We went for a ride on Saturday, and near the end met a couple of hikers.
They were very interested in the unicycles and mountain unicycling,
especially when we told them where we had gone (over 16 miles with LOTS of
up). The guy summed it up with this: “If I didn’t already have a guru, you
would be mine.”
Of course on Sunday, we got “You lost half your bike somewhere” and “why
don’t you join the circus” which partially negated the guru comment. But
overall, the lame comments are decreasing markedly as more and more ordinary
people know about mountain unicycling. It’s been quite a while since we got
a non-positive comment from a mountain biker. Has anyone else noticed a big
difference in the last 1-2 years? I mean specifically when riding off road.
The guru comment wipes out ALL of the lame comments from the past. Your slate is clean. I remember none of the lame comments from my past. I only remember riding by the guy watering his lawn who looked up and said, simply, and without hesitation, “it takes twice the man to ride half the bike.” It has also been my response to all of the lame comments I’ve heard since then so my slate remains forever clean.
Has anyone else noticed a big
difference in the last 1-2 years? I mean specifically when riding off road.
Definately! Instead of the “You must be crazy”, “where’s the other wheel”
comments, we now get “Have you heard of that Canadian guy who does offroad
unicycling?”. Just about every hardcore mountain biker I meet in shops or on
trails has seen at least one video featuring Kris.
The general public has yet to be enlightened but the MTB community is much
more accepting and interested in the technical aspects of Muni.
Peter
o o Peter Bier
o O o Juggler, unicyclist, programmer and mathematician.
o/|\o peter_bier@usa.net
My favorite comment was from a bike store owner in northcentral Louisiana. He
looked me in the eye, then said with absolute certainty, “You’re not Kris
Holm.”
I told him he was right, I wasn’t–and if he didn’t believe me he could come
outside and watch me ride.
> Has anyone else noticed a big
> difference in the last 1-2 years? I mean specifically when
> riding off road.
Riding off road is always where I heard the positive comments. Almost all
have been positive, with a very small percentage (less than 5) of negative.
I have no complaints about off road.
When riding in more urban environments I haven’t noticed a difference, but I
don’t do enough of it to form a reliable statistic.
“How many America West maintenance personnel does it take to change a
bathroom light bulb in a 737?” Based on what I saw on the way home from
Phoenix recently, three!
> Has anyone else noticed a big
> difference in the last 1-2 years? I mean specifically when riding off road.
>
> Definately! Instead of the “You must be crazy”, “where’s the other wheel”
> comments, we now get “Have you heard of that Canadian guy who does offroad
> unicycling?”. Just about every hardcore mountain biker I meet in shops or on
> trails has seen at least one video featuring Kris.
I bought a recumbent bike a couple months ago. While waiting for them to
tune it up I made a comment about a Uni sitting in the store. The guy
working on my bike immediately started talking about Kris.
I don’t think I’ve ever received a negative comment since I
started riding last July. One time I was walking my Hunter along
a trail and a guy out of a group of people told me that it would
work better if I rode the thing, but I think that was a good
natured jab and it didn’t bother me.
About 1 out of every 10 MTBs I meet know about Kris Holm, but
they can never remember his name. It’s always, hey do you
know that guy from somewhere in the NW who rides a Uni, or
have you read that article in such-and-such magazine? There
was one guy like that whose name was “Chris Holmes”!
last friday I was riding my geared unicycle on a road with a separate
bike path at a speed of about 25kmph which is a normal cruise speed
for that unicycle. A car driver passed me, slowed down and drove
besides me at same speed. He looked to me, then to his speedometer
(they normally display a faster speed especially at such speeds) and
back to me. He was completely puzzled and passed me again. His look
was one of the best comments i have ever received
By the way: i have finished the first 50km on my geared unicycle
without any problems. This afternoon Eric Kolb (he is the guy with the
recumbent unicycle shown at unicycling.com) had a test ride on my
unicycle and he was able to freemount and ride it at the first
attempt. I didn´t think that would be possible.
i get a bunch of “where’s the other wheel” the only comment’s i can stand anymore are about “that guy who does the grouse grind on a unicycle”. I must live in a really unoriginal area
Very nice, Frank- perfect! I had the opposite experience on my 36" wheel: zipping along at cruzing speed, a passing moterist slowed and rolled down his window. “That’s amazing!”, he said. “How fast am I going?”, I asked. The driver glances quickly at his speed-o-meter. “10 mph.” “Reall?” “Ya.” I struggle to increase my foot speed by about a third, my feet are coming off the pedals and I’m struggling to controll wheel wobble. “How fast am I going now?”, I rejoined, puffing the words out as I fight to keep on top of the wheel on the buissy, narrow bridge. With a big smile and narry a look to the instraments, “Oh, still 10.”
Unifrank <einrad@epost.de> wrote:
> By the way: i have finished the first 50km on my geared unicycle
> without any problems. This afternoon Eric Kolb (he is the guy with the
> recumbent unicycle shown at unicycling.com) had a test ride on my
> unicycle and he was able to freemount and ride it at the first
> attempt. I didnt think that would be possible.
Hey Frank
I’m really hoping you and your geared uni wil be at Eurocycle in May, I’m
looking forward to seeeing one in the flesh as it were and maybe if I’m
very lucky and your feeling very genourous , having a go.
see you
Sarah
British Unicycle Convention #9 April 19-21 2002
Unicycle Hockey, Games, Muni rides, Quidditch and Barn dance
Harry Cheshire High School, Habberley rd, Kidderminster http://www.unicycle.org.uk/buc9/
>Hey Frank
>I’m really hoping you and your geared uni wil be at Eurocycle in May, I’m
>looking forward to seeeing one in the flesh as it were and maybe if I’m
>very lucky and your feeling very genourous , having a go.
>
>see you
>Sarah
While doing some urban along the waterfront in North Bay, Ontario, an old(er) man pulls up beside me on a recumbent and says, “Crap, I thought I had the coolest bike in town!”
>While doing some urban along the waterfront in North Bay, Ontario, an
>old(er) man pulls up beside me on a recumbent and says, “Crap, I thought
>I had the coolest bike in town!”
He still might, coz you weren’t on a bike, were you?
Klaas Bil
“To trigger/fool/saturate/overload Echelon, the following has been picked automagically from a database:”
“JIC, virtual, penrep”
Not only do I get few generic comments, but I get a great amount of high-fives, cheers, “That’s so awesome” ’s, “How do you do that??” ’s, “Go for it!!” ’s, and some “AAAAHHH! You’re sooo cool!!! Can I have your baby??” ’s.
Just two days ago, I was unicycling back from class when I hear a car honking the horn at me. I turn to look. It was a silver Lexus SUV packed with HOT track-team chicks! The windows were down, and they started cheering to the top of their lungs, and then… THEY FLASHED ME!!! And then… I fell.
It’s a true story. I like to think that it was my striking good looks that caused the riot… my friends think that I’m just sleep deprived and having apparitions… it really happened… college is awesome…
“What_Am_I?” wrote:
> Just two days ago, I was unicycling back from class when I hear a car
> honking the horn at me. I turn to look. It was a silver Lexus SUV packed
> with HOT track-team chicks! The windows were down, and they started
> cheering to the top of their lungs, and then… THEY FLASHED ME!!!
I always carry a camera when out cycling. I hope you’re about to tell us
you do the same
I think the best comment I have got was “If you keep saving your money
maybe you will be able to buy another wheel.” I had a good laugh. I
have a list of comments I get while unicycling on my web site. http://Unicycling.net/com.htm
About every second person I talk to when I am Mountain Unicycling
tells me they saw this guy on TV with one of those “mountain bike
unicycle things” that was doing this crazy stuff I wouldn’t even try
on my mountain bike. Obviously they are talking about Kris Holm.
unibabyguy <unibabyguy.1eq5y@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message news:<unibabyguy.1eq5y@timelimit.unicyclist.com>…
> I don’t think I’ve ever received a negative comment since I
> started riding last July. One time I was walking my Hunter along
> a trail and a guy out of a group of people told me that it would
> work better if I rode the thing, but I think that was a good
> natured jab and it didn’t bother me.
>
> About 1 out of every 10 MTBs I meet know about Kris Holm, but
> they can never remember his name. It’s always, hey do you
> know that guy from somewhere in the NW who rides a Uni, or
> have you read that article in such-and-such magazine? There
> was one guy like that whose name was “Chris Holmes”!
