Hi,
Recently I’ve been learning to side hop up square obstacles (ie boxes) by
hopping (seat out front) up and catching the pedal/crank on the edge of the box.
You then hop from this position up to having your tire on the top of the box.
It seems to work quite well (getting cleanly onto boxes over 90 cm high was
possible after only a couple of hours practice), and it is legal to do this in
bike trials competitions (as long as your heel and toe aren’t used for support
when the pedal is resting on the box).
I know others have talked about this on this usenet, but I have never seen
anyone use this technique before. I was wondering what other people’s
experiences were with this side hopping technique.
Cheers,
Kris.
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Re: side hopping
> Re Rick’s query about hopping with the seat out front:
>
> Hopping with the seat out front allows you to get way more elevation. The only
> disadvantage is a slight reduction in control.
>
> The reduction in control can be remedied significantly by practicing riding
> with the seat out in front, and by learning to ride an ultimate wheel, because
> much of the reduction in control is due to not having perfectly equal pressure
> on both feet.
>
> Following is my take on effective seat-out-front hopping technique:
>
> Ride up alongside the obstacle. Pull the seat out in front and reposition your
> grip so that you are holding the seat on the side, where the seatpost is
> positioned. The back of the seat should be just barely in front of your crotch
> at first, so that your thighs can still hold it in place slightly. Hop in this
> position until you are in balance.
>
> When you’re ready, move the seat a little bit farther forward and spring
> upwards. I say spring, not jump, because it isn’t a deep knee bend kind of
> motion. Pull the unicycle up at the exact instant that you are weightless on
> the pedals. Learning how to time when to pull the uni up is the key to getting
> higher hops. Land in the seat out front position, then push the seat back
> between your legs (unless you need to hop again).
>
> One other thing. If the goal is to hop over something fairly narrow, like from
> the seat of a park bench to the top of the backrest for
example, it is
> a good idea to learn how to hop and turn 90 degrees (or so) so that you land
> perpendicular to the narrow object. This can be facilitated by initiating the
> hop while facing slightly towards the obstacle, rather than parallel to it.
> Personally, I think that I generally face slightly towards the obstacle anyway
> but that may be just me.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> -Kris.
>
>
>
> — Rick Bissell <rick@tridelta.com> wrote:
> > Kris wrote:
> >
> > >Recently I’ve been learning to side hop up square
> > obstacles (ie boxes)
> > >by hopping (seat out front) up and catching the
> > pedal/crank on the edge
> > >of the box. (snip)
> >
> > I’m light-years away from even -thinking- about trying that, but I’m curious
> > why you hop with the seat out in front.
> Is
> > this necessary to get more elevation?
> >
> > -Rick
> >
>
> _________________________________________________________
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>
>
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Re: side hopping
Kris Holm wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Recently I’ve been learning to side hop up square obstacles (ie boxes) by
> hopping (seat out front) up and catching the pedal/crank on the edge of the
> box. You then hop from this position up to having your tire on the top of
> the box.
>
> It seems to work quite well (getting cleanly onto boxes over 90 cm high was
> possible after only a couple of hours practice), and it is legal to do this in
> bike trials competitions (as long as your heel and toe aren’t used for support
> when the pedal is resting on the box).
>
> I know others have talked about this on this usenet, but I have never seen
> anyone use this technique before. I was wondering what other people’s
> experiences were with this side hopping technique.
I watched OP (an amazing Spanish Mountain Bike Rider) in about 1989 at Mammoth
Mountain using this technique on a bike. He was getting 160cm in a single hop! I
have a photo some where, showing him jumping from ground level onto a 5’ high
post (1’ square) and landing on the pedal in a single jump. He then jumped onto
the top with a single jump landing on the rear wheel. He then jumped on to
another post 6’ away, landing on pedal, he then repeated the hop he did on the
first post landing on the rear wheel. To cap it all, he then did a 360 spin on
the top of the post and dipped his front wheel to the judges before hopping off
the post, landing on the rear wheel. To say the least I was amazed, I would love
to see this done on a unicycle
- If it can I am sure it will be Kris who gets there first.
Roger
Re: side hopping
Kris wrote:
>Recently I’ve been learning to side hop up square obstacles (ie boxes) by
>hopping (seat out front) up and catching the pedal/crank on the edge of the
>box. (snip)
I’m light-years away from even -thinking- about trying that, but I’m curious why
you hop with the seat out in front. Is this necessary to get more elevation?
-Rick
Re: side hopping
Kris Holm wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Recently I’ve been learning to side hop up square obstacles (ie boxes) by
> hopping (seat out front) up and catching the pedal/crank on the edge of the
> box. You then hop from this position up to having your tire on the top of
> the box.
>
> It seems to work quite well (getting cleanly onto boxes over 90 cm high was
> possible after only a couple of hours practice), and it is legal to do this in
> bike trials competitions (as long as your heel and toe aren’t used for support
> when the pedal is resting on the box).
>
> I know others have talked about this on this usenet, but I have never seen
> anyone use this technique before. I was wondering what other people’s
> experiences were with this side hopping technique.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Kris.
In English that’s 35 inches. Very, very good. Hey, whatever works.
>
>
> _________________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
RE: side hopping
> It seems to work quite well (getting cleanly onto boxes over 90 cm high was
> possible after only a couple of hours practice), and it is legal to do this in
> bike trials competitions (as long as your heel and toe aren’t used for support
> when the pedal is resting on the box).
>
> I know others have talked about this on this usenet, but I have never seen
> anyone use this technique before. I was wondering what other people’s
> experiences were with this side hopping technique.
My limited experience is bent cranks. That was years ago, on soft steel. But I
imagine it’s still going to be a problem (though it will save some stress from
the axle while you’re doing it). I guess riders also will need to consider a
good toothy pedal for gripping onto whatever they are jumping onto.
Cars not recommended.
Stay on top, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
jfoss@unicycling.com http://www.unicycling.com
Re: side-hopping
> Hi,
>
> Is there a world side hop record (vertical height)?
The competition record is .58m for hopping over a bar, by Karl Frankowski at the
1997 NUC. (http://www.unicycling.org/usa/records/)
Beirne