This year, Breakaway Loft is flying with the Western Flyers
Association Racing Pigeon Combine. It consists of three smaller
clubs that each meet to basket their
birds on Friday evening. On Saturday, they all meet together in
Salt Lake to knock off the clocks and get preliminary race results.
The combine also combines with clubs from Provo and farther south
to make the Wasatch Racing Pigeon Concourse. There
are many great lofts to compete against in this group and it is
a great
opportunity
for
us to meet
new people and make new friends. We are excited
to be allowed to continue flying with them. It
is fun to fly against
a much
larger group of pigeons than we have in the past and to see how
we do in competition with some different lofts.
In the past, Breakaway Loft has flown with the Northern Utah Racing
Pigeon Combine. Many changes have taken place with the three clubs
in this combine and currently each club is flying on their own
instead of as a combine.
A few years ago, for one season, all the clubs in Utah tried forming
a large federation. I thought it was a great experience and loved
flying
against
so many
other lofts, but not everyone was happy. There are always those who
think that the other guy is getting an unfair advantage because of
location or wind patterns or some other small thing that can't really
be controlled,
so the experiment did not last.
One real drawback to the federation is the constant
road construction in Utah. Those in the
north do not want to train to the south because of the
construction
in Salt Lake City and those in the south do not want to train
north for the same reason. To the east, the Wasatch Mountains would
make
it difficult and unfair for the birds on a race. The race course
would also get into the very windy parts of Wyoming. Flying to
the west would mean many of the birds would have to fly
across
the
Great Salt Lake, which is thought to be another unfair condition. Maybe
someday the idea will get another chance. I sure hope so. |
