I went to my first meeting of the York University Juggling Club today. They’ve got a giraffe! I saw it yesterday when I joined, and I had my sights set.
It’s damn scary. It may well only have been 6 foot tall, but it seemed taller when you’re tottering around loads of people learning to juggle, with rather solid tables and loads of scaffolding stuff lying around from a disco the previous evening.
But great fun, being a good few feet higher than everyone else. The closest I got to disaster was losing my balance near a pile of scaffolding; luckily instead of crashing down into it I managed to push off with my foot and jump off properly.
I couldn’t quite get the hang of freemount… I think it’s the same problem as someone had recently; I can get my left foot on, but can’t quite get my rear on the saddle. I think it’s probably a case of more “ooomph”, I’ll try again next time.
But going back to my 20" was sooo hard! The giraffe surprised me by needing more pedalling than I thought; I presume it’s because it was that much heavier than the normal uni. When I got back on the smaller uni I was having severe trouble staying on, it was so light and moved with much less effort on the pedals.
On another note, I did my first proper trials riding on campus this afternoon. Blummin’ marvellous… benches and concrete constructions all over the place. Best bit was a bench with a raised walkway behind it; I managed to grab up on the bench, and then up to the walkway. This was near the new shop, so when I got to the top I had quite a crowd. Yeah!
But now I have lectures tomorrow, my first for almost a year and a half… sob…
Aren’t they fun? I loved mine while it lasted. She’s in pieces now, waiting to be shipped. I never even got to give her a name. I’ll definitely be hookin myself up with a Miyata Skycycle when I can, though!
I love people’s reactions to giraffes. They see a regular uni and just kinda chuckle or say “neat, is that hard?” They see a giraffe and their jaw drops. One lady walking with her daughter through a parking lot did exactly that and exclaimed, “OH MY GOD! THAT IS SO AWESOME!”
Way to go, Phil! The giraffe is always popular amongst the kids at our meetings. I can’t ride a giraffe yet. Although I’ve tried and have ridden one several feet, I can’t seem to keep the seat under me perhaps because the seat was too low, and I’m afraid that I’m a bit heavy for our 5’ Savage giraffe and don’t want to “remove it from service.”
Last weekend, I did pull it apart, repacked the bearings and made adjustments. According to the kids riding it at our last meeting, the service really made a difference. “It was so smooth,” they said.
Are you keeping your back straight & hips forward? That’s my standard advice for new riders and new giraffe riders.
I find a lot of unicyclists bend way too much at the waist and when they get on a giraffe it is compounded by looking directly down at the wheel. I think the wheel ends up in front of your center of gravity so you’re fighting it too much.
I think that’s great advice for people who can tell where their back ends and their hips begin…
But I understand what you mean though and I’ll give it another try with your advice at my next opporunity. Meanwhile, I can use the advice when helping our club kids with riding the giraffe.
