Who are you guys?

General
1

As a new guy on the board, I’ve got a lot of good suggestions about choosing my new MUni. But, I can’t help but thinking it would be nice to know who some of you guys are. I think there are a lot of people on the board who are just regular Uni guys chatting, but some of you guys have affiliations that I might like to know about?

For example, I remember seeing a post by somebody from Unicycle.com. Is there a Unicycle.com guy who posts a lot? Who is it? It would be nice to know when I’m talking to the guy I buy my stuff from. Or, what if the guy whos suggesting I buy the Pashley is Mr. Pashley and I’m the only guy who doesn’t know. Similarly, I’m quickly learning some big names - like if I ever got a suggestion from Kris Holm, it’s safe to assume that suggestion comes from a little bit of MUni experience.

2

Kris Holm

Now, see, that’s your first mistake. Have you ever seen photos of the absolutely amazing jumps Kris Holm does? No human can do that. This is why it’s been my long-time theory that Kris Holm actually does all his tricks on a bicycle and “fixes” the photos in Photoshop.

“But what about all the live demonstrations”, I hear you cry. Explained away simply enough: In addition to being an expert bicyclist and Photoshop airbrusher, Kris obviously must also be capable of building a Cyborg that looks just like him and can perform live unicycle demonstrations.

Why noone’s realized all this before now is beyond me.

(The above was typed in good humor, with the best of intentions, and with no disrepect meant to Kris Holm)

3

Re: Who are you guys?

Hi. My name is Raphael Lasar. I live in Matawan, NJ. I started unicycling at
16 and quit sometime in college. I picked it up again about 3 years ago at
38.

I ride a Schwinn 20", a Savage 5’ Giraffe and a Coker. I also have a Schwinn
24" out on extended loan.

I know next to nothing about the mechanics of unicycles and will almost
never give advice about such matters. (When drunk is probably the exception
to this).

My riding is purely recreational and I try only to give advice about
unicycles I have some experience with and tricks or riding styles I have
tried. I have never engaged in Muni. I have never gone more than 19 miles in
a single day on a unicycle.

Aside from being a member of the Unicycling Society of America, I have no
other unicycling affiliations, commercial or otherwise.

Half of my posts have actually to do with unicycling and the other half with
related thoughts and ideas. I hope these are not too annoying to everyone
else. :slight_smile:

I love unicycling because it is a constant challenge, good exercise,
different and I can do it in my basement when the weather is bad.

If crowned Miss Unicycle 2002 I intend to…

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

PS Welcome aboard.

4

Hi! I’m Dave Stockton. I started unicycling October 10th, 2001. I bought a baseline Pashley 26" MUni and learned on that at the fence at the local high school. I’m 43 and have bicycled, hiked, canoed, ice skated, and sailed most of my life. I have an engineering/technical background. I have just ordered a 20" Miyata and a Coker, but right now just have the Pashley which I have upgraded several times over the seven months to match the demands I was placing on it. I have tested level 2 and am presently practicing skills from levels 3 through 5. I ride hard about 2 hours a day approx 6 days a week, and have done so for most of the 7 months. I ride local single and double tracks here in Eastern Connecticut with mostly rolling solutions because of a sprained wrist. I’ve learned a lot from the 4-5 uni videos I’ve purchased as well as the amazing amount of information, photos, and clips on the Internet. (non-sponsored plug: www.muniac.com has lots of good articles)

I too am a USA member but that’s it. I have no sponsorship or commercial relationship with anyone, unless you count the deli at Wal-Mart.

I’m really enjoying the process of becoming part of the unicycling community. My local contacts as well as some trips to the Unatics club in NYC have been very rewarding. And unicycling is a blast!

I have no aspirations to be crowned Miss Unicycle 2002 so if that’s Raphael’s thing… :smiley:

5

RE: Who are you guys?

Your friendly neighborhood unicycle man, at your service. Welcome!

The original Mr. Pashley began building bicycles in England more than 60
years ago.

Best regards,

John Drummond


1-800-Unicycle

-----Original Message-----
From: rsu-admin@unicycling.org [mailto:rsu-admin@unicycling.org] On
Behalf Of nbrazzi
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 4:24 PM
To: rsu@unicycling.org
Subject: Who are you guys?

As a new guy on the board, I’ve got a lot of good suggestions about
choosing my new MUni. But, I can’t help but thinking it would be nice
to know who some of you guys are. I think there are a lot of people on
the board who are just regular Uni guys chatting, but some of you guys
have affiliations that I might like to know about?

For example, I remember seeing a post by somebody from Unicycle.com. Is
there a Unicycle.com guy who posts a lot? Who is it? It would be nice
to know when I’m talking to the guy I buy my stuff from. Or, what if
the guy whos suggesting I buy the Pashley is Mr. Pashley and I’m the
only guy who doesn’t know. Similarly, I’m quickly learning some big
names - like if I ever got a suggestion from Kris Holm, it’s safe to
assume that suggestion comes from a little bit of MUni experience.

–
nbrazzi

Patriotism swells in the heart of the American Bear.

nbrazzi’s Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/917
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/18135

rec.sport.unicycling mailing list -
www.unicycling.org/mailman/listinfo/rsu

6

nbrazzi,

I notice you haven’t told much about yourself … at least in this thread. :slight_smile:

Hi. My name is Lewis Beard and I go by the handle (I used to be into CB radio) Animation on here.

I am 35, I’m male, I’m single, I live in Jackson, Mississippi, USA. I have a B.S. in Geological Engineering and a Masters Degree in Computer Science and Engineering. I currently hold a job at WorldCom, at what is currently the corporate facility. I have no professional unicycle affiliations.

I was given my first unicycle by my (now deceased) step-father for high school graduation in 1985. It was a Schwinn. I played around on it some, and I distinctly remember going 10 feet or so on it a couple of times, but no more. I never touched again until recently. My friend Chris (‘rhysling’ is his handle) started unicycling again (he has his own story) and I decided to try it. I ordered my United Trainer from John Drummond (of Unicycle.com) at the end of December 2001, and I started riding in January 2002 (this year). I have since purchased a Hunter for Muni stuff, and I have my eye on more and more unicycles as I get more into unicycling.

Welcome, and tell a little about yourself too, while you are at it.

Lewis

7

In response to the opening question, at the foot of each individual post, there is a row of buttons, one of which is labelled ‘profile’. If the poster has made the effort, then their profile will give a little bit of detail about them. It may or may not be true. I secretly supect that the whole forum is an elaborate exercise in post modern irony by the Tricycle Association of Zimbabwe.

8

RE: Who are you guys?

> For example, I remember seeing a post by somebody from
> Unicycle.com. Is there a Unicycle.com guy who posts a lot?

I post a lot, and I am connected to Unicycle.com. However my posts are
intended as generic advice. Since Unicycle.com does not actually “make”
unicycles, you will not find a lot of persuasive talk to sell you one brand
over another. This is because Unicycle.com offers pretty much all brands.

Unicycle.com doesn’t manufacture their own unicycles, at least not yet, but
they do assemble parts into cycles that never previously existed. This is
one of the coolest things about them.

> Who is it?

John Drummond is the owner of Unicycle Source International, and
Unicycle.com USA. Roger Davies is Unicycle.com UK. They have the best
knowledge of what components are available, and what works well with what. I
don’t recall reading anything from either of them that was not accurate
information about unicycle stuff that was (or was not) available. Both of
them are valuable assets to the unicycling community, and I’m not just
saying that because of my affiliation.

> Or, what if the guy whos suggesting I buy the Pashley
> is Mr. Pashley and I’m the only guy who doesn’t know.

Good question. Most of the specific-brand manufacturers never post or read
here. Even resellers like Darren Bedford (who does post here) offer several
brands for sale so we actually have little or none of what you are getting
at. In the future as more brands become available, this will be inevitable,
but the advice will still be useful in terms of what people prefer to use.

> if I ever got a suggestion from Kris Holm, it’s safe to
> assume that suggestion comes from a little bit of MUni
> experience.

Actually it comes with something beyond a lot of MUni experience. The thing
to be cautious of when reading advice from Kris Holm, or others who are way
at the top of their specialty, is to ask yourself if they’re writing for
people on a beginner level, an expert level, or a super-expert level. Kris
is good at communicating to all three, but sometimes it’s hard to tell which
group he’s addressing.

Me too. If I say a giraffe running mount is a piece of cake, it doesn’t mean
for someone who never freemounted one. But if you can already freemount a 5-
or 6-footer, then it is.

Also, as I am a guy who wears many hats, I often use different signatures to
denote which one is on at the moment. This message has my “regular”
signature, and represents John Foss the person. I also have a Referee
signature, which means those are the words of the NAUCC/UNICON 2002 Racing
Referee. Plus I have the USA/IUF signature. When I use that one, I’m
speaking as the president. I’m usually much more responsible about what I
say then. Lastly I have my ASI signature, which is what I use for work. If
you see that one it usually means I clicked wrong…

Stay on top,
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
jfoss@unicycling.com

“Vehicularly-Injured Sperm-Count seat: better known by it’s abbreviated
name, Viscount.” David Stone, on saddle preference

9

RE: Who are you guys?

> For example, I remember seeing a post by somebody from
> Unicycle.com. Is there a Unicycle.com guy who posts a lot?

I post a lot, and I am connected to Unicycle.com. However my posts are
intended as generic advice. Since Unicycle.com does not actually “make”
unicycles, you will not find a lot of persuasive talk to sell you one brand
over another. This is because Unicycle.com offers pretty much all brands.

Unicycle.com doesn’t manufacture their own unicycles, at least not yet, but
they do assemble parts into cycles that never previously existed. This is
one of the coolest things about them.

> Who is it?

John Drummond is the owner of Unicycle Source International, and
Unicycle.com USA. Roger Davies is Unicycle.com UK. They have the best
knowledge of what components are available, and what works well with what. I
don’t recall reading anything from either of them that was not accurate
information about unicycle stuff that was (or was not) available. Both of
them are valuable assets to the unicycling community, and I’m not just
saying that because of my affiliation.

> Or, what if the guy whos suggesting I buy the Pashley
> is Mr. Pashley and I’m the only guy who doesn’t know.

Good question. Most of the specific-brand manufacturers never post or read
here. Even resellers like Darren Bedford (who does post here) offer several
brands for sale so we actually have little or none of what you are getting
at. In the future as more brands become available, this will be inevitable,
but the advice will still be useful in terms of what people prefer to use.

> if I ever got a suggestion from Kris Holm, it’s safe to
> assume that suggestion comes from a little bit of MUni
> experience.

Actually it comes with something beyond a lot of MUni experience. The thing
to be cautious of when reading advice from Kris Holm, or others who are way
at the top of their specialty, is to ask yourself if they’re writing for
people on a beginner level, an expert level, or a super-expert level. Kris
is good at communicating to all three, but sometimes it’s hard to tell which
group he’s addressing.

Me too. If I say a giraffe running mount is a piece of cake, it doesn’t mean
for someone who never freemounted one. But if you can already freemount a 5-
or 6-footer, then it is.

Also, as I am a guy who wears many hats, I often use different signatures to
denote which one is on at the moment. This message has my “regular”
signature, and represents John Foss the person. I also have a Referee
signature, which means those are the words of the NAUCC/UNICON 2002 Racing
Referee. Plus I have the USA/IUF signature. When I use that one, I’m
speaking as the president. I’m usually much more responsible about what I
say then. Lastly I have my ASI signature, which is what I use for work. If
you see that one it usually means I clicked wrong…

Stay on top,
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
jfoss@unicycling.com

“Vehicularly-Injured Sperm-Count seat: better known by it’s abbreviated
name, Viscount.” David Stone, on saddle preference

10

Re: Who are you guys?

John wrote:

> Actually it comes with something beyond a lot of MUni experience. The
thing
> to be cautious of when reading advice from Kris Holm, or others who are
way
> at the top of their specialty, is to ask yourself if they’re writing for
> people on a beginner level, an expert level, or a super-expert level. Kris
> is good at communicating to all three, but sometimes it’s hard to tell
which
> group he’s addressing.

I would totally agree it is interesting to see the advice given on the
newsgroup. It is hard sometimes to do it with words only and it is really
good to see the video clips that are now on the net, these really help.
Sometimes the actually language that is used to teach the advanced riders is
totally alien to beginners (this rarely happens here, thank you!). At last
years Eurocycle Julien Monney did a master class and it was totally
inspirational… but the way he described some tricks! “move your balance
from the rear of the axel to the front of it and counteract with your left
arm…” not something that could ever be described in words only.

Roger

Oh, thanks John for your nice words. :slight_smile:

11

RE: Who are you guys?

> The original Mr. Pashley began building bicycles in England
> more than 60 years ago.

The original Mr. Miyata began building bicycles in Japan over 110 years ago.

Mr. Schwinn? He’s long gone.

Mr. United? I think that was a made-up name. Same goes for Torker, Savage,
Cycle Pro, and many others.

Mr. Jugglebug? That was Dave Finnegan, aka Professor Confidence. But he sold
the company to SportTime, and I think they added the unicycles after that.

Mr. Coker? He specializes in tires. David Coker is our contact when it comes
to the Coker Tire company, but He doesn’t read/post here.

Mr. Semcycle? That’s Sem Abrahams. I think he was the first unicycle “star”
to have a unicycle with his name on it. He comes to most of the unicycle
conventions (and lots of juggling ones too) and is an expert rider and
professional performer. Former Guinness record holder for tallest unicycle
(twice), and original author of the 10 skill levels and the IUF Standard
Skill rules. But he doesn’t post to the newsgroup.

Mr. Unicycle Factory? That’s Tommi Miller. He’s a custom builder, and was
the place everybody went to get special unicycles and parts before the
Internet made doing it online so much easier. Tommi does not use email.

Mr. DM is David Mariner. He’s been building unicycles himself, since the
1970s. A great source of unicycles for professional performers in the UK and
all of Europe. Maker of the first production unicycle with a splined axle
(the ATU). I think he also made the first production unicycle with a brake
(the Vortex).

Mr. Wyganowski is Paul Wyganowski from Minnesota. He’s a bike frame maker,
who started building custom unicycle frames for members of the Twin Cities
Unicycle Club (TCUC). Now his market has expanded to all the customers of
Unicycle.com and beyond.

Hunter is Rick Hunter (Hunter Cycles of Santa Cruz), another frame builder
like Paul Wyganowski. Rick started out by making a MUni frame for Bruce
Bundy.

Mr. Cordy is Charles Cordy, a deaf man who came up with his own design and
hand built almost the whole cycle, not just the frame! (I have deaf
relatives, so Mr. Cordy is extra cool)

Mr. Wilder? The unicycle is built by Scott Bridgeman of New Jersey
(www.muniac.com). He hasn’t posted lately, but I think he reads the group.
His site is loaded with unicycle information. The cycle’s name comes from
Wilder State Park (Wilder Ranch) in Santa Cruz, CA. It’s a great place to
ride a Wilder!

Kris Holm? I think we all know who he is. He posts a lot.

Profile? This is a bike-parts company. What they make for us is the
Poznanter hub. David Poznanter, from Santa Cruz, is a hard-core MUni rider
who helped Profile design the world’s second splined unicycle hub.

That was all the names I came across while going through the unicycles at
Unicycle.com. Here are some others:

Telford: Geoffrey Telford Faraghan. A computer engineer (professor at
Stanford) from Redwood City, CA, designed his elegant frames based on the
Rick Hunter design.

Bedford: Darren Bedford imports and resells unicycles in Canada, and posts
frequently to the newsgroup.

Matthews: Bill Matthews made/imported his own brand of unicycles from
Southern CA until his death about 10 years ago.

Emory: This is a guy in Florida, also making his own frames. Don’t know much
about him.

Loyd: Loyd Wicker Smith came up with the design that later became the
Schwinn unicycle. Loyd started making them in the late 50’s, I think.

There are lots of other older brands out there, but I don’t know much about
them. Many are distributors, (like Torker, Savage, Cycle Pro) and didn’t
actually make the cycles they sold.

That was fun!

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
jfoss@unicycling.com

“Vehicularly-Injured Sperm-Count seat: better known by it’s abbreviated
name, Viscount.” David Stone, on saddle preference

12

Well, Animation, I guess I should tell about myself. When people ask my why I unicycle (one time somebody asked my why it’s better than a bicycle), I reply with three reasons:
1)It’s good exercise
2)It’s good short range transportation.
3)It’s very silly.

I played around a little bit with my college roommate’s uni, but I never got anywhere on it. A couple years after I graduated, I decided to really go for it, so I bough my first uni, a 24" United. I work at Georgetown University. If you know anything about Washington DC, you know parking at Georgetown is out of the question. So, I park my car on the Virginia side of the Key Bridge and ride my Uni into DC everyday (weather permitting).

Now, I’m trying to get into MUni. Like I said in my “New guy getting a MUni…” post, I’ve been testing the waters on the bike tracks at a few local parks, then I found this board to get advice on which MUni I should get.

PS - thanks to Johns Foss & Drummond. You guys might want to check in at my “New guy getting a MUni…” post. Rhysling is making it sound like you guys ship your Unis un-assembled. It would be cool if one of you guys chimed in. Also, if you guys get an order for a Pashley Power MUni later this week, it’s from me.

13

Off topic responce

I very much prefer them come in this state- the alternative is to ship them fully assembled in a box twice the size- at twice the cost. The point was that weather stock or custom, you’ll get the parcel in the same condition- so have no fear. Also, John, Amy, or whoever you get on the phone at The Source is going to know everything you need about what you need -so you can order with confidence.

Christopher

14

Hi,

My name is Dan Leff. I am 40 years old and live with my wife in SLC Utah. We have no children. I started unicycling at the age of 10 or 11. I learned on a friend’s unicycle. I remember it had a red seat and a hard rubber tire (probably 20 inches).

My family often traveled to Lead South Dakota to visit my Grandmother. I took my unicycle with me even in the winter (winters in Lead are a bitch), mostly to give me something to do (if you have been there you know what I mean). I remember my picture being on the front page of the Lead paper one year. I was riding my unicycle with a huge down snow coat, snow pants, winter hat, and snow boots. Every time I dig that picture out I laugh.

A few years later my Dad bought me a 24-inch Schwinn. I rode it all the time. I even rode it the first 15 miles of a 50-mile bike ride. The ride started in Casper WY and went to Glenrock and back on the old highway. I still have family there so while visiting I often ride the same route on my Coker, however now I do the entire 50 miles. Ironically my wife was raised on a ranch right off of that same road near Glenrock. Sometimes I even ride the dirt roads to the ranch. My “ranch relatives” cannot understand why anyone would want to ride a unicycle all those miles. Particularly when there is plenty of sweet work that needs to be done on the Ranch. But since I have put my wife in a financial position where she pretty much does as she wishes without having to work, they all just grin and bare it. Pretty funny!

I grew up and quit unicycling. I didn’t think it was appropriate for adults to do I guess. Back then it probably wasn’t, however now old buggers are involved as much as adolescents.

I got married at the age of 26. My wife and I were very involved in cycling. We road and raced a tandem for 6 years straight. We worked just enough to fund the addiction. We traveled all over and met a lot of people. Then we bought a house, which put an abrupt end to all the fun. Those days were magical.

Until last October I was working as a GM for a medium sized industrial air compressor and Pump distributor (about 5 years total). I spent a lot of hours working and never any playing. While back visiting my folks in Casper I found my unicycle in the garage. I started riding again. I wised up and said good-bye to the high profile management job and the rest is pretty much history. Today I only ride a Coker because I like covering a lot of ground as fast as I can…

Most my posting is about big wheels and or speed and distance unicycling.

Welcome to the newsgroup!
dan

15

BTW, The postings I suggest you pay the most attention to? – Greg Harper’s of course. I don’t think he has any affiliation with anything other than the designer of the Harper Hub. But that by itself makes him one smart dude!

dan

16

Re: Who are you guys?

I post once in awhile.
I am Barb Kowalski, Team Manager for the Panther Pride Demo Team, a group of
riders ages 4-17 from North Bend, Washington.
I do not ride. I have to daughters who do, Megan age 17 and Kristin, 14. We
have been to 3 National Events. I was on the planning committee for the
National Unicycle Convention in 1999. I am part of NorthWest Cue, the planning
committee for the upcoming North American Unicycle Convention and Championship
and for UNICON 11.
Barb K.

17

Hi, I’m Ken Looi and I’m a 23yr old MUnicyclist from Wellington, New Zealand.

I come from a mountainbiking background so the first thing after I learnt how to unicycle was to take it off road. Surprise, surprise, MUnicycling had already been invented. So I ordered myself a Pashley MUni which has been hammered to death since but is still holding up very well. If you or anyone is ever out this side of the world please feel free to drop in and I’ll show you around.

I’ve raced all the local MTB races on a MUni, and I’m hoping to do a 24hr MTB race later this year on a unicycle. I’m heading to Kathmandu (this Sunday) for some unicycling and then onto UK and Iceland.

Other than I’m in my final year of medschool and should graduate at the end of the year (I hope!)

18

Re: Who are you guys?

my names cliff. i’m 42. i’m from derby uk. i’m married with children
(a la bundy). i’m a bus driver. i’m mostly a juggler but love the
wheel. getting into trials just doing seat out, standstills, jumps and
gaps, managed a couple of crankhangs but haven’t gone to rubber yet.
too scared to pedal grab :slight_smile: can hover one foot but can’t ride one
foot. can pick up my clubs from floor without dismounting. will be
wheelwalking by end of summer (he says with a set jaw).
not qualified to give any advice apart from “have fun”. oh yeah, and
wear shinguards !!

19

g’day

g’day

Im james, Im 20 and im from Perth Western Australia. Ive been riding unicycles for around a year now, mainly doing trials. I work in a bike store, go to uni, run a trials bike club and demo’s, and perform in a circus in my spare time.

A few weeks ago i built my own muni after breaking two monty trials uni’s. so far, this ones holding up. Ive done a 4 foot drop, and 3 foot peddle grab, can ride about 3 revolutions 1 footed, and can idle quite a bit!

I learnt how to run mount a 6 foot giraff a few days ago and damn it feels good!

James

20

Re: Who are you guys?

> I’ve raced all the local MTB races on a MUni, and I’m hoping to do a
> 24hr MTB race later this year on a unicycle. I’m heading to Kathmandu
> (this Sunday) for some unicycling and then onto UK and Iceland.

Where in thr UK are you visiting?