awards ceremony on
Sunday, July 18 has been moved to Soldier Hollow.

The NAUCC 2004 Web site has been updated with the above information.
Please visit http://home.earthlink.net/~naucc/ for links to the Soldier
Hollow Web site that include maps and driving directions.


Tom Daniels
President, Unicycling Society of America, Inc.


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tadaniels wrote:
Due to the lack of suitable large hills at Soldier Hollow, the planned
MUni downhill event on Sunday, July 18 has been cancelled.


Why not consider places such as the following, which appear to be very
promising for some really great Muni trails, and all seem to be just
close enough to Salt Lake City?

Joe

http://tinyurl.com/yq6ox

http://tinyurl.com/2mcky

http://tinyurl.com/27q5h(A.K.A.,8000,Foot,Trail)/PRD_173543_4583crx.aspx


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Joe,

We have exhausted other possibilities for MUni venues that would have
accomodated a downhill event. Rolf Thompson and Carol Bricker have been
searching for suitable MUni venues since January.

We were turned down by every ski resort in the greater SLC area. The ski
resorts make money in the summer running mountain biking centers. The
unfortunate truth is that our event is currently too small for them to
consider closing all or part of their facilities to the general public
for a day (especially a Sunday).

The Forrest Service was very reluctant to let us schedule events on
land they control. They control all of the non-private land in the
greater SLC area. They said that their reluctance was due to perceived
overuse of the trail system by mountian bikers and hikers and the
perceived potential damage we would cause to the ecosystem. They also
told us that they will be conducting maintenance programs on many of the
popular trails in the greater SLC area during the period when we will be
running our event.

We are commited to holding the North American championship MUni events
at Soldier Hollow. We are very appreciative for the warm reception we
have received from the staff at Soldier Hollow and believe that our
riders will be impressed by their facilities. The only thing they can't
offer us is any appreciable vertical drop.


Tom Daniels


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[i]
Originally posted by tadanielsThe Forrest Service was very
reluctant to let us schedule events on land they control.

Thanks Tom,
Wow, that's too bad! It was the presence of all these great trails that
was enticing me to come to Salt Lake. I suppose we could just show up
and go on informal group rides on any of these established mountain bike
trails though, on say, Friday or Saturday, if anyone is interested.
(I'm not talking about the ski-lift variety, but rather any of the
numerous big single track trails in the vicinity. Don't get me wrong.
I do understand the issues that you guys must be up against in getting
clearance for an authorized event. However, I'm not going to take time
off from work and spend a lot of money to fly to Utah to ride on a bunny
slope

Can anyone describe the Soldier Hollow terrain? No offense but it
sounds like rolling cross country, which would be pretty boring for
anyone interested in trials.

We are commited to holding the North American championship MUni
events at Soldier Hollow. We are very appreciative for the warm
reception we have received from the staff at Soldier Hollow and
believe that our riders will be impressed by their facilities. The
only thing they can't offer us is any appreciable vertical drop.


Are there lots of rocks, gaps, roots logs, and gnarly terrain? Are
there any pictures? Is Rolf in charge of the trials competition? will
there be a trials competition?

Please don't take this the wrong way. I'm not criticizing. I just need
to know what the terrain is like before I commit time and money for the
trip.

Thanks!

Joe


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Bump.


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Joe,

The soldier Hollow facility was built to hold the cross-country skiing
and biathlon events for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Most of the
trails could best be described as you said: Rolling cross-country. The
advanced trails are more steep and challenging. A map showing the trail
system may be found on the Soldier Hollow Web site. This site is may be
reached from links on the NAUCC 2004 Web site.

One of the problems we face as organizers of such a large event is that
we can never please all of the people all of the time. When trying to
find suitable venues for our MUni events, we have to consider the skill
levels of the majority of our members. Nowhere was this more evident
than at the 2002 North American championship event. The venue owners had
established a spectacular downhill course full of steep single track,
rocks, etc. The problem was that less than one percent of our potential
riders would have been able to get down the course (never mind race).

As you can see on the NAUCC 2004 preliminary schedule, there will be
MUni, "fun rides," every day (except Sunday, July 18 during the MUni
events) hosted by SLC-area riders. These, "fun rides," have been
extreemly popular for the past several years. They are generally aimed
at the more hard core MUni riders and usually vist challenging
trails.

I do not have pictures of Soldier Hollow in the warm weather (i.e., when
it isn't covered in snow). I plan to travel to SLC sometime in May to
take pictures of Soldier Hollow and the other venues for posting on the
NAUCC 2004 Web site.

The answers to your other questions ("Is Rolf in charge of the trials
competition?" - yes, and, "Will there be a trials competition?" - yes)
may be found on the NAUCC 2004 Web site.


Tom Daniels


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Tom,

Sounds great. Makes total sense. Thank you for your answers!

Joe


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Merrill,
There's a big difference between showing up and riding on a trail and
*asking permission in advance* to hold a *race* there. That's the
problem, as I'm sure you've come to realize. For group rides, the ski
resorts and other local trails will probably be wide open to our
informal use. I hope to get out onto some of them.

Someday the California MUni Weekend will have to go a similar route with
the trails we use. Right now we're pushing the limits of what's
acceptable for "just showing up" with 60 or more riders...


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taste out of my mouth." -- Ryan Atkins to Kris Holm, on the way back
from Moab after sampling some of my pork rinds. They grossed out the
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