Bike Trials Comp - Round 3...

Yesterday I 'competed' in my second bike trials comp. It was fantastic,
for the first time in my life I got the chance to hop around on old cars
which was a lot of fun. They really suck your energy with their
suspension. It's good though because it forces you not to do too many
messy little correcting hops.

I rode intermediate again which I think suits me well. Most of the
lines are 'cleanable' but I never come close to getting a perfect run of
zeros. For those of you who were wondering, the scoring in bike trials
is from 0 to 5, 0 being the best. You get a point when you 'dab' (put
your foot down) and an instant 5 for both feet down...so naturally I got
a few 5's. They counted a dab on the unicycle as touching the
obstacles with your hands as well as feet. We had to finish a little
early and didn't finish our 2nd and 3rd rounds. My score was 32. We
ended up doing all 10 zones first time around then just 5 of them on the
2nd round and 4 on the third.

So for the first round my scores we
5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 5, 5, 0, 0, 5
And the second round:
0, 1, 1, 0, 0
And finally:
0, 0, 5, 5.

As I said, hopping on the cars and utes was really interesting. I
managed hopping from the bonnet to the roof which I was really happy
with given the 'suck' of the car's suspension. I also almost attempted
a rolling hop to the bonnet but chickened out. I've only just
started trying rolling hops to get up to stuff and that would have been
my second obstacle ever rolling hopped onto. I'll try next time there's
a car at a competition though.

We had our own unicycle category (although we both rode intermediate
with the bikes) as I had a mate there who's just starting out at
trials.

After the comp I pedal grabbed (or rather went from pedal grab to crank
grab and then up) an 86cm high (approx 33-34") truck tyre after quite a
few attempts which I was really happy with because it was my second
object I've pedal grabbed to. That was seat in because I haven't yet
worked on seat out.

Next up is the trials demo I'm doing with a couple of other bike guys in
two weeks. It's a pretty big event with flyers and all so I'm really
nervous about it but I'm on holidays so I'll get heaps of practise in.
My hops are only at about 55cm so that's the main thing I really want to
work on. I want to try to make 70cm in two weeks...any chance do you
think?

Then there's the national trials competition which will be all natural
trials...which is perfect for unicycling on. That's in about 4 weeks I
think. We'll have at least three unicyclists riding in that one. One
of the bike trials guys is going to unicycle in it. He's ridden a
unicycle twice (at both competitions when I had mine there) and is
already getting the hang of it. It's not fair...after about a total of
30 minutes of riding he can ride the thing, hop, do 180's, and yesterday
he landed about a 50cm drop!!

So yeah, lots has been happening lately for me in the world of trials.
I love it!

Here's a video of the competition. Sorry, I've only done a 15MB copy (I
didn't think it would be that big) which is a bit under 2 minutes long.
It has some great bike trials footage though.

http://tinyurl.com/ytptj

Andrew


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That was crazy. Keep it up.


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nickvb123 - Freestyler

"He jumped off that with his one wheeled bike"
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Andrew,
It sounds like your having a cracker of a time up in brissie!
Well i'm stuck here all on my lonesome down south so just you wait till
i come up there!
Well, good luck with it all,
Mark


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napalm - Because i can.

sometimes i wish i could be ignorant.
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Thanks guys. Mark, you'll just have to pull a Dougie Houser and finish
school early...then you can come to UQ to study and join us riding in
Brissie.

Andrew


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Well done! About to check out the evidence now... Do pedal grabs
count as 'dabs' in either unicycle or bike trials comps? Or in your
case, unicycles in bike trials comps?!


--
one wheeled stallion - Guerilla Unicyclist

OWS

"...there's nothing I can't manage if I grunt loudly enough" -Mikefule
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one wheeled stallion wrote:
*Well done! About to check out the evidence now... Do pedal grabs
count as 'dabs' in either unicycle or bike trials comps? Or in your
case, unicycles in bike trials comps?! *


According to the NATS rules, which dont apply to australia, but are
probably the same, as long as the shoe never actually touches the
obstacle it is not a dab. of course this is really hard to judge and
usually the judges give it to you.


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muniracer - Hell On Wheel

The Hell on Wheel Unicycle Gang owns you!!

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Trials look really cool and I want to try one but I was wondering how do
you train for a trial without spending lots of time and money to make
huge things in your backyard?


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canadianrugby - my uni's 2 cool 4 School
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The trials bikers I ride with practice "worlds" rules, whatever those
are (I forgot the name, but they say it's what'\s used in international
comps). In those rules the only hting that can touch an obstacle is the
tire. No going up to bash, and no pedals. I guess they'd have to make an
exception for unicycles, as pedalgrabs are an itegral part of unicycle
trials. Try pushing your limits on a ride without using a pedalgrab. It
just doesn't work.

Sounds great Andrew! I can symapthize on all the fivers. On a unicycle
in trials you generally ethier clean or five. I rarely ever footplant.

As for going from 55cm (21") to 70cm (27.6") in two weeks, don't hold
your breath. It took me about 3 months to make that leap. I landed my
first 27" hop sometime around mid-March if my memeory serves me
correctly, and I landed my first 21" hop around October. Don't worry,
though. You don't really need big hops to put a good showing at a trials
comp as you have shown. I would also like to hear the opinion of other
trials riders out there, such as muniracer, who it seemed went from 22"
hops to 30"hops in no time.


--
gerblefranklin - Trials Unicyclist

Don't you think it's a cruel irony that acting like a G.I. Joe in the
army can get you a Medal, while playing with one can get you thrown
out?

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but I was wondering how do you train for a trial without spending lots
of time and money to make huge things in your backyard?
Well they will take a bit of time to make but it might be worth checking
out the trials obstacles at www.unicycle.2ya.com . Also, no matter what
country you're in, there are trials lines everywhere...you just have to
know what to look for. Since starting unicycling a couple of years ago
I've converted my eyes to trials mode. I can't help spotting
potential trials obstacles and lines whenever I'm anywhere. I'm sure
plenty of people can relate to this.

Andrew


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Robbie wrote:
*

Oh yeah... I got some serious trials-vision over here. *


oh is that where these insane thoughts for stunts i should try are
coming from?


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canadianrugby - My trials sense is tingling!
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