Re: My First High-speed UPD

My first HSUPD was, of course, on my first Coker ride. I was Coker
muni-ing with a wobble of experienced Cokeurs and struggling to keep up
with them on some windy singletrack in the woods. Pedaling fast,
turning, handling bumps, all for the first time on a 36" wheel made for
a frighteningly exciting ride.

About 100 yards into the trail I came flying off the uni and into a
tree. Luckily I was wearing enough armor to deflect myself from
faceplanting into the tree, but it got my heart racing nonetheless.
Sorry, James, but I managed to escape without scars!

So, young man, why weren't you wearing more safety gear for your "world
record high speed attempt"? Hmmm?

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maestro8 said:

So, young man, why weren't you wearing more safety gear for your "world
record high speed attempt"? Hmmm?

I was wearing a helmet...of course, my head didn't hit the ground, it
never does. hmm. I guess wrist guards would have been helpful...but
what could you wear on your rear end to protect it? I've never seen
any buttguards.

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to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.

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Feel better! Sounds terrible. I still don't go very fast on my coker.
I'm chicken.
Aren't you just recovering from a broken foot, low speed sandal
accident??

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hehe, yeah, kinda...well, I pretty much am recovered from the broken
foot now. and it's not thaaat bad, just my hip kinda hurts and it
might hurt to walk for a couple days. I'll get over it though (:
going super fast on a coker is SCARY. you're not chicken, you're just
smart q-:

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James_Potter

to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.

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James_Potter said:

I was wearing a helmet...of course, my head didn't hit the ground, it
never does. hmm. I guess wrist guards would have been helpful...but
what could you wear on your rear end to protect it? I've never seen
any buttguards.

If you'd had wrist guards, you'd prolly have "reached" for the ground
with your hands. This is an excellent technique (when and where
applicable) bc it means that you're landing in an instinctual way
(hands out) without much damage to your mitts. The rolling landing is a
great idea, too, tho gen'ly we avoid the butt part, and again, wrist
guards can help with this part, too.

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I experienced a similar sort of dismount fairly recently on my geared up
torker TX. I suffered minor abrasions as you did, and learned that I
have the most excellent tuck and roll reflex, which definitely is a
most useful thing to have. Especially when you're falling from the
extra height of a giraffe 🙂

--
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James_Potter said:

I was wearing a helmet...of course, my head didn't hit the ground, it
never does. hmm. I guess wrist guards would have been helpful...but
what could you wear on your rear end to protect it? I've never seen
any buttguards.

Gloves will protect the hands from getting scraped up from a UPD. You
don't need to wear wrist guards to protect your hands. Wrist guards
are to protect your wrists. Cycling gloves will slide on the pavement
and protect your hands from road rash. I've tested my gloves in a high
speed Coker UPD and they protected my hands just fine when I went
sliding on the ground (I also had knee pads on so I slid on my hands
and knees Superman style).

DH MTB shorts will protect your butt from road rash.

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john_childs said:

Gloves will protect the hands from getting scraped up from a UPD. You
don't need to wear wrist guards to protect your hands.

Unless you fall *hard,* such as when going your top speed on a Coker.
Very different from going your top speed on a MUni with 170mm cranks.
The wristguards will slide along the road as well, but depending on the
design, may leave your fingers in peril. Gloves are way better than
nothing, but may not be sufficient if you hit hard.

Wristguards with skids and hard plastic kneepads would be a good choice
for high speed attempts. If you have those on and have practiced for
it, you can aim for a hands-and-knees landing. Then if you do it right,
you should slide.

I witnessed Yuichiro Kato using this technique at Unicon IV in Puerto
Rico in 1988. This was the first time we ever did a gliding race (down
a long hill), and the first time we *made* competitors wear kneepads
and gloves (I think). In any case, he was lucky to have them on. I was
maybe several hundred meters down the hill from the starting point, and
when he passed me he was going faster than anyone I'd ever seen on a
24" unicycle. I would estimate at least 20mph. Then he fell, and slid a
good 30m or so on his hands and knees. Without the kneepads and heavy
gloves he was wearing, he would have been done for the day at that
point. Instead he got up, checked to see he was in one piece, then
started pushing his unicycle back up the hill (it didn't have any
pedals on it).

Today you learned a valuable lesson, with only minor penalty. That is,
you should never ride a unicycle without any remaining "burst" power.
Or else you'll eventually go over the front. In racing, the skill is to
learn your body's limitations, by careful trial and error, and then
learn to carefully eat into your buffer zone, but always leaving a
little something there just in case.

Especially when the riding speed is faster than you can run!

So practice carefully, grasshopper. As your technique develops, and if
your cranks aren't too long, you should be able to hit and surpass
20mph in relative safety.

--
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If you're seriously on the lookout for buttgaurds, check out some
snowboarding shops- you can get snowboarding buttgaurds. Possibly a
good investment if you are planning on attempting this again.

Either that, or find some motorcycling leathers.

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Matt.Weston said:

If you're seriously on the lookout for buttgaurds, check out some
snowboarding shops- you can get snowboarding buttgaurds. Possibly a
good investment if you are planning on attempting this again.
Either that, or find some motorcycling leathers.

thanks, I'll look into that!!

I think I also just need shorter crank arms...mine are crazy long for
high speed attempts, 150mm. I think I'm gonna get 125's at least, and
hopefully 110's....

--
James_Potter

to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.

michael atkinson
mdotedotatkinsonatgmaildotcom
President of the '_MRIS_' (http://tinyurl.com/dk2de)
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James_Potter said:

I was wearing a helmet...of course, my head didn't hit the ground, -it
never does-.

A more cautious perspective might be to say -it hasn't yet-. Don't
leave that helmet behind just 'cause you haven't needed it yet.

My first HSUPD was also on my Coker. Not my first ride, which was just
around my block, but on my second, which is when I decided to log some
miles. I'm not even sure what took me down...might have been a little
bump or just a lapse in concentration, but I pitched forward and had
that split second to contemplate how fast I could run compared to how
fast I was going, then BAM. My right foot hit first and I actually
might have been able to run it out, but just as my left foot was about
to hit the ground, the seat handle (I think) hit my right ankle HARD
and I blew the run-out attempt and just tumbled. Got a bit of scuffed
hand, but the ankle was the main injury. I walked it off for a little
while until I stopped shaking, then decided to finish the couple miles
I had left. That was probably my biggest mistake...I should have gone
home immediately for elevation and ice. But since I didn't, I ended up
with a swollen, purple, gross-looking foot that lasted a couple of
weeks. Made my wife think twice about the great present she had given
me. 😄

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Tailgate at your own risk...
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S H O W T H E P I C T U R E O F Y O U R B U T T ! ! !

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Main reason they won't let me get one is because there on the expensive
side...and because i have a free 29" on the way (courtnesy of my uncle
bob and his shop...Olde World Cyclery). and because they think 8
unicycles is to much :P

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Matt.Weston said:

snowboarding buttguards.

My first thought was what a wonderful expletive:
"Jib booms and bobstays!" cried Captain Nancy.
"Snowboarding buttguards!" exclaimed Roger.

Then I thought of an elite regiment of soldiers dedicatied to
protecting Prince Charles on his winter skiing holidays. Captain Nancy
Blackett of the 1st Snowboarding Buttguards stood proudly to attention
as the Prince adjusted his bobble hat, pulled on his goggles and set
off down the piste...

Lovely expression.🙂

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Catboy said:

S H O W T H E P I C T U R E O F Y O U R B U T T ! ! !

I don't vote in polls, but I would like to make my voice heard for the
"Please do not show us your butt" campaign.

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""Zeno said this." And what have you said?"
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[/Furiously waves 'show us your butt' banner]

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tomblackwood said:

A more cautious perspective might be to say -it hasn't yet-. Don't leave
that helmet behind just 'cause you haven't needed it yet.

thats a good point, I rarely ride without my helmet even though I
haven't needed it -yet-.
according to Murphy's Law, riding without my helmet will be when I need
it the most.

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to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.

michael atkinson
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tomblackwood said:

A more cautious perspective might be to say -it hasn't yet-. Don't leave
that helmet behind just 'cause you haven't needed it yet.

Harper, listen up young man! 😉

I always wear my helmet on my 29er (I didn't in some pix because it was
just a quick photo shoot), as you can see in the Gasworks ride pictures
in Greg and Tom's albums. When freestyling I rarely if ever wear a
helmet unless I'm with this one local club that requiers helmets.
One time I "forgot" (hint hint the quote marks) my
helmet for one of those club meets, and I went about 5 minutes until
the club manager noticed. I just said I "forgot" it, and all she did
was say, "Then none of those crazy stand on frame wheelwalker tricks!"
Shows the amount of exposure to the real unicycling world that club has
had...they still call idling "rocker riding." I correct them every
time they say that, but nobody ever remembers. Plus they call
wheelwalking "tire walker." Makes me want to puke.:p

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James_Potter said:

thanks, I'll look into that!!

I think I also just need shorter crank arms...mine are crazy long for
high speed attempts, 150mm. I think I'm gonna get 125's at least, and
hopefully 110's....

I had owned my coker for about a week and put 125's onto it. Went out
to see how fast it goes and got 19.9mph on 1st attempt (with the stock
152's I got 18.2 one day). Still haven't tried to beat either, or even
get near to it. My one-footed-fall on the coker, and my broken
collarbone from doing 17mph on a 24", have reduced the speed that I am
willing to ride the coker at.

I don't like going faster than running speed now.

I ride my single-speed bike as fast as I can tho!!!

How big is your [censored]? That foto looks like it was taken from space.
Is it an asteroid or summat? 😉

T.

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