Where are all the Black unicyclists?

DK1 · April 21, 2005, 5:43pm

Here is a post from a freeride mountainbike forum I read. i thought this was worthy enough to share with you. Please read it. (just fill in “unicycling” when it says "mountain biking) Do you think this applies to unicycling too? Do you think unicycling would be more “extreme” if there were more blacks?

Thanks,
H

This was an article that sat in my head for quite a while before I decided to write it. I am really worried that this is not the place to discuss such a thing, as its a topic that can incite a lot of anger and stuff. I am coming at this topic from a purely curious point of view, not preaching a thought or trying to solve anything.

Quite honestly, i am posting this with a considerable amount of apprehension.

Anything that refers to the difference between races is a touchy subject, and you have to tread extremely carefully to avoid any trouble. Not only do you have to be wary about offending people with a false remark, but you also have to be aware of the people that are just waiting for ammunition so they can yell and scream about something.

As such, I’ve had to add in this bit below so that I can say what I’m thinking, and if people get offended, they can eat it.

“ EVERYTHING I AM ABOUT TO WRITE IS PURELY SPECULATION AND OPINION, AND IS NOT PRESENTED AS FACT. IF IT OFFENDS YOU, SORRY, MY BAD. GO FOR A WALK AND LET IT SLIDE.”

Now then, to the point.

If you talk to people, you will almost always find that there is a general agreement that there are sports that are “black” and sports that are “white.” To clarify, it seems there are some sports that seem to have a slant towards a particular race, although that’s not an absolute. To use the most obvious example, Basketball would commonly be chosen as a black sport, while something like swimming would be chosen as white. Of course, there are white guys playing ball and black guys swimming, so its not a true statement at all, but it is a common perception. <b>I’m not even going to attempt to tackle the possible social and physiological reasons for such a division, as I have neither the qualifications nor the research needed for such a volatile and monumental task.</b> I’m just a web nerd, not a journalist.

So, of course, this has me thinking “where does biking fall into this?”

Unfortunately, the obvious answer is that mountain biking, and especially downhilling, is primarily a white sport. You don’t see many black guys riding, or at least, I don’t. I know they are out there, but they are definitely outnumbered. Its unfortunate too, as I think that black guys could take the sport to a whole new level.

Allow me to explain.

Anyone who says there is no physical difference between the races besides color is either completely naïve, or just being a politically correct asswipe.

There are a ton of articles available online that will break down and explain the differences between the two races in a much more clinical way then I could ever hope for. Do a search in Google for “physical differences between blacks and whites” and you will be reading for the next 3 months. Thankfully, that means I don’t have to make the effort to include links and notes to support this article. Remember, me= web nerd, not a journalist.

So, I am going to now make a huge sweeping statement, which I personally believe to be true.

If there were more black people in the sport, I think the sport would be further then it is, in terms of progression.

Simply put, I think blacks are considerably more gifted physically then any other race. When it comes to sports that require pure explosive muscle power, I believe blacks have an genetic advantage. Take any sport that requires a lot of power and athletic ability, make the participants an equal mix of the races, and i truely beleive that on average, the black athlete will have a natural advantage. I beleive that blacks are, on average, faster, stronger, can jump higher and are quicker then the other races. While this is purely an opinion, its an opinion based on observation, and common sense. Its not exactly a shot out of left field, nor is totally unfounded.

Heres the fun part.

What if you had a higher percentage of black riders in mountain biking? Would they be faster? Jump higher? Could they wreck the XC field?

I really beleive that the sport would be further then it is with the inclusion or more races. This may be an ideal comment, as there are unfortunately many social issues that need to be addressed first. Again, I will not even attempt to address them. I am speaking PURELY on a physical basis.

I think one of the best examples of what an influence black athletes could be is to look at Shaums March. Shaums is one hell of a rider, and hes been around a lot longer them many of the new riders realize. For those of us that do remember Shaums’ beginnings, we know that he was doing things that nobody else was even attempting. Shaums would (and still does) bust huge air whenever the mood hit him, and trick it up to boot. Bunnyhop to manual off picnic tables, big drops, and then some. All on his 6” travel Mountain Cycle San Andreas with Zzyzzx forks. And this is in 1997! Hes still doing it too, with a 3rd at this years RedBull Bike battle.

What I wonder is, what would it be like if there were more guys like him in the sport? Would the limits of what we are doing now have been reached earlier? I suppose its one of those what-if kind of questions that really has no hope of reaching any type of conclusion, nor do I hope that somebody suggests one.

This was just a thought i had, and wanted to invite a little discussion.

Hope everybody can see that.

Edit: FYI, Shaums March is a pro DH rider who is black.

Catboy · April 21, 2005, 5:51pm

I agreed with all of his observations and opinions.

dubmuni2004 · April 21, 2005, 8:07pm

I think if blacks joined this sport more than they do now…white people would start to suck(more than they already do). They are so good in every sport, just imagine if they got into unicycling… (not like its a bad thing) I would love to see how high their side hop would be.

I only saw one black kid at moab, it would have been nicer to see more. That article definently proves its point. But how are we supposed to attract black people to the sport of unicycling, when most of them are off playing football and basketball? I don’t think it will ever happen (more blacks joining unicycling). Although I would like to see more black riders. Most black people believe that they are supposed to join a stereotypical image…basketball player, football, track, etc. I admire black people who break this image, like the black downhiller the article mentioned, and the unicyclist I saw at Moab. Its more of a “what if” question more than a “when” question.

JJuggle · April 21, 2005, 8:23pm

<sigh>

caw89 · April 21, 2005, 8:47pm

AHhaha. Ive only ever seen/talked to one black unicyclist. Iused tro wonder hte exact same thing, now, i just dont care.

The_Yang · April 21, 2005, 11:36pm

Wow, never thought I’d be able to post with authority on something here. I was wrong. I’m black (see below pic) I’m a unicyclist (see below pic).
And seriously people, I doubt Black people (note, not blacks, BLACK PEOPLE is my preference) would really raise the sport, bottom line is it depends on you, and how hard you wanna work, I haven’t heard of any genetic predisposition to strength and speed. Sounds to me like an argument used by the slave owners.

     Sorry, just needed to get my word out. about 75-85 percent of the black people I offer to try my uni decline. Mostly because of the image associated with uni, clowns and crap. not X-Treme. A lady friend of mine unicycles and is black, we have this convo alot.  And sadly, I've yet to find unicycling to be a sport that really attracts the ladies. but that's a rant for another post.

john_childs · April 22, 2005, 12:00am

Yo! check out The King Charles Troupe and the videos there on the site.

tomblackwood · April 22, 2005, 12:37am

That is so awesome…great clip.

If they just had Steve Howard handles on the front of their unis, they could bring the uni up with them on those big slam dunks, then ride out of it.

rob.northcott · April 22, 2005, 3:30am

Yes it is, but it does sort of reinforce the stereotypes we should be getting away from. “Where are all the black unicyclists?”… “Here they are, playing basketball of course.”

Why are people so obsessed with race? Of course there are cultural and physical differences between people that may bias them towards particular activities, but why can’t we just all do what we enjoy or are good at, without being put into some pigeonhole?

DigitalDave · April 22, 2005, 6:43am

‘Image is everything’

I’ve heard alot of ‘stereotypes’ ‘blacks’ have, living in Chicago …
(from eating Boston Cream donuts … to clothing style)

The world goes ‘full circle’ on this topic you know.

IMO ‘blacks’ have an ‘image problems’
(pier pressure to great to Uni)

UniTyler · April 22, 2005, 6:58am

Doesn’t memphis unicycle club or whatever have a whole bunch of black kids?

DK1 · April 22, 2005, 5:23pm

A little too politcally correct are we?

MERCYME · April 22, 2005, 5:28pm

I am not black. But I do have a black soul. I do think black people should get involved in Unicycling (is that what this thread is about?) Well i just think it would be nice.

DK1 · April 22, 2005, 5:41pm

Read the post. Dont be a f*cktard.

MERCYME · April 22, 2005, 5:58pm

KING CHARLES TROUPE! Damn haha thats pretty nice. Uhh its kinda is what they called a “black sport” (basketball) mixing with the “white sport” but i really dont think any race should be considered better at a sport then a specific race. I have no idea what i just said thank you

Seager · April 23, 2005, 2:25pm

IF black people had more fast twitch muscle (good for sprinting, jumping, quick bursts of speed) then that implies that white people have more slow twitch muscle (good for endurence, marathons, distance biking).

There is some evidence for this, but some evidence against. For instance, Kenyan marthon runners vs Michael Johnson and other black sprinters. That’s one “color/race” with both types of muscle fiber.

There may be some truth to the slow twitch vs fast twitch genetics, but the fact is you can build both. When I started distance biking my vertical jump got worse then back when I was a soccer goalie because I optimized my legs with slow twitch fibers instead of fast twitch fibers. So, of course, if you test a basketball player vs a swimmer you’ll see fiber differences, and if they happen to be black vs white you could make the correlation, but that doesn’t really prove anything.

The sport differences are mainly caused by self perpetuating social and economic reasons, not inherent genetic ability. There may be some of that, but it all comes down to who wants to bust the most ass in practice.

Besides, I don’t think fast twitch muscle would really be that much better in XC and downhill biking anyway. Trials maybe, but you need endurance too. Your body will build and optomize to what it needs for the sport if you practice enough, doesn’t matter what race you are.

Fuego · April 23, 2005, 3:04pm

I think it’s more a social/cultural issue. Now, I really don’t know, and I’m just offering up a completely uneducated opinion, but that’s what I think.

kwiley_bgu · April 24, 2005, 12:28am

LOL, well I am a black GIRL unicyclist!

I dont’ know what got me into it. But I’m a big baby when it comes to doing stairs and all that stuff. I’ve only been unicycling for less than a year, so I say give it time. But here I am, also, new to unicyclist.com and everything. I have 4 unicycles and an right foot forward when I hop.

Unitik908 · April 24, 2005, 12:31am

wow that tire looks hug on you…

Chase

tomblackwood · April 24, 2005, 1:06am

Way to not mess around, get right to the KH 29. That ride will take you places…