Hi Terry,
Thank you for the pictures. It was a good ride if a bit over my head. I should get out more.
Scott
Bellflower BMX
Finished the track clean! One check off my to do list.
My camera was out of batteries so this is a cell phone shot.
Video next time…
elsbet (the one and only liechtenstein/swiss muni event):
(2nd pic (me with the original elsbet shirt) taken by apfelstrudl, thanx)
NO!
haha
Nice video though.
I do hate fisheye/round camera lens effects though 
Mowcius
Nobody plays alpenhorn in my hood. Would like to see someone play one of those on a uni!
Seattle Diabetes “Tour de Cure” Team
Team Name: “The Four Wheeled Riders”
Yesterday we were among 600+ Bicycle entrants.
Lots of Fun and Smiles…All For a Great Cause.
L-R Maria Dawson, Sarah Dawson, Bruce Dawson, Dave Elliott
is that a penguin??? 
“is that a penguin???”
Yes it is. Bruce Dawson rode it for the entire 17 miles with us.
A sprocket/chain setup @ 2:1 with the 20" wheel effectively gave him a 40" rolling ride. I couldn’t believe how skinny the tire was.
He freemounted too.
does he happen to have some more pictures around, I’ve been looking for one of those for some time now, and google even bonks out on any information on them!! I think they’re one of the coolest ideas : ) it looks like it’d be really bad for a rough ride, but suuuper fast if it was smooth. that’s a great picture in itself!! looks like everybody’s havin a good time. You don’t see many younger people doing long distances.
how tall is he compared to a 36in rider? is it about the same, or is he even higher?
now that I look at the picture again, you have some interesting double holed cranks, did you drill them yourself?
I’ll ask Bruce what other pictures he might have of the Penguin. I do know that it is custom built. Seems that the axle is at about 24"+ off the ground, so yes it ends up being taller than a 36er. Bruce is tall, so on it he was way above all of us, for sure. Not a smooth ride. You could feel a gnat’s hair when you roll over it.
Yep
Yes it is. It was made by Abram in Seattle and I got it because he wanted it to be ridden more often. I’m doing my best – that’s my second ~17 mile ride on it.
I’ve just uploaded a picture of it. You can see that the pedal axle is just a couple of inches above the wheel, so that means the pedals are where they would be on about a 44" unicycle, or 4" higher than on a coker. That, together with being equivalent to a 40" wheel in terms of torque, makes free mounting a challenge, but with a tiny downhill I can do it reliably. Actually, as long as I’m not wearing my backpack I can do it reliably.
It creaks and groans a bit, and it’s not the smoothest or most forgiving ride, but there is something magical about going over 15 mph on a tiny wheel, way up in the air. The cranks are pretty long so you can actually climb some decent hills. But it’s definitely tricky. Definitely harder than a Coker.
it’s beautiful 
I think I’m in love. . . . perhaps one of these days I’ll get around to building up one. I’m thinking a poofy tire may make it a better ride, but then you would create some clearance issues. That’s a reeeeally cool ride : ) glad I finally got to see one. I always thought this would be a better option than the 36er because you could gear it up however high you wanted, but I suppose the rough ride would defeat the point.
definitely one of my favorite unis I’ve ever seen : ) keep that one rollin!!
Nice penguin - I’ve always thought those were cool as well
I’ve been playing with a helmet camera mount and got some reasonable film of my xc commute while I was testing it last week. No impressive riding or clever editing (in fact no editing at all!), but it gives a good idea of what the area is like for anybody who’s interested (you probably won’t want to sit and watch it all in real time!)
I posted it on the video forum here
Rob
Sorry for my ignorance, but what’s the difference between a penguin and a giraffe?
The height. A penguin is a short giraffe where the cranks are very close to the wheel, usually built for gearing purposes rather than for impressive height.
So a penguin is a giraffe, but a giraffe is not always a penguin
Rob
Winner of this weeks surreal conclusion prize 
BTW (edit) - I learned something new too!
Thanks for clearing that up Rob. Glad I wasn’t the only one going … 
wth
Learn something new everyday…
latest ride
I took a trail ride from my house to downtown Des Moines Sunday for a quick beer at El Bait Shop - approximately 20 miles.
This one isn’t so recent. This is from my college graduation day in 1986.
