innovation - pedal grab



KozmicDoughNut wrote:
> *
>
> what is the difference between frontside and offside pedal grabs?
>
> Frank *


Say you hold the seat out in front with your right hand, and hop with
your right foot back.

Frontside pedal grabs would be to the left, where you hook your forward
inside pedal on the obstacle and then swing the unicycle up behind it to
go to rubber.

If you are perfectly ambidextrous with your skills, you could do the
mirror image of this to pedal grab to your right, and this would still
be a frontside pedal grab.

However, most people aren't symmetrical in their skills, including
myself. I find it easier to pedal grab to the right while staying in
my dominant (right foot back) position, with my right hand still holding
the seat.

This means that when I hop/pedal grab to the right, I have to hook my
inside *rear* pedal on the obstacle. I then pull the unicycle up in
front to go to rubber. This is what I call an offside pedal grab.

Kris


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Rowan wrote:
> *I'd say a few people would have invented crank grabs and pedal grabs
> over the years, because of the lack of communication between riders.
> Not all the techniques get discussed, and things get invented by
> people who think they are the first even if it has been done before. A
> lot of unicyclists think for a long time that they are the only
> unicyclist around, until they find out about the others. *


I haven't been in any clubs, events or message boards until a couple of
months ago. I find some of the things you guys do to be pretty funny at
times. Trying to credit someone with inventing a trick is one of them.
Rowan is right that people have probably done this a long time ago. It
doesn't really matter who or when. I can tell you that my friends and I
did pretty much anything you can do on a unicycle back in the early
80's. I didn't invent crank grabs but started doing them after I
watched a friend do it. We used to ride in public schools after
everyone but the janitors left. We'd ride up/down stairs, through halls
and jump all over the desks, counters and anything else we could. We
didn't take 5 or 6 hops to get from point a to point b either. You just
jumped, laned and jumped again. What's with all this bouncing anyway?
We jumped up on desks, over the gaps between them, slid down the edge of
slides, jumped on cars, loading docks, rode on top of bike racks, etc.
One of my friends could even do a backflip by grabbing onto an overhead
pipe and using it to fling himself up. We cruised (gliding) down some
of the steepest hills you've ever seen at speeds so fast you'd slide a
good 50 ft when you fell. Since BMX was a big deal back then, we had
unicycle races at the local BMX track. I also met other unicyclists
back in the 80's who did the same tricks. Anybody remember Steve
McPeak? I remember him riding a bridge railing that was only about 3
inches in diameter. I learned to coast and
stand-up-wheel-walk-seat-drag after watching him. And the kick up
mount...there's an old black & white video of a guy doing that - it's
definately before the 60's. I still see it on tv every once in a while.
Anyway, I know you guys are a new generation of unicyclists but I just
wanted to let you know that there's quite a few that have gone before
you (and me too).


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todd1814 wrote:
> *
>
> I haven't been in any clubs, events or message boards until a couple
> of months ago. I find some of the things you guys do to be pretty
> funny at times. Trying to credit someone with inventing a trick is
> one of them. Rowan is right that people have probably done this a
> long time ago. It doesn't really matter who or when. I can tell you
> that my friends and I did pretty much anything you can do on a
> unicycle back in the early 80's. I didn't invent crank grabs but
> started doing them after I watched a friend do it. We used to ride in
> public schools after everyone but the janitors left. We'd ride
> up/down stairs, through halls and jump all over the desks, counters
> and anything else we could. We didn't take 5 or 6 hops to get from
> point a to point b either. You just jumped, laned and jumped again.
> What's with all this bouncing anyway? We jumped up on desks, over the
> gaps between them, slid down the edge of slides, jumped on cars,
> loading docks, rode on top of bike racks, etc. One of my friends
> could even do a backflip by grabbing onto an overhead pipe and using
> it to fling himself up. We cruised (gliding) down some of the
> steepest hills you've ever seen at speeds so fast you'd slide a good
> 50 ft when you fell. Since BMX was a big deal back then, we had
> unicycle races at the local BMX track. I also met other unicyclists
> back in the 80's who did the same tricks. Anybody remember Steve
> McPeak? I remember him riding a bridge railing that was only about 3
> inches in diameter. I learned to coast and
> stand-up-wheel-walk-seat-drag after watching him. And the kick up
> mount...there's an old black & white video of a guy doing that - it's
> definately before the 60's. I still see it on tv every once in a
> while. Anyway, I know you guys are a new generation of unicyclists
> but I just wanted to let you know that there's quite a few that have
> gone before you (and me too). *


Absolutely true, and we'll probably hear about pioneering riders coming
out of the woodwork forever. It's a lot easier to credit someone with
popularizing tricks than "inventing" them, especially because it's hard
to define when activities become organized sports. This is why, for
example, Gary Fisher is often called the "father of mountain biking"
even though people rode offroad on bikes before he was born, or for that
matter before asphalt was even invented.

In any case, the main thing is that thousands of people are now doing
these things worldwide, which certainly is a big change from the past.

Kris


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> I haven't been in any clubs, events or message boards until a couple
> of months ago. I find some of the things you guys do to be pretty
> funny at times. Trying to credit someone with inventing a trick is one
> of them. Rowan is right that people have probably done this a long
> time ago. It doesn't really matter who or when. I can tell you that my
> friends and I did pretty much anything you can do on a unicycle back
> in the early 80's. I didn't invent crank grabs but started doing them
> after I watched a friend do it. We used to ride in public schools
> after everyone but the janitors left. We'd ride up/down stairs,
> through halls and jump all over the desks, counters and anything else
> we could. We didn't take 5 or 6 hops to get from point a to point b
> either. You just jumped, laned and jumped again. What's with all this
> bouncing anyway? We jumped up on desks, over the gaps between them,
> slid down the edge of slides, jumped on cars, loading docks, rode on
> top of bike racks, etc. One of my friends could even do a backflip by
> grabbing onto an overhead pipe and using it to fling himself up. We
> cruised (gliding) down some of the steepest hills you've ever seen at
> speeds so fast you'd slide a good 50 ft when you fell. Since BMX was a
> big deal back then, we had unicycle races at the local BMX track. I
> also met other unicyclists back in the 80's who did the same tricks.
> Anybody remember Steve McPeak? I remember him riding a bridge railing
> that was only about 3 inches in diameter. I learned to coast and
> stand-up-wheel-walk-seat-drag after watching him. And the kick up
> mount...there's an old black & white video of a guy doing that - it's
> definately before the 60's. I still see it on tv every once in a
> while. Anyway, I know you guys are a new generation of unicyclists but
> I just wanted to let you know that there's quite a few that have gone
> before you (and me too).



dude, it's also why it's interesting to ask the question to not just get
who popularized it, which is one legit thing, but for those who did it
before to emerge. i find it interesting that you were doing it in the
80's. somebody may have also done it before you. it's not generational,
just keep the contributions to the story coming. and you're right, it
doesn't matter, however, i for one find it super interesting. please get
some pictures up and keep exposing others.

john


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johnfoss wrote:
> *I'm not Rowan, but I think his intended answer would be "Someone none
> of us ever heard of."*
Thanks John, that is pretty much what I would have said. My intention
was not to take credit away from those who have popularised moves, nor
to take credit myself. I just wanted to put forward the idea that others
may have been doing this stuff ages ago and we might not have heard
about it through lack of communication.

In 1996 I invented riding forwards, backwards, and turning on a
unicycle. Not because I was first to do it but because no one showed me
or told me how, and I discovered how to ride on my own. I also invented
hopping up gutters, but that is not much of an impressive trick.


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todd1814 wrote:
> *I can tell you that my friends and I did pretty much anything you can
> do on a unicycle back in the early 80's. I didn't invent crank grabs
> but started doing them after I watched a friend do it. *
Cool. Sounds like you guys had a blast, at about the same time I was
having a blast getting into unicycling as well. Where were you and what
was the exact timeframe? Not that either of us "invented" any of this,
but if you were in Michigan at the time it's pretty freaky that we were
doing such similar stuff and may have been pretty close by each other.


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taste out of my mouth." -- Ryan Atkins to Kris Holm, on the way back
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Rowan wrote:
>
> > -Originally posted by Rockey-
> > *I was surprised by the height he can jump in Rough Terrain
> > Unicycling on that thin high pressure tire. In the video he says
> > something like a good rider should be able to jump 50-60 inches. I
> > think that's a bit of an overestimation don't you think*
> *Are you sure he says inches? I thought he was talking in centimeters.
> He said something about being able to jump 30 or 60cm, and that a good
> rider could do higher.*
Sorry Rockey, you were right. I watched George Peck's Rough Terrain
Unicycling again last night, and this is what he said:
> -Originally said by 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 and the seat height I prefer. Ten inches is about max for me hands
> off hopping.
> ...
> Jumping is a powerful technique which will open up lots of new
> territory. The rider is up 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
> 50-60 inches.*
I agree with you Rockey, I think George's claim of 60 inches (152.40cm)
is a bit of an overestimation. I thought it was interesting how George
has defined the difference between hopping and jumping for us, as being
on or off the saddle. It saves you from having to differentiate between
seat-in hops and seat-out hops, cos each has it's own name. His 27 inch
(68.58cm) jump on the 26 inch hard narrow tired unicycle is most
impressive. I can't hop that high with a fat tire, and I haven't tried
jumping.


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