I posted something a while back about qualifications to ride chain driven
unicycles & was referred to Redford Township Unicycle Club for rider testing. I
think the skills required are performed on giraffes.
My dilemma: There are several kids at a circus club where I volunteer who want
to ride chain driven unicycles. Several parents have expressed concern because I
too do not think some of the kids’ idling/unicycle skills are strong enough to
put other people at risk (sometimes the siblings run around at practice even
though the parents are there watching). The club does not really have a standard
(i.e. idling 25 times on a standard). Of course they claim they can idle, IMO,
not well enough. Although I would consider myself the expert, I am not the
coach. Do any of your clubs have a standard rule? I.e. pass level 3 so that I
can suggest this to the coach???
It is unfortunate that the kids would rather go higher in the air rather than
higher in skill level.
> Of course they claim they can idle, IMO, not well enough. Although I would > consider myself the expert, I am not the coach. Do any of your clubs have a > standard rule? I.e. pass level 3 so that I can suggest this to the coach???
I don’t have an established set of standards, but I have these basics to offer.
First, the standards used should apply to the type of riding to be done.
Redford’s giraffe standards are geared toward parade riding. To appear in a
parade the rider must have established the required skills. To simply ride
around in the gym perhaps a less stringent set of standards is needed, but as
always when kids are involved, some forethought is necessary to reduce risk.
At a bare minimum, anyone wanting to ride a giraffe should be able to idle and
ride backward. 25 idles sounds good. Riding backward 50 feet or so would also be
good, though I’d prefer riding backward in a complete circle in each direction
(any size).
Another useful skill for giraffe riders is bailing skills. I always encourage
riders to practice falling off the unicycle in every direction of the compass.
If you are comforable going down, you are much less likely to hurt yourself.
To kids who complain why can’t they just try it now, I say “get your own”. If
it’s in a school or club situation I say “get your own and ride it at home”.
I have drawn up a test for riders to qualify for riding a giraffe in parades
with our Boy Scout group. I started with the Redford test, dropped some skills,
and added others. To begin with I have a short (4.5 ft) giraffe. A rider must
pass the level 2 test before he can ride this. Once they have demonstrated they
can ride the short giraffe I will let them move up to a 5.5’ Unicycle Factory
giraffe. Once they have demonstrated that they can idle on the 5.5 for 25
strokes and ride through an obstacle course, including bumps, sharp turns, up
and down some small curbs then they will be alowed to ride one of our 2 Schwinn
6’ giraffes. (For all intents and purposes the Unicycle Factory giraffe is
indestructable, The Schwinns are not.) We have access to an 8’ giraffe, and
John Foss might even be willing to lend us his 9’ giraffe, but I worry about
the Scouts riding anything higher than a 6 footer. People seem pretty impressed
with them, and we don’t have anyone who can freemount anything higher than a 6
footer anyway.
One of the things I have noticed is that the guys find riding giraffes to be
fairly boring, and would rather be doing tricks and riding in formations. We
have the giraffes ride in the front of our group. Once they have passed through
the reviewing area they can dismount (answering one of the most frequently asked
questions), ride a standard uni with the better riders doing formations and then
free-mount the giraffe (answering one of the other most frequently asked
questions) and ride back to the front of our group. Dismounting and free
mounting the giraffe always gets a big round of applause
GIRAFFE TEST FOR PARADE
Be at least a Level 3 rider.
Ride 40 minutes without stopping, dismounting or arm flailing and perform the
following skills. (If you fall, get back on immediately.)
Idle for 1 minute
Right & left turns @ 180 degrees within a 24" diameter.
Ride through an obstacle course including weaving through cones set 1meter
apart on center; over bumps, cracks, railroad tracks, cobble stones and other
hazards that can appear along a parade route.
> I posted something a while back about qualifications to ride chain driven > unicycles & was referred to Redford Township Unicycle Club for rider testing. > I think the skills required are performed on giraffes. > > My dilemma: There are several kids at a circus club where I volunteer who want > to ride chain driven unicycles. Several parents have expressed concern because > I too do not think some of the kids’ idling/unicycle skills are strong enough > to put other people at risk (sometimes the siblings run around at practice > even though the parents are there watching). The club does not really have a > standard (i.e. idling 25 times on a standard). Of course they claim they can > idle, IMO, not well enough. Although I would consider myself the expert, I am > not the coach. Do any of your clubs have a standard rule? I.e. pass level 3 so > that I can suggest this to the coach??? > > It is unfortunate that the kids would rather go higher in the air rather than > higher in skill level. > > Uni-versally yours, Unicycle Lady http://users.aol.com/unilady/