I recently found my old Schwinn 20" in my parent’s basement, which I
haven’t touched in about 23 years. I didn’t take long to get back to the
skill level I once was (2) and progress to 3. It also didn’t take long to
find all the unicycling info on the internet.
Just the other day I took delivery of a new Coker. I managed to learn to
free mount and ride it around the driveway for a while. Within seconds of
my 1st trip on the street, I learned what can happen when one rides with
unsecured shoelaces. Fortunately I was going slow and wearing a helmet and
wrist guards, but with a foot caught in a pedal, I ended up with scraped
knees. Needless to say, shoelaces are now 1st on my pre-ride checklist.
bradf@REMOVEenter.net writes: > >Just the other day I took delivery of a new Coker. I managed to learn to >free mount and ride it around the driveway for a while. Within seconds of >my 1st trip on the street, I learned what can happen when one rides with >unsecured shoelaces. Fortunately I was going slow and wearing a helmet >and wrist guards, but with a foot caught in a pedal, I ended up with >scraped knees. Needless to say, shoelaces are now 1st on my pre-ride >checklist. > >Brad
Better solution: MERRILL SHOES WITHOUT LACES.
They have excellent grips and pose no shoelace threat. Basically anyone
who has shoelaces and rides a Coker is taking a huge risk. I also got
lucky when my lace got caught – it ripped right off. But it’s happened to
me on my 26"er at high speed, and it was only years of riding that enabled
me to get out of it ok.
The team I work with, the Panther Pride Demo Team does several shows a
year. I can be heard before a show chanting to each rider(45-75 kids),
“check your shoe laces”. what a reponse I got from around the rider who
had slip on shoes. One day when I was at a band concert I found myself
telling the band members, “check your shoe laces?” one former unicycler
understood the joke. Everyone else just thought I was nuts. Barb Barb K.
In message “Re: coker fall”, Barb wrote… >The team I work with, the Panther Pride Demo Team does several shows a >year. I can be heard before a show chanting to each rider(45-75 kids), >“check your shoe laces”. what a reponse I got from around the rider who >had slip on shoes. One day when I was at a band concert I found myself >telling the band members, “check your shoe laces?” one former unicycler >understood the joke. Everyone else just thought I was nuts.
Getting you shoeaces caught between the cranks can cause a bad
uncontrolled fall. The laces wind around somehere near the hub and you go
down hard. Once this happens there is not much you can do to stop it. It
happened to me a couple of times, fortunately not on a Coker, and it is
quite unpleasant.
I once had a pretty bad fall when my shoelaces got caught while I was
riding a giraffe. This was before I knew how to idle or go backwards,
so I had to just keep riding forwards watching as my laces wound around
the crank. I ended up compressing my ankle and not being able to ride
for a month.
Ben Plotkin-Swing
“Jack Halpern” <jack@kanji.org> wrote in message news:200106162144.AA13420@mail.kanji.org… > Greetings > > In message “Re: coker fall”, Barb wrote… > >The team I work with, the Panther Pride Demo Team does several shows a
year. I > >can be heard before a show chanting to each rider(45-75 kids), "check
your shoe > >laces". what a reponse I got from around the rider who had slip on
shoes. One > >day when I was at a band concert I found myself telling the band
members, > >“check your shoe laces?” one former unicycler understood the joke.
Everyone > >else just thought I was nuts. > > Getting you shoeaces caught between the cranks can cause a bad
uncontrolled fall. > The laces wind around somehere near the hub and you go down hard. > Once this happens there is not much you can do to stop it. It > happened to me a
couple > of times, fortunately not on a Coker, and it is quite unpleasant. > > Stay on top, Jack Halpern, IUF Vice President Website: > http://www.kanji.org
I once had a pretty bad fall when my shoelaces got caught while I was
riding a giraffe. This was before I knew how to idle or go backwards,
so I had to just keep riding forwards watching as my laces wound around
the crank. I ended up compressing my ankle and not being able to ride
for a month.
Ben Plotkin-Swing
“Jack Halpern” <jack@kanji.org> wrote in message news:200106162144.AA13420@mail.kanji.org… > Greetings > > In message “Re: coker fall”, Barb wrote… > >The team I work with, the Panther Pride Demo Team does several shows a
year. I > >can be heard before a show chanting to each rider(45-75 kids), "check
your shoe > >laces". what a reponse I got from around the rider who had slip on
shoes. One > >day when I was at a band concert I found myself telling the band
members, > >“check your shoe laces?” one former unicycler understood the joke.
Everyone > >else just thought I was nuts. > > Getting you shoeaces caught between the cranks can cause a bad
uncontrolled fall. > The laces wind around somehere near the hub and you go down hard. > Once this happens there is not much you can do to stop it. It > happened to me a
couple > of times, fortunately not on a Coker, and it is quite unpleasant. > > Stay on top, Jack Halpern, IUF Vice President Website: > http://www.kanji.org
Ouch… yes, definitely good advice. When I was first learning to
unicycle, that happened to me a few times (on a 24") I actually got very
good at hopping out of it (landing on the non-entangled foot, hopping,
while holding the unicycle in my hand). However, on a coker, I think there
is little chance for that.
Unicycling has caused me to habitually tie my shoelaces towards the
outside, and not to double-knot them. (By not double-knotting, as the lace
gets caught, it unties… this gives you a slight increase in the amount
of time you have to recover.)
Well, I will definitely be checking my shoes more carefully with every
coker ride.
>1st trip on the street, I learned what can happen when one rides with >unsecured shoelaces. Fortunately I was going slow and wearing a helmet >and wrist guards, but with a foot caught in a pedal, I ended up with >scraped knees. Needless to say, shoelaces are now 1st on my pre-ride >checklist. > >Brad
> Getting you shoeaces caught between the cranks can cause a bad > uncontrolled fall. The laces wind around somehere near the hub and you > go down hard. Once this happens there is not much you can do to stop it.
This has happened to me as well, but not for many, many years. If you’re
going to ride a unicycle that’s high or fast, you definitely want your
laces to be under control. Sometimes we used to stuff them inside the
shoe. I would often replace the “stock” laces that came with my shoes and
put in shorter ones that didn’t have so much dangling around.
In the 80’s there was a brief period when velcro shoes were popular. I had
a pair of those that were great for riding, especially for freestyle
tricks like backwards gliding, which would untie ordinary shoelaces.
Velcro and laceless shoes are back, so this is an option. I have a brand
new pare of Nike turf shoes, which have regular laces plus a velcro strap
over the top. I’m not sure why, but I take the tied laces and lay the
excess inside the strap before sticking it down. No laces hanging out!
Last but not least, if you ever do find yourself in the drastic situation
of a shoelace wound around the crank (usually noticed by a sudden tugging
at your foot), sometimes you can get lucky. Since it’s guaranteed too late
to stop (especially at high speed or on a Coker), pedal as hard as you
can. Then, depending on the quality of your shoelaces, they may break.
This has worked for me. Better to replace a shoelace than to scrape
yourself off the street…
> Getting you shoeaces caught between the cranks can cause a bad > uncontrolled fall. The laces wind around somehere near the hub and you > go down hard. Once this happens there is not much you can do to stop it.
This has happened to me as well, but not for many, many years. If you’re
going to ride a unicycle that’s high or fast, you definitely want your
laces to be under control. Sometimes we used to stuff them inside the
shoe. I would often replace the “stock” laces that came with my shoes and
put in shorter ones that didn’t have so much dangling around.
In the 80’s there was a brief period when velcro shoes were popular. I had
a pair of those that were great for riding, especially for freestyle
tricks like backwards gliding, which would untie ordinary shoelaces.
Velcro and laceless shoes are back, so this is an option. I have a brand
new pare of Nike turf shoes, which have regular laces plus a velcro strap
over the top. I’m not sure why, but I take the tied laces and lay the
excess inside the strap before sticking it down. No laces hanging out!
Last but not least, if you ever do find yourself in the drastic situation
of a shoelace wound around the crank (usually noticed by a sudden tugging
at your foot), sometimes you can get lucky. Since it’s guaranteed too late
to stop (especially at high speed or on a Coker), pedal as hard as you
can. Then, depending on the quality of your shoelaces, they may break.
This has worked for me. Better to replace a shoelace than to scrape
yourself off the street…
> laces". what a reponse I got from around the rider who had slip > on shoes.
One > day when I was at a band concert I found myself telling the band > members, “check your shoe laces?” one former unicycler understood > the joke.
Everyone > else just thought I was nuts.
