I’m just back from the British Unicycle Convention that happened this weekend. I
had a great time, met lots of people (inc. people from here - hi all) and got
horribly saddle-sore. Must check out padded cycle shorts sometime.
One of the highlights for me was the uni ice-hockey on Saturday night. It
originally sounded an utterly ludicrous (sp??) idea, but was actually a lot of
fun. Fortunately, we used the rink after an evening skating sesssion and so the
ice was cut up a bit which aided grip.
Some observations:-
Riding on ice is quite do-able, if unnerving at first. You can’t stop quickly
on ice without falling hard (Peter will vouch for this
as well!)
Forget about quick turns or it is goodbye to your unicycle and hello to some
cold hard ice.
Wheelspins as you try to accelerate hard are actually quite fun. Smooth riding
is a must.
If you ever get the chance of a uni-ice-hockey game, try it. It’s fun.
> # You can’t stop quickly on ice without falling hard (Peter will vouch for > this as well!)
Vouch, vouch, ouch! (But a great experience, all the same)
And congratulations to Paul and his Leeds team for winning the unicycle hockey
championship at the convention. It is good to see a new team at the top of the
sport, even if it hurts to lose…
Peter
Peter Philip Workshop and Team Practice (all welcome) of the LUNIs 8-9.30pm
every school-term Wednesday London's Unicycle Hockey Team Acland Burghley School
Burghley Road peterp@foe.co.uk (opposite Tufnell Park tube) All views expressed
are my own London NW5 United Kingdom
> We were watching some of the later games and Richard (my hippy friend) > pointed out that the best players have longer sticks. I looked at Lee > Jellyhead, sitting in goal resting on his stick, and noticed that the stick > comes up to his shoulder. The same was true for several of the top players. > My stick comes up to my nipples. I know that Simon PJ is used to using > shorter sticks than mine, yet he manages. How important is stick length in > controlling the ball?
The main reason that the LUNIs play with long sticks is that the good sticks we
now buy (Titan) come long and we don’t want to chop them off.
Pros and Cons:
Long
Good reach - excellent for defending & tackling
Awkward too close to the wheel
Short
Good for close dribbling (which can lead to a lot of SUBs)
Poor reach
The choice is yours… I’m just going to our weekly practice - you’re all
welcome to join me if you want to, but it might get a bit crowded! ;^]
Peter
Peter Philip Workshop and Team Practice (all welcome) of the LUNIs 8-9.30pm
every school-term Wednesday London's Unicycle Hockey Team Acland Burghley School
Burghley Road peterp@foe.co.uk (opposite Tufnell Park tube) All views expressed
are my own London NW5 United Kingdom
> And congratulations to Paul and his Leeds team for winning the unicycle hockey > championship at the convention. It is good to see a new team at the top of the > sport, even if it hurts to lose…
Seconded. And it was nice to see the LUNIs lose for once
The Bath Killer Wheels (who were rather annoyingly announced as being the
Catch team, which now seems to be defunct incidentally) met both teams in the
heats. The LUNIs beat us 9-0 (the same as when we last played them in London)
and Leeds beat us 11-0. Still, it’s all good experience.
We were watching some of the later games and Richard (my hippy friend)
pointed out that the best players have longer sticks. I looked at Lee
Jellyhead, sitting in goal resting on his stick, and noticed that the stick
comes up to his shoulder. The same was true for several of the top players.
My stick comes up to my nipples. I know that Simon PJ is used to using
shorter sticks than mine, yet he manages. How important is stick length in
controlling the ball?
| Danny Colyer | bs1dwc@bath.ac.uk | To drop is human, | University of Bath | | ----------------- | To juggle is divine. |
-------------------- http://www.bath.ac.uk/~bs1dwc/ --------------------
