"Woohoo" doesn't cover it.

Having ridden others’ 6’ DM giraffes, idling on either foot and going
forwards and (not very far but) backwards, I ordered one for myself about 6
weeks ago.

I vowed to only ever freemount it, knowing that doing so would mean I
wouldn’t ride it for some time after it arrived.

This week:

Tuesday:
One 6’ DM Giraffe arrives.
I take it with me to the Tunbridge Wells Juggling Club and spend about an
hour (in total) trying unsuccessfully to freemount it - getting into the
saddle once or twice but then falling off.

Wednesday:
One hour at local park, more attempts. Same story, get into the saddle (more
frequently than the day before) but can’t ride out of it.

Thursday:
Another hour at the park sees the closest attempt yet. Got on, semi-idled,
fell off.

Friday:
Adverse weather, wet (only one dry spot near the football pavilion), windy,
sun in my eyes, bruises on bruises from the previous days, left
hip/knee/foot hurting. Right foot also uncomfortable. Frustrated by the same
mistakes (notably not leaning forwards enough) but soldiered on.
45 minutes of practise.
The day’s final attempt saw me getting on, falling backwards a bit, riding
backwards a little to compensate, and only staying on by grabbing the
pavilion which I rode backwards into. Satisfied with the semi-freemount I
rode around the park a bit and gracefully dismounted, unicycle in front.

Saturday:
15 minutes into the practice I nailed it - a neat freemount from which I
idled then rode away. Got a cheer from the junior footballers the other side
of the park.
I fell off minutes later trying to adjust the position of my feet on the
pedals.
I came back to the same spot, 5 minutes later I was back on so I rode around
a bit before going home for tea to celebrate.
A little later on I returned to the park - 3 more freemounts including one
outside the park on the very short trip home which I managed at the first
attempt.

It’s getting easier.

I would like to thank unicycling.org’s “Mounting a Giraffe Unicycle” page
(Paul Makepeace, Doug Borngasser, Damion Yates and Beirne Konarski) and Greg
Harper for his excellent tips (which I found in previous threads with Google
Groups) and for inspiration. Three one-hour practice sessions before you
started nailing 50% of the mounts, Greg! It took me four hours just to get
one.

That’s it. Sorry for the long post.

Andrew “Happy Bunny on Large Giraffe” Feldhaus
0xADF

Re: “Woohoo” doesn’t cover it.

Andrew-

Congratulations on your successes! What makes you think I didn’t just lie about how long it took me?
They are fun beasts to climb. I went a couple of days recently where I landed every attempt. The most recent outing saw me with only about a 20% success rate, though. Must have been the new shoes I was testing.

Re: “Woohoo” doesn’t cover it.

>15 minutes into the practice I nailed it - a neat freemount from which I
>idled then rode away.

Andrew,

I’m jealous…but motivated.

Good job,
Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

Re: “Woohoo” doesn’t cover it.

Greetings

In message ““Woohoo” doesn’t cover it.”,
Andrew Feldhaus wrote…

I wonder if you are using the 1-2-3 method, the rolling jump mount, or something else.
I just got a new girafee yesterday – my four old ones are rotting – and sicovered
to my desimay that after a couple years of not doing a rolling jump mount I “forgot”
how to do it. It took me less than an hour of practice to get it back but it is still
far from stable. I think, and I believe many other do too, that once your get used
to it the rolling mount jump is easier tahn 1-2-3, esp if the giraffe is leess than 6 feet.

Just my two devalued yen.

Oh, I just checked the reall great page Mounting a Giraffe Unicycle and noticed that
it describes only the 1-2-3 method. I wonder if there is a page for the rolling mount
jum method – it is really cool and impressive.

>Having ridden others’ 6’ DM giraffes, idling on either foot and going
>forwards and (not very far but) backwards, I ordered one for myself about 6
>weeks ago.
>
>I vowed to only ever freemount it, knowing that doing so would mean I
>wouldn’t ride it for some time after it arrived.
>
>This week:
>
>Tuesday:
>One 6’ DM Giraffe arrives.
>I take it with me to the Tunbridge Wells Juggling Club and spend about an
>hour (in total) trying unsuccessfully to freemount it - getting into the
>saddle once or twice but then falling off.
>
>Wednesday:
>One hour at local park, more attempts. Same story, get into the saddle (more
>frequently than the day before) but can’t ride out of it.
>
>Thursday:
>Another hour at the park sees the closest attempt yet. Got on, semi-idled,
>fell off.
>
>Friday:
>Adverse weather, wet (only one dry spot near the football pavilion), windy,
>sun in my eyes, bruises on bruises from the previous days, left
>hip/knee/foot hurting. Right foot also uncomfortable. Frustrated by the same
>mistakes (notably not leaning forwards enough) but soldiered on.
>45 minutes of practise.
>The day’s final attempt saw me getting on, falling backwards a bit, riding
>backwards a little to compensate, and only staying on by grabbing the
>pavilion which I rode backwards into. Satisfied with the semi-freemount I
>rode around the park a bit and gracefully dismounted, unicycle in front.
>
>Saturday:
>15 minutes into the practice I nailed it - a neat freemount from which I
>idled then rode away. Got a cheer from the junior footballers the other side
>of the park.
>I fell off minutes later trying to adjust the position of my feet on the
>pedals.
>I came back to the same spot, 5 minutes later I was back on so I rode around
>a bit before going home for tea to celebrate.
>A little later on I returned to the park - 3 more freemounts including one
>outside the park on the very short trip home which I managed at the first
>attempt.
>
>It’s getting easier.
>
>I would like to thank unicycling.org’s “Mounting a Giraffe Unicycle” page
>(Paul Makepeace, Doug Borngasser, Damion Yates and Beirne Konarski) and Greg
>Harper for his excellent tips (which I found in previous threads with Google
>Groups) and for inspiration. Three one-hour practice sessions before you
>started nailing 50% of the mounts, Greg! It took me four hours just to get
>one.
>
>That’s it. Sorry for the long post.
>
>Andrew “Happy Bunny on Large Giraffe” Feldhaus
>0xADF
>
>
>___________________________________________________________________________
>rec.sport.unicycling mailing list - www.unicycling.org/mailman/listinfo/rsu
>

Stay on top, Jack Halpern
Executive Director for International Development
International Unicycling Federation, Inc.
Website: http://www.kanji.org

Re: “Woohoo” doesn’t cover it.

In a message dated 28/04/2002 01:25:22 GMT Daylight Time,
harper.3rzua@timelimit.unicyclist.com writes:

> Must have been the new shoes I was testing.
>
As a completely self taught rider, who never met another unicyclist for the
first 15 years of his career, can I say how reassuring it is to see that I
was developing my excuses along the right lines too. :0)

saw a rolling jump mount thingy onto a giraffe for the first time on friday
very impresive
i’ve soldiered on a borrowed giraffe using the 1-2-3 method and got to an acceptable success rate before having to give it back
is the rolling jump easier to learn?

andrew, well done on the commitment to only ever freemount
enjoy the view
:slight_smile:

Very impressive… freemounting a giraffe. i have never been able to. Actully i got my giraffe for christmas 2 years ago and i went out to play on it i took a look at it. walked it around abit in the drive way. Had my dad help me on with a push and then i rode it around. My dad not thrilled to be a human ladder went inside and i was left to figure out how to get out. i figure well since i am young and full of energy i can figure it out. I am the only person i know that can ride a giraffe (atleast at the time i got mine, since then friends have purchased them to). I had nothing to go off of so i ran put my foot on the pedal and it through me up and over. Interesting i thought so i tried it again , and again , and again till i was prepealled the right hight into the air. i was impressed and i figured that is how you mount a giraffe so thats how i did it. I went to a local juggling club meeting and some kid was fulling around with his giraffe. i asked if i could ride it since it was nicer then mine i mounted it by rolling it and putting my foot on my pedal. he was so impressed and i didnt know why. then he explained i am the first person he had ever see mount a uni. like that. I tried the same mounting teqhnic on a 6 foot and failed but i was younger then, can the teqhnic i used to mount my 5 foot with ease be used to mount taller uni?