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Rail riding training...



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 2nd 04, 10:47 AM
andrew_carter
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Default Rail riding training...


I've decided that I want to become good at riding along narrow things.
I made the first part of something today that will hopefully really help
me improve. There are a few more bits and pieces to add to it but you
can get the idea from these photos. I reckon if I spend about 30
minutes every second day on it for a while it should work well.

What I've built so far is a portable and strong (well it will eventually
be strong) rail that will fit into the car and is quick to set up. All
the bits of wood are 35mm x 70mm planks that somebody was throwing out
and the screws are 60mm for those who are interested. I plan to make a
support for the middle of the beam and add a couple of other little
things and then make a second copy. I'll end up with about a 4 or 5m
long, 35mm wide rail to practise on. The supports are made so that they
can be pressed right up against each other. I might even do what George
B suggested and make them bolt togetherable.

35mm wide seems like the perfect width for this sort of thing. It's not
quite as challenging as a 2cm diameter round railing, but it's narrow
enough that I'll have to focus on staying on top of the uni rather than
moving the wheel side to side underneath me...more of a moving still
stand if that makes any sense.

I'm going to practise by first riding along it, then going slower and
slower. I'll also try to work on still stands several times a week.

I just thought I'd tell you about it...maybe it will give you some
ideas. I know other people posting photos of their structures have
helped me a lot.

Here are some higher resolution photos -
http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup15

Andrew


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  #2  
Old February 2nd 04, 10:57 AM
Robbie
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Default Rail riding training...


Thanks Andrew, I also want to learn to ride along rails and stuff. I
still got a long way to go though as I can only do thin walls, maybe
20cm wide? Yeah it's pathetic, but I'm getting better. So I'm gonna have
to practice on those for a while but once I'm better I'm gonna build one
of these with my dad and this design you made looks pretty good although
I would like one with say a rail to get up on. Just wondering how do you
get up on that, when I'm doing walls there's either a ramp leading to it
or a person next to me because I can't free mount them successfully
everytime (only some of it) so are you just like hell good at free
mounting? Hop up? Or do you have some other method?

Anyway thanks again and I hope to build one of these one day, might
change it a bit here and there but yours looks quite good.


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  #3  
Old February 2nd 04, 11:03 AM
pete66
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Default Rail riding training...


nice setup! is the grass portable too?


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  #4  
Old February 2nd 04, 11:47 AM
andrew_carter
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Default Rail riding training...


Robbie,

20cm isn't at all pathetic! I plan to mainly practise freemounting on
the rail. On a lot of the railings I've ridden on lately I've had to
freemount, so I thought I should work on it a bit more. I'd like to
confidently go from a freemount straight into a stillstand. It's not
very difficult to make a little ramp for this sort of thing though.
Thanks for reminding me...I'll make a ramp for it so other people can
get up there if they don't want to try freemounting on it.

Good luck for when you end up building something similar. Those photos
aren't of the finished product...just today's work. I've still got more
supports and so on to build.

Andrew


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  #5  
Old February 2nd 04, 12:53 PM
Robbie
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Well I built a simple rail for myself. Well I couldn't really call it a
rail. But it's a something thin to ride on, about 20cm off the ground.

It's 10cm thick and I can ride it successfully most of the time
providing I don't focus too hard or not focus at all, lol. It's 2.1m
long with a little ramp leading up to it, but it's all a step for me.
Only problem is it's very unstable. Ride over to the edge and it starts
to tip although it never tips over (unless hopping). Which brings me to
this next part. I was gonna try and ride half way, hop 10 times, and
then ride off the end. I gave up after everytime you went slightly out
of the middle it would just tip.

Oh well, it's a step for me and I'm getting better, I need some idead
though. It's short, I can't make it longer, I need some new wood to make
it thinner, got any suggestions to make it harder for me?


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  #6  
Old February 2nd 04, 01:35 PM
Tmornstar
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Default Rail riding training...


I made the same decision as did Andrew and wanted to become more
proficient in riding narrow things. I made some simple rails, too.
Here is a picture of my backyard play ground. Sorry for the lousy
picture of the “rail” but I’m not a home currently. However, I have two
rail set-ups. One is a 4” X 4” steel and the other is a very simple to
make 2X4 rail. I just cut slots into 2X4s on the ground and then put in
a couple of screws to hold two “rail” 2X4s in place. I also made them
so that I can change to a single 2X4 set-up. However, tough I have made
significant improvement in my “rail” riding I am not yet proficient
enough to consistently ride a single 2X4 as pictured in Andrew’s set-up.
I practice as Andrew suggested – about 30 min. a day. I limit myself
to that amount of time so not to get frustrated.


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  #7  
Old February 2nd 04, 06:18 PM
billham
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Default Rail riding training...


andrew

Nice design. I like the way it sets up and can be broken down easily.

As an added feature, you could make it more versatile by making a rail
out of a couple of 2 X 4snailed together into a T shape. The verticle
part could set into the frames and you would have a 4" wide "rail" to
ride on. So you would have two different rails to put onto the frames.
One skinny and one skinniest!

Another idea, if you made a frame with a longer slot in it, you could
use it as a support when you are joining 2 sections together for a
longer rail.

Sorry I don't have drawings or photos for these ideas. Hope my
descriptions are clear.

Bill


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  #8  
Old February 3rd 04, 12:01 AM
jason
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Default Rail riding training...


Andrew,

Well done. I like your rail a lot. I may have to build one for King
MUni-Man this summer and add it to his collection of trials obstacles.
I'm curious to see how he does now that he's graduated to a 20" Monty
wheel.


Cheers,
Jason


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  #9  
Old February 3rd 04, 12:27 AM
muniracer
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Default Rail riding training...


i wish i didnt live in a dorm and had a yard...


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  #10  
Old February 3rd 04, 01:13 AM
andrew_carter
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Default Rail riding training...


Robbie,
That sounds great. Try to find some milk crates to use. I asked the
neighbour's milkman for some and found another in a pile of rubbish
somewhere (that's actually where I find most of my trials obstacles. )
As you can see in this old photo, they're great for resting planks on.
Also, you can see how I nailed (but should have screwed) some little
bits perpendicular to the planks for extra support to stop them from
rolling. Have a look around at construction sites in the bins. If you
ask, they usually don't mind at all if you take some btis and pieces.
Hardwares also sometimes give away free timber offcuts.
http://tinyurl.com/2w2yv

Tommy,
That little playground looks great! I love the 'MUC' on the sandwich
boards. You mentioned cutting slots in the 2x4's on the ground. How
did you do that? I thought of that early on but decided I didn't have
the tools to do it. I have a jigsaw, 1/3 sheet power sander, and drill.
I love my jigsaw. I got it for Christmas and it's a very welcome
change from cutting everything by hand.

Bill,
I love both those suggestions. How would I go about joining the two
planks into a T-shape? I also wanted to make a 90 degree turn (which at
35mm wide is a real challenge for me!) in it some time in the future.
Any suggestions on how I could do that while keeping it portable and
stable? Maybe I'd have to make one support to hold both of the planks
at the corner.

Jason,
If you build something new for him, please tell us how he goes. We love
hearing the King Muni Man stories.

muniracer,
If you make it portable you can move it into somebody else's yard (or
maybe just a park).

Everyone (I think particularly the Americans),
Is 2x4" (50x100-ish mm) the standard plank size for buildings and things
like that? I keep hearing '2x4' a lot. It seems like over here it's
35x70mm. It's interesting that in both cases, one side is double the
other. Just curious.

Thanks,
Andrew


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