National

Uninats 2010 is being held in Canberra ACT over the October long weekend, 1-4th October.

Registrations are now Open!

Riders

Riders Registration - Apply Here - Early Registration is discounted to $85 until 22nd September, then rises to $95. After 29th September, you will need to register and pay on arrival in Canberra.

Non Riders

Non-Riders Registration - Apply Here Non-riders are free, but must also register to be covered by AUS volunteer insurance.

Important Notes:

• You must be a current AUS member at the time of Uninats - see below for membership information.
• Registrations on arrival will be at the full registration fee of $100.
• We won't be able to take credit cards at the venues - cash or cheque only, please.
• Members of the public who wish to be spectators (not participating, assisting riders or volunteering) are free and do not need to register.
• Rider Registration is open to all on a first-come, first-served basis. You must be a current AUS member at the time of Uninats (see below).
• There is a 1-day rate ($50) available on arrival for people who cannot attend the whole of Uninats. You must still be a current member of AUS to ride.
• Entry to the Saturday night party/social event is included for all registrants.

AUS Membership requirements:
All Uninats riders must be AUS members, to be covered by AUS insurance. If you are not a current AUS member:

Here are answers to some common Uninats questions:

• Will there be anything for me to do as a beginner/new rider if I come to Uninats?

Although Uninats is called a competition, it is intended to also be a festival and celebration of unicycling. Any rider, of any age or ability, is welcome to take part. There will be plenty of non-competitive activities, such as workshops and games, and there are separate age and gender categories for riders in the competitive events. You are guaranteed to learn a lot and be inspired!

• Do I have to register in advance or can I register when I get there?

It's cheaper if you register in advance on the AUS website, but if you can't manage that, you can still register when you get to the event.

• Do I have to be an AUS member? How do I join?

Yes, you must be a current AUS member to take part in Uninats. This ensures you are covered by our public liability insurance. You can join by filling out the form on this website (under membership) and posting it in or bringing it with you to Uninats, or you can fill out the form and join when you get to Uninats. AUS membership fees are separate from and in additon to Uninats entrance fee.

• Can I just come and watch? Do I have to pay if I just want to go in a few events?

Anyone can come and be a spectator or non-rider at Uninats. If you want to ride a unicycle at any time, you must register, pay, and be a current AUS member. You could pay for just one day if you are unsure if you want to take part (although this will be more expensive).

Uninats is the Australian National Unicycle championships and festival, the biggest event on the local unicycling calendar, so put it in your diary, and spread the word!

We are planning to make this one a significant Canberra event- encouraging spectators to come and watch and be wowed, Events are being held all over Canberra so you'll need transport- there should be enough people with cars to give lifts to those without so we will set up car pooling to make sure no-one gets left behind.

Yahoo!7 Sport have an article on the "Top 10 sports that shouldn't be"

Starting out with Slam Ball (trampoline basketball) in number 10, it works it's way through Ultimate Frisbee, Chess Boxing and guess where Unicycle Hockey comes!

FTW!

Triple J Extreme Sport of the week this week was - you guessed it - Unicycle Hockey!

The station asked for Australian players to call in, and Tom Lambert was quickest off the draw and was interviewed about the joys of the game on-air.

The full episode of "The Doctor" is on the Triple J website (unicycling from 0:20 to 0:27), but we've got the interesting section excerpted for you here.

Hot on the heels of the largest and one of the most prestigious, mountain festivals in the world, the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour has hit the road, with stops planned in more than 285 communities and 30 countries across the globe. Travelling from remote landscapes and cultures, to up close and personal with adrenaline-packed action sports, the 2010 World Tour is an exhilarating and provocative exploration of the mountain world.

This year’s tour features a collection of the most inspiring and thought-provoking active, environmental, and adventure mountain films.  Included is the unicycle film, 'Revolution One', which follows world champion unicyclists, Kris Holm and Dan Heaton, as they perform on one wheel what most wouldn’t dare to attempt on two. Bouncing and sliding over rocks, logs, and rails, these daredevils showcase the emerging sport of off-road unicycling.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour is produced by Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre, and features award-winning films and audience favourites from approximately 300 films entered in the annual festival in Banff .

** This year Australian Unicycling Society (AUS) members are entitled to a 10% discount. Check the AUS newsletter email for the discount code when booking tickets. **

Book early to avoid missing out!!!  Canberra screenings already sold out and only limited tickets available for Perth and Adelaide … To view the trailer and get screening details go to www.paddybanff.com.au

The AUS has received an update from Sid Rajan, who is unicycling from Perth to Sydney (yes, that's right), to raise funds for Australia's Humour Foundation Clown Doctors and an Indian Art of Living Foundation project. A little over three months ago, Sid Rajan rode into Adelaide after 58 days on the road. Since then Mimi the Unicycle hasn't received too much attention. But that's about to change.

Sid is back on the road, having set off from Adelaide on 11 November 2009, in what seems to be the middle of a heat wave. While Part 1 of the ride involved riding through remote areas in winter, this section is going to have a lot more people and traffic, and the heat... One pedal stroke at a time is what they say. Sid sends his thanks to all his friends for their support in getting him back on the road again and raring to go (special mention to Jack O' Neill). We wish him well and smooth roads....

Check out Sid's blog to receive updates on the trip.

So much fun, we exhausted ourselves!  Sydney, Revesby, Canberra and Melbourne teams slugged it out over two days in a unicycle basketball and hockey tournament held on 22 and 23 October in Sydney.   Male and female riders of all ages demonstrated amazing skills and endurance as they played in a round robin and then second round for the finals.

Sydney were the unlikely winners of the basketball on Saturday (ringer Luke's precision goal shooting may have been a factor...).  Sydney also just managed to take out the hockey on Sunday - beating Revesby in the final (avenging their loss to Revesby at Uninats in Wollongong in April this year).  Other highlights: Dylan's hockey goal, skill demonstrations by Jamie and Marie and Marie's when-in-doubt-hug-your-opponent technique.

Huge thanks to Ashley for organising the event, to Rebecca for excellent score keeping, to Cris and Rochelle for staffing registration, to those who refereed and to all the competitors for your participation! Special thanks to the Melbourne and Canberra teams (and Ruben and Dylan from Albury) who ventured to Sydney for the event - that really cranked up the competition. It was a fab weekend - lots of sore muscles and sweat - can't wait to do it again!

Here are the results of competitions held at Uninats 2009

Winners of each event are the current Uninats Champions, and current Australian Champions if they are resident in Australia.

Standard skills

Cycling across this country is a big enough challenge for anyone but doing it on a unicycle takes real determination and hardy bike shorts. Twenty-four year old, Sid Rajan, is planning to do an Australian first by unicycling from Perth to Sydney, to raise funds for Australia's Humour Foundation Clown Doctors and an Indian Art of Living Foundation project. 

This amazing ride will be done in stages to accommodate Sid's university studies. The first stage from Perth to Adelaide will run over June and July, and he'll complete the second stage from Adelaide through Melbourne and Canberra to Sydney in November. Sid will start out with a support crew (big thanks to his mum and dad!) and then finish the ride on his own.

If you want to help out, come to the fundraiser in Melbourne on 7 August. The main event will be the live music of Better Than The Wizards.

Keep up with Sid on his blog: www.3oceansunicycletour.com

Some of the media coverage he's received so far:

The Morning Show on Channel 7

The Today Show on Channel 9

The Age

Emma sent in the first group shot from Uninats 2009. Click on the image for the full size version.

Image (C) 2009 Emma F

If you were awarded any ribbons or the Uninats medal and were not able to collect it at one of the presentations, we'll be posting it out to you at the address recorded for your membership. Make sure you let us know ASAP if you've moved and haven't updated your details.

For some reason we managed to run out of 2nd place ribbons, so we'll be ordering some more, which means it will be a few weeks before we can send those out - this will affect 2nd place winners in Trials, Street and Muni.

Cheers,
Cris

Photos

• Keith Mckay's Geared Unicycle & 10K

Videos

• Uninats 2009 by Emma

• Australian Uninats Wollongong 2009 by Sam Dessen

Video Comp entries

• 1st place, Christian Huriwai
• 2nd place, Isaac Conyers

Press Coverage

There are 2 Uninats articles in the Illawara Mercury

• from Friday Unicycle Convention Converges on Wollongong 
• on Monday Unicyclists ride in for convention with a photo of Jaryd Harris in the long jump 

There should also be coverage of the event and footage of the Trials on the WIN evening news on Monday 13th, according to the cameraman. We'll post it here if we can get a copy.

If you have photos or videos to add here, send them to aus_newsletter [at] unicycling [dot] org [dot] au (the editor) (photos or links).

Uninats 2009 is over! It was great to see both familiar and new faces at all the events and we hope you all had a great time.

Thank you to all the people who helped organise Uninats 2009 and made it run as smoothly as it did, including whoever organised the torrential downpour this morning to stop on cue in time for the Street comp to start!

Please send us copies or links to all your photos and video and we'll start putting together the picture gallery...

Cheers,
Cris & Rochelle, Sydney and for Scott, Wollongong