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#Post#: 7473--------------------------------------------------
Went To My First Competition Fly
DIR By: 2y4life
Date: May 30, 2011, 9:22 am
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Well, I went to my first comp fly and it was the World Cup
Regional qualifier. I drove three hours to get to the
Minneapolis, MN and from there, I carpooled with the Minnesota
guys to go and see all the great flyers in MN. It was well worth
the time as I'll break down what I heard, saw, and learned.
The MN guys were really kind to me and allowed me to ask as many
questions, smart and stupid, as I wanted and they tried their
best to answer them all. Everyone gave me advice as well as
telling me what I could and should look for.
One of the words of advice given to me was to ride with the
judge if possible and I took that to heart and rode with the
judge for a total of 4 hours road time. In that four hours, I
was able to pick his brain for hours and hours as well as just
talk about life in general. It was also a very unique experience
as he was very close to my age, as he was actually a bit
younger.
I saw some great kitting, some really good individual deep
rollers consistently rolling at 40', and I was able to see a kit
that I eventually would like to achieve and that is a nice tight
kit that is hot and rolling consistently. It was my pleasure to
be able to tag along. Thanks to any of the MN guys who happen to
read this post, it was worth my while and well worth spending my
Memorial Day Weekend coming to MN.
To all the new guys like myself, you can all learn so much from
reading books, articles, and taking advice from guys online BUT
nothing beats going out and seeing an actual competition fly and
understanding how a judge scores and how that may change from
judge to judge. This is my advice to new guys coming from a new
guy. If you are serious about raising quality rollers...
- Follow your local roller guys to the competition flys (Or,
like me, due to lack of flyers in my state, I drove 3 hours to
my neighboring state...and then drove up and down Minnesota)
- Pick the competitors brains
- If they ask you to take a look at their setup and birds, GO DO
IT.
- Listen, take it all in, and ask questions.
- My last words of advice...nothing beats going out there and
actually watching the birds fly and just talking with the guys.
It was a Memorial Day Weekend well spent.
#Post#: 7481--------------------------------------------------
Re: Went To My First Competition Fly
DIR By: MOTHERLODELOFTS
Date: May 30, 2011, 10:16 am
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Who was the judge Tou ? Who's team was it that you liked ?
#Post#: 7496--------------------------------------------------
Re: Went To My First Competition Fly
DIR By: 2y4life
Date: May 30, 2011, 6:25 pm
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--- Quote from: Joe Asaro link ---
>
> 2y4...Hope they will be coming to your house to watch your
birds soon. Congrats to you. :) Joe
>
--- End Quote ---
I hope so but as I've mentioned before, I cannot have pigeons
where I am currently living but am working on a way to do so and
I am getting close :)
--- Quote from: MOTHERLODELOFTS link ---
>
> Who was the judge Tou ? Who's team was it that you liked ?
>
--- End Quote ---
The Judge was a young guy by the name of Calder Parrot. His dad
was Terry Parrot (Correct me if I'm wrong someone).
I hate to make judgments on everyone's birds based off of a
single fly where a few guys had bad flys BUT based on Sunday's
flies, Wayne Feder's A kit was off the charts. Came out hot,
flying low about 40-75 feetish (for the first 3-4 mins) and
rolled like crazy. They eventually got up to about 100 feet for
about 8-10 mins and finally got up to about 150-200 feet. They,
to me, worked very hard as a team and put on a quite a show and
that set the standard for the rest of the day.
All the other guys had great birds too but Sunday was Wayne's
day. He has some awesome, awesome birds. I will say this, I
thought John Elton's birds kitted really well but he had the
deepest birds I saw...some rolling at consistently at 50' or
more. But for some reason, they were off and rolled more
individually and wasn't very frequent. But John's birds were
ALWAYS flying back to the kit after breaking and that was very,
very impressive to me. A bird never left the kit and were always
in the process of getting back to the kit.
Minnesota has great pigeons but even better pigeon men.
#Post#: 7500--------------------------------------------------
Re: Went To My First Competition Fly
DIR By: MOTHERLODELOFTS
Date: May 30, 2011, 9:33 pm
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I think Wayne is going to be a force Tou .. I was there a few
years ago. I met Calder and his father 10 years ago or so,
Calder was pretty youn at that time. They were a good father son
team.
#Post#: 7535--------------------------------------------------
Re: Went To My First Competition Fly
DIR By: Cliff Ball
Date: June 2, 2011, 11:20 am
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You hit the nail on the head, Tou. There is only so much one can
learn by reading about rollers on the internet or in books.
Going on the competition flies puts a sense of reality into the
process that cannot be matched in any other way. To me,
participation at this level tells me how serious a guy is about
rollers. Calder is a great young rollerman. I met him and his
late father at the Denver NBRC Convention about 5 years ago. I
remember how committed Calder was, to his rollers, and I was so
amazed because of his young age, at the time. From the photos it
looks like he has grown up a lot since then! At the convention
banquet, I won a large framed poster of weather patterns and
cloud formations in a convention raffle. It was too large to get
on the plane home so I gave it to Calder. I wonder if he still
has it? I bet he does!
Cliff
#Post#: 7536--------------------------------------------------
Re: Went To My First Competition Fly
DIR By: 2y4life
Date: June 2, 2011, 11:52 am
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Yes Cliff, you are right. Alot of the assumptions I had were
thrown out the window once I actually saw some of the quality
competition kits. And as all of you guys who compete know, it
takes some level of dedication and seriousness to drive all
around the state to watch birds fly. My wife thought I was a bit
nuts to drive from Wisconsin to Minnesota (3 hours) only to
drive another 2 1/2 hours from the Minneapolis area to get to
Wayne's place but she understands. I've continually gotten more
and more serious about keeping rollers...don't know if that is a
good thing or bad thing lol but I've got an understanding wife
:). Anyhow, regardless, I know in my heart that I am doing this
because I genuinely enjoy and love it. The day I don't enjoy it
anymore, I'm out.
BTW, Calder remembers you as he mentioned meeting you at a
convention before when he was younger. It was probably that same
convention. He's a very good young man.
#Post#: 7537--------------------------------------------------
Re: Went To My First Competition Fly
DIR By: Ty Coleman
Date: June 2, 2011, 12:07 pm
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Tou, I think that rollers are like a drug to some of us. They
have become a way of life fo me. I try and plan my schedule
around my birds lol not the other way around.
#Post#: 7539--------------------------------------------------
Re: Went To My First Competition Fly
DIR By: n00bR0113rs
Date: June 2, 2011, 11:32 pm
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--- Quote from: Ty Coleman link ---
>
> Tou, I think that rollers are like a drug to some of us. They
have become a way of life fo me. I try and plan my schedule
around my birds lol not the other way around.
>
--- End Quote ---
I totally agree
#Post#: 7542--------------------------------------------------
Re: Went To My First Competition Fly
DIR By: charles_b
Date: June 3, 2011, 4:38 pm
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--- Quote from: Ty Coleman link ---
>
> Tou, I think that rollers are like a drug to some of us. They
have become a way of life fo me. I try and plan my schedule
around my birds lol not the other way around.
>
--- End Quote ---
My wife tried to send me to rehab. It didn't work so she bought
her own pigeons and joined me in my addiction.
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