I’ve been thinking about the 10 Skill Levels quite a bit lately and I have some
ideas that I would like to share with you.
Below, you will find a new list of skill levels that I have created based on my
extensive one year’s worth of experience in artistic unicycle riding. I believe
that you will find these revisions to be both more accessible to new riders -
who are anxious to progress quickly to higher levels, and more challenging for
experts that find themselves stuck at level 10 with nowhere to go.
As always, comments are welcome.
-Rick Bissell
DRAFT: Year 2000 Skill Levels
LEVEL 1
Purchase unicycle unassisted
carry unicycle 10 meters to car
gracefully place unicycle in car and drive home
LEVEL 2
while holding onto an object or person for assistance, mount unicycle and
allow the wheel to quickly shoot out from underneath in a forward or
backward direction
ride forward with both arms flailing in 1 meter arcs
turn randomly in any direction by twisting
dismount without damaging seat
LEVEL 3
ride in a figure 1
free mount
announce free mount success to all friends and post on Internet
unicycling newsgroup
ride while looking to one side
ride alongside a 15 cm drop
drift to the left or right while riding
LEVEL 4
demonstrate one mount, 4 times
ride with an empty stomach
come to a stop, pedal a half revolution backwards and fall off
open a can or bottled beverage while riding and sip 25 times
perform a Level 10 skill in a unicycle dream
ride 10 meters wearing a unicycle T-shirt
ride 10 meters with a unicycle T-shirt worn backwards
ride 10 meters with a unicycle T-shirt worn sideways
LEVEL 5
create and upload a personal unicycle web page
LEVEL 6
purchase a new unicycle of better quality and/or different wheel size
admit to your boss that you rode to work on it
mount in lots of different ways
hop in lots of different ways
ride backward in lots of different ways
idle in lots of different ways
ride one footed in lots of different ways
ride with the seat out in lots of different ways
get injured in lots of different ways
LEVEL 7
walk the wheel while sticking out tongue from corner of mouth
spin on a well worn tire
hop with one foot caught in spokes
coast while grinning
glide while screaming
koosh koosh (whatever that is)
LEVEL 8 (secret…contact USA or IUF officials for information)
LEVEL 9
perform all skills in the IUF video while whistling or humming the appropriate
background music
LEVEL 10
demonstrate 100 types of mounts
ride in a figure 10
walk the wheel one-footed backwards with the seat dragging behind
hop/twist 720 degrees
sideways wheel walk backwards
ride with the wheel off the ground for 10 meters.
fold an intermediate level origami model while riding backwards with
eyes closed
ride across a state/country/province between two parallel lines 30 cm apart
without stopping
ride or hop over a Level 3 rider
stand beside unicycle without touching it for 4 hours on a beautiful Autumn
Saturday morning
In message “New Skill Levels”, Rick Bissell wrote… >I’ve been thinking about the 10 Skill Levels quite a bit lately and I have >some ideas that I would like to share with you.
Absolutely hilarious!! I really love it, and am cravinf former. You must be in
the wrong line of business :-), if you know what I mean.
>Below, you will find a new list of skill levels that I have created based >on my extensive one year’s worth of experience in artistic unicycle >riding. I believe that you will find these revisions to be both more >accessible to new riders - who are anxious to progress quickly to higher >levels, and more challenging for experts that find themselves stuck at >level 10 with nowhere to go. > >As always, comments are welcome. > >-Rick Bissell > > >DRAFT: Year 2000 Skill Levels >------------------------------------------- >LEVEL 1 >- Purchase unicycle unassisted > >- carry unicycle 10 meters to car > >- gracefully place unicycle in car and drive home > > >LEVEL 2 >- while holding onto an object or person for assistance, mount unicycle and > allow the wheel to quickly shoot out from underneath in a forward or > backward direction > >- ride forward with both arms flailing in 1 meter arcs > >- turn randomly in any direction by twisting > >- dismount without damaging seat > > >LEVEL 3 >- ride in a figure 1 > >- free mount > >- announce free mount success to all friends and post on Internet unicycling > newsgroup > >- ride while looking to one side > >- ride alongside a 15 cm drop > >- drift to the left or right while riding > > >LEVEL 4 >- demonstrate one mount, 4 times > >- ride with an empty stomach > >- come to a stop, pedal a half revolution backwards and fall off > >- open a can or bottled beverage while riding and sip 25 times > >- perform a Level 10 skill in a unicycle dream > >- ride 10 meters wearing a unicycle T-shirt > >- ride 10 meters with a unicycle T-shirt worn backwards > >- ride 10 meters with a unicycle T-shirt worn sideways > > >LEVEL 5 >- create and upload a personal unicycle web page > > >LEVEL 6 >- purchase a new unicycle of better quality and/or different wheel size > >- admit to your boss that you rode to work on it > >- mount in lots of different ways > >- hop in lots of different ways > >- ride backward in lots of different ways > >- idle in lots of different ways > >- ride one footed in lots of different ways > >- ride with the seat out in lots of different ways > >- get injured in lots of different ways > > >LEVEL 7 >- walk the wheel while sticking out tongue from corner of mouth > >- spin on a well worn tire > >- hop with one foot caught in spokes > >- coast while grinning > >- glide while screaming > >- koosh koosh (whatever that is) > > >LEVEL 8 (secret…contact USA or IUF officials for information) > > >LEVEL 9 >- perform all skills in the IUF video while whistling or humming the > appropriate background music > >LEVEL 10 >- demonstrate 100 types of mounts > >- ride in a figure 10 > >- walk the wheel one-footed backwards with the seat dragging behind > >- hop/twist 720 degrees > >- sideways wheel walk backwards > >- ride with the wheel off the ground for 10 meters. > >- fold an intermediate level origami model while riding backwards with > eyes closed > >- ride across a state/country/province between two parallel lines 30 cm apart > without stopping > >- ride or hop over a Level 3 rider > >- stand beside unicycle without touching it for 4 hours on a beautiful Autumn > Saturday morning > >
Regards, Jack Halpern Kanji Dictionary Publishing Society, http://www.kanji.org
Voice: +81-48-481-3103 Fax: +81-48-479-1323
Rick’s new take on the skill levels is hilarious! You can tell by reading it
that he’s spent a lot of time reading and thinking about the “real” levels.
We should post them beside the real levels on unicycling.org, and offer them
for people who don’t like the original set (after reading the original set
of course).
If you’ve received your new ON ONE WHEEL, don’t forget to read Rick’s article
about how to bring home new unicycles without invoking the wrath of your
significant other.
If you aren’t expecting a new ON ONE WHEEL but want to, it’s the quarterly
publication of the Unicycling Society of America. If you like unicycling, and
reading about it in English, you should be a member. Doesn’t matter where you
live, there is interesting stuff in every issue from around the world. This is
the most comprehensive English language unicycling publication. Send $15 to the
Unicycling Society of America, P.O. Box 40534, Redford, MI 48240. This is for a
single membership. If you’re outside the U.S. or would like a family membership,
check out the USA web site: http://www.unicycling.org/usa/
As for Rick’s skill levels, I am working on the secret level 8. Please email me
at jfoss@unicycling.com if you have suggestions. I will post them to my web site
when finished…