Can I Uni Here?

i'd bet not on a trail like that. in some places i'd argue that i can
uni because it's more walking speed, but this is likely a trial wear
kind of thing. i wouldn't chance it because a big ticket could result.

--
markf

stuck in iowa and gainfully employed.
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My attitude towards that sort of stuff would be to ride it and if they
ask you to leave then don't complain too much. As far as erosion and
such, I've seen singltrack mountainbike trails that get ridden more
then any hiking trials I know and you can hardly tell the trail is
there in many places. I usually ride on "no biking" trials on my
mountain bike simply because there in my back yard, and I don't want to
have to drive 40 minutes to legitimate single track. At the same time,
I don't go on weekends, or busy times, and I always yield to hikers and
try not to be a pain or loud and obnoxios, and if I get hurt I'm not
going to try and sue or anything. So yes, I understand that it isn't
the most honest thing, but to me trial use is a large grey area,
especially on a unicycle. The reason most of the "no biking" sings are
there is due to liability, or hikers groups being mean and pushing it
through with legislation and such, as they tried to do in the catskills
recently, and if there isn't a fight from cyclists then it goes through
without a problem.

--
theanswerisnt42
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you can prolly ride it if you use one of these:
http://www.tux.org/~bagleyd/unicycle_factory/custom.html

scroll down a bit and you'll see what i'm talking aboot.

--
abbabibble

Cheers, Matt.
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i agree, go try it out. I rode at a school that had a sign saying: No
bikes rollerblading, rollerskating, scooter riding, skateboarding. But
no one minded that i ride my uni. The only thing i got was a person
working there telling me not to play on the steps.

--
The Bruiser

lvl 3 unicyclist, move out the way haha
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If a trail says "No Bicycling" it means no unicycling too. Don't try
contorting a definition of bicycle that excludes unicycles because that
logic isn't going to fly with the people who put up the sign.

If the trail is designed specifically as a hiking trail you should
definitely stay off of it. It's not good for the mountain biking
community to be poaching hiking trails that are very specifically
hiking trails and not biking or multiuse trails. The mountain biking
community in your area is likely working hard to get access to more
trails. Poaching the local hiking only trails does not generate the
good karma that is necessary for them to make progress on getting
access to more trails. Poaching makes the local mountain biking
community look bad, and as mountain unicyclists we are part of the
mountain biking community. Poaching gives the enemy ammunition to make
it more difficult for the MTB community to open new trails. Consider
it bad karma.

Now if you want to start threading through the grey areas, then things
get less black and white. Some trails are more poachable than others.
If you are familiar with the local trail and land politics and with
past history of the area you can identify trails that are more
politically open to poaching. There are some local trails in my area
that were once open to bikes but no longer. They get poached by some
bikes. There are other trails that are most definitely hiking only
trails and it would be stupid to poach them on a bike or unicycle.

There are other issues too. Hiking only trails are often built
differently than MTB trails or multi-use trails. There are issues with
how the trail tread (the trail base) is reinforced to handle MTB use.
There are issues with drainage, slope, visibility, trail design, etc.
that are different for hiking only trails vs. MTB or multi-use trails.
Some hiking trails are just not suitable for mountain biking.

I did notice that everyone who said to go ahead and poach the trail are
in their teens. 🙄

--
john_childs

john_childs (att) hotmail (dott) com
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john_childs said:

I did notice that everyone who said to go ahead and poach the trail are
in their teens. 🙄

Well jeez John, is there really anyone else left? The geezers are
dropping like flies. Harper can't be considered an adult, so you're
just about the only remaining voice of experience.

It would be interesting to graph out the average post count by age of
poster for the last 12 months. I predict it would show the geezers
dropping like flies.

--
tomblackwood

Tailgate at your own risk...
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Eroick said:

Well, there is a place near my house with some very nice hiking trails
that would be awesome for Muni. The thing is, it says "NO BICYCLING!!!"
in big letters with pictures and everything. So, can I uni here? The
sign doesn't say I can't... Anyone else had experiences with this?

It really depends on the trail and the area. Some places, like Marin
County in California, have a lot of people fighting over trails, and
the NIMBY morons who do things like argue against turning an unused,
deteriorating fire road into singletrack (ostensibly because of
environmental impact), will also do things like call the rangers if
they see you poaching a trail on a unicycle. If there is less conflict
in your area, you're less likely to get in trouble.

Fundamentally, I think the stated reasons why mountain bikes are banned
from trails (trail damage, speed) don't apply to unicycles. But the
*real* reasons mountain bikes are banned from trails are power and
control. More or less, it's a grade-school argument that "we were here
first." It is only because the hikers and horseback riders tend to be
older, richer, and more powerful, that we have the situation we do.

--
tholub
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tomblackwood said:

It would be interesting to graph out the average post count by age of
poster for the last 12 months. I predict it would show the geezers
dropping like flies.

Is there a way to get a list out of unicyclist.com with poster names,
ages, and post count, other than doing them one by one?

from my experience its easier to get caught and be nice about leaving
then to not ride at all. you'd be surprised how decent the security
guards are at some places about the whole "well it's not actually a
bi-cycle. I mean there's only one of them anyway". As to a hiking
trail, i suggest stay off it. If destroying native bushland (forrest
for those in america) comes into it i advise you to stear clear as
national rangers are on a whole other level of trouble then shopping
centre security guards. Thats my two cents on the issue anyway.

--
albino_gumby
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this happened 2 me like a week ago... i asked the person that runs it
kindly if i could ride it if there wernt any hikers on the trail...he
said " no" then he said "...but we dont open it 2 any one on tuesdays
and im here in my office all tuesday so you can unicycle then...and if
its a slow day ill call you"

i was like omg you are so awsome its like amazing ..."can i unicycle in
the parking lot untill my mom pickes me up in a couple of hours" he
said "just dont get ran over and if you do we are not liable" then he
made me sign a liability form and its all settled

i think if you just go in there nicely that they will mostlikley
understand and respect that you didnt just go on it any way and if they
still say no its not the end of the world theres always some where
else

warren

--
dorfman

my unicycles are like my imaginary friends that every one can see.
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dude something you need to learn is you can and should unicycle
anywhere. if theres a sign that says no loitering, or even no
unicycling, jsut disregard it or knock it over and ride that place. or
if you see a skinny in front of the police station-ride that thing
man. everyone in my neighborhood skates the courthouse. so yea, just
unicycle anywhere you want, and dont worry bout the trouble.

--
chosen

honestly,
jonny
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chosen said:

dude something you need to learn is you can and should unicycle
anywhere. if theres a sign that says no loitering, or even no
unicycling, jsut disregard it or knock it over and ride that place. or
if you see a skinny in front of the police station-ride that thing
man. everyone in my neighborhood skates the courthouse. so yea, just
unicycle anywhere you want, and dont worry bout the trouble.

Ok, if a sign specifically says "No Unicycling", then seriously,
respect the law.

And skating the courthouse? Riding skinnies right near a police station
on their property? Don't be so reckless...just because you unicycle
doesn't make you above the law.

I'm with Albino_Gumby on this one, just ride places where it doesn't
say you can't, and if someone in uniform asks you to leave, just be
polite, humor him a little, and find another place. Simple as that.

--
dudewithasock

'My Unicycling Journal'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44950)
officially ended.
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i would probably say you couldn't

--
lucky_8

One day i hope to be a professional unicyclist.
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if the 'man' goes through all the effort to specifically make a 'no
unicycling' sign then i suggest not to ride. However since this is a
rare occurence go for your life.

--
albino_gumby
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dudewithasock said:

Ok, if a sign specifically says "No Unicycling", then seriously, respect
the law.

And skating the courthouse? Riding skinnies right near a police station
on their property? Don't be so reckless...just because you unicycle
doesn't make you above the law.

I'm with Albino_Gumby on this one, just ride places where it doesn't
say you can't, and if someone in uniform asks you to leave, just be
polite, humor him a little, and find another place. Simple as that.

nonsense

--
chosen

honestly,
jonny
'My Gallery' (http://tinyurl.com/cw3lv)
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chosen said:

nonsense

You convinced me.

--
dudewithasock

'My Unicycling Journal'
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😎
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Sometimes ill see places with signs saying not to bike, skateboard, and
ill be like, "hey! im on a uni, they need to be more specific if they
dont want me to ride here!" and just ride through, most times they dont
care, sometimes they do and ask me to leave, and i dont mind, still
think they need to be more specific, or so vague that it counts
anything that is ridable in a short and simple way, like a sign just
saying "NO" that would do it =p

But sometiems you gotta follow what the signs say, other times who
really cares and just go for it =p besides, if anyone aks, you just
gotta say you never saw that sign then give a little smirk as you walk
away 😉

--
Jerrick

You cant make me put something here!!! I just wont!!! It goes against
everything i believe in!... Oh, your gonna pay me to do it? Ok =p
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if anyone ever gives you trouble, slip them a one spot for them to keep
it quiet. washington is very persuasive. of course, woodrow is even
more forceful.

--
chosen

honestly,
jonny
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I think trail poaching culture depends very much on country too.

In the UK, we've got far more access to land than in many other
countries, including a legal right to roam on most open land on foot,
even if it's privately owned. There are also bridleways, which are
trails that bikes and horses are allowed to use over most land, and
footpaths for walkers only. There is some fantastic singletrack on
bridleways, however, a lot of singletrack is either a footpath, or on
open access land. There are a lot of areas where it's just accepted
that people can bike on the singletrack thanks to the land owners not
minding, or actively encouraging it, and also most mountain bikers will
poach footpaths a bit. It's also the case that almost all trails aren't
"built trails" in the sense of purpose built mountain bike trails, and
given we have a lot of rain all year round, it's more accepted that
hiking and biking trails change over time, so riding muddy trails and
erosion is much less of an issue, except for extremely popular trails
in honeypot areas.

In Scotland, there's no access restrictions at all, if you don't cause
damage, you can go on the trail, no matter what signs are up. This is
true if you're on a bike / unicycle, or on foot. There's also hundreds
of fantastic trails and big big mountains. Lucky buggers.

But the underlying most important thing to do in any case you're not
sure, is like what Tom Holub said, find out from local mountain bike
people what they do, where they ride. Chances are there'll be some
trails they all avoid because of hassle, and some that are tolerated or
encouraged, which are just going to be less hassle to ride. Doing this
both increases your knowledge of trails to ride and makes you more
responsible as a trail user, so everyone wins. Ask in bike shops, or
online on bike website or whatever.

Joe

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