George Peck’s video is amazing right down to the fact that he accurately predicted the ability of unicycle high jumpers like 30 years ago
George Peck: “Jumping is a powerful technique that will open up lots of new territory. The rider is off the saddle and can compress right to the wheel going up or coming down. I’m up to 27 inches right now and probably pique at 30 inches. A good jumper should be able to clear 50 to 60 inches.”
Pinoclean,
Maybe his wife found a crystal ball in the dump where she found the ‘red unicycle’ that some how got him started. You are right. It truly is an amazing video.
Thanks for sharing.
Be well and keeping on jumping (to new heights)
George Peck: “There are two things to know about rough terrain unicycling. First, learning curve can be shallow and long, but not to worry. Joy in unicycling comes from the daily exercise of mental and physical challenges it provides. The improvement achieved on any particular day or plateau is less important than just doing it. Second, cycling is a grabber sport. Once you get into it, it won’t let you go. Cycling gives you a chance to get outdoors virtually anywhere, anytime, get a workout and meet a hosts of challenges. Like rock climbing, cycling doesn’t alway require a big chunk of territory to be interesting. But the cycle is no slouch to putting 10 to 15 miles a day on a forest or mountain trail and it’s compact enough to give you a good workout indoors.”
This quote has helped me appreciate my smallest learning gains and it reminds me to enjoy every ride. It also gave me the encouragement to ride some of the leftover snow and ice from Thursday’s snowfall.
Be well and may your ‘learning curve’ keep you hooked.
Unisphere thanks for starting this thread.
I loved the George Peck video. Very inspirational.
Now I’m going out to ride.
Unicyclist Lou,
I agree that the video is very inspirational. It delivers such a solid foundation in such a simple way. Even George Peck’s question, “So, why unicycle?”, is so minimalistic like the machine itself.
George Peck: “So, why unicycle? ‘Cause, it’s fun. Provides an endless variety of challenge. It’s adaptable to virtual almost any terrain, season or weather. It’s a good workout. It’s good cross training for other balance sports and it’s relatively entry free.”
Be well and stay inspired.
George Peck:[I] "I got into unicycling six years ago because I read that it’s good cross training for short board windsurfing. I also knew that Stein Eriksen, the great down hill skier and now coach, advocated unicycling as a cross training activity for his skiers. Pretty soon, I was having more fun cycling than I was windsurfing. Mainly because I could cycle nearly every day and when, I have the time. Not when the wind happens to be blowing.
My experience with windsurfing has been that if I leave it for a year or so and cycle in the interim, I don’t gain any windsurfing skills but I don’t lose any either. The constant challenge of cycling keeps me in shape, and keeps my learning edge fresh."[/I]
Before I got my muni in October 2016, I had no time to exercise. Since I’ve been cycling, I can squeeze in a ride or two every weekend. It’s like time has found me. I hope time starts to find me on the weekdays so that I ‘could cycle nearly every day’.
Be well and keep your ‘learning edge fresh’.
George Peck: “Hopping is a very useful technique and one used frequently in getting over terrain without rolling. Your butt is over the saddle. Hold the saddle with the hand or just with the legs. A 12 inch hop is max for me in the seat height I prefer. 10 inches is about max for me for hands off hopping. Oops. Well, some days are like that. Hands off hopping is very useful because you can ad lib a hop in there so quickly, you’ll be making save after save with this technique once it’s yours.”
Hopping is the next skill I need to practice. There are times when I’m riding and I just come to complete stop and because I can’t hop, I stop! Before I start my rides, I’m going to start spending some time practicing my hops.
Be well and keep on ‘making save after saves’.
George Peck: “Rough terrain cycles come in two flavors - 24 inch and 26 inch wheels. The 24 inch wheel with 5 and a half inch cranks is standard. This is a fine jumping bike and a good all-round for rolling and hopping. The smaller wheel makes it easier to maneuver in big rock. The 26 inch wheel with 6 and a half inch cranks is a better rolling bike. The longer cranks give 20% more torque and the bigger wheel gives slightly more floatation. And because of the alloyed cranks, this bike is actually lighter than the 24 inch cycle. The 26 is a rolling beauty. This would be my cycle of choice for doing forest and mountain trails where rolling is the primary activity. And the factory studded tire is available for ice and snow work
Overall, however, the 24 inch wheel is the most versatile. This is the bike that goes with me everywhere. Well, so much for basics. Let’s get going.”
===
Well, in October 2016, I started with a 29” inch muni with 150/125 cranks. Might I say that it’s a “rolling beauty”. Then, I got myself a 24 inch muni with 150/125 cranks so I could take it “with me everywhere”. I recently took it to Georgia. I just bought 165/137 cranks to give my 29 inch muni a little more torque. I can’t wait to try the new cranks. And yes, forgive me, but as you know from reading this post, I really dig this video. 
Be well and keep searching for that perfect crank & wheel ratio.
George Peck: “You can cycle inside or outside, from car or house. You can cycle winter or summer, rain or snow, mountains or beach, forest or city. You can unicycle virtually anywhere you have floatation, traction and room to maneuver. Equipment cost are relatively low. An entry level unicycle will cost less than a hundred and fifty dollars. Protective gear, about another fifty dollars. This will get you started. Eventually, you’ll want to beaf up the stock cycle. But, more on that later. Maintenance is minimal. There are no chains, gears, cables, sails, lines, or car racks to deal with. Just throw the cycle behind the seat and off you go. If you are flying, break the cycle down and put it in a box. I never leave town without it, literally. No matter where I’m going, flying or driving, I take the cycle with me and I also cycle where ever I go. It’s a go anywhere do anything machine.”
====
So, part of the reason for getting my 24" muni was so that I could take it anywhere. How many of us “just throw the cycle behind the seat and off” we go? And how many of us are old enough to remember not spending more than $150 dollars on a unicycle? (see the 1973 Sears catalog ad below). My first unicycle was $50.
Be well and go anywhere with your do anything machine.
My first uni cost about 90DM (D-Mark, the former german currency till 2001) in the late 90’s which would have been around 45-50€ (48-53$) and I still run it’s wheelset for freestyle.
My second uni, a 24" Qu-Ax Cross bought around 2012, cost 160€ (special offer, by adding disc brake and many other parts I later on invested around 290€ extra in this uni haha).
I’ve never thrown my uni on my backseat, always in the trunk.
Eric aus Chemnitz,
I certainly understand the desire to upgrade. Sometimes, it’s hard to resist. My first unicycle is all stock and is from the late 1970s. However, soon after buying my first Muni, I wanted to add brakes so I could make it down steep declines. Well, by adding brakes, I had to change my seat and add a brake post. And well, if I was adding a brake, I decided that I should have the KH straighter brake lever. Then, as I got better a descents, I wanted to climb with more torque. So, I swopped out the cranks for longer ones. It seems the more I ride the more I want to try new equipment. Now, I have pedals on my mind. Ahhh, the addiction! I got riding on my mind.
Even George Peck upgraded his unicycles, proactively.
George Peck:
“Choose a platform pedal as wide as possible. Since you will be standing on the pedals most of the time, a broad pedal provides more comfort and control. Bear traps are too fragile and too hard on shoes. They’ll wear out a shoe within 60 to 100 hours by cutting through at the arch. Use them only when necessary. These Shimano or ‘graffex’ platforms don’t clean as well in snow and mud, but are good overall, last well and don’t wear out shoes as quickly.
These seats are all covered with nylon backed vinyl. This a material commonly used in boat canopies. It is extremely tough and even though you can’t get in on the saddle shape without wrinkles, the wrinkles don’t seem to matter. If you have a tender rear end, try a saddle with spenco padding sewn in. It’s more comfortable, but the resulting seat is more heavier.
Tires take beating so put on a good knobby. Keep inflation pressures at about 60 pounds. Never let it get below 40 pounds. Lower pressures increase the risk of pinching the tube against the rim when there’s a forceable contact against the edge. This will give you two nice simultaneous holes in the tube and a walk home.”
And George Peck upgraded his unicycles, reactively.
George Peck:
“Currently available stock unicycles are not up to long term use in rough terrain. These are a few of the dozens of axles I have broken from these machines in some 3 to 4,000 hours of riding and bent cranks and broken pedals and seat posts and seat and seat covers To put together a bike robust enough for sustained rough terrain work, some stock components must be replaced. The most important is the axle. The only two types of axles that have survived my riding are the Phil Wood four shoulder taper and the Bullseye Hollowed Spined Axle. A re-enforced seat post and seat will withstand the fiercest of reefing. And the nylon vinyl seat cover will give reasonable wear. Put on the biggest platform pedals you can find. The addition of these components will reduce failure rates to an acceptable level. Otherwise, it is simply not safe to venture into terrain like this without reliable components. Especially, axles. A broken axle is fairly catastrophic in any event and this is not the place to find out more about it. As your ability to extract more and more torque from the cycle increases, so will your ability to fatigue a stock axle to failure. Steep down hills, hopping and small to medium rock work will cause stock axle failure in 100 to 200 hours. Count on it. So after you burnt out your stock axle in mild terrain, replace it with Phil Wood or Bullseye axle or equivalent.”
And, by the way, my unicycle goes in the trunk so it’s nice and safe.
Be well and never be satisfied. 
Narrative of 'George Peck Rough Terrain Unicycling’:
Although the narrative below may contain a typo or two, the intent was document this timeless video. Be well, “wear your pads and enjoy”.
=======
Narrative of 'George Peck Rough Terrain Unicycling’: (1 of 2 posts)
This is a film about rough terrain unicycling. Hello, I’m George Peck and I’m going to show you the few basic skills and equipment you’ll need for rough terrain unicycling. And then, it’s out on the road, so to speak, for a few rides close by. Why, you may ask, would anyone be interested in learning rough terrain unicycling and what is rough terrain unicycling? A rough terrain, I mean any whole surface that isn’t smooth, level and wide. So, rough terrain would be anything that isn’t. That could mean steps, boxes, railroad tracks, rocks, curbs, slabs of tilted cement, mountains, snow and ice, dry creek and river beds. Just about anything that’s not a gym floor probably qualifies as rough terrain.
I got into unicycling six years ago because I read that it’s good cross training for short board windsurfing. I also knew that Stein Eriksen, a great down hill skier and now coach, advocated unicycling as a cross training activity for his skiers. Pretty soon, I was having more fun cycling than I was windsurfing. Mainly because I could cycle nearly every day and when, I have the time. Not when the wind happens to be blowing.
My experience with windsurfing has been that if I leave it for a year or so and cycle in the interim, I don’t gain any windsurfing skills but I don’t lose any either. The constant challenge of cycling keeps me in shape, and keeps my learning edge fresh.
In the fifty years I’ve been on this planet, I’ve done to varying degrees downhill skiing, cross country skiing, white water kayaking, ocean kayaking, mountain biking, mountain climbing, and short board windsurfing. Certainly, rough terrain unicycling doesn’t have the glamour or the speed of some of these sports. But it also doesn’t have some of the other things that they have. Like, high entry costs, the risk of injury, the logistics hassles, or the confluence of rare meteorological phenomena.
You can cycle inside or outside, from your car or house. You can cycle winter or summer, rain or snow, mountains or beach, forest or city. You can unicycle virtually anywhere you have floatation, traction and room to maneuver. Equipment cost are relatively low. An entry level cycle will cost less than a hundred and fifty dollars. Protective gear, about another fifty dollars. This will get you started. Eventually, you’ll want to beaf up the stock cycle; but, more on that later. Maintenance is minimal. There are no chains, gears, cables, sails, lines, or car racks to deal with. Just throw the cycle behind the seat and off you go. If you are flying, break the cycle down and put it in a box. I never leave town without it, literally. No matter where I’m going, flying or driving, I take the cycle with me and I always cycle where ever I go. It’s a go anywhere do anything machine.
So, why unicycle? Because, it’s fun. Provides an endless variety of challenge. It’s adaptable to virtual almost any terrain, season or weather. It’s a good workout. It’s good cross training for other balance sports and it’s relatively entry free.
Overall, I would say rough terrain unicycling is a cross between mountain climbing and bronc riding. There are short intense moves of inches that may take days and days to work out and there are a hundred yards of beach cobble that will turn you every which way but loose. So let’s turn, now, to the basic skills and equipment that you will need to get started to enjoy and explore rough terrain unicycling.
Basic rough terrain skills are riding standing up, hopping, rolling over obstacles, jumping and wheel walking. In rough terrain, you will ride standing up over the saddle most of the time. Ride with one or no hands on the saddle. With a hand on the saddle, pulling up and legs cranking down, tremendous torque can be exerted at the wheel. This technique can be used to negotiate hills, both up and down.
Hopping is a very useful technique and one used frequently in getting over terrain without rolling. Your butt is over the saddle. Hold the saddle with the hand or just with the legs. A 12 inch hop is max for me in the seat height I prefer. 10 inches is about max for me for hands off hopping. Oops. Well, some days are like that. Hands off hopping is very useful because you can ad lib a hop in there so quickly, you’ll be making save after save with this technique once it’s yours.
Rolling over objects is the most eloquent way to get over small things. And the most noble way to roll is hands off the saddle. But, you can roll standing up or sitting down, hands on or hands off.
Jumping is a powerful technique that will open up lots of new territory. The rider is off the saddle and can compress right to the wheel going up or coming down. I’m up to 27 inches right now and will probably peak at 30 inches. A good jumper should be able to clear 50 to 60 inches.
Wheel walking is a good technique and exercise for soft or steep terrain. This is because wheel walking provides a lower affected gear ratio than pedaling. And it makes the going more interesting when it’s too easy to pedal.
Related and useful skills are squats, squat riding, one foot riding and balancing in place. Squats are just deep knee bends on the cycle. Put your butt right down on the wheel and it’s good training and limbering up for jumping. Squat riding is a real quad burner. Put a couple of hundred feet in at the beginning of a ride to get the blood moving.
One foot riding sensitizes the rider to the dead spot in the crank throw. At the pedal vertical position, there is very little torque available. A rider must learn to scooch through this position with depth weight shifts. One foot ride whenever possible and learn both sides.
Balancing in place is very useful technique in rock and crud when you need a second or so to collect your balance, select a route and go for it. Also, ‘needed here’ for jumping since you need to carefully appraise matters before launching those tender body parts at rocks and logs and such.
Protective equipment is vital to fun and injury free riding. Gloves with palm pads are required. Always, always, always. Make the palm pad either as just a square palm insert or for the whole hand. To make an insert, lay the glove over three-eighths foam pad, draw the outline and cut it out. Wrap it with athletic tape to make it stay in and feel better. If you are worried about finger tip protection, insert finger split tips available at some drug stores. Elbow pads are required for rock and ice. Knee pads are mandatory for jumping. These pads are not truly adequate, but are the best at what is available. A back pad is always nice. These are a windsurf mast protector, but any will do. A starter pad can be as simple as newspaper rolled up and taped or stuffed into a nylon bag. For big rock, I use a mast pad beefed up with a kitty litter pan bottom and another layer of foam.
Shoes should be light, flexible, ankle high and with some armoring in the toe. They must have a heal. These hi-techs are just about right. Notice the wear on the ankle cuff, but for the shoe this would be coming out of my ankle.
Choose a platform pedal as wide as possible. Since you will be standing on the pedals most of the time, a broad pedal provides more comfort and control. Bear traps are too fragile and too hard on shoes. They’ll wear out a shoe in 60 to 100 hours by cutting through at the arch. Use them only when necessary. These Shimano or graphex platforms don’t clean as well in snow and mud, but are good overall, last well and don’t wear out shoes as quickly.
These seats are all covered with nylon backed vinyl. This a material commonly used in boat canopies. It is extremely tough and even though you can’t get it on the saddle shape without wrinkles, the wrinkles don’t seem to matter. If you have a tender rear end, try a saddle with Spenco padding sewn in. It’s more comfortable, but the resulting seat is much heavier.
Tires take beating so put on a good knobby. Keep inflation pressures at about 60 pounds. Never let it get below 40. Lower pressures increase the risk of pinching the tube against the rim when there’s a forceable contact with an edge. This will give you two nice little simultaneous holes in the tube and a walk home.
Rough terrain cycles come in two flavors - 24 inch and 26 inch wheels. The 24 inch wheel with 5 and an half inch cranks is standard. This is a fine jumping bike and a good all-round for rolling and hopping. The smaller wheel makes it easier to maneuver in big rock. The 26 inch wheel with 6 and an half inch cranks is a better rolling bike. The longer cranks give 20% more torque and the bigger wheel gives slightly more floatation. And because of the alloyed cranks, this bike is actually lighter than the 24 inch cycle. The 26 is a rolling beauty. This would be my cycle of choice for doing forest and mountain trails where rolling is the primary activity. And the factory studded tire is available for ice and snow work.
Overall, however, the 24 inch wheel is the most versatile. This is the bike that goes with me everywhere. Well, so much for basics. Let’s get going.
Cycles are great for exercising the dog and a toss or two is a good limber up. This road doesn’t look steep, but it has a 25% plus gradient. I’ve ridden logging roads, mine hull roads, and fire break cat trails in Alaska, Washington, California, Oregon and New Zealand and this is about as sustained steep road as a road usually gets. Much less steep is this ramp at about 16%. But, look how easy the cycle handles this grade. I mean, we’re not even touching the saddle, here. My experience with hills has brought me to the firm conclusion that the unicycle is a premier vehicle for going up steep hills. The reason is that the effective gear ratio for wheel is as low as you will find that you will find on any mountain bike. Plus, the riders weight and hand hold over the driven wheel provide for better traction and more torque. However, a mountain bike can free wheel to the pedal level position for maximum torque. Where as, a unicycle must roll through the dead spot of pedals vertical and to get back to the pedal level position. Despite this handicap, the unicycle is still more capable of going up steep terrain. Eventually, the gradient, here, becomes too steep for either a mountain bike or a unicycle to roll. Plan B is hopping. Take my word for it. Hopping is a lot easier on a unicycle than a bicycle.
Curbs are great for learning to roll over obstacles.
I love curbs. You can’t spend enough time on curbs.
The basic idea is to launch off the rear pedal and land on the forward pedal. This unweights the cycle allowing it to lift, plus your weight coming forward and down adds some real authority to the torque curve.
Stairs are not particularly friendly terrain, but they are everywhere so you might as well learn to deal with them. Wear all pads on stairs. Stairs can be dropped step by step or rolled as a whole bumpy incline.
The object of rough terrain cycling, as I understand it, is to take on the biggest obstacle around that you can handle. This picnic table is in the way so let’s give it a go. It takes me two jumps to reach the top. A good jumper can easily make it in one.
The other object of rough terrain cycling is to make it as interesting as possible. This berm is too easy to pedal, but it’s a reasonable challenge to wheel walk.
Now, let’s begin a forest trail. The terrain here will be typical of forest trails anywhere. Lots of roots, steep sections and a few bridges and streams.
Hills should be taken standing up without holding the saddle. You can get tremendous torque by getting as far forward as possible. Watch out, because this puts you as risk for a dismount out the front. The closer you get to the edge of the balance envelop the quicker you’ll go through it. But you have to be at the edge to optimize performance; so go slow, get back momentarily for obstacles and scooch over them with your hips. All of which is a good trick while leaning way forward. It’s a skill that will take time and sensitivity to develop.
This hill has a stop root at the top that can either be rolled or hopped. It’s more eloquent to roll the root, but my pedal position didn’t work out on this trip and I’m too lazy to ratchet to the best pedal position; so, I’ll just hop it, today.
When a hill is too steep for hands off rolling, it’s time to grab the saddle and start reefing. You can get so much torque reefing, it’s easy to break a wheel loose. Use the torque carefully bearing in mind of the traction available. Again, stay as far forward as you dare, be flexible, ready to back off to start a bump and thrust forward to finish it. Someday, I may get good enough to roll this section hands off.
Narrative of 'George Peck Rough Terrain Unicycling’:
Narrative of 'George Peck Rough Terrain Unicycling’: (2 of 2 posts)
===================
We come, now, to the inevitable stream and no bridge. The cycle does very well in water provided that you can see the bottom. I have been in water to the top of the wheel. But generally, avoid water above the bearing unless you like lots of maintenance.
Rolling or sliding down rock or gravel berms is a matter of staying back, grabbing the saddle and breaking with lots of counter-torque. In soft terrain such as sand or snow, turn the cycle down the slope like a snowboarder would carve turns.
See, I told you steps are everywhere. But these particular steps are benign, so let’s have some fun, here. Going up two at a time is good jumping practice. Coming down one at a time hands off sensitizes the rider to staying in the balance envelop without holding onto the saddle. A desirable skill that pays off in general small rock work where you need both hands flaying for balance.
Here is a good example of small rock. What makes this terrain difficult is what you see is not what you get. The rock is loose and shifts constantly under the influence of the wheel. The preferred method for dealing with this stuff is to go slow and steady. Give yourself time to pick a route and to react to the unpredictable. Go directly over a rock whenever possible rather around or between. A rock, under the wheel, is not nearly as squirrelly as a rock being shoulder aside.
Logs, pipes or poles, like steps, are just about everywhere. Be careful. Before doing cylinders, make sure they are stable. Test for traction. Creosote poles are very slippery in hot or wet weather. These logs are good practice for forest work because some trails will have only logs for bridges.
Now, let’s try some tilted stuff. These are dream slabs to work. They are stable, rough and only moderately tilted.
Route selection is still important, however. Balancing in place and hopping are the component skills. The only limit to what can be done in this type of terrain is adequate tire friction and room for the slope side pedal. A dedicated rider with good skills could do some serious rock work. Whole mountains would seem to be possible.
Our route brings us out onto the beach. This particular section of small to medium rock provides endless fun. No route, no day is ever the same. This is where curb practices pays off. Rolling over to six to eight inch ledges is mostly is all that is happening. Balancing in place is important to slow and deliberate progress.
Medium size rock provide good hopping grounds. Hopping is a fun skill but work up to it gradually. Always test for traction and stability, first.
Taking off and landing from angled rock is more difficult. Ease into the skill.
Eventually, the beach turns into what I call, “Big Rock.” I should be wearing a helmet here; so should you. No new skills here just dancing with bigger rocks.
Remember, what you’re seeing is not about what I can do on a unicycle, but what you can do. As long as there is traction and room to maneuver, a unicycle will take you anywhere your skill allows.
There are two things to know about rough terrain unicycling. First, learning curve can be shallow and long, but not to worry. Joy in unicycling comes from the daily exercise and mental and physical challenges it provides. The improvement achieved on any particular day or plateau is less important than just doing it. Second, cycling is a grabber sport. Once you get into it, it won’t let you go. Cycling gives you a chance to get outdoors virtually anywhere, anytime, get a workout and meet a hosts of challenges. Like rock climbing, cycling doesn’t alway require a big chunk of territory to be interesting. But the cycle is no slouch at putting 10 to 15 miles a day on a forest or mountain trail; and, it’s compact enough to give you a good workout indoors.
When you ride, no matter where you ride, always wear the appropriate padding.
Currently available stock unicycles are not up to long term use in rough terrain.* These are a few of the dozens of axles I have broken from these machines in some three to 4,000 hours of riding and bent cranks and broken pedals and seat posts and seat and seat covers.* * To put together a bike robust enoughfor sustained rough terrain work, some stock components must be replaced. The most important is the axle.* The only two types of axles that have survived my riding are the Phil Wood four shoulder taper and the Bullseye Hollow Splined Axle.* A re-enforced seat post and seat will withstand the fiercest of reefing.* And a nylon vinyl seat cover will give reasonable wear.* Put on the biggest platform pedals you can find.* The addition of these components will reduce failure rates to an acceptable level.* Otherwise, it is simply not safe to venture into terrain like this without reliable components.* Especially, axles.* A broken axle is fairly catastrophic in any event and this is not the place to find out more about it.* As your ability to extract more and more torque from the cycle increases, so will your ability to fatigue a stock axle to failure.* Steep down hills, hopping and small to medium rock work will cause stock axle failure in 100 to 200 hours.* Count on it.* So after you burnt out your stock axle in mild terrain, replace it with Phil Wood or Bullseye axle or equivalent.
Now, it’s okay to burn out a stock axle or two, but it’s not okay to burn out yourself. Just remember that some people learn cycling skills very rapidly and some people learn cycling skills very slowly. Even though I would classify myself more to the slow group, it hasn’t diminished my enjoyment of the sport one bit. Don’t let the apparent difficulty or lack of natural aptitude deter you. Get a cycle and get on it. Wear your pads and enjoy.
Thanks for taking the (substantial, I’m sure) time to do that, Unisphere. I’ve spent a while on a couple of occasions scanning through the video searching for a particular quote that I partly remembered from him. It’s really good having this as a reference now.
Yeah, LargeEddie, it did take me a long time. I guess I could have used Siri or some other diction app, but I did not think of that until after I posted it. I guess, I’m just old school. I listened to the video over and over and over and over and I typed everything that I heard. (Hmmm. I guess I could have used loose leaf. Does anyone use loose leaf anymore? But, I digress.) However, there are parts that I must have listened to more than 50 times and it’s either Peck’s Alaskan accent or my New York City ears, but I can’t make out these words. Let me know your thoughts about….
…6 min 45 sec, on Vimeo. I can’t make out the narration.
I typed, "Also, ‘needed here’ for jumping since…” I think he might be saying “needed here”, but it might be something else. I don’t know. 
Thanks for appreciating the posting.
Be well and keep on listening and watching the classics. There is so much to learn.
Sorry to take so long to follow up on this, Unisphere. Distractions… 
I’m pretty sure he’s saying, “Also de rigueur for jumping,” though I’ve heard better French pronunciation.
Thanks again for the going to all the trouble!
He lead the way, and unicyclists followed. A few years after that, people were getting into unicycling specifically to do what he did. To anyone that has seen his video, George Peck has been a teacher, and a source of inspiration.
George didn’t put the idea of riding rough terrain into my head, I’d been doing that for a while but not like he did. He showed us much more that could be done on unicycles.
It’s good to be reminded of this, after going to unicycling events where everyone seems to want to ride the trails as fast as possible. Okay, so they were races, but that’s not the best way to enjoy a trail. Riding fast is also fun, but you miss a lot when you do it.
I should memorize that one. Though I rarely get asked that question, when I do it’s usually by a journalist so it’s good to have a great response. People I meet on the trail usually get it already.
I know that’s an old post, but you can also work on idling. It’s less useful on rough terrain, but the skills involved are good for all aspects of unicycling, especially at low speeds or in tight spaces.
BTW, why are you called Unisphere? Do you live in the Flushing Meadows area? I have an old picture of me in front of the Unisphere (on a uni) in 1985 or so, which I wish were scanned. So many old film pictures, so little time… 
I’ve had a unicycle living in the back of my car, most of the time, since the early 1980s. I drive minivans because of unicycling. They fit more unicycles + people than anything short of a truck, and are super versatile. Just not super cool.
My first unicycle was $120, but it was a Schwinn Giraffe. My second one was $50, a Japanese “Concord” 24". Now, in my collection, I have examples that are extremely similar to all three of the unicycles shown in that Sears catalog. The cheap one was what I started with (borrowed). What a piece of crap! The others were junky but usable. That bottom one probably did more damage to unicycling than anything else in the 1970s.
If those numbers sound crazy, they’re not. Tire pressure is relative to tire volume. Those tires aren’t fat by any sense of the word, and need plenty of pressure to keep them from pinch-flatting. My first “good” Muni was a 24" Miyata with a knobby tire, very similar to his. Very lightweight, but also very different to ride on choppy stuff. A wider tire makes everything easier, which is great but also a little sad…
Yup. Broke lots of Miyata and Semcycle axles. George didn’t do big drops because he was already spending enough on custom axles. Plus those narrow tires were less fun to land on, as well as not being as robust as what we have today.
Yup, I concur.
Thanks, Unisphere, for transcribing the Rough Terrain Unicycling script. Parts of it are like poetry! It must be read with some mellow background music, such as the soundtrack of the video.
Lastly, while we’re on the topic, notice George never calls it Muni or Mountain Unicycling. He was never much of a fan as that for a name. Rough Terrain Unicycling is much more accurate for what we do, but just not very catchy. Mountain Biking became popular, in part, because it was called Mountain Biking. The competing name in the early days was ATB (All Terrain Bike), which lost the popularity contest. It conjures images of being outdoors in interesting terrain. People who lived in the Midwest would say that they couldn’t really do Muni because they didn’t have mountains to ride on. But I think we’re past that now, and people get it. Everywhere there’s dirt to ride on, you have a chance for some fun Muni riding. Or even on a random pile of rocks or old junk.
John,
Thank you for all your comments and feedback. The thread may be old; however, so am I. So, even though I haven’t been on the forum for awhile, it’s always good to read and research and connect.
I never heard of rough terrain unicycling until September of 2016. I was looking for a new unicycle just to ride around and have some fun. Then, I discovered Munis. Ah, I have been living such a sheltered life.
I love the trails. It gives me peace. Although there are parts that I like to take a little fast, I choose a slower speed just because it’s so beautiful.
I always start my response with…“Because it’s fun…”. Who can argue with that.
Thanks for the advise. I’m starting to get the feel of idling and although I can hop a little better these days, I still haven’t used these skills on the trails. I find whenever I have time to ride, I go straight to the trails and just ride them.
I’ve been living in Queens my whole life and I love it. When I was selecting a forum name, I was playing around with the “uni” names. [Real original-right?:p] I wanted to attach “uni” to something that somehow described me. Then, my daughter suggested “Unisphere”. Besides for being a Queens icon, it supports my belief that we all need to be thinking about ‘one world’.
Yesterday, my daughter and I went for a 5.5 mile uni ride in Flushing Meadow Park and we circled the Unisphere a few times. The park was great and we had a ball. In March 2017, she started practicing and now riding my 40-year $50 Japanese made Pro-Unicycle. --Hold on to your photos. When we all loose our minds, people can remind us of the good times we had.
Yesterday, while riding with my daughter, I suggested that we start lowering the pressure in my old uni. She already can feel the difference when ride at the max 40 psi and when it’s lower. As long as she’s not hitting rim, the actual psi is relative like you described.
I had a lot of fun doing it and besides, I often hear his quotes in my head as I ride my local ‘rough terrain’ trails.
As I ride with my daughter and we pass over cracks in the asphalt, we joke with each other that we are going over ‘rough terrain’. Even my daughter has heard George’s quote, “Just about anything that’s not a gym floor probably qualifies as rough terrain.”
Thanks for your response. As you can see, I get distracted, too. I agree with you, and John, that it sounds more French than what I wrote.
Thanks again for your comments and reflections on this true treasure that we all can still enjoy.
Be well, because it maximizes the time to enjoy this ‘One World’
These quotes from George Peck sum up my interest in unicycling perfectly. Trials and Muni interest me. Long ago when I got into dirt biking, I moved to moto trials as I found it very interesting, challenging, and rewarding to be able to control the vehicle in the most difficult terrain possible.
I see the pursuit of speed as only increasing danger and decreasing the enjoyment of the activity. In moto and bike trials you get off your machine to walk the terrain and survey it to make a plan of attack before you ride it. A much better mental workout, physically multi directional plus balance. Gives you a chance to enjoy nature while you are at it.
If you really want speed, do it with a crotch rocket, or racing car on a proper paved racing track. To me racing for speed cross country on a mountain bike, nah, I would go for a road bike and pavement. To me there should always be a strong element of Trials and challenging terrian for difficulty, not speed, with mountian biking and mountain unicycling.
Just getting the basics on a unicycle has been challenging for me. I see acquiring skill sets that can always be further built upon as fresh challenges. Then there is conquering obstacles and terrain, always fresh challenges. To me you are playing Chess with the skills and the terrain.
Much merit to the saying, “Don’t go so fast, you will forget to smell the flowers.” I would add, to enjoy the view.
Kris Peck has published a restored version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkuheYVbU3Q&feature=share
I’ve never heard that the norwegian olympic champ Stein Eriksen rode a unicycle. He probably got the idea from Ingemar Stenmark the famous sweedish skier who is the one with the most world cup victories (86) in the world. All the other alpine skiers copied Stenmark and learned to ride a uniycle. Stenmark himself laughed at the whole thing, and said he didn’t think that unicycling helped him to become a better skier.
Ingemar Stenmark riding a unicycle: https://youtu.be/fHE9XgXNwf0?t=231
Stenmark also did high jumps. This clip is from 2011 (he was 55): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZbZXprCUXo