Highjump on plattform part 2 (Closed for comments)
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Started
Saturday Scott and me did the first highjump on plattform competition following the new rules while EUC Winter Edition 2015 in Cologne/Germany. All over it went out very good and we can congratulate Pierre Sturny and Nelly Otte for their World record jumps (136 and 75cm).
While doing the competition we figured out some things that could be improved maybe.
1. the time of 5 seconds is to long and not needed. 3 seonds is a perfect and long enough time window to make sure that a rider land his jump clean
2. several riders complain about the plattform size of 1x1meter for two reasons. The markings on the pallets (which are 120cm wide so we place marks on 100cm) seems to block them / confuse them as they see the typical pallet stack but with marks on it. They report that it provide some psychologic negative influence to not only tatget the hight. The other point was the 1 meter length which seems to be way to short for rolling jump at a high level as it is to short to handle the energy once they landed. So we see riders that manage the hight and also land clean but behind the 1 meter mark. This provide a bad feeling because they are able to jump on the plattform at least but their jump don't count. Seems that a dimension of 120x160cm (w / l) would be a perfect size to make a maximum hight possible. This would be 2 stacks of Euro Pallets. A compromise could be to recomend 120x160cm and define a minimum plattform of 120x120cm.
3. The pallet stack we use was covered with a solid wooden plate also in front of it and this was a very good setup as the riders dont stuck in the pallets with their pedals / cranks when their attempt failed. So I would like to implement that up from 4 or 5 pallets the top 5 (or 4) pallets must be covered also by a wooden plate. I will provide a pic / video soon.
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Yaay for 3 seconds! That's what we started with, back in the origin days of Jumps events. Actually it dates back even further, to the (unwritten) rules of Unicycle Sumo as my friends and I used to play it. :-)
For platform size, I don't know if I understand the problem but if it was a problem of depth, as in riders coming in fast and going off the back end of the platform, I would allow more space for that. To me it's more about making the height and less about fitting the landing to a small spot. The width should be enough for people to feel "safe" but the depth should be enough for fast riders to stop on.
Also the front board idea sounds very sensible, and easy to do.
Comment
I'm definitely in favor of the 3 seconds instead of 5. I also agree we should change the dimensions to match a pallet size, especially if the riders are going off the back of the top surface when their rolling hops are too feisty. I support the idea of the front board, but I am not sure it needs to be in the rules.
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After testing the competition in real life with Olaf at EUC I definitely think the front board should be required. When riders miss the height, they often go sliding down the front of the platform. Having the board there helps to minimize the injuries.