Are there any older trials riders here, like 30-40 years and
beyond? How do you hold up compared with the younger
riders? I’m thinking about getting a trials Uni but I’m wondering
if the learning curve will be too steep at my age. I can
Muni pretty well but 4+ ft drops seem out of my range
right now.
Im not in that age catagory, but you dont need to do 4+ foot drops to do trials.
I am just past 40 and I would like to get a trials uni, but a stubborn ankle injury keeps me away.
My attitude towards learning trails is the following:
I don’t think age really matters in how you learn trials. It’s just practice practice practice as with any uni skill. So, I wouldn’t worry about that.
If I ever got a trials uni I would work on more subtle drops like less than 2’. When someone starts getting “up there”, the risk of injury gets higher. At my age, I heal slower than I did when i was a teenager or in my early twenties. I will stay away from the large drops. I also don’t want to be down with injuries as I am now. It sucks!
Trials isn’t about big drops for me, it’s more about accuracy and precision, say, gapping and working around an object.
I am sure there are many riders out there, that don’t have the fear of injury that I do, and you may not.
Basically, go with what feels comfortable and have fun but work up to things.
That’s MY own thoughts.
I’m in my early 30’s and am getting into uni trials. Learning is slow for me, wether that is age or motivation I am not sure. If you have an interest I’d say go for it. You could always convert the uni to a freestyle one if the trials thing doesn’t work out for ya.
I think I might feel like I’m in some 12 step program, but here goes:
I’m 55 and exactly 1 week ago I received my new Onza trials uni.
I know it sounds weak, but I may be hooked.
At first I thought it felt heavy with the huge tire (compared to my 26" with street rubber), but now it feels comfy. The first few days were just trying to get used to the 20" size and feel of the thing.
Two days ago, I managed to jump my first curbs (up and down). 
Even with only an 8" curb, I had to work up my courage to jump off. But after a few tries, I decided it was really easy and now it’s just fun. Jumping up I’m not as reliable yet, because of the need to get positioned, but I’m getting the height and I landed a few and rode away.
I’m positively dying to learn a rolling hop. I confess to running Universe frame by frame to see the set up and movements for this. I think maybe I want to practise some rolling hops over imaginary obstacles first to ensure I can put the movements together and get the height. But then…
Finally, and maybe the worst sign of all, I’m starting to look at rocks and benches and other types of things as potential challenges to work up to. Oh boy!
I doubt I’ll compete, but it would be nice to find someone to ride with (San Diego area).
So, don’t skip buying a trials uni just because you think you might be too “old.” Old is only a state of mind anyway. Go for it. You’ll feel younger. Just ask Harper.
Let us know what you get.
Jerry
Ah, it’s not just me. Phew! 
I tried this, but it doesn’t compare to actually having something tangible to jump to. Over imaginary obstacles I don’t get very high at all, where I managed to jump onto a foot-and-a-half high ledge yesterday (woohoo!). The main problem is overcoming that mental block that says “I’m cycling towards a large solid object, stop!”
True… when you can’t look at anything without assessing its trials potential. Is there a self-help group?
Phil, just me
True - I find the “oohh look - a challenge” instinct hitts harder on my 24 - I think “I know I’ve done it on the 20…”
That and the idea of jumping back down.
I found the best way to learn rolling hops was to roll, stop then hop. making the stop shorter slowly till it just went away.
It took about an hour till I was throwing myself over stuff.
It helps if you have no fear of falling when learning all these things.
I seriously recomend all uni-trials riders to do some martial art where they teach you how to roll out of a fall.
I have been studying bujinkan ninjitsu for a few years and I find myself rolling out of even the biggest stacks without (excessive)harm.
Either that or just pad up well
I’m 39 and Muni/trials is my bag baby. When I started almost 2 years ago, I had no interest in doing more than a 2 foot drop. Seemed the old joints just wouldn’t take it. Well, I’m doing 3 and 4 foot drops now and lovin it! Like others have said you have to condition yourself slowly and gradually. Don’t overdo it. If you’re into trials/Muni, and you ride regularly, you will really surprise yourself with what you can do.
Joe
I’m 47 and I love playing in what seems to be going under the catagory of trials. I love challenging myself on slow, small technical moves as well as drops and hops. I see our younger club members doing more athletic moves that I am slower to try for a host of reasons. I think that age should not really be a barrier to doing “trials,” per say, because these moves don’t have to be frightenly extreme. I just don’t get up as I did when I was 20 - and I enjoy riding too much to risk an injury just to prove I can make that 4’ drop.
Tommy
44 here. Starting to get more serious about stairs. Trying to get hold of some pallets. I have no interest in doing rides on the edge of 30’ drops or rails 10’ up and I doubt that I would have at 17 years old. For me trials is more of a way to extend and improve my off-road than as an end in itself.
To me, there’s too much of an emphasis on drops. I’d much rather navigate a technically difficult uphill or rock garden. Drops are an easy, quick way to come up with big bragging numbers, but I feel that I get a lot more bang for my hardware buck if I develop my all-round skills. Someday I’ll be doing 4’ drops but I don’t see it as that spectacular a feat. George Peck’s elegance in rolling curbs or rolling a rooty uphill is, to me, much more challenging and laudable.
That said, I’ve read Joe Merrill’s posts with eagerness and Muniac’s detailed tips carefully. Soon those steeper mountain trails will be within my grasp!
The younger skilled riders that I’ve ridden with (14-20 yo) are almost universally more courageous than I am, especially on the spot. I’m more likely to work up to something slowly than attempt it right away.
Here Here!
I could not agree more with U-Turn. Some of teh stuff that I see happeing under the catagory of “trials” is just too extreme for me. However, technical stuff, as stated by U-turn in regards to being better in general at unicycling and specificly MUni, is what it is all about for me.
Tommy
Same for me. I wasn’t into trials at all when I started muni’ing. After riding with Scott Bridgeman and his gang, I discovered how much fun it is to ride “trials” style Muni (ride over as many challenging obstacles as you can find - in the woods).
However since I live in the major concrete jungles of the world, I realized I live in the midst of a rich trials playground.
The cool thing about working on trials skills in an urban trials situation (as opposed to a trail) is there are fewer variables and your mind can focus more specifically on the task at hand. In a trials situation you tend to repeat skills more since there’s not much else to do. (E.g., enjoy the scenery, fresh air and rolling hills).
If I lived in the country I would spend all my time just riding trails, but since I don’t, trials is a lot of fun too, and when I make it out to the trail on weekends, the trials stuff pays off big.
If you are getting into Muni/trials after a long hiatus in rigorous physical activity as I did (twelve years of little activity), give your body time to acclimate. Just enjoy what you can do and do a little (or a lot) each day. Do LOTS of stairs, up and down. Great way to get back in shape and strengthen the muscles and joints. Most of all remember that this is fun. Getting in shape is a nice side benefit.
Joe
Re: Any older trials riders?
I’m 32. As of last January, I would hop 21 flights of stairs on foot -then do push ups, then hop back down- before and after lunch- when I’d cycle. After work, I’d cycle 1-2 hours. Every day. I felt great.
I began having exercise induced head pain and vission loss. This dissabled me for about 6 months, then began to abate. Earler this week I did ALOT of stairs on the Uni(up/down), and began to loose my vission. Usualy, a vision loss is followed by 72 hours of excruciatingly bad head pain (I keep my gun unloaded, now)- but this time I took a steriod at the onset; 24 hours later I felt like somebody had kicked me in the head the day before- a vast improvement. Here I am, 2 days later, practicing wheel walking at lunch. Typicaly, an event like that would leave me kinda dizzy and mentaly out of focus for the better part of a month…
The steriod is called sumatriptan succinate. If you suffer from head pain and have experience with this substance, I’d be interested in hearing about your experiences.
Last year this time, every day felt like the best day of my life. I was in the best physical, ever- nothing seemed beyond me, given time.
It’s wierd associating pain with something that can bring such joy. Anyway, they told me when I was young ‘it doesn’t last’… maybe. Maybe. Enjoy every day you can. I will. And I’ll be poping steriods like candy.
Later,
Christopher
Re: Any Older Trials Riders?
im 37, if you stop and think about it…some of the world’s most elite
athletes are in their 30’s and 40’s and beyond! passion for this sport
may
only be superseded by the body’s ability to withstand the crunch of
multiple
upd’s. being physically fit and wearing appropriate protective
gear…one
should be able to get geritol as a factory sponsor!!!
I just turned 50…oh, I forgot what I was going to say.
Re: Any Older Trials Riders?
Barichello wrote:
>
> im 37, if you stop and think about it…some of the world’s most elite
> athletes are in their 30’s and 40’s and beyond!
I’m 36 and I find that physically I’m not quite what I used to be, but
I’m still in good shape. The big differences are a) I don’t have the
kind of energy I had when I was 20, and b) I don’t heal as quickly
either.
Cheers,
Jason
Re: Any older trials riders?
On Thu, 24 Oct 2002 17:47:10 -0500, phil
<phil.d1v1z@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>Ah, it’s not just me. Phew!
>Phil, just me
Is it just me catching this?
(sorry couldn’t resist)
Klaas Bil
I posted only a single copy of this message.
Re: Re: Any older trials riders?
Yes, so sometimes it looks a bit silly… ner…
Phil, just me, or not, it depends…