Today on my ride into work I had a UPD. That in itself is somewhat peculiar in that I usually ride 3 or 4 times a week to work and in the last three years I’ve only had two UPDs during a commute. But there was something even more unexpected.
My usual route puts my on a fairly busy two lane road. I commonly turn left onto the road, and ride on the left (or incorrect*) side of the road until there is a break in the traffic. I then cross to the right (or correct*) side of the road.
This morning while looking over my shoulder for traffic I suddenly found myself headed for the pavement. I hit the ground on my feet and was able (after a few yards) to regain enough balance to avoid falling forward.
As my running slowed, the coker came rolling right up alongside me. It was surreal! It was as if a ghost rider was demonstrating a seat in front drag. As it came by (still rolling on leftover momentum) I grabbed the wheel, swung the seat around and hopped back on.
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful.
-mg
Please no flames about which is the correct/incorrect side of the road to travel on.
You’re going about it all wrong. You meant to do that riiiiight
The post should have gone more like this:
So I was riding the coker to work today and it was getting a bit boring. A trick, I decided was what the ride needed. After a moment’s thought, I came up with it. I proceeded to ride on the wrong side of the road to add a degree of danger. Then I hopped off the coker and started running, allowing the coker to roll on it’s own for a second or two. After a few steps, the trick called for me to grab the wheel and lift it to allow the seat to swing around back into a position where I was able to complete a running suicide mount.
After the successful completion of the trick, I was off riding again as if I had never gotten off.
*end exaggeration
Tricks are things that happen by magic. Skills are things that happen because you practice and are a good rider. Clearly that Coker dismount falls under the category of skill.
I’ve seen Tom Jackson (IUnicycle) perform that same Coker dismount. Only he performed it as a bowling skill and not a dismount-remount skill.
).