Jean Paul Cokre

Too many hours on the Coker can lead my mind down many philosophical
paths, especially when the 125 mm cranks put many real paths out of
bounds.

For example: this forum raises epistemological questions - questions
about the nature of knowledge, and what we can actually know. How do
any of you know that I exist at all? If indeed, any of you exist...
Clearly someone is writing this, unless you're imagining reading it, but
how do you know I really have done the rides that I've written up over
the last year or two? A few of you (Unicus, Onewheeldave, Arnold the
Aardvark, and a few others) have met me, but have you met them? And
they never saw me do the rides.

But there's more to philosophy than the old 6th form question, "Ah, but
how do you know this is a table/ I owe you a beer/ I won't respect you
in the morning?" Read on:

If we are to believe Plato, Socrates believed that virtue was a kind of
knowledge. He argued that no man would knowingly do something wrong.
Therefore, if a man did something wrong, it was because he was deficient
in the knowledge of what was right. A modern comparison can be made
with my ex wife who argued that no man could do anything right,
knowingly or otherwise.

Of course, Socrates' theory leaves open the question of how something
can be objectively right or wrong; and if it is, how can we know?

Sartre (a particularly contemplative cheese eating surrender monkey)
looked at the argument in a different way. He believed that each man
did what he thought was justified in the circumstances. Man is a
rationalising animal (rather than a rational animal) and can come up
with a superficially valid justification for almost anything. It is
never possible to know exactly how someone reaches a decision, because
our motives are multi-layered (c.f. Shrek: "Ogres are like onions") and
sometimes hidden even from ourselves, so we can only judge a man by what
he decides, and we can only tell what he decides by what he actually
does.

This contrasts with Milligan's concept of the hero with coward's legs.

So, here's me riding around the big lake this evening. It's been a bad
day at work (maintaining an unbroken record of bad days at work over 22
years) and the beautiful weather which grinned maliciously in through
the office window all day became a scowling brat of rain and chill winds
by the time I left. Uninspired, I decide simply to get some miles in...
and perhaps to do the 25 miles without a dismount.

I make it to the lake without incident, except that the path is blocked
with deep puddles in many places and, try as I might, I can't avoid
getting a soaking. A Coker wheel in a puddle is like a water wheel in
reverse, the water extracting the energy from the wheel as it is thrown
up into the millstream of the rider's backside.

Onto the lake side, and I make the first lap in pretty good time; Part
way round the second lap (each lap is around 3 miles) I'm in my stride,
but starting to feel the pressure on the seat. By the start of the
third lap, my legs are starting to feel the strain. I've been "in the
zone" and pedalling a little faster than I should.

So, the existentialism starts to bite in lap three. The internal
dialogue starts:
You don't have to do this.
No, but I can't stop now.
Why not?
Because...
Because what?
You've done about 10 miles. It would be a pity to waste that.
Yes, but that means I've as far to go again - and then some.
You know you can do it.
So, if I know, why do I have to prove it?
It's a challenge.
A pretty pointless one.
Yes, but all unicycling is pointless.
Look, this is one of those cases where I have to grit my teeth and push
on. I'm bound to have a low point in a long ride.
But why have a low point when you're only doing it for fun.
But the fun comes from the achievement.
Pretty daft sort of fun. If I didn't have these short cranks on, I
could be achieving some obstacles, instead of just an arbitrary
number.
But you've set a challenge, you can't wimp out now.
But I have to bear in mind the effects. I'll be fencing for 3 hours
tomorrow,
And?
And I am 41 you know.
You've read your Sartre. You are what you decide. Are you going to
decide to stop?
Ha! Am I going to decide to carry on, just because I daren't decide not
to?

At this point, I notice my feet are cold, because I've splashed through
far too many puddles, and it's blowing a chill wind. Motorcyclists have
a horror of cold feet. Once they go cold, they take a lot of warming
up.

Existentially, I'm now a certified wimp. I didn't do the 25 miles, or
even the 20... or the 15...

And, to serve me right, it looks like my computer's lost the "score" for
the ride. I know I stopped at 11.7 miles after 1:12, so I guess I did
about 12.5 miles in around 1:20. Not a bad ride, but I really wasn't up
for it tonight.


--
Mikefule - Roland Hope School of Unicycling

Some days you're the fly; some days you're the windscreen. When you're
the fly, you get to eat sh*t.
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Mikefule pondered:
How do
any of you know that I exist at all? If indeed, any of you exist...
Clearly someone is writing this, unless you're imagining reading it,

Or you are a fine example of a Turing machine.

A few of you (Unicus, Onewheeldave, Arnold the
Aardvark, and a few others) have met me, but have you met them? And
they never saw me do the rides.

I know Arnold (and quite possibly the others, although not by their
pseudonyms). But curiously you've never come up in conversation.
Perhaps you really don't exist.

A modern comparison can be made
with my ex wife who argued that no man could do anything right,
knowingly or otherwise.

Which leads to the age old question: "If a man says something and no
woman is around to hear him, is he still wrong?" Both my mother and my
wife have informed me that the answer is unequivocally "Yes."

I make it to the lake without incident, except that the path is blocked
with deep puddles in many places and, try as I might, I can't avoid
getting a soaking. A Coker wheel in a puddle is like a water wheel in
reverse, the water extracting the energy from the wheel as it is thrown
up into the millstream of the rider's backside.

You need a mudguard, mate. An imaginary one should do ;-)

--
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

Some questions to ponder:

How do you know you did a ride today?

Did you have fun?

If everything is so flexible, how do you know you *only* rode as many
miles as you did? Maybe it was many more?


--
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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Mikefule wrote:
* How do any of you know that I exist at all? *

If you think about it long enough, you will begin to believe only
"thoughts" exist. Time is the movement of thought. Distance is
impossible to prove.

YES, BUT ALL UNICYCLING IS POINTLESS.[/b]
I AM GLAD \"SOMEONE ELSE\" HAD THIS THOUGHT PROCESS WHILE RIDING

*EXISTENTIALLY, I'M NOW A CERTIFIED WIMP. I DIDN'T DO THE 25 MILES, OR
EVEN THE 20... OR THE 15...
Don't think of it that way, especially because "we all" know that you
will attempt the 25 UPDless ride again later.

[b]And, to serve me right, it looks like my computer's lost the "score"*
I *hate* when that happens. Miles on a unicycle are too hard-earned for me
to be comfortable with the computer ignoring revolutions.
Another thought I have had:
Is the first revolution counted?
If not, how much farther have I gone? (I often mount 200+ times per day)


--
ChangingLINKS.com - member

Wishing you Happiness, Joy and Laughter,
Drew Brown
http://www.ChangingLINKS.com
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If you are a wimp for only doing 12 miles. what am I for not even
thinking of doing 12 miles! I have done 6 miles on a 20". Or
have I?


--
bugman - Survivor 2004 Wolfman Duathalon
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Mikefule wrote:
*Too many hours on the Coker can lead my mind down many philosophical
paths...

Yes, but all unicycling is pointless.
*


I beg to differ! There are a lot of fine points to unicycling!

There is the very serious point at the center of gravity, and it's
equally comedic counterpart, the balance point. And as any drama
teacher will say, comedy is very close to tragedy, which explains the
dreaded Point of No Return that unicyclists spend most of their time
avoiding.

Mathematically speaking, a circle is an infinite collection of points
all equidistant from the central point of the matter, which is
conveniently located at the center of the wheel matter. Which matters!
Unless you are a square. Or tacoed.

And what about the turning point? How can it be that, wherever you are
on a unicycle, you are always at a turning point? Does it follow you
around like a twisted little dog, or is it an intrinsic property of two
round objects in contact?

Which brings me back to the matter of tacos. I've done my Coker riding
for the evening and now it's time to forage for dinner. A beer and some
tacos sound pretty good at the moment. Which is, I suppose, the whole
point of getting out in the fresh air for excercise.

If it wern't for the unicycles, tacos and beer, life really would be a
pointless excercise.

Tim


--
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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Mikefule wrote:

"Too many hours on the Coker...many philosophical paths...."

Mikefule-- Thanks for sharing your musings about the process of
wrenching a wee bit of meaning from the abyss of your meaningless
existence! I genuinely enjoyed reading your existential ponderings.
--carl (Grand Forks, ND)

do you like my unicycle poem, this is it.

I love to unicycle,
My name isnt micheal.
I like to do trails.
I don't collect airmiles.
I also like doing tricks.
My pastime isn't sucking dicks.
I love my cranks and wheel.
HAMBURGERS ARE MY FAVOURITE MEAL!


--
Grogboy
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bugman wrote:
*If you are a wimp for only doing 12 miles. what am I for not even
thinking of doing 12 miles! I have done 6 miles on a 20".
Or have I? *


The two achievements are pretty comparable. Depending on a number of
variables such as the length of your cranks, I'd say 6 miles on a 20 is
worth 12 on a Coker. A Coker's wheel is slightly less than twice as big
as a 20, but the smoother action makes it a better distance machine. A
big wheel for distance or sustained speed, every time.

I speak as one who knows. I once did 20 miles in a day on a 20, and
I've done the "mile per inch" on a 24, 28 and 36.


--
Mikefule - Roland Hope School of Unicycling

Some days you're the fly; some days you're the windscreen. When you're
the fly, you get to eat sh*t.
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Would anybody like to enlighten me as to what coker is?


--
Grogboy - wankspanner

------------------------------------------------
with great power comes great responsibility.
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