Quote from: 2flat2furious on February 21, 2011, 06:21:00 AMQuote from: bhaverchuck on February 21, 2011, 06:17:12 AMSpeaking of progression, when was the last time a North American am turned pro? Simply just a question and not a debate who needs to move up. Justin Miller I think. Pro is a COMPLETELY different animal and nobody wants to be bumped up to get last place. It's really a hard decision to make and you have to have a sh*tload of time to get and stay dialed to ride against people who make it their living to whip your ass.Agreed. It was a question that popped up during a phone conversation earlier today and neither one of us couldn't remember the last rider to move up. The pro class will continue to dwindle down if its taking over five years for a rider to move up. Topic at hand. I feel the need for vet class if it promotes greater contest participation. ~jm
Quote from: bhaverchuck on February 21, 2011, 06:17:12 AMSpeaking of progression, when was the last time a North American am turned pro? Simply just a question and not a debate who needs to move up. Justin Miller I think. Pro is a COMPLETELY different animal and nobody wants to be bumped up to get last place. It's really a hard decision to make and you have to have a sh*tload of time to get and stay dialed to ride against people who make it their living to whip your ass.
Speaking of progression, when was the last time a North American am turned pro? Simply just a question and not a debate who needs to move up.
Quote from: bhaverchuck on February 21, 2011, 06:40:59 AMAgreed. It was a question that popped up during a phone conversation earlier today and neither one of us couldn't remember the last rider to move up. The pro class will continue to dwindle down if its taking over five years for a rider to move up. Topic at hand. I feel the need for vet class if it promotes greater contest participation. ~jmThe last person in Europe that did it was Matthias. Riders capable of riding pro only come around once in a blue moon. If I hadn't had every single dumb f*cking thing that could possibly go wrong with my body in the last few years, and didn't ride at the roughest spot on earth, I'd give it a go. Ain't gonna happen though unless I find the fountain of youth in a plaza made of perfect marble to ride on in front of it.
Agreed. It was a question that popped up during a phone conversation earlier today and neither one of us couldn't remember the last rider to move up. The pro class will continue to dwindle down if its taking over five years for a rider to move up. Topic at hand. I feel the need for vet class if it promotes greater contest participation. ~jm
The definition of the Vet class is 30+ NON-Expert lever. That means if you are someone like Huck, Huffman, Big Daddy, etc..there is no way you can enter Vet even if you are over 30. Your skill level dictates you ride Expert, Master or Pro. Think of it as 30+ intermediate level. Like I said before, there are many riders in this age group who have the money to travel to contests but dont because their skill (for whatever reason) doesnt allow them to ride at expert or above yet they feel out of place with the much younger riders in beginner/intermediate. Give them their own class and they will come out for it. Its been an experiment at Jomopro and the DK contest and went well. If it was part of the Am Circuit it would really take off. Its been well proven in other sports and really has no downsides. I am not pushing Battle at the Bricks to include it but merely discussing this in general because that is the direction this thread has gone.
I think Vet class would be perfect for a guy like me. Over 30, who would have his ass handed to him in expert, but has no buisness in a beginner class.
Quote from: tod miller on February 22, 2011, 01:42:05 PMI think Vet class would be perfect for a guy like me. Over 30, who would have his ass handed to him in expert, but has no buisness in a beginner class.Exactly how I feel. I don't have much of anything in the way of 'links', but I can do a deathtruck (actually, I don't ride out of them very often), or a cliffhanger, or a backward hitchhiker, or a hang nothing to pedal hang-5.If I wanted to go back to the old repertoire, there are a TON of things I could do. I could still do a fire hydrant to funky chicken to funky chicken-whips to a spinning front yard, but who cares? Locomotive, backyard, rope-a-roni, karl kruzer, puppet, stick-b. Pedal-picker. Fire hydrant to side squeaker. I could put on a rear brake and do fire hydrant to decade, or backward wheelie to decade, or maybe a double-decade 25% of the time...but who cares?Just saying, I relate to that post. If it's a contest format, I would rather spend my time showing the newer stuff I've learned, even if it's straight-line single tricks, as opposed to combos that I could do 20 years ago. There's nothing wrong with that either if it's fun, I suppose.
Quote from: black aspirin on February 23, 2011, 04:46:47 AMQuote from: tod miller on February 22, 2011, 01:42:05 PMI think Vet class would be perfect for a guy like me. Over 30, who would have his ass handed to him in expert, but has no buisness in a beginner class.Exactly how I feel. I don't have much of anything in the way of 'links', but I can do a deathtruck (actually, I don't ride out of them very often), or a cliffhanger, or a backward hitchhiker, or a hang nothing to pedal hang-5.If I wanted to go back to the old repertoire, there are a TON of things I could do. I could still do a fire hydrant to funky chicken to funky chicken-whips to a spinning front yard, but who cares? Locomotive, backyard, rope-a-roni, karl kruzer, puppet, stick-b. Pedal-picker. Fire hydrant to side squeaker. I could put on a rear brake and do fire hydrant to decade, or backward wheelie to decade, or maybe a double-decade 25% of the time...but who cares?Just saying, I relate to that post. If it's a contest format, I would rather spend my time showing the newer stuff I've learned, even if it's straight-line single tricks, as opposed to combos that I could do 20 years ago. There's nothing wrong with that either if it's fun, I suppose.For what it's worth I'd rather see a puppet or fat locomotive then another cliffhanger for example.
I stepped up to pro, got my ass kicked a few times, then thankfully the Master class came around. (and I hardly kept up with them either). I will stay in Master pushing towards pro until I feel like I'm at a point where the pro class actually fits my riding level. My point is, I understand that a Veteran class is great for people who want to ride with other riders at they're own level. There is a fine line of where a rider who is doing "old School tricks in a league of its own" and "old school tricks being done at a beginner" level clash. So regardless of age, if a contest does not have a veteran class, and you still want to compete, try to fit your level in as best as possible in beginner or Am classes. I'm sure veteran class will become the standard as did Master class at upcoming contests because I do believe there are enough Vets out there to consistently enter. Besides all that, this contest should be a lot of fun and I hope to see everyone including vets out there!