So what are these 10 tricks demonstrated in this tape?

General
1

As a novice unicyclist for the past 20 years, I occasionally wonder what
the state of the art in unicycling is? I don’t think the equipment has
changed much over time. What about tricks. What can really be done on a
unicycle these days? Are there other things besides tricks which a
unicycle can be used for? What organizations are there that provide
information about unicycling?

    Anyone in my area :-)

    Thanks in advance. O _|_/ Eric Marshall / | Software Productivity
    Consortium = SPC Building |\\ 2214 Rock Hill Road |/ \_ Herndon, VA
    22070 - Tricks are

(703) 742-7153 | for kids.
|
marshall@software.org O

2

Re: So what are these 10 tricks demonstrated in this tape?

> As a novice unicyclist for the past 20 years, I occasionally wonder what
> the state of the art in unicycling is? I don’t think the equipment has
> changed much over time. What about tricks. What can really be done on a
> unicycle these days? Are there other things besides tricks which a
> unicycle can be used for? What organizations are there that provide
> information about unicycling?
>

There’s someone in my club that can use a skipping rope while unicycling. Most
impressive!

Has anyone seen Sem Abrahams do all his tricks? I was at the European Juggling
Festival in Oldenburg, Germany in 1990, and he was there showing off. He did all
the usual tricks such as wheel walking and then he picked up his wife (who just
happens to be very short!) and carried her round in various positions while he
rode around (including holding her up with one hand),

–
Julian Edwards, alias Ed.| ee89jje@ee.surrey.ac.uk or ee89jje@surrey.ac.uk Dept.
of Elec. Eng. | University Of Surrey | OS/2 on a PS/2 - half an operating system
Guildford. ENGLAND. | for half a machine

3

Re: So what are these 10 tricks demonstrated in this tape?

>
> > There’s someone in my club that can use a skipping rope while
> > unicycling. Most impressive!
>
> Maybe I should try to learn this one on my giraffe :slight_smile:

Well, I think he did try, but the giraffe was so heavy that the rope kept
getting stuck under the wheel.

Julian Edwards, alias Ed.| ee89jje@ee.surrey.ac.uk or ee89jje@surrey.ac.uk Dept.
of Elec. Eng. | University Of Surrey | OS/2 on a PS/2 - half an operating system
Guildford. ENGLAND. | for half a machine

4

Re: So what are these 10 tricks demonstrated in this tape?

> So what are these 10 tricks demonstrated in this tape?

It’s not 10 tricks, it’s 10 skill levels. The unicycle society of America (USA)
and International Unicycle Federation got together a list of all the things
people could do on unicycles, and sorted them by difficulty, and then broke the
list into 10 levels. Each level has several different skills, and the idea is
that you probably should learn all the skills in one level before trying to
learn any on the next level, just because the next level is harder. To me,
“tricks” are things that you seem to be doing but aren’t really doing, like
magic tricks – you’ve tricked the audience into thinking you’ve violated the
laws of physics. Unicycling and juggling involve REALLY DOING things.

The skill levels involve things like (I don’t have a list handy)

mount in the open, ride 10 meters, dismount gracefully

mount with either foot first, ride in a circle of specified radius, go off a
curb, dismount with the unicycle in front of you, ride 10 meters between two
straight lines about a foot apart

ride over a 2x4, demonstrate 3 different mounts, ride in circles in both
directions, ride half a revolution backwards and then go forwards again

…

idle (stay in one place, going half a revolution forward and half a revolution
backwards, repeatedly)

pirouette (spin in place)

walk the wheel (ride with feet on the tire, not the pedals)

ride one-footed

ride off the seat, holding the seat in front of you

ride off the seat, holding the seat in back of you

drop the seat to the ground, ride a specified distance, pick up the seat again

…

and they build on each other – for instance, if level n has “walk the wheel”,
level n+1 will have “walk the wheel backwards” and “walk the wheel in a circle”,
and level n+2 may have “walk the wheel backwards in a circle”.

> Are there other things besides tricks which a unicycle can be used for?

Well, some people use them for transportation. But what’s wrong with just
enjoying developing your skills?

> What organizations are there that provide information about unicycling?

The above-mentioned Unicycle Society of America & IUF. If nobody beats me to it,
I’ll post the address.

Dean Bandes deanb@ma.credence.com

5

Re: So what are these 10 tricks demonstr

My mailer screwed up the last message, it was meant to finish with:

He also free-wheeled ("coasting he called it i.e. no feet on pedals) around in
a circle, and when I asked how long it took him to learn that he said about
two months!

Jealous? Me? Naaaah…

Ed

Julian Edwards, alias Ed.| ee89jje@ee.surrey.ac.uk or ee89jje@surrey.ac.uk Dept.
of Elec. Eng. | University Of Surrey | OS/2 on a PS/2 - half an operating system
Guildford. ENGLAND. | for half a machine

6

I heard this was an old thread. Thought I would renew it. hahahahahaha

7

So the only really relevant question after 12 years is “Can Sem still lift his wife with one hand?”

8

Re: So what are these 10 tricks demonstrated in this tape?

On Thu, 28 Jul 2005 00:37:03 -0500, “tomblackwood” wrote:

>So the only really relevant question after 12 years is “Can Sem still
>lift his wife with one hand?”

I think so. I saw him doing it 4 years ago
http://www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/sem_teresa.htm and he made it look
easy.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict

I ride like a princess. - john_childs