Right now I have a severe medical need to go out for a unicycle, I haven’t
been anywhere on it for far too long. But as tempting as those hills look,
it’s looking like it may rain - although it’s been looking like that all
day.
So… do I go, and possibly get rained on but relieve my non-unicycling
frustration, or do I not go, and possibly go odd in the head if it doesn’t
rain?
Aaargh!!!
“Cattle Prods solve most of life’s little problems”
Re: Decisions, decisions
> So… do I go, and possibly get rained on but relieve my non-unicycling
> frustration, or do I not go, and possibly go odd in the head if it doesn’t
> rain?
Rain? Who cares about rain? Go out. Now.
One day I unicycled into work, not realizing that it was going to rain that evening. As I was walking back in pouring rain, I asked myself - Why can’t I unicycle in the rain?
There really is no reason, except sometimes the pedals are slippery. It’s actually pretty fun to unicycle in the rain. I wonder if it does bad things to the bearings.
Slippery pedals are a hazard if you have cheap, plastic ones like I do. The bearings are probably sealed and impervious to water unless submerged. Any unchromed, non-stainless, or unpainted steel parts may want to rust up but can be sprayed with a rust inhibiting, evaporating lubricant like LPS-1, WD-40, or a myriad of others.
Re: Decisions, decisions
Arnold the Aardvark <aardvark@tubulidentata.demon.co.uk> slipped me a tenner
and said,
> Rain? Who cares about rain? Go out. Now.
Actually this leads onto something else I was wondering about… some day
last week I was cycling to work in the pouring rain thinking about the
impossibilities of carrying an umbrella on a bike… due to the speed you’d
have to have it in front of you, and it’s not seethough; plus you’ve not got
any hands free. But on a unicycle those problems don’t matter… hmmmmm…
Although since my last post it has indeed starting chucking it down. Unless
it brightens up I think I’ll pass… but I am taking it to work on
Wednesday…
“Cattle Prods solve most of life’s little problems”
Re: Decisions, decisions
nbrazzi <nbrazzi.4yqqa@timelimit.unicyclist.com> slipped me a tenner and
said,
> There really is no reason, except sometimes the pedals are slippery.
> It’s actually pretty fun to unicycle in the rain. I wonder if it does
> bad things to the bearings.
Aha, I have new shiny pedals with mean looking studs in them, to replace the
ones I last used on the day of my knee-excavating incident. More grip than a
very-gripping thing.
“Cattle Prods solve most of life’s little problems”
Re: Decisions, decisions
in article acbe0u$lhs$1@newsg2.svr.pol.co.uk, Phil Himsworth at
phil@flippet.neeeet wrote on 5/20/02 1:09 PM:
> Actually this leads onto something else I was wondering about… some day
> last week I was cycling to work in the pouring rain thinking about the
> impossibilities of carrying an umbrella on a bike… due to the speed you’d
> have to have it in front of you, and it’s not seethough; plus you’ve not got
> any hands free.
Some bikes have see-through umbrellas built in, like this one:
-Carl
Re: Decisions, decisions
On Mon, 20 May 2002 19:09:09 +0100,
Phil Himsworth <phil@flippet.neeeet> wrote:
> Actually this leads onto something else I was wondering about… some day
> last week I was cycling to work in the pouring rain thinking about the
> impossibilities of carrying an umbrella on a bike… due to the speed you’d
> have to have it in front of you, and it’s not seethough; plus you’ve not got
> any hands free. But on a unicycle those problems don’t matter… hmmmmm…
No problem. When my unicycle was my general transport I used an
umbrella.
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ |
Re: Decisions, decisions
Ian Smith <ian@achrn.demon.co.uk> slipped me a tenner and said,
> No problem. When my unicycle was my general transport I used an
> umbrella.
'Tis true… I’ve just been out for a bit of a try with one, and while I was
a bit wobblier than normal it seemed okay. I was having a spot of bother
turning in the direction away from the side I was holding the brolly (I
think) but I’m sure that can be overcome with a bit of practice (I only
spent about two minutes at it…)
“Cattle Prods solve most of life’s little problems”
Re: Decisions, decisions
>> Rain? Who cares about rain? Go out. Now.
Since I wrote that I have been out for a 15-mile
Coker ride with Mark Wiggins. It was raining a bit
and I have to admit I didn’t really feel like
continuing once I got to his place. I wasn’t
seriously going to stop, though (and he can be
a mean bully, too 
).
Once we got going and warmed up, the rain was
… er … water off a duck’s back. It got
quite heavy at times, and towards the end
of the ride there was a torrential downpour:
we both loved that. We took no protection
from the wet and by the time I got home I might
as well have been swimming in all my gear.
Wearing a light on your helmet is a distinct
disadvantage in the rain as all you can see
is magnificently illuminated raindrops
immediately in front of your face. And Mark’s
glasses didn’t help him much either…
Anyway, it was one of the most enjoyable urban
rides we’ve had in some ways: the rain kept us
cool and we kept moving for longer stretches than
normal. The moral is - don’t be shy of rain.
Arnold the Aardvark
Re: Decisions, decisions
On Mon, 20 May 2002 18:42:08 +0100, “Phil Himsworth”
<phil@flippet.neeeet> wrote:
>So… do I go
>or do I not go
Personally, I hate to do anything outdoors when it’s raining so if I
were you (or you were me?) I/you wouldn’t go. But you are you aren’t
you?
“To trigger/fool/saturate/overload Echelon, the following has been picked automagically from a database:”
“debugging, CCSQ, WINGS”
Re: Decisions, decisions
“Phil Himsworth” <phil@flippet.neeeet> wrote in message
news:acbrc1$9o4$1@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk…
> Ian Smith <ian@achrn.demon.co.uk> slipped me a tenner and said,
>
> > No problem. When my unicycle was my general transport I used an
> > umbrella.
>
> 'Tis true… I’ve just been out for a bit of a try with one, and while I
was
> a bit wobblier than normal it seemed okay. I was having a spot of bother
> turning in the direction away from the side I was holding the brolly (I
> think) but I’m sure that can be overcome with a bit of practice (I only
> spent about two minutes at it…)
You could pass the umbrella from hand to hand.
Re: Decisions, decisions
“harper” <harper.4yrfa@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:harper.4yrfa@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> Slippery pedals are a hazard if you have cheap, plastic ones like I do.
> The bearings are probably sealed and impervious to water unless
> submerged. Any unchromed, non-stainless, or unpainted steel parts may
> want to rust up but can be sprayed with a rust inhibiting, evaporating
> lubricant like LPS-1, WD-40, or a myriad of others.
>
LPS-2 and LPS-3 provide progressively better rust protection and
progressively less lubrication.
Doug
Re: Decisions, decisions
Klaas Bil <klaasbil_remove_the_spamkiller_@xs4all.nl> slipped me a tenner
and said,
> Personally, I hate to do anything outdoors when it’s raining so if I
> were you (or you were me?) I/you wouldn’t go. But you are you aren’t
> you?
Yes, I am me, I think. I’m not a fan of rain… not only unicycling but
dinghy racing is something I don’t enjoy when it’s raining; despite everyone
else just saying “but you’ll get wet anyway!” these things just aren’t as
enjoyable if it’s cold and miserable.
“Cattle Prods solve most of life’s little problems”
Re: Decisions, decisions
“Phil Himsworth” <phil@flippet.neeeet> wrote in message
news:acbe0u$lhs$1@newsg2.svr.pol.co.uk…
> Arnold the Aardvark <aardvark@tubulidentata.demon.co.uk> slipped me a
tenner
> and said,
>
> > Rain? Who cares about rain? Go out. Now.
>
> Actually this leads onto something else I was wondering about… some day
> last week I was cycling to work in the pouring rain thinking about the
> impossibilities of carrying an umbrella on a bike… due to the speed
you’d
> have to have it in front of you, and it’s not seethough; plus you’ve not
got
> any hands free. But on a unicycle those problems don’t matter… hmmmmm…
When I had a really short commute to work, about a mile down back streets, I
used to ride with an umbrella if it rained. Now I go further and on main
roads, which are often very windy, so I don’t ride with one any more. I was
quite surprised by how dry the umbrella kept me.
Joe
Re: Decisions, decisions
Arnold the Aardvark wrote:[color=darkred]
> >> Rain? Who cares about rain? Go out. Now.[/color]
[ snip ]
> And Mark’s glasses didn’t help him much either…
They didn’t help at all - for the last 10 miles they were in my
CamelBak. I could see better without them. :-}
> Anyway, it was one of the most enjoyable urban
> rides we’ve had in some ways: the rain kept us
> cool and we kept moving for longer stretches than
> normal. The moral is - don’t be shy of rain.
Yup. The thought of going out in the rain can be offputting but once
you’re warmed up it’s great fun - so long as your ride ends at a place
with a nice hot shower and dry clothes.
Regards,
Mark.
Re: Decisions, decisions
Well, if I were me…which I am (except of course on those days when
I’m just not myself) I’d ride if it was threatening but not actually
precipitating. Getting caught in the rain, however, does make for
challenging rides, good learning experiences and interesting stories.
I was half way around a lake four miles round when I was caught in a
cloudburst. I learned that even with cheap plastic pedals it wasn’t
nearly as tough keeping wet shoes on them as I’d feared and that when
one has no alternative to a thorough drenching, rain turns out to be
fairly benign. The hail that followed the cloudburst was another
matter entirely however.
— Klaas Bil <klaasbil_remove_the_spamkiller_@xs4all.nl> wrote:
> On Mon, 20 May 2002 18:42:08 +0100, “Phil Himsworth”
> <phil@flippet.neeeet> wrote:
>
> >So… do I go
> >or do I not go
>
> Personally, I hate to do anything outdoors when it’s raining so if I
> were you (or you were me?) I/you wouldn’t go. But you are you aren’t
> you?
>
> Klaas Bil
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