1998 National Unicycle Convention Report - Day 1
by Craig Milo Rogers
Friday, 17-Jul-1998, was the first day of the Unicycling
Society of America's 1998 National Unicycle Convention, in Monrovia,
California (a suburb of Los Angeles).
Having the NUC in (or near, to be more exact) my hometown
worked against me in unexpected ways. I couldn't make a clean break
from my daily job, I felt less pressure to meet a packing deadline,
etc., so, well, I missed the MUni and the unicycle hockey
demonstration.
The MUni was down the Mt. Wilson Toll Road.
That's a dirt road (and, no, they no longer collect a toll to use it),
about 10 miles long, with an elevation drop of about 4500'. The day
was hot and smoggy along the San Gabriel mountains, and one
participant reacted so severely to the heat and/or air quality that a
trip to the hospital was required. Good news, though: he was back at
the NUC by the evening workshops.
The unicycle hockey demonstration was held adjacent to the old
Monrovia downtown shopping street, which has been taken over by the
Monrovia Family Fair, a multi-block street fair and farmer's market.
The demonstration was over when I arrived, and again, the heat was
cited as a concern. The street fair was quite nice, by the way, and
well worth the visit. It is held every Friday except in January and February.
Andy Cotter and Dana Schneider gave a press interview and
photo op while I was there.
At 1900 the NUC moved to the local YMCA, which will be the
site of most of the artistic competitions. It has the usual double
basketball court, but there's *very* limited seating in the room.
Workshops were held there, in a multipurpose room, and outside; I
attended John Foss' MUni workshop. We had some fun on a grass
hillside, and on a (very small-scale) skateboard exercise area.
Check-in was at the Monrovia Holiday Inn. It was very
efficient and friendly, and the hotel, where most of the out-of-town
NUC participants are staying, I imagine, seemed very well appointed.
The different event venues are spread out over a few miles.
This is very different from the usual NUC, in my (relatively limited)
experience. I haven't asked about public transportation to get from
one place to another; I'll try to report on the topic tomorrow.
It was nice seeing many of the people that I see only at
NUCs, although I suspect that not everyone has arrived yet. Quite a
few people have made the trip from the Midwest to California, and
we'll all have a lot of fun together, I'm sure.
Well, that's it for day one of news from the 1998 USA NUC.
|
