Skate Park Punks, Beal Street Memphis, Injury, Peck

General
1

What a day.

Crashed a Skate park and met some wonderfull people. Skate park reminded me that I need to learn to grind and pedal grab. Skate punks were cool, with narry a negative comment- just encouragement, interest. Ran off by nice Park Ranger (Yogi Bear: ‘Excuse me Ranger, Boo Boo and I were just enjoying this here pick-a-nick basket’). Note to self: growing beard seems to help when interacting with Police. The MUC folks (Memphis Mud and Kin) we met would make you all wish you were MUCsters. Envited us to their home for lunch -wow!

Second lunch with Tommy at Vietnamies resturant. Ordered a bowl of soup so big I had to tag-out and have Lewis and Tommy finish it.

Hooked up with Bill (of ‘Magic Turtle’ Fame) in the basement of the First Congo Church for some sweet indoor riding (what a concept). Had to be reminded that shouting ‘Who’s your dady?’ may not be cool with sermon going on upstairs. People juggling clubs on cycle, practicing jumping, spins, seeing how fast a 29’er can go in a basement. Wheel walked 6.5 revs from iddle (another ‘Who’s your dady?’). Little girl showed up with evidence of 20 hours of community service and Tommy gave her a Unicycle. I’m so lucky to have friends like these. Lewis gave her his brand new helmet.

Piled into car, headed to downtown Memphis, hooked up with yet another cyclist, pack of 5 cuting through the Neon lights of Beal Street. Ran off by cops after explaining the law to him (‘You can’t ride here’,‘Can too ride here!’, etc.). Folded on simple jump, fell on my back on top of the cycle with one leg underneath, I don’t know how. Leg kinda works, kinda makes me scream- if it doesn’t magicly fix itself, then X-rays… or Gama Rays. Much preferred to head pain (the drugs are working :)).

Viewed Peck video. WOW. Wonder if he still rides? Must meet this man.

Night,

Christopher

2

HELLO DALI

Good to meet you and Lewis. Nice fun. My kids are smitten.

Sorry to here about that fall. The bricks on Beale are none to cushy, eh?

Look forward to next mtg.

BTW: A responsible adult would have his will up to date. Who gets the Coker?:wink:

3

All I know is that, as I write, Christopher is driviing back to Jackson and I have his Coker in the uni vault!

Though I didn’t get to ride at the Great Skate Park Turf War, I really had a great time riding at the Congo and cruising downtown Memphis. It is so easy to be unique in Memphis! Heads turned, shouts of “Right on!” and cops insisting that this unholy activity must certainly NOT be legal.

Cop: “Get that thing off the side walk!”
Tommy: “You mean you want us to ride in the street?”
Cop: “Yes, it is against the law to ride on the sidewalk! Get off!”
Tommy: " I think that you are wrong."
Chris: It is AGAINST the law to ride in the street!"
Cop: “Get OFF!”

We hoped off the side walk and proceeded for about 20 ’ and then back on, hoped off the curb again and crossed the street in the middle of the block where we rode and played - on the sidewalk but the cop never said a thing. I think that after Chris spurred his memory of the law that the cop realized that perhaps it was safer for everybody if we made spinning unicycle stars on the sidewalk rather than in the intersection of Main and Beale.

We paid our tribute beneath the Elivs statue and hoped that the healing energy of this icon would heal Chris.

A good time was had by all!

Tommy

4

Guys,

It was a good time up there in Memphis, TN. I’m glad my cranks on my street cycle were bent, it forced me to ride my 29" cycle indoors and practice my mount. To my surprise, I didn’t melt.

I loved meeting new people (The Maxwells; Van & Sam … Sam is a monster!). I loved seeing all the usual people (Tommy and Rody, Bill, Celeste, Jill, etc). Oh, and the MUC gives unicycles to kids who do community service work. Wow, amazing stuff. The girl there who earned her cycle, Altonita, told me that normally on a Saturday night while her mom worked upstairs, she’d be playing a computer game or something, but that she liked watching people on unicycles more. Is that even possible? Cool kid.

I think my favorite unicycling moment (though there were MANY) would be when Sam and I were riding around the pond together. He is only 10 or so, I’m not sure, but he is learning so quickly. He only started less than a year ago and he was giving me pointers on dropping/riding down this 2 foot sloped dirt thingy over the big roots between some trees. I had a lot of fun just keeping up with him on the 3 or 4 times that just the 2 of us rode around the pond.

The Maxwells were also very cool, and their hospitality was great! I mean, from their point of view, I’m just some guy they met on the internet, and same for Chris, but they are all like “hey come on over and have lunch.” Mucho kindness. For “revenge”, Chris gave Tom some Coker Lust. Enjoy. :slight_smile:

Finally, Tommy and Rody were perfect guests. As a newly married couple, they are both generous to let Chris and me eat up their weekend time with unicycle time. That goes double for Rody. (Hope I’m spelling her name right … grr … Tommy, how is it spelled?). She is very kind to us.

Visiting the Memphis Uniycle Club always rocks because the people are great!

Lewis

5

Remember the MUni or Giraffe tug-o-war? I was so naive back then. The drums beat inside my head:

Co…ker!

Co…ker!

Co…ker!

I will share what occured innocently, but you folks could use strategically if need be.

Lovely Wife is aware I need a MUni AND Giraffe. This has gotten me that look with one eyebrow raised. You know the one. After this weekend’s visit by aliens (Mississippians), I now ALSO need a Coker.

At every pause in normal conversation, I’ve filled the void with Uni-talk. Inadvertently worn down (there are apparently plenty of pauses, I didn’t notice), Loveliest Wife said: “Chill! You cannot get 3 Unicycles. You can only get one”

:smiley:

6

Well, you might still be able to experience 2, or even 3, even if you only buy 1. I have heard that many people buy the giraffe, learn to mount and ride it, and then it languishes in the closet most of the time after the thrill has worn off. So, perhaps the adults (heh) in the MUC could chip in a little each for the chance to buy a Giraffe for the club, as opposed to individuals? That way, instead of spending $250 on a starter Giraffe (including seat upgrade), you could each spend $50. That would assume that You, Tommy, Bill, and a couple of other people would chip in. Heck, I’d chip in $50 for a club Giraffe, even if I never had the courage to ride it.

Then it would be a club unicycle, and for those old enough and tall enough to safely ride it, they wouldn’t have to spend all that money on something that might just sit around in a closet otherwise.

If you could convince your family to let you do that (just$50 to help a collection) then you’d have access to one of the 3 you want, with minimum investment, and that would leave it to:

Coker vs MUni.

Now with the stronger Coker upgrades and mods available, you could always combine both. However, that may be something that comes after you become good at both.

Anyway, maybe the idea of a “fund” is a good one. In addition to the “Giraffe” fund, you could always have other ones for other club gear.

I guess the only danger is that a fund could scare off club members, even if it is optional, because people might feel obligated in some way, or they might feel weird about not contributing. So, maybe it would be best to keep that from being mentioned to the club as a whole, and just keep it as a back burner option for special circumstances.

However, we can’t let Tommy be expected to get everything the club needs, and I could see that having a couple of Giraffes in the club might be fun for parades … if not in time for the Festive Winter Holidays, then in time for other ones. Imagine 2 Giraffes with a “Happy Holidays from the MUC” banner stretched between 2 riders …

Lewis

7

Have only briefly touched with Tommy on this subject.

Loveliest Wife actually said “You can only get one RIGHT NOW”

So, what makes most sense is MUni now, Coker next. (Spring maybe. Just in time for Memphis In May Marathon.)

MUC Mutual Fund for Giraffe for parades and general skills development. I’ve checked Unicycle.com and EBay. They can be less than $200.00 new. Ebay, who knows.

8

Tom,

Yes, the MUni does seem to make sense. Have you thought about what you want in a MUni? Frame, wheel strength, price range, etc.?

As for the Giraffe, yes they come in new under $200, but I personally would want a Miyata seat upgrade, which would add $50. However, I could live with the standard seat too. Let me know if the club decides among a few of you to chip in, and I can help.

Lewis

9

Hey all,

I think that getting one for the club is a great idea - though I have no desire to fall 6 feet! If we each pitched-in $20 we could get one. I don’t care who keeps it. I’ll throw the idea out to the memebrship on the next Weekly Update.

I would rather see our money speant to buy a “better” one than a cheaper one. The lower-end stuff is SO poorly made.

Tommy

P.S.
Got off the phone about 45 min. ago with John D. - ordered my Coker! Yehaw!

10

Tommy-

Keep in mind that “falling” off of a six foot giraffe is not like falling six feet at all. Your feet are on the pedals and they’re only about 3.5 to 4 feet off of the ground. Also, unless you have mostly small kids in your club, seriously consider the six footer over the five footer. Twenty percent increase in fun factor.

11

And I just got off the Internet with them too.

Yuni MUni (24 x 3") on the way. (I hope to hop this wknd)

YeeeHaa!

I’ll have to flip burgers to get the Coker. (MUni isn’t even on the truck yet and I’m talking Coker).

Sheeeeese!

12

Somebody stop this madness! Must… not… M… u… s… t… n… o… t… Ahhhhrrrrggg ack!

Uni Savings and Loan

-C

13

Tom,

That Yuni Muni is Sweet! Did you get the standard one or the Profile (expensive) one? And did you upgrade the seat to an Air Seat? Or go with the standard seat? Either way it is all good!

I kinda want to get me another Muni, and I’m thinking of the Yuni Muni. The reason I’m thinking this is that ONE DAY, SOMEBODY is going to make another 3.0" wide slick tire, and when they do, I want a tough Cycle to put it on.

However, I also want a freestyle cycle, a trials cycle, and Coker and a 26" cycle, so I guess a second Muni / Monster Street Cycle is at the bottom of the list, sadly.

Grr. I calculated that I could buy all 5 unicycles that I want for $2500 … or I could get my house repainted. Decisions …

Harper,

Actually I think the MUC does have quite a few kids in it so the 5’ Giraffes may be smarter. I guess the MUC will have to decide that.

Lewis

14

Loveliest Wife clenches teeth tight while saying “Chrissssss”.

15

Lewis-

Your house looks fine from here. Get the uni’s.

16

Harper,

Sigh. My house needs a new paint job BAD. :slight_smile: I especially need to do it in case I ever have to sell it. I probably would have already bought the 5 unicycles I want except that the danger of layoffs, and the uncertainty of just exactly I want to do with my life (yes, I’m 35), keep me at the point where I don’t feel comfortable doing the mass unicycle purchase. However, painting the house “just in case” at least feels responsible.

ARGH!

So, buying one cycle at a time every season is probably the rate I will go for now.

I just have to decide which I want to buy the most. I guess a second Muni (for a fireball clone, one day) is at the bottom of the list. I suppose I should either get a freestyle cycle ( http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=594 ) or get a tough trials cycle ( http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=596 but the image is missing).

BTW has anybody tried the Yuni frames, and what do you think? How is it for skills development and foot placement? Right now I dont have a huge desire to do that now, but I want to buy for the future, as one day, I will get around to trying some stuff.

My immediate goals are to work on riding backwards and on doing rolling hops up curbs, and to side hop curbs and stairs. Those will complete the skills that I consider “essential” for riding around and getting from A to B.

Lewis

17

I would, from my vantage point atop THE PILLAR OF VAST KNOWLADGE, point out that the nievete of the above statement can easyly be transformed to a position of Devine Wisdom, mearly be removing the offensive ‘and’, placing ‘while’ in the vacancey, then adding high speed crown stands to the cataloge.

-C

18

Rody just got a new crown today (really) from clenching her teeth saying, “Chrisssss.”

My Coker is on the way too!

Smiling broadly,
Tommy

19

Chris,

WOW. Your visit has single-handedly planted the seeds for the ruination of 2 marriages. Congrats may not be in order. :slight_smile:

So, Tommy, did you get the Advanced Coker, or the Regular Coker? As if I have to ask.

Wow, that was one powerful day in Memphis.

Lewis

20

Re: Skate Park Punks, Beal Street Memphis, Injury, Peck

On Mon, 4 Nov 2002 13:50:36 -0600, Animation
<Animation.dm0ac@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:

>My immediate goals are to work on riding backwards and on doing rolling
>hops up curbs, and to side hop curbs and stairs. Those will complete the
>skills that I consider “essential” for riding around and getting from A
>to B.

My understanding is that riding backwards is not all that “essential”
to get from A to B. At best to go from B to A.

Klaas Bil

I posted only a single copy of this message.