I’ve got a park in my street that’s about 300m from my house and is really good for unicycling in. Firstly, there’s some nice soft grass to practice new things on. There’s also a bench that I use to practice my dropping with the seat out on and also that I’ll use later on when I start doing some pedal grabs. In the playground, there is a 1m drop with a nice soft landing.
The main thing though, is the border of the playground. It’s one of those flat ground-level ledges that is about 12cm or so wide. It goes in an irregular loop around the playground for a total of about 55m and it’s really fun to try to ride along. The fact that it’s on a hill for part of it also adds more of a challenge. I’m working up to riding all the way around it. I’m up to about 2/3 of the way around which is a bit more than 35m. I think that practicing this sort of stuff is really good for building my general balance on the unicycle. If you’ve got a park like this near you you should give it a go.
Does the park have the back gatesof houses at the top of the hill?
'cos there was a small park with a bench round the back of my old house in Trebon street. I think that was the name of the road,
just wondering
A favorite is Shelby Farms Park. It is 4500 acres. I believe its the largest park, surrounded by a city, in the USA. There’s something for everyone. Five+ mile “Tour d’Wolf” Mountain B*ke (now MUni) race trail. 7 miles of paved walking, jogging, rollerblading, Cokering paths. Umpteen kilometers of trails through the woods, by the Wolf River. Wilderness. No mountains, but mondo ravines and washouts. Playgrounds, sailing lake, strategically placed water fountains…
People are good to keep it clean. The Park personel are great.
Its so big, the city wants to build a big road (8 lanes) through the middle. There’s a strong organization called “Don’t Split Shelby Farms” that is opposing that. (effectively)
The great thing about Unicycles is that (escept maybe for Cokers) you only need a tiny but of space to wear yourself out. At Shelby Farms there are 4,000,000 tiny little spaces.
That sounds great. It’s good to know that “Don’t Split Shelby Farms” is holding strong against the ugly 8-lane road.
James,
Sorry, but that’s not the one I’m talking about. I haven’t seen it but I know roughly where it is. It’s about a 5 minute ride from my place. I live in Tingward St. which is the one just before the tennis courts as you head up and over the hill to Keperra. There’s a gym on the corner of my street.
Re: Parks are good for lots of different types of unicycling practice…
My favorite place to ride is at a school that’s close to my house -
with basketball courts, a track, a baseball field, and lots of
concrete ramps to ride on. When I’m riding, I feel like I’ve got more
in common with skateboarders than bicyclers because I’m mostly looking
for interesting & challenging surfaces to ride on, rather than long
straight sidewalks or bike paths. The baseball field is a really cool
place to ride, with a pitchers mound to ramp off of, and other surface
variations that are challenging to cruise over. The area between the
school and the sports fields has some small grassy hills, and it’s fun
trying to ride down these hills, although, it’s hard to see the ruts
because of the thick grass.
