I just signed up and have been snooping around a bit. Cool place!
I’ve been riding since 1976 and have a short Schwinn (20" wheel) and a 6’ Giraffe.
I’ve ridden both in parades (some over 2 miles long…whew!) and it’s a blast! When you get to that level, I’d highly recommend it…people really enjoy it, especially the little tykes!
Are there any tall-uni riders out there? I had my Giraffe for a number of years before I finally figured out how to free-mount it (a MUST for riding it in a parade). It still can take me a number of tries before I finally get it right, especially if I’m tired. I’d be interested in hearing from other tall riders to see if there are better free-mount methods.
Welcome to the forum, I just rode my first girrafe last month. Not even thinking about freemounting. I don’t currently have a girrafe, but that may change after Christmas.
It’s cool to be here. I didn’t know there were so many unicycling fans around!
My parents bought me my first unicycle when I was in 8th grade and, when that didn’t kill me off, bought me my giraffe as a high school graduation present. I always kinda thought they had a big insurance policy out on me or something.
When I first got it, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to ride the Giraffe right away. I climbed up a stepladder and was kinda leaning over, supporting myself with my hands on the tops of my brother’s and dad’s heads, but I was able to take off and go, no problem.
Free mounting was a little more difficult. I saw someone in a circus on TV freemount a tall-uni and realized it could be done, but I didn’t see exactly how he did it. It took me about a month of trying before I could even get my backside on the saddle and actually go. I rode it in a parade (one of the 2+ mile routes) and thought I was gonna die. I fell once, and it took me six tries to get back on again. By the time I got to going again, I was about ready to fall over from exhaustion. But it was still pretty cool!
Freemounting on a Giraffe is a three-step process:
First foot starts on the tire with your toe jammed into the fork. This holds the tire in place. I start with my right foot down, but it would be a personal preference, I suppose. The seat is forward and I hold it by the front of the saddle.
Step up to the pedal opposite your start foot and stand up on it with that foot. The pedal position needs to be a bit forward so that when you stand on it, it rolls the wheel forward and moves it underneath the seat.
As the pedal bottoms out, you’ll have a second or two where the forward momentum of the wheel, the backward momentum of the seat and your own forward and upward momentum balance out to a brief standstill. In that time, you have to stand high enough on the down pedal to place the seat in between your legs, lift your start foot to the up pedal, and start riding. When you run out of time, you fall six feet.
The only other trick that I learned (the hard way) is that you have to turn the unicycle slightly away from the forward pedal because when you stand on it (Step 2), it pulls the unicycle in that direction. If you start straight, the unicycle will end up pointing to one side when you start to ride. That’s okay if you have a lot of room to ride, but when I learned, I was riding on a sidewalk and didn’t have much room. Also, it’s hard to catch up to your balance if you don’t start riding straight.
Well, this got pretty long, but I wanted to kinda see if anyone else has a better way to freemount a Giraffe.
I usually freemount my giraffe exactly the way you described it (except I start with my left foot on the tire). However the first freemount I learned on a giraffe was the running mount, where you basically run and time everything so that when you get on the pedals and in the seat your forward momentum carries you upwards and you pedal backwards to get the wheel underneath you. I’m still more proficient at that mount, however I find it uses more energy than climbing up the uni, so I generally use the mount you described.
Check this thread out, the mount that Ben is working on in those videos is the first one I learned.