Re: Freemounted my Giraffe :)

[UniMike]

Congrats! How'd ya do it?

duaner > wrote:

>
>(Finally) After approximately 150-200 tries, I succeeded in freemounting
>my 6' giraffe!
>
>My 8th attempt today I finally did it!!
>Then again in 4 tries. Then the very next try! Then in 4 more tries.
>
>:}
>
>duaner.

[johnfoss]

Congratulations! Only 150-200? I know that's a lot less than what we
went through, trying to figure it out from scratch in 1979/80. I guess
it helps a lot if someone can offer a tried-and-true method. :)

After finally doing a successful mount, I was unable to duplicate it to
prove it to my fellow learner Bradley Bradley. It was quite a while
between the first and second successful attempts. But eventually it
became consistent, to the point of our infamous 1981 Giraffe
Freemounting Contest at the Redford Mini-Meet. Carol Bahorich (now
Bricker) and I tied at an official 129 in a row. We then each did one
unofficial one, bringing the count to 130. She was on a 4' Penguin
giraffe, and me on my trusty Schwinn.


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[GILD]

duaner wrote:
> *(FinallyMy 8th attempt today I finally did it!!
> Then again in 4 tries. Then the very next try! Then in 4 more
> tries.
> :}
> .duaner. *


i wish i'd kept carefull track of the amount of succesfull vs failed
mounts to see how the ratio changes
klaas?

i found for a while and with regular practise, i maintained an average
of about one in three
if i didn't practise, it would slip to 1 in 5 real quick
at some stage i 'turned a corner' of sorts and picked up the raffie
after not touching it for weeks and freemounting first time ( i then
promptly put it away to maintain the image;) )

johnfoss wrote:
> *eventually it became consistent, to the point of our infamous 1981
> Giraffe Freemounting Contest at the Redford Mini-Meet. Carol Bahorich
> (now Bricker) and I tied at an official 129 in a row. We then each did
> one unofficial one, bringing the count to 130. She was on a 4' Penguin
> giraffe, and me on my trusty Schwinn. *


i cannot even begin to understand those figures!!
(what's the diff between the 'official' and 'unofficial' mounts?)

are freemounting competitions still common at uni-meets?


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GILD - Waffle-tosser

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has
acquired during the first half.
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Namaste!
Dave
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[treepotato]

took me ages to freemount my litte 20" uni for me a giraffe no chance!

you're good! :p


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[ubersquish]

and he did it barefooted too!


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[johnfoss]

GILD wrote:
> *i cannot even begin to understand those figures!!
> (what's the diff between the 'official' and 'unofficial' mounts?)*
The contest was officially declared over at 129, see below for reason.
We wanted to round it to a more even number, so we each did one more.
> *are freemounting competitions still common at uni-meets? *
That was the only time I've seen one. It grew into kind of a monster. We
did it during lunch at this one-day meet, so time was limited. We
started with about 10 or so people, which quickly dwindled to about 4,
and after 10 or 20 mounts it was just us two. People were getting real
bored watching us, not to mention me getting tired (I had a bigger climb
and harder fall each time than Carol on her 4 footer). I started
throwing in fancy mounts to see if we could bring about the end quicker.
I did leg-around, jump to both pedals from tire, mount to one foot idle,
and even my own side-jump mount, but they all worked.

Finally, lunch was over, events were waiting to start, hardly anyone was
still watching, and even the judges wanted us to hang it up. They made
me stick to a schedule of a mount every 10 seconds. Carol's mount was
very quick; a step to the tire and a quick jump to the seat. Mine took a
little longer. I remember being pretty sore in the following days, and I
was in good shape back then. That's why I haven't tried to do it again.
Plus since the contest was not carried through until one of us missed
the mount, we don't know how long it might have gone on... :)


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[duaner]

ubersquish wrote:
> *and he did it barefooted too! *

Sorry to disappoint you, but alas, no, I wore shoes (high tops).

I've yet to figure out how to put my barefoot on_the_tire /
jammed_in_the_frame in any way even remotely comfortable. Also, I
didn't mind having the extra foot padding / ankle protection for all
those 2-3foot drop UPDs -- almost made it worth the discomfort and
hassle of wearing shoes.

duaner.


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[duaner]

johnfoss wrote:
> ... BRINGING THE COUNT TO 130. ...
>

Wow!

johnfoss wrote:
> THEY MADE ME STICK TO A SCHEDULE OF A MOUNT EVERY 10 SECONDS
>


my calculation
130mounts * 10sec/1mount * 1min/60sec = 21.67 minutes

So you did actually do 130 mounts in less than 1/2 an hour?
Wow again! I'd consider that impressive even if you had _missed_ every
mount, or if you had been mounting a non-giraffe uni.

duaner.


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[johnfoss]

duaner wrote:
> *So you did actually do 130 mounts in less than 1/2 an hour?
> *
No, I think the whole thing took a little over an hour. It started with
a big group which ran slower, and only after people were looking for
excuses to end it did they impose the time schedule. 10 seconds per
doesn't leave much rest time!


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John Foss
the Uni-Cyclone
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[ReadPalm]

duaner > wrote:

>The long answer part 2 ...
>
>I PAYED ATTENTION TO EVERY DETAIL I COULD THINK of to pay attention to
>
>I figured (seemingly correctly for me), that if I knew exactly how I did
>each mount attempt, then:
>I could make reasonable guesses at how to adjust my mount, and
>I could successfully repeat the mount when I finally got it. (Since
>my first success, I succeeded at 13 of my 49 attempts - better than 1 in
>4 :)
>I try to pay attention to everything: what I do, when I do, what I
>think.

Great idea and Great job!! Makes my efforts to freemount my 20" seem
a bit insignificant - but I'm danged happy anyway!! YEHAW!

[jugglerobaby]

Way to go duaner and o thought that you would be doing the running mount
since you saw that MPEG on the list

You have to show me next time im over ther or at juggling which ever
comes first

Nate


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[chirokid]

Dauner: What a great write-up of your mounting technique. You have
given me new motivation to learn to freemount my 6'Giraffe.

I have not ride the Giraffe in 10 or 15 years, and could NEVER
freemount. You think this 265 pound, 40 year old can learn to
freemount? With your method, I bet I will be successful. --chirokid--


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"Unicycling can make you proud then humble in very quick succession."
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[duaner]

chirokid wrote:
> *You think this 265 pound, 40 year old can learn to freemount? *


Sure. Go for it! You're just a big kid. (from my 150 pound, 45 year
point of view).


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[chirokid]

duaner wrote:
> * 45 year point of view). *


Wow, your 45. Now I'm extra-motivated. Also, I admire you even more.

How are those knees? :D--chirokid--


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[GILD]

chirokid wrote:
> *Dauner: What a great write-up of your mounting technique. You have
> given me new motivation to learn to freemount my 6'Giraffe.
>
> I have not ride the Giraffe in 10 or 15 years, and could NEVER
> freemount. You think this 265 pound, 40 year old can learn to
> freemount? With your method, I bet I will be successful.
> --chirokid-- *


we want a day-by-day blow-by-blow account
:)


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'this will only take a minute...'
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JUST SAY 'KNOW'!

Namaste!
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[napalm]

Hey all, i only got my first ever giraffe about four days ago and i
found that, once i had figured out that starting by standing on the
wheel was a dangerous and bad idea, i managed to completely teach myself
in an afternoon. Since then i can ride one footed, bunnyhop up gutters
and stairs, and ride on my stomach. I didn't find it much harder than
riding my normal 20"uni, appart from the height factor which is more
daunting if you are trying a new trick. But that might just be me, cya
Mark


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[GILD]

Klaas Bil wrote:
> *What?
>
> Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
> *


it struck me as a statistics exercise and with u being the stats guru
around here, i thought i'd get your input

would u be interested in running a fr raffie freemounting stats
project?
if so, what would u need to know?
stuff like that


--
GILD - Waffle-tosser

The only difference between me and a madman is that i'm not mad.
Pablo Picasso

'this will only take a minute...'
(http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/actions/un.htm/)

JUST SAY 'KNOW'!

Namaste!
Dave
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[Klaas Bil]

On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 03:52:29 -0500, GILD
> wrote:

>would u be interested in running a fr raffie freemounting stats
>project?
It doesn't strike me as particularly interesting. I only very
occasionally ride a giraffe myself and can't freemount one, so I don't
very much relate to the subject.

>if so, what would u need to know?
I haven't seen much (many?) pertinent data anyway. The few
observations with which duaner started the thread is mainly it. It
might become interesting if we had long lists of all individual mount
attempts from day one, by various individuals, indicating success or
failure for each attempt, and accompanied by relevant details such as
giraffe height, wheel size, gearing, details of rider etc. But that
will not be easy to come by.

What a lot of words to say no!

>JUST SAY 'KNOW'!
There you have it.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
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