Rode it on the first try. Mounted from 3 ft wall at Mother’s driveway. Hanging onto roof of garage, got my sea legs. Practiced an idle crank or two to get the feel.
Then, just shoved off (this takes less talent and more nerve). With conciderable concentration, I rode around the driveway for a good 1/2 minute. Then lost balance and came down (landing on feet).
2nd attempt went all the way down driveway, off that little bump at the end, up the street and around the corner.
Lost it up there, showing off to a friend. Had to mount by climbing up on her brick mailbox…way more difficult, but worked.
Observation 1: Its very, very cool. One dude even slowed his car, rolled down the window and said “I’m extremely impressed.”
Observation 2: Practice the dismount. You don’t land here, you land over there (in my case, 5 ft away). And it takes longer to get to the ground. Bear in mind your velocity is increasing at 32 ft per second squared. So get ready for a jolt. Front and back are ok because you land on two feet (so far). But falling to the sides, you land on only one foot and that’s a lot of pressure on the old skeletal system. Must learn to absord shock. Roll, etc…
Observation 3: Eventually I MUST learn how to mount this thing. There’s never a 3 ft brick wall around when you really need one. And I can’t figure how to carry one with me.
Second, I’m jealous. No new Uni goodness for this laddie. Sounds like a blast! If you can get 2 people proficient in it by next year, the MUC could have 2 Giraffe riders holding a banner for the front of the parade group.
Sounds great. You’ll have lots of fun on it. I’m not jealous at all, honestly.
Later, we may discuss the figure of 32 feet per second squared… and perhaps even the correct meaning of the word ‘velocity’, but for now, enjoy the giraffe.
We will have 2 people on Giraffes for next yrs parades. Riding is no real problem.
Must learn to mount.
Must learn to mount.
Next time you’re up here, you go GUni.
Good advice from somewhere on this site: Where Running Shoes with plenty of Shock Absorbing Cush for multilple landings. Other good advice from same source: to dismount, ride over to curb and slowly tiiiiiiimber… landing in grass (softer).
I understand that TCUC has a giraffe dismounting test a rider has to pass in order to ride a giraffe in a parade. Learning to dismount on a giraffe is essential. Who says a dismount is not a skill?
Great fun at MUC meeting last night. All who tried the Giraffes had a big time.
I would like to know more about their test. My daughter rode just fine, but got a nasty scrape on her leg during her maiden dismount. We didn’t really know how to describe the proper method to each other.
Grab back of seat. Tiiiimber forward. OK for wheel to go back some while you land on two feet.
That’s how I do it. I haven’t tried dismount with GUni in front.
Beastiary: you couldn’t be more wrong. Everyone has a great time and grins alot (a worthy indicator). Besides, with the 5-footer, the beams across the ceiling where we meet are only 6 inches above our heads. 6 footer would be a problem.
The preferred way to dismount from a short (5 or 6 foot) giraffe is to have the wheel roll out IN FRONT of you where you can see where it’s going and drop straight down from the seat behind the unicycle. When the giraffe rolls out behind you, you can’t see where it’s going or who or what it’s going to hit.
i got one two, nice miyata 5’, i might liket to try a 6 or 7’ just for kicks and giggles. I can mount most of the time on my 5’ but i suspect it would be hard on anything too much higher
Sounds like a blast! If you can get 2 people proficient in it by next year, the MUC could have 2 Giraffe riders holding a banner for the front of the parade group. 
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