Riding style - Drops and rocky, technical stuff (although there’s not really any tech riding on film).
Music - “Push Out The Jive” by Dancing About Architecure
There was a recent bush fire on a hill only a rew hundred metres from my house. It’s wiped out all the low lying vegetation and left beautiful exposed rocks everywhere! It’s also a lot steeper than I realised. I went riding there this morning and had the most fun I’ve had in months. I think I’ve got about a month before it grows back so I’m heading back next weekend at the very latest.
It’s fantastic to get back into muni after so long (a couple of months since regular riding). I can’t wait to try out this hill with my new custom muni setup.
Whoa! Cool video, Andrew. The riding the log is my favorite(cause I’m too scared to do it myself). Can I ask what size uni you are riding? I ride the Coker for MUni and wondered what would be best tire pressure for it. Thanks!
P.S.
I really need to make my own version of MUni also.
That second one just doesn’t want to be downloaded for me. It partly downloads, but then stops and tries to tell me it’s complete. But it’s not. I dunno. The first one was awesome though!
CHYEAH! Way to go man. I really like the first video… some really tech muni there and the best thing is that it looks it too! Good job on pushin’ the jive!
edit: Didn’t realise you had written the title of the track… I thought I’d sound clever by naming it
I wish we had some sort of hills down here in Texas…nothin’ but flat ground.
Wow, I don’t think I could live there!
Can I ask what size uni you are riding? I ride the Coker for MUni and wondered what would be best tire pressure for it. Thanks!
I’m riding a 24" with a 3" Nokian Gazzaloddi tyre. It has 160mm cranks which I think are ideal for the sort of riding I like. I’ve never done any Coker muni so I’d be kidding myself trying to suggest a tyre pressure. The only thing I can say is that it really does depend a lot of your riding style and the conditions you’re riding in. If you’re doing the sort of riding in these videos, I think it’s best to have it as low as possible without the tyre folding over when you side hop up an incline. If you’re doing more cross country riding I’d recommend something significantly higher so you don’t have as much resistance. The Coker being so large means that the little bumbps on the trail don’t effect you as much either. But, if you find yourself slipping when climbing or descending hills you may have your tyre pressure too high. That does tell you much…I’d recommend you ask Brian MacKenzie who is another regular here. He does some serious Coker muni! I’m sure he’d be willing to give advice.
Good luck.
That second one just doesn’t want to be downloaded for me. It partly downloads, but then stops and tries to tell me it’s complete. But it’s not. I dunno.
Unfortunately I think this is a problem on your end. I have no idea how to resolve it.
no i cant watch them, is there any other player you can put them on cuz i dont have quicktime. ?
The first of the two in the first movie is WMV, not MOV so you wouldn’t need quicktime for it. Otherwise, there are a bunch of players that will play Quicktime movies including: the Quicktime player, The Core Media Player, Media Player Classic (those are just ones I use).
…and the funny thing is that nobody except me knows what you’re talking about! Thanks. It really is nice out there on all the rocks. I was grinning from ear to ear the whole time…the way it should be really. More from the same hills next sunday at the very latest…maybe even today if I can find someone to ride with.
Yeah. Dallas doesn’t even really have great urban. I didn’t get harassed by the cops when I rode though.
I enjoyed riding “with traffic” in the city - but that’s another sport altogether.
Hahaha. Wow, how do you know about that? It really is a nice atmosphere. The other thing is, the soil is really soft so landings on drops aren’t quite as rough.
That vid is a great learning tool for one of the key aspects of Munning on steep and rocky terrain: doing a big forward drop with the intent of almost immediately back pressuring to a stop with the cranks horizontal, in order to set up for the next drop or to change directions. Many folks can pull the big forward drop, but IME, unless you can stop after a one or two revolution roll out, the next rock or drop will get you most every time. Set ups and transitions, not the drop, are what take a lot of time to learn.
I try to reason with myself…
For the first of the two bigger drops where I’m hopping then drop I was thinking, “This is going to be a 6’ drop. I’ve done bigger on my trials uni onto flat landings and they were fine…this one has soft ground and a nice slope to land on to transfer my momentum from vertial to horizontal. What’s the worst that could happen?” This last question can be a dangerous one because sometime you’ll start thinking of really horrible ways to injure yourself, but I don’t seem to hurt myself much unicycling and in my 3 years of riding I’ve never once landed on the seat.
On the second one where I rolled over the rock then dropped I was thinking a similar thing…
“I’ve rolled something steeper and more technical than this not 30 minutes ago, and once I get to the end, the drop will be under 6’ and I’ve already done several successful 6’ drops today. I just have to link them together” In this case I didn’t think of the worst that could happen because if I did I would have pictured catching a foot under the pedal while rolling down and face planting onto a rock or something. Instead I told myself…
“Chances are I’ll be fine, and you’ve got to take some risks in life. I know I’ll enjoy this…plus Nathan’s going to get it on film so even if I stack it’ll be fun to watch later.” This is similar reasoning to when I did the face plant into a truck tyre you can see in my avatar. I don’t regret it at all because I didn’t do any permanent damage (not even close) and I’ve got a fun video to watch now.
I hope that helps. The other thing that I didn’t do in this case but often do is find similar but less intimidating drops or lines and do them to build up confidence. I think if you’re even considering trying a line it usually (in my case anyway) means that you’ve probably got the skill to do it and it’s just a matter of building up the courage.
Thanks. Mind if we quote you at www.unicycle.2ya.com? The muni tips section is looking a little bare there. I’m still going to come and visit you guys one day.
Quote all you want, AC, but I’d rather take a bit of time and describe that technique (“stop and go” on hard Muni lines) as opposed to just dashing it off.
That technique won’t make much sense to folks who don’t ride single tracks or at any rate longer Muni lines. For the lack of good trails, many people practice Muni trials on any piece of steep or rocky terrain, where pulling up is unnecessary. Cleaning long technical Muni runs is all about limiting speed and making adjustements. It was instructional to watch a bunch of very skilled Muni riders tackle Saddle Rock (difficult) during Cal Muni Weekend. Most every fall was due to the Muni piecking up too much speed for the rider to adjust direction when the rocks demanded so. Too much speed and you have to simply follow the fall line till you get bucked off. As improbable as it seems, being able to pause for a split second, in the middle of steep hard stuff, is an invaluble technique in regaining control and choosing the right line, as opposed to being forced by velocity and gravity to just charge till ejection.
Thanks. It really is nice out there on all the rocks. I was grinning from ear to ear the whole time…the way it should be really. 
Hahaha. Wow, how do you know about that? It really is a nice atmosphere. The other thing is, the soil is really soft so landings on drops aren’t quite as rough.