Re: BunnyHopping Record?
tpearcejones@meto.govt.uk wrote:
> So… can anybody tell me, is there a record for continous bunnyhops on a Uni.?
> (and I dont mean what music to do it to… still there again…)
Breaking this record would be extremely tedious, and hard on axles, cranks
and ankles.
At the 1983 National Unicycle Meet in Syracuse, NY, we had a “Bounce-a-thon”.
Everybody hopped as long as they could. Wisely, the designers of this event
imposed a 15 minute time limit. There is no telling how many bounces there were
by the two riders that finished the whole 15 min., but one bounced a lot more
times than the other.
The winner was Noboru Sugiyama of Japan. Second place was me. 15 minutes is a
really long time to be continuously hopping on a unicycle, especially in a very
hot indoor field house. We were both covered with sweat. I found a more
economical way to hop after the first 10 min, pausing briefly between hops (but
without idling or otherwise turning the wheel).
Riders were allowed to change foot positions, making only 1/2 revolution of the
wheel when doing so. Otherwise, they had to keep hopping.
Things would be different if this event were held at a NUC or UNICON today. It
probably wouldn’t be held at all, because we know that the majority of the
riders who entered would probably finish the time limit and it would be hard to
pick a winner!
CAUTION: Too much hopping will metal fatigue and eventually cause your axle
to break, so take it easy. This is true for any axle, though some will break
much sooner than others. It also depends on rider weight, and how hard you
are landing.
In that event, try something that’s easier on the equipment (though nasty on the
body), giraffe mounting! See how many times in a row you can freemount your
giraffe without a miss.
As far as I know, the record is 130. There are probably performers out there
who do it in every show, hardly ever miss, and may have racked up even more,
but the 130 was done under competition conditions, at the 1981 Redford
Mini-Meet in Livonia, Michigan. It is both a men’s and women’s record. The
women’s record is held by Carol Bahorich, who was later a world champion of
Individual Freestyle, Pairs and Standard Skill. She was using a 4 1/2 foot tall
Penguin unicycle. The men’s record is held by me (what a braggard!) on a 6 foot
Schwinn. Neither one of us missed at the end. This event was held immediately
after lunch on a day with a busy schedule, and nobody thought it would last so
long. We just agreed to stop!
Stay on Top! John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone unicycle@aol.com