I rushed home today after work to get back to learning to ride my Coker. I threw on my 661’s wristguards and helmet, grabbed my Coker and headed to the streets. Notice I didn’t say anything about elbowguards??
After about 3-4 attempts, I freemounted the beast and was sailing along, quickly building speed. About a half mile later, feeling overly confident, I tried to pass a couple of cars whose drivers decided to stop in the middle of the street to visit. I only had a couple of feet between one car and the curb and was not about to get off and have to remount, so I tried to negotiate the small gap. As I got about halfway past the stopped car, I got a little to close to the curb and as my tire touched the curb, I was rapidly spit to the pavement.
I somehow landed on my feet. Unfortuneatly, I was going to fast to run it out and fell on my hands and knees. This would have been fine except that the wristguards did their job and slid along the pavement causing my elbows to take the brunt of the impact.
I got up and had a few words with the idiots who decided to stop in the middle of the road, as they drove away laughing.
I gathered my composure, remounted and proceeded on my usual short ride to the local high school. I was pressed for time and barely got to ride 3 miles, but what an experience!!!
I was amazed at how steady the Coker is once you get it rolling. I felt much more stable riding it than my 24x3 MUni or my 28’r. With my homemade air saddle and the huge diameter of that tire, it rode like a Cadillac.
I live in a neighborhood full of small hills and was very impressed with how easily the Coker climbed. I maxed out at 13.5 mph, but my average speed really sucked (probably due to the fact that most of the trip was uphill). Downhills were truly a rush.
The only real problem I encountered (not counting stupid drivers) was that due to my 30" inseam, I had to stand on a curb to freemount the Coker successfully (usually 2 out of 3 tries).
Tomorrow, I shall try again. Oh yeah, here’s how the elbows ended up, not too bad at least
Yeah Sofa, you’re probably right. I was trying to put the Coker through a spot I would have been comfortable with on the 24X3 or 28’r. I guess it’s like trying to drive a bus through an obstacle course
Lack of experience will get ya’ every time.
True enough, but just so you know, you will have it tamed before you know it.
I have absolutely no less control of the Coker than any unicycle. You will soon learn all the different techniques you need to use, master them, and forget about them being any different.
You soon learn how to tilt your wheel way further over in turnd while remaining fairly upright, how long it would take you to stop if you needed to, and constantly being on the look out for alternate routes (this comes after you can comfortably Coker quite fast while looking behind or beside you…things that tended to cause UPD’s in the beginning)
I feel completely confident now in my Cokering, and I look back to when I was just starting out and how awful and out of control I actually was (although I never had to pay for it)
Originally posted by Sofa
You are quite inexperienced in Coker riding, I would stay clear of traffic for a while.
Sofa,
The route that I was taking doesn’t have much traffic, thanks for the heads up, though.
I guess I’ll just have to know my limits and quit rushing things, but I was just having sooooooooo much fun. It felt like I was on top of the world ‘til I came krashin’ down
It sometimes makes sense to be careful. It also helps to remain calm when you are flying through the air, and remain focused until you have completly stopped. If you use your wrist pads properly, you can slide along the road on them and the toes of your shoes, thus avoiding most damage to your skin. Not to say I’ve never had skin loss from a fall, but I have slid at ‘post coker speed’ and wore down a significant amount off the skid plates on my wrist guards, without a scratch.
I’ve heard some teach proper falling, before roller blading, and force participants to run across the gym floor and throw themselves to the floor.
Keep your hands in front of you with fingers up, palms down. Let the plate in your wrist guard do it’s work. You’ll stop soon enough. Then try to remember that just because you have stopped, the coker may be closing in behind you!
If you’re ready to improve your control of the coker, take it off road -just avoid big drops and steep hills.
I wear Rollerblade kneepads when I opt for protection on the Coker. The Rollerblade pads have a hard plastic outer shell. The plastic shell slides on the pavement in the event of a crash. The skate style kneepads are much better suited for Coker crashes on pavement than the fabric covered pads like the 661’s.
John,
I think I’ll try wearing the knee pads instead of the 661’s next time I’m on the Coker. I have noticed that the pedals don’t come anywhere near my shins on a missed mount or UPD while on the Coker. I guess that’s due to the huge diameter of the wheel.
