How many of you have slalomed on an actual course that you’ve made? I’m not talking about weaving in and out of cars, poles and other stuff you might find at random. I just discovered how much fun slaloming on a homemade course can be, especially on a 36er! I also found that it’s a real challenge making fast, precision cut/turns on a big heavy 36er!
I think it could be an awesome and fun call out competition, to set up a specific number of cones, with each at a specific width apart, then see who can get through the course the fastest without knocking any, or the least amount down!
It would also be easiest if we all did this on FLAT ground, since all of us finding the same exact DH grade would be next to impossible! There could also be uni wheel size classes, i.e., 20, 24, 29, 36 etc. What do you all think of having this comp?
So anyway, I got 20 mini traffic cones at a soccer store for only about $1.25 each. I set them up in a long line and went at it. I filmed it and also found another use for my UCC! In this case, USC (Uni-Slalom-Cam!)
So I’m thinking this could also be really fun on snow, if you have a studded tire and set up a course similar to slalom skiing! Anyone here ever done it on a uni?
It’s part of the regulation Obstacle Course. But in that case the slalom part is only 5 cones long. They’re 1 meter apart, so they’ll keep you busy even on a 24" wheel. It’s a lot more interesting on a Coker (or 45" wheel) though.
Here’s an example of Marc Haefliger (Switzerland), the IUF Obstacle Course record holder, on one of his practice runs before breaking my previous record, that I’d held since Unicon I (with improvements over the years). That was Unicon 11, in 2002.
Remember to consider cone size in your callouts. Bigger cones are generally harder, so they’re a factor. The examples Terry used are great because they are pretty easy to find, and cheap. Another low-cost alternative might be soda/beer cans or similar. For a real challenge, try using empty ones!
I used pepsi liters I had still full and unopened. The classic “Coker-Pepsi” Challenge! But yeah, the big traffic cones are much harder to come by in quantity and a LOT more expensive, unless you swipe them off the street, which I don’t recommend! The smaller ones are ideal, cheaper, easy to transport, stack and store, and set up is fast.
I’m going to try narrowing my coker slalom cones to about one foot apart! Needless to say I will have to go a lot slower, and the ultra-sharp turns needed will be almost 90 degrees between cones!
Haha yeah those pole lane dividers were also a lot farther apart so it wasn’t as hard getting through them, and I could ride much faster between them. What 36er did you order? I’m on the verge of ordering a KH 36er!
Last time I shot the cones was on a 29", at Disney World resort. They had a long line at an empty end of the parking lot. Somehow at the end of the row, I lost it and fell forward to the pavement. The golf cart full of cleaning crew passing seemed to enjoy my attempt at flight. With skinned palms and knees, I felt much older that afternoon.
Coker Big One used from dudewithasock. The KH definitely looks sweet, and I love my KH29, but I was getting a bit too much wife friction to get past the expense; toys budget totally gone after a new speedy recumbent and three unicycles all in the last year (well, two of the uni’s are for my kids, so they don’t count, do they?). Good news is that it’ll only be a few years before my kids are big enough that one will inevitably steal the Big One from me, forcing me to buy a KH!
This would be a lot fun in a competition especially if there is a parallel slalom race. We did this on a competition last year but on a bumpy meadow with a slight downhill grade an the “gates” (like the ones used for ski races) being really far from each other. It would be SO cool to do this on pavement with little clearance between the cones on a downhill street. Just like slalom skateboarders.
Great idea! Now you need to take those cones and do slalom in that pool of water, down stairs, and on some MUnitrails! ;) Unfortunately, that wouldn’t work for the competition. :o
How odd… I have 6 of these cones and quite often set them up in a slalom, approx. 1 meter apart. I also ride a 24" and can say from experience that it’s very involved!
I’d love to take part in a slalom challenge but I think the smaller wheel would put me at an unfair advantage. Or maybe it’s an excuse to get into the exciting world of Coker-ing…
We could have different wheel size competitions; 20, 24, 26,29,36. We would also have to all agree on how far to space each cone, and how many to use. You would have to video tape your attempts in real-time, with no edits. Should be easy to do. We just all need the same number and size cones. They’re pretty easy to find, I got mine at a soccer store, and most have those smaller ones like mine.
Those should be ok, although they are a lot smaller than the ones I have. You could make up for the smaller base diameter by “staggering” the line slightly, so it mimics the larger cones.
I dont have any cones, but i have about ten wheels for a mini, and some stack-a-cup thingys… theyre probably better than wheels i suppose. but it sounds fun and i may have to go and do some slaloming.
I’m going to see if a local riding buddy wants to get in on this. What I plan to do is set up a parallel slalom with 10 cones each. I’ll video it and we’ll have a race to see who has the fastest time, without knocking any over. We will try it on our trials, then MUnis, then 36ers! And we’ll try it several times with each uni, finding the very shortest space possible between cones, going as fast as we can!
Edit: Try as we might, I doubt that we’ll be able to weave through the course quite as fast as this! (He used the same sized cones as mine)
Cone size matters in terms of how much they get in the way. If they’re lower than your pedals, for example, other differences aren’t very important. When you’re using traffic cones (real ones), there’s a huge range of sizes and when they’re only 1m apart, fat ones are a lot closer than skinny ones! I wouldn’t worry about minor cone differences until/unless this gets real competitive.
To get things started, someone just needs to establish a course for others to copy. Close together for lots of twisting exercise, farther apart for higher speeds. Wheel size won’t even matter at first, everybody just try it!
But yeah, the big traffic cones are much harder to come by in quantity and a LOT more expensive, unless you swipe them off the street, which I don’t recommend! The smaller ones are ideal, cheaper, easy to transport, stack and store, and set up is fast.
