Even though I am supposed to not be aggravating my knees and giving them a rest, I couldn’t resist a hop move at the park. I had no uni with me.
I was at a new park with my three young sons and there are many low brick walls about 1.5’ to 2’ in the park.
After seeing live trials at the CAL MUni weekend, I have started searching for trials props everywhere.
I looked at the 1.5’ brick wall, eyed it, stood next to it and did a parallel hop to the right and got up on it! I thought, maybe this would be easier with a uni because of the compression of the tire at the beginning of the hop.
So the big question is: How similar is this to really hopping with a trials uni between your legs? (easier or harder) Can someone develop or improve hopping skills by practicing this without the uni?
I think seat out position would be better, but can you do this with seat in as well?
I am 50 years old and can EASILY flat foot hop onto a ledge and break the world unicycle high jump record dead cold on the first try. Can here meaning that I have done it many times before and have done it recently. It is MUCH easier to hop without a unicycle. I could also EASILY standing broadjump and break the world unicycle long jump record dead cold on the first try. Could here meaning I haven’t tried it but would be willing to wager big bucks on it.
After many years of BMX riding and aggressive street riding, I’ve found that having an object present or in the way will lead you to jumping higher, since you have a tangible object that you must clear.
Although I have found this to be true, I have yet to figure out why. I even hold the uni in my hand to add the additional weight and have no problem two-foot hopping up a rock a couple of feet high. I have often thought that this might be good training for uni-hopping, but have yet to actually practice that way.
I would say that it is easier to do it this way because of your body position. When you don’t have the unicycle between your legs you can get down more, or more comfortably without a distraction and therefor jump with more force. It’s just an idea…
Strange, I find it far easyer to ‘get down’ with the aid of the unicycle. It works better than a fresh pressed uniform or fast car. Carefull application of skill can produce phone numbers (seat out front) to catch-me-I’m-swooning type effects (one foot iddle). Refer to the Cycleing Magnatude Table of your owner’s manual for complete details.
…but that’s scarier, because you have a tangible object to crash into when it goes wrong…
I’d imagine part of what makes jumping on a uni harder is not the jump itself but landing and taking off; anyone can balance on their feet to be in an ideal jumping position, or land cleanly on their feet; doing that while teetering around on two small pedals attached to a funny wheel is another matter entirely.
I too have noticed this phenomenon. I’ve concluded that it’s mostly a
mental block. We expect to be able to jump up two or three feet when we are
standing so we do. Yet, as soon as we are on one wheel, our expectations
are lowered and the mental barrier kicks in. I also think fear plays an
important factor for me. I have very little fear that I’ll land on my head
when jumping from a standing position but that fear is increased by the
relative instability of the unicycle.
-mg
“U-Turn” <U-Turn.bqsly@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message news:U-Turn.bqsly@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> > It is MUCH easier to hop without a unicycle.
> Although I have found this to be true, I have yet to figure out why. I
> even hold the uni in my hand to add the additional weight and have no
> problem two-foot hopping up a rock a couple of feet high. I have often
> thought that this might be good training for uni-hopping, but have yet
> to actually practice that way.
>
>
> –
> U-Turn - Definitely not one of the Elite
>
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