Unicycling down the Eiffel Tower

[John Hooten]

One of the Scouts brought a book to our practice last night that had an
interesting reference to unicycling. The book was "Why Buildings Stand
Up", by Mario Salvadori.

In a section on the Eiffel Tower there is this piece:

"The Life of the Tower

"Since 1889 tens of Millions of visitors have been up the Tower, but not
all have used the elevators. In 1906 a race was run up to the first
platform and won by a man in three minutes flat. A slower time was
clocked for a Mr. Dutrieux in 1959, but he did it on one leg. Going
down, of course, is an easier task, and some one did on a bicycle in
1923 only to be beaten by another cyclist twenty-six years later, this
time on a unicycle."


There is no name given for the unicyclist, nor any indication of what
type of event it was part of. I can deduce that it happened in 1949, but
that is about it. Have any of you unicycle historians heard of this
feat? Any idea who it was? It happened two years before I was born, so I
don't think it was me. Was it John Foss? Greg Harper?

Hoping for further information,

John Hooten

[harper]

Hooten, I'm pretty sure it was you. You did alot of cool stuff before
you were born. It was just downhill after that.


--
harper - Old dog, no tricks

-Greg Harper

B L U E S H I F T

"I managed to get my missus riding a couple of yards before she got
pregnant with Jenny, but she hasn't tried riding since. " - Danny
Colyer

"Sa da tay! Sepotown!" - Pootie Tang

"Know thyself. Of course, try to know Claudia Schiffer and Salma Hayak
but, failing that, at least know thyself." - Greg Harper


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[wobbling bear]

quotation form an earlier post about "complete book of unicycling"
> Another notable unicyling feat was that of Bernard Munier of
> France. In 1971 at age 20 he rode a unicyle down the 1,700 steps
> and landings of the Eiffel Tower non-stop without touching a rail
> with his hands or a step with his feet. Stirrups held his feet
> to the pedals


you ought to take a look at those stairs to understand this is a
hair-raising
siutation

bear


--
wobbling bear - GranPa goes-a-wobblin'
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[Sofa]

Correction, Wobbly, that's

Bernard MUnier


--
Sofa - You Tu Tu Tuni?

'You can usually engineer something to be fool proof, but never
damn-fool proof' - cyberbellum
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[UniBrier]

wobbling bear wrote:
> Bernard *Munier *
I didn't think Muni went that far back!

A very fitting name indeed.


--
UniBrier - Its Time to Ride

Steve DeKoekkoek - I've got a one track mind.
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[Sofa]

Too little too late!


--
Sofa - You Tu Tu Tuni?

'You can usually engineer something to be fool proof, but never
damn-fool proof' - cyberbellum
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[UniBrier]

Sofa wrote:
> *Too little too late! *
But it's three hours earlier here - PST :D


--
UniBrier - Its Time to Ride

Steve DeKoekkoek - I've got a one track mind.
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[Sofa]

why can't I win ANYTHING? :(


--
Sofa - You Tu Tu Tuni?

'You can usually engineer something to be fool proof, but never
damn-fool proof' - cyberbellum
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[GizmoDuck]

I met a Frech guy earlier this year at one of the local MTB races who
claimed to have done just that. I wonder if it was him? I can't
remember his name but he was riding a Penny Farthing. Tony and Peter-
you guys met him too- who was he?

Ken


--
GizmoDuck - Cokernut

The NZ Unicycle Weekend Gallery
http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albut20
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