WEMBO 2013 - Canberra
Is anyone watching this thread involved in organization?
Yes - me :high5:
... and the next WEMBO will become the official 24hr World titles in Oct 2013. Is this correct? will the WEMBO event be recognized as being the official world titles?
We have been in contact with the UCI and they have no interest in 24Hr Solo Racing. While that may be a good thing (there is a big burden that comes with a UCI World Champs), it does mean that without a world governing body, multiple events can spring up. But, given what happened to the Adrenalin event, I'd say you're correct. Remember,
WEMBO itself only really came into being because of the lack of a world champs in 2011 to follow Canberra in 2010. In the current climate, what will determine the outcome is what the riders recognise.
I'm surprised that entries for 2013 are already open, I only heard about it today, and it's over a year away. There seems to be no need to qualify, is entry really open to anyone? In some ways I think that would detract from the event, but if that's what it needs to be viable then I suppose that's what must be done.
One of the reasons for setting up WEMBO, was to provide a reliable and predictable schedule for events, in locations around the world. So - we open entries early. Entries for WEMBO 2013 opened the day that WEMBO 2012 finished, and you can expect the same for WEMBO 2014 next year.
The issue about the cap or qualification is a difficult one. Given that 24Hr solo racing at the world level has pretty much been confined to North America (apart from Canberra in 2010), we don't want to disadvantage any riders who might not "qualify" purely because they have never been able to travel. If this is to be a
true world championships, then in the early years, it must be open to anyone from around the world who wishes to enter. We deliberately chose venues which could take big numbers of solo riders so that we can handle big fields. The aim is to be inclusive, not exclusive. Stromlo can take up to 800 !
One of the earlier posts mentioned that Italy was fantastic - and they were right. One of the great things about WEMBO 2012 in Italy was that it dragged out solo riders from around Europe who had never travelled to North America before. That made for some potentially exciting racing - because the riders did not know the strengths of their opposition.
It is interesting to look back at what qualification really means. To quote two examples, James Williamson did not qualify for the world solo champs he won - he was an accepted entry based on a 2-year old race. When Gordo won the Aussie champs and then won the worlds the next year, he only got in because he was originally meant to ride a pair in CORC's 2005 race - but his partner got sick. The message - you never know where the next best is coming from, and we shouldn't exclude people.
I suspect that in future years, there will need to be a qualification system, and we expect to have a range of affiliated events around the world. But, for now, if you enter, you're in. We have said that even if a qualification system was introduced for 2013, we would still honour any entries already in the system.
I wondering when I would need to enter by and if a cap is expected be reached anytime?
I'm not sure if there are 800 people win the world who would do a 24Hr solo - but you never know. But -
entries are open if you want to guarantee yourself a spot.