Fairer (28-08-23)
Fairer?
'Pigeon sport is the most unfair sport that exists', you sometimes hear. I had to think about that after reading the email below after the National race from Issoudun in the Netherlands. The earliest pigeons were once again clocked in the West and because it was not the first time, some seem to be so frustrated that they reach for the pen. Or rather the keyboard. The mail:
“Dear Mr. A S. It now indeed seems certain that pigeons deviate to the west. There are still those who deny that, but you can't take those people seriously. They often live west themselves and say white against black out of their own interest.
Isn't it crazy that every flight so many people have no chance? What do you think of giving the eastern fanciers time compensation?
NONSENSE
You heard something like that a few years ago. That came from within the NPO.
The idea was to include the number of kilometers flown. Perhaps they were influenced by studies by A Coolen, who had figured out that to win in the pigeon sport it is better to live at the shortest distances.
Only 10% of the victories were achieved by fanciers who play at the furthest distances in their combine. Indeed, there was once a time when for the Dutch National Competition WHZB a bonus was given for the 'more distance' when scoring points.
Fortunately, people came to their senses and did not listen to those people who thought of something similar a few years ago.
With a strong tailwind, most pigeons come back against the wind in the front. To give a further bonus to the advantaged at the furthest distance would indeed be vengeful.
MULTIPLE FACTORS
The place of a pigeon on the result sheet is determined by several factors.
a. The quality and especially shape of the pigeon.
b. The wind direction.
c. The wind force.
d. The distance to fly.
e. The mass.Sometimes you hear when someone wins a major competition or makes a super result. “everything has to go well on the day of the flight. The puzzle pieces have to fit together.' I've heard bigger nonsense.
A: QUALITY AND CONDITION
We can be brief about quality and shape."You don't make a racehorse out of a tuber," they say. But don't underestimate the importance of shape either. I am one of the many who find it a pity that there is hardly any pooling.
I liked doing that and a mantra of mine at the time was 'I'd rather bet my money on a mediocre pigeon in great form than on a super that has no form'.And I still think that way.
B: THE WIND DIRECTION
Clear case again. Here too we don't have to waste words. Belgium is one of the few countries in the world with REAL national flights.
So with participants from all over the nation.Everybody can see that sometimes the east side has no chance and other times the west side doesn't.
Many even keep the pigeons at home if they think they have no chance in advance.It is also known that pigeons that are lost with a westerly wind are easier to get back than pigeons that are lost with a southeast wind.
Because of the sometimes deadly combination with 'deviating to the west'. They blast into the North Sea and then… We know about pigeons landing on ships or in England, the worst is to be feared from the others.
The legendary Young Merckx from Janssen Bros. The author (A S) got a
sensational breeder ouf of Young Merckx 'in the middle ages'.
C THE WIND FORCE
The wind force is the same for all participating pigeons, some will raise? Unfortunately that is not the case. An example is the race from Chateauroux in Belgium in 2023.
My neighbors from Oud Turnhout at the greatest distance won 1st, 2nd and 3rd National. Everything fell in the right place there, with the wind force as the main factor. The pigeons were liberated with no wind, but during the day the wind increased from the southwest, so from behind.
You don't have to have studied higher mathematics to realize that you are best at the furthest distance in such circumstances.
Sometimes pigeons win with a lead that is considered impossible. You would think that this happens 'when it is heavy, so against the wind'.Just like cyclists especially make the difference uphill.Nothing is less true. Those lead victories are often achieved with a tailwind.The explanation is the different heights at which pigeons can fly.
People familiar with weather and aviation know how vastly air movement can vary in speed depending on altitude.
Is ending up in the most favorable air layer a coincidence or a characteristic of a good pigeon? Hmmm. Do not know.
D. THE DISTANCE
Orientation plays a role when it comes to quality and also the physical. No cyclist cycles 200 km at the same average speed as the 10 km. No athlete runs the 10,000 meter on average as fast as the 200 m. No skater can maintain the same average speed in the 10 km as in the 1,000 m.Assume it is the same with pigeons. People who do tests with GPS rings also see this. The last kilometers the speed almost always decreases and also vitesse players in Antwerp know that.
They play on the same day (Sunday) from Quievrain (130 kms) and Noyon (230 kmd).
The speed of the ‘Quievrain birds’ is always considerably higher than that of the Noyon racers. There are hardly any exceptions to that. Occasionally it happens that a middle distance race from Saturday is postponed to Sunday.
Then, in addition to Quievrain and Noyon, there is a race of 350 to 450 km. On this flight the pigeons fly slower again than from Noyon.
E. THE MASS
The influence of the mass is one of the most underestimated factors in pigeon racing. Some claim that with neutral wind, straight from the front or from behind, it doesn't matter where you live.
Far west or far east.With all due respect, this is not correct.Because what did all those notice, who have already attended a liberation?The whole pack leaves en masse in the same direction. Towards the center of the area where they belong.Gradually, the pigeons that belong (extremely) west or east will leave the group, so make a curve and fly more distance.That lowers the number of mpm that is on the result sheet.
The later they leave the group, the greater the curvature and… the more they lose.Anyone who might think that a pigeon flew 1,350 mpm because that is stated on the result sheet must be quickly taken out of dreamland.
