Louise took them. It is along a cliff by the ocean, with a pretty long drop off down to the rocks below, but there is a good four or so feet before the cliff, so I felt pretty safe riding it.
There are also some pictures of my new Coker wheel. It has a Unicyle.com (UDC) extra-wide hub, with an airfoil rim, and an Adelman wheel build (although, I did peek over his shoulder and do a tiny bit of help. I just finished putting it together last night and did a tiny bit of riding on it in the dark; it is very slick, and light!!
Nice! Can you freemount on that or did you have to use the tree? I don’t consider that rail riding exactly… more like just skinny riding. Hard, but nothing like rail riding.
That Coker looks awesome. I’d love to have something like that. What did it cost you?
Yeah, you are right, it isn’t at all one of the round railings, which are much more difficult (I can’t really do those). I can freemount on it; it is one of the things i learned the past few months (which I have tips for anyone else who is learning).
My Coker: I bought a stock coker 3 or so months ago. Then I bought a UDC hub, airfoil rim, and the stainless steel spokes. I got everything except the spokes from Unicycle.com; the spokes, Ken Adelman ordered for me. Just check the site for prices on everything and add it up; that’s what I spent!
Nice photos, that looks like a really fun skinny. The corners are fun hey! If you wouldn’t mind it would be nice to add your suggestions of how to learn the skill to www.unicycle.2ya.com .
And also some photos of other stuff. Your gallery didn’t say when you were up in Seattle, but if you happen up here again on biz (or for plez), you should let the Seattle Area Riders know either via a thread or by PM-ing one of us that’s active in RSU (me, john_childs, Harper, Unibrier, Iunicycle). There’s lots of good riding up here, trials, muni, and distance, and between the group we have some spare equipment as well. It would be fun to hit some of the local spots with you.
Re: Re: Rail riding – “East Cliff” in Santa Cruz, CA
I definitely will! Those photos are from 3 or 4 years ago (which is about 2 or 3 years before I started uni’ing).
Andrew: here are my tips for skinny riding. They may seem “obvious” at first, but each item was something I had to practice on. Most my pictures are at: http://www.corbinstreehouse.com/pictures.html
Learn to mount without your hands on the unicycle. Keep your hands out to the side and use them for balance. I heard that if you have them high (as in, above your shoulder) that sometimes helps people, but for me, it doesn’t seem to matter too much.
When doing normal mounts (using #1), watch your tire – make sure it doesn’t move. This was key for me to practise. Everytime you mount, mount and make sure the tire doesn’t move left/right. Then, begin riding straight ahead.
Mount with your dominate foot back. I hop right foot back, but would frequently mount left foot back. Once I always started mounting right foot back (my dominant), i got better.
I was noticing that too! I guess she’s popular. I’ll take some pictures of her on her muni, post them, and see how many people click on her. I’m sure she’d be willing to do some “betty girls” poses.
Corbin, you’re lucky I just moved out of my east side 'hood otherwise there’d have been a showdown on east cliff. I’m jealous you got yourself a photographer, those are some cool pics! Did you try gapping to the bench, or hopping the rocks bordering the street there? East cliff has some fun trials for shizzle… and lots of onlookers too.
To augment Corbin’s excellent list of things to practice…
Once you’ve mounted you should achieve a comfortable forward momentum immediately and sustain that motion. I find balance corrections are easier with a decent forward momentum than when inching along slowly. Also, sustaining a constant velocity seems to keep one’s wheel from wobbling.
Turning sharp corners on a skinny: approach a corner without slowing down (key!) and, just as you are about to roll off the corner, turn your upper body to face the direction of the skinny after the corner. Lean your whole body (while sitting up straight!) ever so slightly into the corner and twist your hips to take the wheel around the corner. Make sure to pedal through the corner while you’re doing the hip-twist, this will help you balance through the turn.
I practice riding on the very edge of the sidewalk every time I ride, 'cause it’s very low risk when you fall off here. Find a “featured” sidewalk or driveway (something with dips and turns) on which to practice, and practice often, until you’re super solid. Then the transition to riding high skinnies shouldn’t be much of a leap!
Also, get very solid with dropping from the height of any skinny you plan to ride. Then when you do accidentally ride off the edge you won’t biff your landing (potentially hurting yourself) and it’ll look like you meant to ride off!
