Things happen in 3's, so NO MORE please!

General Unicycling Discussions
#1

My friend and riding buddy John Long (Vivalargo) has had some lousy luck these past few months.

#1) It first started with a bad knee injury that has only recently allowed him to get back in the MUni saddle, albeit cautiously.

#2) The next mishap occured just yestersday as we were riding a trail in the Santa Monica Mtns. known as “Rustic Canyon.” We were about 2 miles in when his brand new KH geared hub BROKE on the spot!

One of the cranks just fell off with no prior warning, shearing off the shifting button on that side! So we did what we could to tighten the crank bolt back on, but just as we got back to the car, he noticed that it too, had fallen out and was lost! (So we drove back to John’s house and picked up his regular MUni he dubbed, “Old Faithful”, and we went back to complete the ride.)

#3) Then today, while we were at “Venice Mountain” for some routine practice drops-he’d done them successfully countless times- John fell forward after landing a 6 footer, and because there was very limited roll out area, he reached out his left arm to block himself from hitting a fence, when his shoulder totally and completely POPPED out of its socket! Dislocation and instant pain! OUCH! :astonished:

So I quickly raced back to my car to come back and take him to the closest ER, but while on the way to pick him up, I thought it better to call 911 and have them quickly dispatch the paramedics, so hopefully they could pop it back in asap, on the spot.

Well, when they arrived (in just a few minutes thankfully) they suggested that I drive him there instead, as it would be faster! Oh well, so I got him to the ER farily quickly, and luckily they admitted him straight away, and literally within minutes, they reset his shoulder.

Crisis averted! After an x-ray determined he was otherwise ok, I dropped him off at his house and he said, “I’m riding next week!” Now THAT’S a trooper if there ever was one!

So if the Uni Gods or whoever are listening, Three’s his limit…now give the guy a frickin break! (Not literally of course!) Ok John, it’s all behind ya now,so it should be clear sailing from here on in!:smiley:

#2

There should be a special ‘Unicyclist’ insurance plan with ultimate coverage for Americans

Sorry to hear about John, Terry. Let us know if he’s back out next week!

#3

What’s happening about his geared hub?

#4

So thats two broken KH geared hubs now?

That sucks, hopefully next week turns out better for him.

#5

Yep, and this was like only his second or third time riding with it, and with totally light use!

#6

Hey, Terry, that’s a bummer for John (and you, too, but not quite as bad)! Glad he’s okay.

I’m curious about the hub, though. From what I read, it seems like the gears in the hub didn’t actually break, but rather the crank came loose (seemingly a common problem), fell off under a lot of force (perhaps under the weight of his foot and leg?) and pulled off the button and bolt, thereby making the hub unusable for the time being. Is this the case? I suppose the shifting rod (the thing the buttons screw onto that goes through the center of the hub) could be bent, but I don’t see how that could actually break the gearing… Will he be okay with a new crankbolt and shifting button?

However you slice it, though, that’s one nasty ride! I’m glad the only things that actually ended up damaged are your unicycles!

#7

As far as I remember, the shifting button definitley sheared off from the “stem”, and the crank bolt fell off somehwere on the way back to my car. We had tightened as much as possible, with [seemingly] plenty of force. Not sure if the damage is limited to the above, or if there’s more involved. I guess he’ll have to send it back for inspection.

#8

Best healing wishes to Vivalargo.

I had a chronically dislocating shoulder, originally done diving for a disc in ultimate. It used to come out easier and easier, but it still felt absolutely horrible when it did.

Surgery in 1989 corrected the problem, and it hasn’t come out since.

#9

I’ve found that hand tightening the crank bolt with the provided allen wrench is not good enough. I would crank down on it, and then use a torque wrench to find out that I wasn’t putting enough pressure with it. It seems essential to torque it down properly.

-corbin

#10

Ooo that must have been ridiculously painfull, dislocating a shoulder. Iv’e only ever dislocated one of my toes before. It’s really not a nice experience to go through.

#11

Aw, John that sucks. Sorry to hear about your mishaps. On a brighter note, the new Cokers are in so you can have your old one back! I’ll drop it off the next time I’m up in Venice, probably sometime this week. I’ll call ya…

#12

That’s horrid! Get well soon man!

<3

#13

What a pile of back luck. Hope that the gods have run out of their supply now!

Last year on “Unicycling in the Dutch Mountains” one of the guys rode a fallen tree and lost it so he jumped off and had to hold himself against another (standing) tree. After that, his shoulder had popped, and he himself was not the first one to notice. Only after we said “man, what’s with your shoulder!”, he said, “oh, that…”. Allegedly it didn’t hurt him, just a weird feeling. Then he kind of swung his arm in a vertical plane which caused the joint to pop back to where it should be. And he continued riding…

#14

John, I wouldn’t ride challenging terrain for a while, and see a physical therapist about things you can do to hold it in the joint better (there are nutritional suplements and exersises).

As others have said, each time it pops out more easily. This is why Evan Byrne has had to pick up other hobbies :frowning: