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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 6, 2013 - 02:30pm PT
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Was going through my old hard drive and came across some photos from around 2007 when I was super involved with downhill mountain unicycling (MUNI) with the crew up at Santa Barbara, which at that time was the most active MUNI club on earth, with a ton of great trails silling down the big mountain just behind the town. "Tunnel Trail" in particular was a beast, expecially on a muni owing to the many tight turns, overall steepness of the crux secions, and massive rocks. We had to attemp Tunnel many times over several years before a couple of us finally got the red point, so to speak, and rode every inch of the thing. It still remains one of the most difficult adventure sport challenges I ever undertook. Damn, that was HARD.
Here's a few shots. Very fond memories, indeed. What a great group of folks we used to ride with!
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Cole
Trad climber
los angeles
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Absolutely nuts! I can't even ride one on flat ground, and not for lack of trying.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Looks like one sport you'd be better off without balls...?
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pud
climber
Sportbikeville & Yucca brevifolia
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Looks like one sport you'd be better off without balls...?
Quite the opposite, trust me.
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snowhazed
Trad climber
Oaksterdam, CA
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Absorbing a landing- it seems next to impossible not to impact your nuts or your taint. Or your legs don't compress and you take it straight to the spine. Am I wrong?
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Keep yer chest up, weight on yer pedals & - theoretically - ya don't get sacked. I don't ride but both my kids do.
Not only don't you ride, but you don't have balls. (At least, not as far as I could ever tell). So you have no idea what it's like to look at pictures like that. Any male who sees those shots and doesn't experience a panic moment is a eunuch.
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ms55401
Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
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looks like the fast route to impotency. How can that not abuse the spunk out of one's balls?
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TwistedCrank
climber
Dingleberry Gulch, Ideeho
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How can that not abuse the spunk out of one's balls? I suppose that may be a function of the initial size of one's balls.
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goatboy smellz
climber
Nederland-GulfBreeze
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How do you go uphill without gears?
Is this just another California downhill?
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rincon
Trad climber
SoCal
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Looks like a great way to get seriously hurt!
Gee, I wonder why it hasn't caught on?
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TREED
Trad climber
Gunks
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Do those things freewheel?
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Looks like a great way to get seriously hurt!
Gee, I wonder why it hasn't caught on?
+++
Can you do the TDF on one?
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MisterE
Social climber
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That right there is a peak activity of balance and control.
Props.
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 7, 2013 - 02:58pm PT
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You gots bike shorts on under the board shorts so your junk is held out of the way. Also, if you look a the big drop shots you'll see I have the cranks locked off horzontally so when you impact, you absorb the shock on your feet and quads, not your minerals. Plus the seat is hard foam three inches thick. We've got it worked out.
JL
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Radical dude! I used to run the 35 mile Ssnta Barbara 9 Trails race and I believe the Tunnel Trail was part of it. I miss those trails, they were hard enough to run, I can't imagine riding them on one stinking wheel.
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goatboy smellz
climber
Nederland-GulfBreeze
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Thanks for ignoring the obvious question John.
It shows the world your more about self promotion than anything else.
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McHale's Navy
Trad climber
From Panorama City, CA
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Obvious question would be; Are you going to show us more? :>) I have not been on my uni for a few years and can use some inspiration.
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Johannsolo
climber
Soul Cal
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What about using shocks?
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shady
Trad climber
hasbeen
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Largo, are you back at it?
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Roxy
Trad climber
CA Central Coast
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That looks like fun but damn it looks crazy dangerous.
reminds me of lawn darts and the slip-N-slide from BITD.
carry on!
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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What about using shocks?
I'm no uni rider, but it seems that a shock would be a bad idea. You need a rigid system to maintain balance and control.
Or so it seems to me.
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Hard Rock
Trad climber
Montana
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Took a picture of my friend on his unicycle on the Slick Rock trail. He passed so when I did the 3rd addition of his Butte guide with JoJo we put the picture on the back cover. Might be the only climbing guide with the non climbing/other sport photo on the outside. Was always impressed by his 3 hour cross country rides (or with anyone on a mountain unicycle).
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pud
climber
Sportbikeville & Yucca brevifolia
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Tami nails it. Patience being the key to uni.
I was sure I didn't have what it takes and then bam! I was tooling around the neighborhood!
I don't know of a more fun way to improve core strength.
I learned that it takes about 9 hrs to learn to ride uni. A lot longer for clean free starts.
After an hour of trying, you are not going to learn anything more so it actually takes 9 separate attempts at learning. Each consisting of about an hour.
We know this because we taught unicycling to kids and staff for a couple of years at Enrichment Planet.
This is for street riding. Muni is highly specialized and takes a lot more dedication.
I was sure mountain bikes could ride harder terrain than Muni. John and his buddies proved this isn't so.
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tom Carter
Social climber
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Pud and Largo
Great stuff. I rode from early on and can still get on it and ride forward, turn etc even thought I look drunk!
Question: For street riding is there a tire size that works better? I have a cheap 24' and was wondering if going a bit smaller would help? Not thinking about going gonzo in the dirt. I always wanted to ride backward too.
Thanks
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Great pix John. My good buddy rides with others who have two wheels.
FYI Goat, he goes the full 60 miles with them, all downhill.
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goatboy smellz
climber
Nederland-GulfBreeze
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As an avid MTbiker only curious how this ties in to the existing sport.
More rollerblades than cross country usefulness, I don't like walking uphill with a bike and prefer to drop it down a gear and ride.
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Hard Rock said: "Took a picture of my friend on his unicycle on the Slick Rock trail. He passed so when I did the 3rd addition of his Butte guide with JoJo we put the picture on the back cover. Might be the only climbing guide with the non climbing/other sport photo on the outside. Was always impressed by his 3 hour cross country rides (or with anyone on a mountain unicycle)."
Haven't seen that revision yet. Big respect for you guys publishing Dwights notes, adding, tweeking and fleshing them out, then giving him credit. You Montana folks are clearly a good bunch. You should consider starting a Dwight Bishop thread here. The guy was a good man, badassed like few on this earth are, friendly and very righteous.
I thinking that rockfall must have took him out. Thinking that the same thing was John Bachars free soloing demise too. Both were too good to ever fall in those situations. Whats the pic of Dwight on the unicycle look like?
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shady
Trad climber
hasbeen
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I can see it only as a specialty niche for oddballs. Dr. F..... Com'on brother...you're thinking like an old retro-grouch.
Retro-grouches said that about, mountaineering, and rock climbing, and free skiing, and mountain biking, and BMX, and observed bicycle trials, and freeride, and.......
that's my question, why? The challenge. And......it was rated as "the best sport in the whole world!" by the orthopedic and plastic surgeons association of america.
If it blows their hair back...why harsh their buzz?
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Scole
Trad climber
Joshua Tree
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Possibly the inventor of Mtn. Uni cycling. "Straight Ahead Fred" (1979) near Mammoth Lakes. It looks like you guys have taken it a bit farther however.
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 9, 2013 - 12:12pm PT
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For speed riding, I like the mountain bike. For super tech and for adventure and a work out, the Muni is the ticket. The Muni really comes into it's own on tight, steep, twisty bits of single track where you start having to hop/roll in fits and starts. It's a max exewrcise in fitness and balance. Such a thin envelope and it's a blast to operate inside of it.
JL
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 9, 2013 - 04:24pm PT
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Latitute 33
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John,
Nice picture of you on Stair Steps in Aliso Woods/Laguna Canyon.
Riding that stuff on a Uni is not cool, its way cool. Riding is about personal challenge and the Mt. Uni obviously takes it up a whole notch.
For me, just riding on a Mt. Bike is enough of a challenge, but my hats off to the Mt. Uni crew.
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Elcapinyoazz
Social climber
Joshua Tree
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I like it how he waves "buh bye!" to his nutz before he lands that rig. Seems appopriate.
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 10, 2013 - 11:55pm PT
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Morgan Cable was one of the best fem riders out there, here on one of the best trails: Iron Mountain in San Diego. She got her PhD in chemistry from CalTech last year and now is in the astronaut program.
JL
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| Messages 1 - 35 of total 35 in this topic |
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