Unicycle articles (but wait there's more...)

http://tinyurl.com/8ls49


Victoria News
Sep 14 2005

title: Unicyclists take their sport off road

Don Denton/Victoria News
Sean Goode rides his unicycle over a bridge in the Hartland recreation
area, a favourite local haunt of extreme unicyclists.

By Patrick Blennerhassett


Extreme mountain bikers are crazy. They plummet down hills on two wheels
at deadly speeds with little more than a helmet and some pads. Extreme
unicyclists, on the other hand, plummet down hills on one wheel, without
handlebars or brakes.
If that's not crazy, or crazier, then what is?
For 17 year-olds Sean Goode and Bryan Corry, both members of the
Victoria Unicycling Club, extreme unicycling isn't crazy per se, just a
way to break from the mainstream side of sports.
"I've always liked fringe sports or anything that's unusual," said
Corry, who teaches unicycling through Saanich Parks and Recreation.
"Anything that's not really mainstream, anything that looks unique, I
like."
Unicycling definitely looks unique. With one wheel to navigate terrain,
Corry said most people get the false impression that it's hard to
learn.
"I think it depends," he said. "If you have a teacher, it's very easy to
learn. I can guarantee with a one-on-one class that they'll be riding
within three hours. It's very simple once you get past a few common
mistakes that people tend to do."
One of the most common mistakes is holding onto the seat when riding,
said Corry.
"The only time you really do hold onto your seat is when you're gapping
or jumping up onto something," added Corry.
If you're into gapping and jumping on a unicycle, check out the Hartland
recreation area where you're sure to find Goode and Corry hitting the
trails and ripping up the dirt.
"We do lots of off-roading there," said Corry. "There's great stuff
there. There's just random drops that you don't see. You jump a log and
then there'll be a drop on the other side that you won't see. It's a lot
of fun."
Aside from off-roading, the two also do some urban freestyle riding,
which is more Goode's forte than Corry's.
"It's on a flat surface like concrete," said Goode. "Usually you stay on
the ground for most of it, there's not a lot of hopping usually."
Some of the tricks they pull freestyling include riding backwards,
riding one-footed and wheel walking (which can be done one-footed or
backwards).
The possibilities are endless, Corry added. "There's thousands of
different tricks when it comes to freestyling. It really is the oldest
form of unicycling."
Corry's forte is time trials, in which competitors tackle obstacles on
the unicycle, such as jumping from logs and up and over rocks or
barriers. And now the two are getting into an even newer form called
street unicycling, which combines freestyling and time trials.
"So what you do is use (time) trial obstacles to launch freestyle
tricks," said Corry. "So you jump a stair set then do a one-eighty, or a
tire grab or a shifty, stuff like that. It's very cool to see, it's a
lot like skateboarding."
"It's one of the more showy one's," added Goode. "It looks good on
film."
As far as the fear factor with unicycling compared to it's two-wheeled
sister, mountain biking, Goode said flying down hills on one wheel isn't
necessarily more dangerous.
"It's almost safer than mountain biking," said Goode. "Because you can
fly over the handle bars (mountain biking.) If you fall off a unicycle
you usually end up running with it, so there's less chance of getting
out of control."
But big spills do happen, added Corry.
"I've seen it before," he said. "Most of the time you end up landing on
your feet but I've seen a few instances where that's completely
untrue."
One of those instances involved Goode himself, after his first day on a
unicycle.
"Bryan had assured me that no one ever falls on their head and I ride
home and smacked the back of my head," chuckled Goode. "I was just glad
I was wearing a helmet."
So why do these kids drop a wheel and ride the solo treads? Corry said
unicycling offers limitless possibilities to try new things and ways to
expand the sport.
"It's the feel of it," he said. "When your on the unicycle you just feel
free. You can do anything and it's exciting. You're constantly looking
for the next challenge. I personally was never good at biking. To be
honest I always get hurt when I get on a bike now."


© Copyright 2005 Victoria News


--
leo - Leo Vandewoestijne

'+1 866-UNI-CYCL' (callto://+18668642925)
'unicycle.net' (http://www.unicycle.net/)

'Subscribe' (http://unicyclist.org/cont/subscribe.cfm) to
'unicyclist.org' (http://unicyclist.org/) !

-last edited by leo on 2007-02-31 at 09:03 pm-
------------------------------------------------------------------------
leo's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/224
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148