Skiing
Hi Stevea and Steveyo!
Ski season is NOT over. I’m in my condo in VT watching the snow fall. I have to get up early tomorrow to set the courses and paceset the NASTAR venue at Okemo.
I’ve been absent from this forum all winter. Just came back today and posted this ski-related thread in Just Conversation.
Enjoy!
Pat
Hi Pat, we met at the uni trials in Killington… yeah, still skiing in central VT too. We have 4 " new snow this morning, looks like mid January out there. Fortunately the March sun melts off the paved roads pretty well. I’ve gotten out on the 36er 3x this week, but it’s looking like a nordi ski day today!
Steveyo, I was impressed with your winter RTL qualifier. See you!
Bill
It’s good to see the 45+ thread hopping again and its founder Stevea back in the saddle in spirit at least!
I’m fifty six - been riding to and from work for about eighteen months, all up around 40km (25 miles) a week. Chronic injuries mean I have to restrict the time and distance I am on my feet.
As a dual mode transport option it takes beating. In Western Australia we likely have the only public transport authority on the planet that has specific policies for uni’s. As such I am not subject to the same limitations that are applied to bicyclists. (See Transperth > Disclaimer)
Hey there!
Hi Bill! Good to “see” you again. We had an epic day at Okemo today. Tomorrow I begin taking down the gates for the season from our NASTAR course. Looking forward to getting back on the uni.
Wow, that is surprising (out of respect for Harper, avoided using the word awesome), makes me want to visit there. There must be unicyclist all over the place, right?
Sounds like there are swarms of “us” there. 
Cool that there are no specific time restrictions for unicyclists to board with uni in tow. Space available, anytime is open. Maybe that will encourge more bicyclists to take up unicycling, you think? 
Stevea is back! I had wondered what happened to him!
OK I admit it I’m over 45 ,46 in fact.I always wanted to try unicyling since I was a kid being inspired by the unicycler on the intro to “Welcome back Kotter”.Well at the age of 42 And the new internet thingy I rediscovered the unicycle ,did a bit of research then made one,learnt to ride it and I have been improving ever since and continue to make unicycles.I’ve made a 16" giraffe,a 20" giraffe,26" uni,20" uni,26" guni and I have a purchased 24" muni.My favourite riding is muni on bush trails in my local area in Sydney.I dont go for any extreme stuff , just getting from A to B out in the bush is what I love.
Contact
After on-line messages, a few phone calls and a missed trip Unibugg and I were finally able to make contact, (barely), and to ride together. It was the first time she had ridden with another adult and one of the few times she had ever ridden with another unicyclist. I’ve ridden with others a few times, but it is still great to be able to get together and ride with another unicyclist. I look forward to our next visit, someday. Maybe she’ll make it to my neck of the woods one day.
Unibugg
Were you able to make your day long ride?
for “mature” people who want to start unicycling there is a question: how good is it to your health?
I happen to have a somewhat precise measures: since I am over 50 every five years the health system offers me a complete health chek-up. So I had one before starting to unicycle and one more than 5 years later.
So:
May be I should look more closely at my body fat ratio …but in fact the biggest differences are in my mind: and those were not measured!!!
48 today 
I am aware that there are a lot of other younger groups, generally around the school age. And that they are selling quite steadily these days in Perth. However I still don’t see lots of unicyclists on the streets and paths but I do have a circle of friends who get together every weekend for some riding around the CBD and coffee strip and so far one charity ride.
But it is good that unicycles are pretty well unrestricted on our public transport and that the on-road/rail staff actually know of this. Hassle free!
Aging
I have been able to stay in pretty good shape. At 5’8" I weigh 165 and still engage in some pursuits generally ascribed to younger participants. I have discovered that recovery time from injuries is much longer than it was when I was younger. Yesterday was a case in point. It was a classic Vermont Spring day and the carving snowboard was holding a nice edge. Early afternoon everything turned to mashed potatoes so I dusted off my Salomon Scream mid fat skis and headed for the terrain park.
There is a series of jumps on one run. You may know the kind - elevated kicker with flags marking the takeoff point, a flat tabletop and then a steep landing area. The first one went well, I launched and cleared the table top sticking a nice landing. A few more like that and maybe a daffy or a helicopter? (WHAT was I thinking???). I hit the second jump and realized too late that this one launched the skier almost vertical and was designed for inverted aerials! I had more speed on this one and consequently more air time before I slammed my right hip into the downslope. The pain was intense but what really got my attention was the shrieks from the kids behind me who launched off the jump and discovered a senior citizen sprawled in their landing area. Fortunately both of them managed to miss me and I dragged my protesting body to the side.
I limped home, applied ice externally and Long Trail Ale internally. I filled the whirlpool tub and I’m thinking of maybe giving up aerials. Don’t you hate it when logic and reason enter into the equation?
Gina, you have hills up in them there parts. Of course I plan on stopping by someday! The only other unicyclist I’ve ever ridden with was a 10 year old boy. Riding with another adult gave me the opportunity to see just what I’ve been missing. It also showed people in my neighborhood that unicycling is not just for clowns, “toddlers” nor acrobats. I sure wish we had a unicyclist community around here or at the very least an adult friend to ride with now and then.
I didn’t make my planned ride on Thursday and it rained all weekend. So I didn’t get a day-long muni ride in. But thanks to you I CAN mount with either foot now! And the static mount is coming along. The barrier seems to be more mental than physical. I just “know” it isn’t going to work so of course it doesn’t. Most of all I keep forgetting to keep my arm up and hold the seat with the other hand. When I remember that I can make the mount stick about 2 out of 7 tries. Progress, no?
Not measured? And why not??
I thought unicycling would help me get a lot slimmer and healthier. I lost 15 pounds in a year. Most of that was during the first few months. I know I’ve gained more muscle and certainly feel a lot better. I stopped my walking routine on the treadmill because I thought unicycling would make up for it, but I realize now that I don’t get in enough physically challenging rides on a regular basis. Gotta do something about that.
Happy birthday, Beginnerdad!
Unibugg
[QUOTE=Unibugg]
Gina, you have hills up in them there parts. Of course I plan on stopping by someday!
Can’t wait. Yes, we have many hills. It’s funny, you spend you time looking for a hilly-like place to ride and I spend my time looking for flat land on which to ride.
I didn’t make my planned ride on Thursday and it rained all weekend.
I saw the weather report. It looked rough. I thought you might not get to ride. What was it you said you'd do if you couldn't ride? Did you?
Most of all I keep forgetting to keep my arm up and hold the seat with the other hand. When I remember that I can make the mount stick about 2 out of 7 tries. Progress, no?
Progress, yes. QUOTE]
Gina
Re-entering unicycling
After too many years of non-unicycling, I’ve recently started back in with a passion. This forum has been very helpful in guiding me in possible directions.
My first unicycle was bought in the late 60’s or early 70’s. It was a Sears catalog mail order number with a steel seat and about a 12" or so wheel.
I spent dozens of hours on that thing and never got more than 8 or 10
feet unsupported.
When I started college, a friend had a Schwinn 20" that I was able to pick
up right away. I could ride around the street after an hour or so with it.
I bought a Schwinn 24" and used to ride back and forth to campus with it.
Eventually, I co-created the Texas A&M Unicycle club. We met weekly
to ride and teach those who were interested. Our peak event was a 30
mile ride as a fund raiser. Thirty miles on one of those Schwinn seats
was pretty grueling.
Over the years I picked up my Schwinn a few times to ride. I later bought
a CyclePro 24" so that my son and I could ride together. He never really
caught the bug (although recently watching the Kris Holm / Nathan Hoover
video called Into the Thunder Dragon has made him start to get interested
again).
Lately I’ve been riding at night instead of my usual jogging. I’m up to
a mile a night. I have a KH / Schlumpf 29" on order. I’m hoping to start
do longer distances with my wife on her bike. Maybe some nice XC on some
of the trails around here.
Thanks for all of the great info that this forum and UNI magazine (which I’ve caught up on) has provided.
news for the fifty somethings: Christian (alias Zippedy) entered a 24 hour race against bikes.
there were two uni teams in this race team number 20 and 25 here
please note in the results that “Zip” (team “monofou”) stayed for 8 hours on the saddle of his 29er! and covered 114.80 km!
Old geezers rule!
Welcome mcgary! It’s great to have you onboard.
I will be 46 in Sept. I’ve been riding for about a year and love it. I had been moutain biking before that and a couple of the blokes I ride with introduced me to the uni. One of them sold me their 24’’ Onza and I’ve been addicted ever since.
After 8 weeks of riding they persuaded me to ride down Mt. Snowdon here in the UK, which looking back was a little ambitious? I had a great time tho and met some brilliant riders who really opened my eyes to what an amazing sport this was.
Anyway we are going to ride Mt. Snowdon again on the 7th June for Oxfam this time and I can’t wait.
I love riding off road and me and a friend are often out in the forests around where we live muniing and having a great time.
Skills wise um let see - I can hop up a flight of 12 steps one at a time, hop down 4 in one go, ride backwards a little, idle a little, just want to keep learning more and more.
