I go into my basement (at least now in the winter) and I practice. Practice. Practice. But today, it came to me… Are any of these tricks useful? Every trick I perform serves no purpose. I know… and I understand, unicycling doesn’t really have a point, but It seems that no trick has a point at least in the field of unicycling. i.e. wheel walking. NO PURPOSE… except it looks cool…
“SKATERS”
Another thing that bugs me are the people who unicycle who want unicycling to be in the “X” games… I agree it should… but who really wants all that attention to unicycling. Maybe this is just me, but if unicycling was entered into the “X” games, wouldn’t it get a bad reputations. I know skateboarders and skaters have a horrible reputation… Do we REALLY want that to happen to unicycling??
Wheel walking has a purpose. It gets you to wheel walking with one foot. And that gets you to gliding. And gliding has a point! No pedaling, that is
You don’t want unicycling to get more attention, and skaters have a bad reputation. I would like unicycling to get more attention, and I’ve been working at it for a long time. And skaters? I try not to judge people in groups. Soon as you start doing that, you’re being unfair to at least part of that group. All skaters are not bad.
If you want to practice tricks on concrete planters over and over, with no protection at all, that’s up to you. That explains all the scabs. It doesn’t explain how I hardly ever see skateboarders (I’m just talking about skateboarders here) actually land their tricks.
If you want to rip up, mark up, and uglify public places, that is not up to you, and you shouldn’t do it. Fortunately, I seem to hear of more and more skate parks opening up. If it’s not yours, don’t rip it up. Any questions? And no, public stuff isn’t yours. It’s ours. That’s why you can’t take Yellowstone home with you, and why you’re supposed to leave it the way you found it.
Inline skaters and roller skaters? I wasn’t aware of any bad reputation there.
I agree with the fact that if it isn’t your’s you shouldn’t wreck it. But how can you do trials then? There should be more trials parks. I’m pretty sure there’s one in BC. Skate-parks are okay, but they d’ont compare to the plethora of riding oppertunities around town. Also, i find one of the coolest things about trials, is finding “new” kinds of terrains, and finding different lines on them. you have to use your imagination, it’s quite fun.
anyways, i think it’s bad, but i do it anyways.
hmmm, oh well, i’ll keep on doing it. think about it. a few holes from pedals on benches, or me out doing alot worse things (grafity, vandalism, drugs) i’ll stick with the trials!
m_extreme_uni is an honest man. Whereas others might say it’s okay to ride Trials on public stuff because there are no Trials parks, he knows otherwise.
How do you think we felt back in pre-1984 with no international unicycling competitions (UNICON)? So we created them. Now it’s time for people to build Trials parks, a much easier task to take on. They’ll probably have to start in back yards, but that’s how skate parks got started too, In the old pool.
Poor Ryan is in danger of turning to vandalism, drugs, or “grafity” (which will be even more of an eyesore if spelled wrong). I urge his friends in the Toronto area to look out for him, especially if his unicycle breaks and he’s without one for any extended period. Hopefully by then he will develop the self-control he needs so he can decide for himself if he’s going to do those things or not.
But I’m just having fun. Thanks Ryan, for saying it how it is for so many Trials enthusiasts. You are certainly not alone.
So I hope you can all find places to ride where wear & tear won’t be noticed, or ways to ride where things don’t get ripped up. Then, the only reason you’ll still get rousted from public places is liability (people don’t want to get sued if you’re injured). And that, my friends, will be a much harder problem to cure.
Ill have to agree, it isnt necicariy “right” for us to ride on benches and stuff, but when I do trials, the only thing I leave changed is a tire mark on the concrete or rock.
I will also say that trials parks would be sweet, especially if they changed every week or so.
johnfoss wrote:
> m_extreme_uni wrote:
>> anyways, i think it’s bad, but i do it anyways.
>> hmmm, oh well, I’ll keep on doing it. think about it. a few holes
>> from pedals on benches, or me out doing a lot worse things (grafity,
>> vandalism, drugs) I’ll stick with the trials!
> m_extreme_uni is an honest man. Whereas others might say it’s okay to
> ride Trials on public stuff because there are no Trials parks, he
> knows otherwise.
>
> How do you think we felt back in pre-1984 with no international
> unicycling competitions (UNICON)? So we created them. Now it’s time
> for people to build Trials parks, a much easier task to take on.
> They’ll probably have to start in back yards, but that’s how skate
> parks got started too, In the old pool.
Trespassers and vandals skating in other peoples’ pools without permission,
anyway. Watch Dogtown and Z-Boys, it’s an eye-opener.
>
> Poor Ryan is in danger of turning to vandalism, drugs, or “grafity”
> (which will be even more of an eyesore if spelled wrong). I urge his
> friends in the Toronto area to look out for him, especially if his
> unicycle breaks and he’s without one for any extended period.
> Hopefully by then he will develop the self-control he needs so he can
> decide for himself if he’s going to do those things or not.
Not me, when I was a teenager hormones made sex and violence and stealing really compelling. Good thing I’m old, now.
>
> But I’m just having fun. Thanks Ryan, for saying it how it is for so
> many Trials enthusiasts. You are certainly not alone.
And if the worst thing you do is a little incidental vandalism, you’re a
Good Boy in my book.
>
> So I hope you can all find places to ride where wear & tear won’t be
> noticed, or ways to ride where things don’t get ripped up. Then, the
> only reason you’ll still get rousted from public places is liability
> (people don’t want to get sued if you’re injured). And that, my
> friends, will be a much harder problem to cure.
In my opinion, more trials parks would be great. I’ve actually never seen one before. The problem is that a lot of the stuff I enjoy doing is a combination of trials and northshore riding. I love rail riding and see-saws and so on but there are just too many dishonest people out there. You can’t really feel safe putting a see-saw in a park after spending the time to build it, knowing that there’s a chance that it’ll get vandalised or stolen. Do any of these trials parks you’re talking about have any rails or things like that to balance along?
I disagree on these issues. As long as you dont do it on public property thats what your tax dollars are going for and you (part of that public) should be able to do your bit on the depretiation of that good. There is alot more things that get funding and shouldnt in this world that we pay for than fixing damage caused by BMXers skaters and unicyclist.
This behavior might also eventually improve the structures that we abuse. Engeneers will eventually come up with more durable surfaces that wount be damaged by such abrasion. This would make things last longer than they currently do and possibly save money in the future.
Another way to think of it is think about the families that you are providing for by damaging public goods. The people who go arround and clean up the damage that we do would be jobless without us. If everyone stopped doing these things there would be massive unemployment and people would go homeless, now I for one dont want people going homeless. If you can sleep at night with yourself knowing that you made someone homeless because you didnt do that pedal grab on that bench. Your a stronger man than I.
I hate it when people say that, it’s just the same as people who come up and say that you’re not very good when you’ve been trying at some really hard trick on your unicycle for ages and ages. Yes skater’s don’t land many tricks, but that’s because when you do land one, you try and land something harder unless you’re learning to compete or perform or something.
In London at least, most of the places people skate are all concrete stuff, the skating doesn’t seem to damage them at all. In quite a few places it’s tolerated by the security in the area and the police, so they obviously don’t think it’s doing much damage.
A lot of places have anti-slide rails, with big bumps every foot or so to stop people grinding them, so it seems that’s not liked still.
In the end, it’s much more fun to ride in public, there’s much more of it, you get to meet people, head down the park, weave through the tourists, ride steps etc.
As always, the thing is just not to take the piss. Don’t go doing loads of pedal grabs off brand new wooden benches or whatever, don’t get in people’s way and it’s fine.
Given that the big thing in the news over here today is the massive cost to the country of people getting fat due to not getting off their lardy arses to do some exercise, I think the savings you are creating by actually bothering to exercise probably cover any very minor damage you might do to the scenery.
>This behavior might also eventually improve the structures that we abuse.
chex, my friend, this has got to be one of the scariest comments i’ve read for a very long time
take a moment, read it again and decide if u stand by it
applying this concept to other situations we find that allowing millions of kids to be undernourished without doing anything to help them will lead them to become used to it. starvation problem solved!
…spraying toxic chemicals to kill insects will eventually breed resistant strains of insects therefore…uhmmm…sorry, bad example
no, u cant demand more durable surfaces by abusing the ones in place
it’s not right and smacks of a lack of respect
As I see it you get a trials park by collecting a bunch of assorted stuff, throw it on the ground and ride over it. It doesn’t take up much space and it isn’t hard to build.
Checkernuts wrote:
> As long as you dont do it on public property
> thats what your tax dollars are going for and you (part of that public)
> should be able to do your bit on the depretiation of that good.
>
> This behavior might also eventually improve the structures that we
> abuse.
>
> Another way to think of it is think about the families that you are
> providing for by damaging public goods.
Nice one, Chex - but you really ought to put some smileys in there or
people might think you’re serious.
Regards,
Mark.
–
Fujitsu Telecom Europe Ltd,| o
Solihull Parkway, | In the land of the pedestrian, /|
Birmingham Business Park, | the one-wheeled man is king. <<
Birmingham, ENGLAND. | O
I hope that clears some things up for everyone, But it is the job of our government to provide areas for people to safely be able to do recreational activities. I dont care where you are in the world there either.
Yes damaging stuff can be caused by our sport, but we are not going out and doing it to destroy things. Vandalism is a militious intent to what you are doing. If that is not there I dont believe it is so. (public situtions) If a skateboarder unicyclist whoever goes out to break down a rail, or to take chunks out of a bench then this is vandalism, but in normal wear and tear caused by the things that we do, this is not vandalism. If it was vandalism to break benches then it would be illeagal for obease people to sit down in them in the chance that they might break. And parallel parking cars would be illeagal because there are many stupid people in this world that cant do it and scrape thier rims on the curbs. We do not have intent to cause damage and therefor I do not believe what we do is wrong.
If we all went out shooting cops, we’d probably provoke an increase in the funding of the Police Force (clearly a good thing) as well as promoting employment in the bullet proof jacket retail industry and the medical profession. That wouldn’t make it right.
I’ve watched kids doing stunts on trials bikes, and some of them are very very skilled indeed - yet somehow they always look bored. I’ve never seen more than basic unicycle trials skills, but what little I’ve seen doesn’t appeal to me. But that’s me.
I resent paying tax and Council tax for a proportion of it to be spent on erecting bus shelters and park benches which are trashed by bored kids and become an eyesore.
Anyone riding serious trials can presumably afford a unicycle worth over 200 quid/300 dollars, so perhaps they can afford a few lengths of timber, a few slabs, and make their own obstacles. Or do what the mountain bikers do and find a quiet bit of woodland or wasteland and do some and digging and building. Then see how irritated you are when someone comes and trashes it because they prefer motorcycle trials.
Your freedom to act as you will is limited by the next man’s freedom to live undisturbed.
In article <Checkernuts.fz7vn@timelimit.unicyclist.com>,
Checkernuts <Checkernuts.fz7vn@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
)
)vandalism. If it was vandalism to break benches then it would be
)illeagal for obease people to sit down in them in the chance that they
)might break. And parallel parking cars would be illeagal because there
)are many stupid people in this world that cant do it and scrape thier
)rims on the curbs. We do not have intent to cause damage and therefor I
)do not believe what we do is wrong.
The difference is, curbs exist for car wheels to run into, and benches
exist for people to sit on. Neither exists for shredders to grind–unless
they’re in a skate park or your back yard.
-Tom
Our tax dollars aren’t for fixing up private property, if that’s what you mean. Damage to non-public things and places must be repaired without the help of tax dollars. This leads, in a small way, to higher prices from the businesses affected.
So if my friends and I want to play polo (with horses), by your reasoning it is up to the government to provide us with the facilities for it. Does that include the horses? In other words, it’s up to us taxpayers to pay for all polo fields, bobsled tracks, automotive race tracks, etc. Nope, I’m not buyin’ it. Our tax dollars cover some limited provisions for recreation, of a limited range of activities. Swings (for swinging), benches (for sitting), gazebos (for gazebo-ing), and what-have-you.
If you’re not, more power to you. But if you’re practicing pedal grabs to wooden benches or picnic tables, tell me you aren’t chewing them up. Tell me people with bare legs aren’t increasing their chances of geting scratched up when they sit down there later.
Mostly it’s pedal (or crank) grabs and grinds that do the damage. Riding on and jumping off things doesn’t leave much of a mark, unless you’re getting tire tracks all over the place. For people who keep their grinds and grabs to places that don’t affect the look and safety of public places, I don’t have much of a problem.
But as someone mentioned, a public park bench is for public sitting. It’s not for grabs, jumping up and down on until it breaks, spray painting, or setting on fire. All are equally wrong, if done intentionally. Accidental pedal grab? Ahem.
Many years ago, I left a big scratch in a marble step in front of the Detroit Public Library. Oops! I had no intention of doing anything that would leave a mark. I got off those steps and didn’t use them again. Those steps, though more expensive to repair, are no more or less public than a lowly wooden bench.
Wrongo. If I practice juggling clubs in front of a plate glass window, and inadvertantly break the window, so far it’s an accident. If I run off and don’t take responsibility for my actions, it becomes vandalism. Vandalism is not in the intent, but in the result. Ever push on something, or jump up and down on something, until it broke? What kid hasn’t? If you run away and it becomes an anonymous act, it’s vandalism.
Normal wear and tear applies to using something in the way it was intended. If I jump my car over my house, it’s wear and tear all right, but will not be covered by my warranty (or maybe my insurance). Wear and tear is only for using it for what it’s made for.
So what about a Trials park? Someone asked why there aren’t more Trials parks. Compare the number of skaters with the number of Trials unicyclists. A million to one? no, a lot more than that. Probably 50 million to one worldwide, minimum. I think we’re about even on parks then, proportionally.
So make your own. You get more out of it that way anyway.
Thanks everyone for being up-front on this topic. I think it’s important. Some people are going to go out and do what they feel like, regardless of legality or if anyone likes it or not. But at least we can be informed of the issues and opinions of others.
So then do you hold people that do these things leagally responcible for them. Should skater kids and unicyclist that grab go to jail over grinding on a rail or bench? I see it as a black and white issue, either it is something that is maybe not good, but acceptable to do, or it is wrong and you should be punished for doing it. I dont feel that skateboarding, BMX, or unicycling done in this matter is worthy of putting someone in jail. So it must be acceptable to do.
The private property issue I find to be different indeed, because you are damaging someone elses good directlly. How ever a public good is owned by everyone, Including the people doing the damage. This is what I find different about the two situations and as such they cant be compaired.
