Does anyone have any tips for starting trials? What sort of public places
tend to have obstacles good to ride on? I have access to plenty of stairs,
which are too easy, a few curbs, then picnick tables, which are at present
just out of reach for my jumping abilities.
Jeff Lutkus
— Nick Cegelka <pyrotechnick13@yahoo.com> > wrote: I like the idea of standard obstacles. It would give me a much > better idea of the type of thing that i should be aiming to be able to > do in order to move on to tougher problems. Does anyone have specific > plans or ideas of obstacles that would help me improve my skills?
Generally a college campus in a hilly town works great. The landscaping is
usually the best-- as long as they decorate with nice planters, rocks,
etc. Of course whether or not you are welcome to ride on their stuff is
another matter…
You might also try some railroad tracks. Practice forward hopping up onto
the rail, then down.
On trail rides, often there is stuff along the way that can be used for
trials. Rocks, boulders, old fallen trees, drainage ditches to gap, etc.
Since you have stairs, you can try hopping up two at a time. Also hopping
down two or three at a time or riding straight up a small set. Then
there’s the ride fast toward a set of stairs and launch off the top to try
to miss a few stairs before you hit.
If you happen to have some scrap lumber lying around, a simple
teeter-totter is easy to make. Just lay a 2x6 across something about a
foot high and try to ride over.
Later,
Chris
Jeff Lutkus wrote: > > Does anyone have any tips for starting trials? What sort of public > places tend to have obstacles good to ride on? I have access to plenty > of stairs, which are too easy, a few curbs, then picnick tables, which > are at present just out of reach for my jumping abilities. > > Jeff Lutkus > > — Nick Cegelka <pyrotechnick13@yahoo.com> > > wrote: I like the idea of standard obstacles. It would give me a much > > better idea of the type of thing that i should be aiming to be able to > > do in order to move on to tougher problems. Does anyone have specific > > plans or ideas of obstacles that would help me improve my skills? > > _____________________________________________________________ > Free e-Mail and Webspace - http://Unicyclist.com
I heartily agree that college campuses are great fun. You never stay in
one place too long, so you probably won’t get kicked out. There are
typically many different types of stairs, railings to ride, gaps, drops,
all kinds of stuff. A hilly campus such as UC Santa Cruz is ideal, but we
always have a blast at Stanford which is pretty flat.
This may sound tame, but Beau and I sometimes lay 2x4s and 2x6s on the
ground, end to end, with offsets, angles and gaps between them. Our street
isn’t level so we practice riding them both up and down. Typically it’s 5
or 6 boards, maybe a total of 40’ or so. You can put items on the board
that have to be hopped over, etc. And if you fall, you are only 2" off the
ground, so it is reasonably safe, although one of Beau’s friends fell off
on a bike a broke a tooth on the ground. Dangerous things, those bikes.
Have fun,
Nathan
“Jeff Lutkus” <lutkus@unicyclist.com> wrote in message news:20010608121323.8292536F9@sitemail.everyone.net… > Does anyone have any tips for starting trials? What sort of > public places
tend to have obstacles good to ride on? I have access to plenty of stairs,
which are too easy, a few curbs, then picnick tables, which are at present
just out of reach for my jumping abilities. > > Jeff Lutkus
> Does anyone have any tips for starting trials? What sort of public > places tend to have obstacles good to ride on? I have access to plenty > of stairs, which are too easy, a few curbs, then picnick tables, which > are at present just out of reach for my jumping abilities. > > Jeff Lutkus > > — Nick Cegelka <pyrotechnick13@yahoo.com> > > wrote: I like the idea of standard obstacles. It would give me a much > > better idea of the type of thing that i should be aiming to be able to > > do in order to move on to tougher problems. Does anyone have specific > > plans or ideas of obstacles that would help me improve my skills? > > _____________________________________________________________ > Free e-Mail and Webspace - http://Unicyclist.com
I would make a jumping stand somewhere convenient - in a garage perhaps.
Use 2x12’s or 2x10’s as shims. Start with height you can definitely
manage. Then add the shims as you gain ability. Remember to train to
failure…do not train to fail. So if you can’t make a particular height
after say 6 tries. Go back and nail the lower heights.
Be sure there are no obstacles around the jump stand to interfere with
a bail-out.
— Chris Reeder <reed8990@uidaho.edu> > wrote: > Jeff, > >Generally a college campus in a hilly town works great. The landscaping >is usually the best-- as long as they decorate with nice planters, rocks, >etc. Of course whether or not you are welcome to ride on their stuff is >another matter…
Curse this flat campus I live on! But that is a good idea, there are
others near me with more interesting landscaping.
>You might also try some railroad tracks. Practice forward hopping up onto >the rail, then down. > >On trail rides, often there is stuff along the way that can be used for >trials. Rocks, boulders, old fallen trees, drainage ditches to gap, etc.
Hmm, I shall have to explore… there are plenty or rail road tracks
around here… unfortunately, they do get their share of use by
locomotives, but they tend to be loud and obvious then they come by
>If you happen to have some scrap lumber lying around, a simple >teeter-totter is easy to make. Just lay a 2x6 across something about a >foot high and try to ride over.
is the point here to have a somewhat unstable structure to ride on?
Interestingly enough, I’ve got some left over lumber I’ve been trying to
find a use for (I just built a set of monkey bars for my room… don’t
ask… I’ve got some interesting roommates.)
thanks for the pointers… I suppose I sould get out some safety
gear next.
> is the point here to have a somewhat unstable structure to ride on?
I suppose that’s part of it. Just riding up a grade on a narrow object is
challenging. Then at the top things do get a bit unstable.
Oh, old tires are fun to play on, too. Car tires are probably too flimsy
to be fun, but semi tires are stiff enough that you can gap from one side
to the other. Big tractor tires/road grader tires are fun too, but pedal
grabbing is often a prereq to get on them.
I presume this is another place where definitions change depending on your
continent of choices.
In the US, in casual conversation, rail road tracks refer to the tracks
laid outdoors, used by desel, coal, or steam powered locomotives.
Generally, simply subway, T, L (depending on where you are) refer to the
city mass-transit systems, which are generally electricly powered.
However, (this from working a job in the train signaling area) terms such
as train, car, rail road track and train track can apply to either of the
above, depending on context. And, I do have an instruction manual which
tells you never to check to see if the third rail of a subway is
electrified by directly touch.
jeff lutkus
— redirect@gotohell.co.uk (Bethan) > wrote: railroad tracks? do you not get quite electrocuted?
> Of course not - the rubbber tires don’t conduct electricity.
Uh, I think Nathan is trying to jest. But in case anyone was thinking “Oh,
cool! Let’s try that!” I have to caution you against it. First of all you
would be breaking at least one law to get there. Usually electrified
tracks are posted No Trespassing. Second, you would be conducting a
Benjamin Franklin-esque experiment with electrical conductivity.
A thin rubber tire will not stop the high power of an electrified
rail. The tire plus the air inside it will provide only 1" or 2" of
gap for a spark to jump between the rail and your rim, which is pretty
well connected by conductive materials up to where your feet and/or
butt are. Zap!
Definitely not something to test out.
Most American train tracks are not electrified. Even electric trains
usually get their power from overhead lines. Inner city trains and subways
are usually the ones with the electrified third rail on the ground. These
are pretty well fenced off from the tempted tires of Trialists.
And even then, using the New York subway system as an example (only 700
miles of track), the third rail is underneath a protective cover so it
would be fairly hard to step on it by accident.
> Of course not - the rubbber tires don’t conduct electricity.
Uh, I think Nathan is trying to jest. But in case anyone was thinking “Oh,
cool! Let’s try that!” I have to caution you against it. First of all you
would be breaking at least one law to get there. Usually electrified
tracks are posted No Trespassing. Second, you would be conducting a
Benjamin Franklin-esque experiment with electrical conductivity.
A thin rubber tire will not stop the high power of an electrified
rail. The tire plus the air inside it will provide only 1" or 2" of
gap for a spark to jump between the rail and your rim, which is pretty
well connected by conductive materials up to where your feet and/or
butt are. Zap!
Definitely not something to test out.
Most American train tracks are not electrified. Even electric trains
usually get their power from overhead lines. Inner city trains and subways
are usually the ones with the electrified third rail on the ground. These
are pretty well fenced off from the tempted tires of Trialists.
And even then, using the New York subway system as an example (only 700
miles of track), the third rail is underneath a protective cover so it
would be fairly hard to step on it by accident.
> Of course not - the rubbber tires don’t conduct electricity.
Uh, I think Nathan is trying to jest. But in case anyone was thinking “Oh,
cool! Let’s try that!” I have to caution you against it. First of all you
would be breaking at least one law to get there. Usually electrified
tracks are posted No Trespassing. Second, you would be conducting a
Benjamin Franklin-esque experiment with electrical conductivity.
A thin rubber tire will not stop the high power of an electrified
rail. The tire plus the air inside it will provide only 1" or 2" of
gap for a spark to jump between the rail and your rim, which is pretty
well connected by conductive materials up to where your feet and/or
butt are. Zap!
Definitely not something to test out.
Most American train tracks are not electrified. Even electric trains
usually get their power from overhead lines. Inner city trains and subways
are usually the ones with the electrified third rail on the ground. These
are pretty well fenced off from the tempted tires of Trialists.
And even then, using the New York subway system as an example (only 700
miles of track), the third rail is underneath a protective cover so it
would be fairly hard to step on it by accident.
> Of course not - the rubbber tires don’t conduct electricity.
Uh, I think Nathan is trying to jest. But in case anyone was thinking “Oh,
cool! Let’s try that!” I have to caution you against it. First of all you
would be breaking at least one law to get there. Usually electrified
tracks are posted No Trespassing. Second, you would be conducting a
Benjamin Franklin-esque experiment with electrical conductivity.
A thin rubber tire will not stop the high power of an electrified
rail. The tire plus the air inside it will provide only 1" or 2" of
gap for a spark to jump between the rail and your rim, which is pretty
well connected by conductive materials up to where your feet and/or
butt are. Zap!
Definitely not something to test out.
Most American train tracks are not electrified. Even electric trains
usually get their power from overhead lines. Inner city trains and subways
are usually the ones with the electrified third rail on the ground. These
are pretty well fenced off from the tempted tires of Trialists.
And even then, using the New York subway system as an example (only 700
miles of track), the third rail is underneath a protective cover so it
would be fairly hard to step on it by accident.
well funny you should mention that, 'cause i was recently lost(!) onthe
subway and was waiting for my riding companion at a station and i was look
kinda at the tracks… and all of a sudden i see a large rat. At first i
think, Wow! A rat!.. then i think “cool, a rat,” well to continue the rat
scurries across two rails( it was cute…almost) and go for the
third…and out loud i yell at it “No! Don’t do it little rat!,”(
i alarmed a number of people around
me…) but alas too late…the result, of course…one very dead
ratburger… Yeah, i didn’t sleep well that night… Chance
John Foss wrote:
> > Of course not - the rubbber tires don’t conduct electricity. > > Uh, I think Nathan is trying to jest. But in case anyone was thinking > “Oh, cool! Let’s try that!” I have to caution you against it. First of > all you would be breaking at least one law to get there. Usually > electrified tracks are posted No Trespassing. Second, you would be > conducting a Benjamin Franklin-esque experiment with electrical > conductivity. > > A thin rubber tire will not stop the high power of an electrified rail. > The tire plus the air inside it will provide only 1" or 2" of gap for a > spark to jump between the rail and your rim, which is pretty well > connected by conductive materials up to where your feet and/or butt > are. Zap! > > Definitely not something to test out. > > Most American train tracks are not electrified. Even electric trains > usually get their power from overhead lines. Inner city trains and > subways are usually the ones with the electrified third rail on the > ground. These are pretty well fenced off from the tempted tires of > Trialists. > > And even then, using the New York subway system as an example (only 700 > miles of track), the third rail is underneath a protective cover so it > would be fairly hard to step on it by accident. > > Stay on top, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone jfoss@unicycling.com > www.unicycling.com > > “Someone who thinks logically is a nice contrast to the real world.”
Dangerous things, those bikes.
But that is a good idea, there are