RIDING - on a Coker - at last!



J

Jayne ZA

Guest
OK - it finally happened! At the juggling club tonight Dave forced me
to head out into the abyss solo and I didn't die or break anything. He
did just about have to hold a gun to my head and threaten to pull the
trigger, but he got me out there and it was actually quite cool.

My best performance was 5 pedal pushes before falling off. Heck, it's a
coker, that's the same as, what, riding a couple of miles on a smaller
wheel ;) I THINK I might have done more on one run, but I was
distracted by people passing clubs and gave up counting to yell "Get out
of the way, I can't stop". I seem to veer to the left and had to change
my launch point as I had this magnetic attraction for a pile of clubs on
the floor.

Timewise I am up to the 11 hour mark as I was at 10 1/4 hours by today
and I must have put in at least another 45 minutes at the club. I'll
keep counting and let you know when I get up to 50m without UPDing.

I celebrated with a chunky Kit Kat and the pleasant thought that the two
pairs of boots I bought today will now be worn by a REAL unicyclist, not
a wannabe wuss. I'm also glad that I've managed the whole unsupported
riding thing before my birthday on Monday. It was one of my goals for
the year. Now I just need to get riding down pat so I can unicycle in
my graduation gown on 25 May.

This weekend I'm childfree and visiting the parking lot to practice some
more. I'm on a roll now!

I have also caved to peer pressure and will be purchasing some cycling
shorts, despite my religious objections to wearing them. When you start
to put in a little extra time in the saddle a bit of padding in the
right places can make a BIG difference.

Jayne


--
Jayne ZA - Learning to ride on a Coker

Being a statistician means never having to say you're certain


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Jayne ZA wrote:
> * At the juggling club tonight Dave forced me to head out into the
> abyss solo and I didn't die or break anything. He did just about have
> to hold a gun to my head and threaten to pull the trigger, but he got
> me out there and it was actually quite cool. *

the whole episode wasn't without it's typically jayne moments of
humour
when i first suggested the unsupported idea, gentle like, by saying
something along the lines of 'stop your sh*t, ride!'
my suggestion was met with 'but it's scary'
that got my fairly stock response of 'if it wasn't scary, everyone would
be doing it!'
now normally, in conjunction with my bellowing tone, shaved head and
manly physique, this is enough to intimidate most wanna-learners into
stopping their aforementioneds and riding
not so with our jayne
'but chocolate isn't scary and everybody's doing THAT!'
can't argue with that kinda logic...


the delay in jayne's riding of the coker is entirely my fault
for weeks now i've been telling her that it's real close
i forgot to mention that occasionally u have to lean forward and reach
for it...


--
GILD - Waffle-****** (ocfopgm)

only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. i think
it's
in my basement...let me go upstairs and check.
~ m. c. escher

'[image: http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/sp/84255.gif]'
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Namaste!
Dave
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It took me a lot more than 11 hours to get that far. Congratulations,
Jayne!


--
U-Turn - Member of Generation XO

Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield.

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'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
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-- Dave Stockton
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For the record:
I didn't win the bet as I didn't get all the way across the hall. I
reckon Dave deserved his beer for getting me out into the scary abyss
all by myself.
I don't intimidate easily and take full responsibility for being too
scared to venture out on my own.
By the time that Dave gets back from his trip to the UK I hope to be
riding around the hall in great big figure eights and steering the uni
rather than aiming it.
No photos as yet. I have some of Jackie on the coker and of her
"helping" me practice. If I can stay on long enough for Leslie to take
a picture this weekend then I'll have one of me riding. Then I just
need to finish the film and get them developed and scanned so I can put
them on the web.

I am looking forward to whizzing round the hall rather than dragging
myself along a wall and watching everybody else whizzing round on MY
unicycle.

Jayne


--
Jayne ZA - Learning to ride on a Coker

Being a statistician means never having to say you're certain


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mango wrote:
> Thats awesome! I've been reading all the updates and waiting for the big
> day. You rock! :D


I shall be very surprised if she's rocking just yet ;-)

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
<url:http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/>
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine
 
Jayne ZA wrote:
> *I have also caved to peer pressure and will be purchasing some
> cycling shorts, despite my religious objections to wearing them.*

Not that I'm doubting there is one, but what religion requires you to
have crotch pain?

In other words, bike shorts don't hvae to be lycra spandex on the
outside. You can always get some mountain bike shorts. Congratulations
on taming the Coker!


--
johnfoss - Walkin' on the edge

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"I should be wearing a helmet here -- so should you." -- George Peck,
who prefers not to wear one, in the 1991 video Rough Terrain Unicycling
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johnfoss wrote:
> *Not that I'm doubting there is one, but what religion requires you to
> have crotch pain?
> *


The religious objection is more along the lines of "god they look
stupid". :)

I did actually try some cycling shorts on yesterday. Dave suggested the
bib shorts as they (apparently) are less prone to bagginess. The shop I
went to had them, but none in the "Ladies" version. The assistant was
QUITE right when he warned me about how uncomfortable they would be, and
that was just standing in the change room. I'm holding out for a ladies
version. There are some things that you need to be gender specific
about. ;)

Jayne


--
Jayne ZA - Learning to ride on a Coker

Being a statistician means never having to say you're certain


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Congrats Jayne for the unsupported ride. I've been following your
updates and will now wait for more exiting news. Practicing should be
even more fun now. Power to you! And thank you for keeping track of
the time.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
Clearly a system of 1/14 and 1/16 is not decimal - Mikefule on the English weight system
 
Jayne ZA wrote:
> * Dave suggested the bib shorts as they (apparently) are less prone
> to bagginess. *



Most of my women friends ride with regular (non bib) women's shorts.
Since womens' waists are much smaller than their hips there isn't the
need for the tight waistband that most men find uncomfortable. As for
bagginess, get a quality brand. The better shorts are constructed from
multiple panels with the lycra oriented so it moves with you as you
ride. It's too bad that the market for unicycling wear is too small to
attract a major cyclewear manufacturers attention. I think a little
focused R&D would go a long way. My cycling shorts are great on a
narrow bicycle seat but they don't work as well on a unicycle.

And Jayne, CONGRADULATIONS!! It's been great fun following your
progress.


--
cyberbellum - Level 1.0 rider!

Optimists think the glass is half full. Pesimists think the glass is
half empty. Engineers think the glass is too big.
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Alright!

Nice work.

You're part of a very elite club.


--
Sofa - you - pee - dee

'Mommy!!! :eek: He's on a..........thing!!!!!........Wheel!!!!!!!!!!'
- Some kid

'Unicycle Product Reviews' (http://tinyurl.com/368h6) *107* reviews on
*72* products

'London Unicycling Club Website ' (http://www.brianmackenzie.com/LUC/)
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Klaas Bil wrote:
> *And thank you for keeping track of the time.*


Klaas, sometimes the timekeeping is a pain but I think of it as data
collection and practice for when work institutes a time tracking system.
Also, I have finally found a 16 inch unicycle locally and will be
teaching my 4YO to ride. She's been nagging me about getting her a
"little unicycle" ever since I got the coker. I'll be all diligent and
keep track of her time too. Hopefully her enthusiasm won't wane once
she gets the wheel. I have promised that she can come to juggling club
meetings once she can unicycle. That should be quite an incentive as
she HATES it when I go out in the evenings.

Sofa wrote:
> *You're part of a very elite club.*


Thank you. Shouldn't be hard finding a venue for meetings.

Jayne


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Being a statistician means never having to say you're certain


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Jayne ZA wrote:
> *
> She's been nagging me about getting her a "little unicycle" ever since
> I got the coker. *



Get her a 29"r then :)


--
Sofa - you - pee - dee

'Mommy!!! :eek: He's on a..........thing!!!!!........Wheel!!!!!!!!!!'
- Some kid

'Unicycle Product Reviews' (http://tinyurl.com/368h6) *107* reviews on
*72* products

'London Unicycling Club Website ' (http://www.brianmackenzie.com/LUC/)
version 3.02


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Sofa wrote:
> *Get her a 29"r then :) *


Don't joke - she keeps trying to ride the 24 and is SO FRUSTRATED that
it isn't the right size for her.

Jayne


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Jayne ZA - Learning to ride on a Coker

Being a statistician means never having to say you're certain


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On Sat, 1 May 2004 08:29:47 -0500, "Jayne ZA" wrote:

>I'll be all diligent and
>keep track of her time too.


How great is that! Both of your data points will be in virtually
unexplored space, yours for wheel size and hers for age. Youngest in
my current (processed) dataset was 5 when starting learning.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
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