Requesting Material for Unicycle Website!
pedrotejada
Hello Guys!
I'm writing about each kind of unicycling for my website and I need
some help. Anyone knows:
How Uni Basket was invented?
How Muni was invented and when the first meeting was made?
When Long Distance was included in UNICON?
How Hockey was invented?
Soon I will post each article translated. The website will have
English, Portuguese, and I used Joomla, a CMS, so anyone that want to
translate it is able to do it!
The main idea is have a unicycle portal, with stuff from all over the
world, translated to all languages ;). I used a internet template, so
the website will need some improvements in the future (only design I
think). Anyone that want to help, just let me know... Joomla templates
are basically PHP/CSS...
Thanks,
Pedro!
--
pedrotejada
'*Kris Holm Unicycles*' (http://www.krisholm.com)
*Brazilian Unicycling Team*
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skrobo
look at the thread about Dan heaton's stuff in the columbia adds for
more info on how muni started.
Johnfoss is a good person to ask, he will probably be willing to point
you in the right direction.
--
skrobo
><> Unicycle For Christ <><
'MY VIDEOS' (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=skroboskim)
'World Record' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oig5IEq-v4Y)
"dude when i first got into this sport and saw one of you videos i
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johnfoss
pedrotejada;1151272 wrote:
> - How Uni Basket was invented?
> - How Muni was invented and when the first meeting was made?
> - When Long Distance was included in UNICON?
> - How Hockey was invented?
Basketball and hockey both go back to whoever started playing them on
unicycles. Obviously those sports existed previously, and all that was
needed was enough people to play them. I know of a unicycle hockey group
that was active in Hutchinson, Kansas as early as the early 1960s, but
they were probably not the first. Basketball was played at the first USA
convention I went to (1980), but this was long after the King Charles
Troupe and World Wheelers were doing it for a living.
MUni was "invented" by people riding on dirt. That goes back as far as
unicycling, probably. I started riding on dirt trails in my first few
months of riding and other people probably did as well. I wrote an
article for the USA Newsletter called "U.M.X." in 1981. George Peck
started unicycling in 1983 and started spreading the word about it,
namely with his film Rough Terrain Unicycling from 1991 (I think that's
the year). Kris Holm was may have been riding trails by then, but I'm
pretty sure he did it on his own without knowing about what other people
were doing. Dan Heaton, believe it or not, doesn't really consider
himself a MUni rider. He just happens to be really good at it. But he
did come to the second-ever CA MUni Weekend, and his films did much to
popularize that area of the sport, along with Street and Trials. He is
the inventor/father of Street, in my book.
The first MUni "meeting" that I'm aware of is the 1996 California
Mountain Unicycle Weekend. Before that, there were MUni events (usually
called UMX in those days) at some of the big unicycle conventions, but
they were side events. The IUF held its first MUni/UMX race in 1988 at
Unicon IV in Puerto Rico. It was about a mile long, on a sandy dirt road
with mud puddles. Alfredo Martinez was the winner, followed by me. The
USA had its first offroad race in 1989 at the annual convention (meet)
in Mobile, Alabama. It was also about a 1-mile race, around the
University of South Alabama campus. The course started on the track,
went across grassy fields, a parking lot, up and down curbs, and through
a lightly wooded area. All the riders in these races were on "regular"
24" and 20" unicycles. I won the one in Mobile. Also I was the course
designer, but riders were lead on a tour of the course before the race
so there were no surprises.
The first long distance race at Unicon was also at Unicon IV in 1988.
Before this, Unicon was a weekend event; Unicon III, for the majority of
competitors, was only a 2-day event, and I and II were 3-days long.
Unicon IV was six days of fun, and added a full round-robin basketball
tournament (instead of a few quick games), Road Coasting, Downhill
Gliding, UMX and an 8k Road Race. Again, this race was for 24" track
unicycles only. Not a problem, because there was no such thing as a
Coker unicycle and larger wheel sizes were uncommon. The 8k distance was
the length of the road in use, which was closed for the occasion. We
raced from is intersection with a main highway, into the center of
Isabella, Puerto Rico (the birthplace of unicycling in PR). There was a
radio crew in a jeep at the front of the race, doing a live broadcast.
Along the route, a school was let out so the kids could watch us race
by. And at the end, the central square of the town was filled with
people and decorated with a big FINISH banner and cheering crowds! It
was a blast. Alfredo Martinez would have won this one also, but his
crank came off and he was stuck. I think the winner was Jose Lopez. I
came in 3rd. Yes, those were the days... :) After Unicon IV there has
generally always been a 10k race at Unicon.
--
johnfoss
John Foss
Email: "jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com
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"False facts are frequently formed from figures fabricated from fear
fired fiction." -- Harper
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ca99medina
johnfoss;1151307 wrote:
> . I think the winner was Jose Lopez. I came in 3rd. Yes, those were the
> days... :) After Unicon IV there has generally always been a 10k race
> at Unicon.
John,
The winner of the 8K race at Unicon IV in Puerto Rico was really Hector
Rosado, and José Roman came in second (both from Isabela), well,
actually they finish the race holding hands together but the first place
was given to Hector.
It looks like Puerto Rico has a very important place in the history of
the sport of unicycling!!!!!:)
Pedro, good luck with your website! If you need any help translating
something into Spanish I’ll be willing to help…. Please let me know!
Boa Sorte!
Carlos
--
ca99medina
Visit my page:
'www.uniciclos.com' (http://www.uniciclos.com)
Home of the World Champions
"Puerto Rico All-Stars"
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pedrotejada
John: Thanks... That helps a lot! Now I can finish the Muni Article!
Carlos: Thanks again! There's a All Stars section on the Basket Ball
article, and for sure I will use the material in the future! there's so
mich stuff! I'm also using some of the pictures from there. Can I put
the link to the All Stars history document?!
Thanks again for everybody!
--
pedrotejada
'*Kris Holm Unicycles*' (http://www.krisholm.com)
*Brazilian Unicycling Team*
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johnfoss
Thanks Carlos. Yes I could have looked it up but I'd have to dig in
paper files. Now that you mention it I remember seeing them cross the
line together, so I must have been within a block or two.
Yes, Puerto Rico was a historic Unicon, and many top riders have come
from there. Those of us who were able to attend Unicon IV will never
forget it, and still hope for a future date when Unicon will return
there!
--
johnfoss
John Foss
Email: "jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com
-----------------------------------------------
"False facts are frequently formed from figures fabricated from fear
fired fiction." -- Harper
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1-wheeled-grape
wow is that all from memory John!?! How?
THis is what UDC UK says about muni
*All around the world people found mountain unicycling independently,
and it got many different names consequently, rough terrain unicycling,
mountain unicycling, off-road unicycling, UMX, mountain unibiking and
MUni. Duncan Castling designed the first purpose made, mass produced,
mountain unicycle for Pashley in 1994 and called it a Muni. Although it
is a registered trademark of the Pashley Cycle Company in England, the
word "Muni" is becoming the internationally accepted word for... well
what ever you want to call it.
Here is some information on the pioneers of "Muni":
Duncan Castling:
[image: http://www.unicycle.uk.com/images/ugpis2.jpg]
1994 Polaris, photo courtesy of the Newcastle Journal.
In 1994 Duncan Castling (on left) and
Simon Schofield (on right) entered the Polaris Challenge on a unicycle.
In what was a straight competition against the mountain bikers in what
is claimed to be the UK's roughest 'n' toughest mountain bike happening,
they actually beat some of the bikes! The publicity that was created
from this act of pure stupidity inspired many people to get on their
unicycle and get dirty, including my self.
Thierry Bouche:
[image: http://www.unicycle.uk.com/images/thierry4.jpg]
A Mountain unicycle club called Mt Sensations was started by Thierry
Bouche in 1990 near Grenoble in Southern France. The club was affiliated
to the French cycling organisation in 1993 and has over 50 active
members.
The club use 20" unicycles with long upward facing seats to give
them control when descending the incredibly high mountain using a
technique taken from downhill slalom skiers.
George Peck:
[image: http://www.unicycle.uk.com/images/peck4.jpg]
George Peck, a soft-spoken magistrate living in Seward, Alaska, is
credited with giving birth to the sport of MUni in the US.
George created a videotape entitled "Rough-Terrain Unicycling",
giving tips and techniques that he'd learned on his own. The Unicycling
Society of America sold it. This video is now included as an extra on
the 'UNiVERsE 2 DVD' (http://tinyurl.com/6ndcre). His skill
level for many years was considered second only to that of Kris Holm, he
is awesome.
Kris Holm:
[image: http://www.unicycle.uk.com/images/kris-xl.jpg]
Kris Holm, a geologist living in Vancouver, B.C.
is considered todays premiere MUni rider and is the only unicyclist on
the Norco Factory Trials Team. He can jump on a unicycle over 65cm (over
two feet).
Kris started riding off road in 1990, but it was only in July
1998 that he typed "Mountain unicycling" in to a search engine and found
he was not alone!
He was also one of the stars in the amazing 'UNIVERsE'
(http://tinyurl.com/5ae42s) Video along with Dan Heaton and Adam Ryznar.
Since then he has produced 2 short movies that have gained
international acclaim 'One Tired Guy' (http://tinyurl.com/65nr7r) and
'Into the Thunder Dragon'
(http://www.unicycle.uk.com/Shop/thunderdragon.htm?id=262).
Kris has also developed the 'Kris Holm saddle'
(http://tinyurl.com/21h7) and the 'Kris Holm unicycle range'
(http://tinyurl.com/6jsmaa) (now available from unicycle.com).
John Foss:
[image: http://www.unicycle.uk.com/images/foss.jpg]
John Foss, a three-time world unicycle champion, began hosting the
California MUni Weekends in the Fall of 1996. He said the idea came to
him while riding the trails, just after he'd moved to California. "I
just gotta share this!" he said to two bicyclist friends nearby.
Promoting the event on the Internet and word-of-mouth, John
soon discovered the lure of off-road unicycling. 35 riders attended the
first California MUni weekend. By the 1999 event, the number of riders
grew to 55.
*
ahh good old copy and paste lol
--
1-wheeled-grape
*this signature is pointless... do not **even bother reading it, it
would be a waste of time
you wasted your time didn't you? :rolleyes:
*
*"You must have shot an awefull lot of tigers sir"
"Yes... I used a machine gun!"
* *
**
*
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johnfoss
Yes, Duncan and Thierry belong in any listing of MUni pioneers. What I
posted was from memory. The pasted info above was current as of 2002 or
so, but some of it is getting out of date now.
If you want to see REALLY out of date, check this out:
http://www.unicycling.com/brett/e_muni/faq.html
--
johnfoss
John Foss
Email: "jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com
-----------------------------------------------
"False facts are frequently formed from figures fabricated from fear
fired fiction." -- Harper
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ca99medina
pedrotejada;1151383 wrote:
> Can I put the link to the All Stars history document?!
Of course you can do it! :) Also I will like to put a link in my page
to your website!
johnfoss;1151587 wrote:
>
> Yes, Puerto Rico was a historic Unicon, and many top riders have come
> from there. Those of us who were able to attend Unicon IV will never
> forget it, and still hope for a future date when Unicon will return
> there!
In many occasions we have talked about doing again a Unicon here but
these days organizing an event like this is more complicated than it
used to be. Anyway, you are always welcome to come with Jacquie and
spend a vacation here any time you want! ;)
--
ca99medina
Visit my page:
'www.uniciclos.com' (http://www.uniciclos.com)
Home of the World Champions
"Puerto Rico All-Stars"
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