Three videos of questionable sanity

1) For all you slackers out there, a sport called Slacklining

2) For those of you who were fans of the the Fifth Gear's review of the Carver, I give you the T-Rex

3) And finally, for anyone who has ever done skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, or any similar sport, a not so new toy that looks like fun even to me: The 'motorcycle for your feet'. You can really get the idea from the first few seconds of the vid and don't need to watch the whole five and a half minutes, although you should at least skip ahead to the part where they're not just riding on the beach (around 2:10 and 2:55). Also note the gratuitous bikini at about 2:30. I say gratuitous because the camera stops focusing on the machine being demoed.

not two tired anymore

I've done it. Today I put in an order for a Nimbus 29er, with an Isis hub, a 300mm seat post, 125mm cranks, and red highlights.

What does all that mean? It means I've gotten far enough in my efforts to learn to unicycle that I'm buying my own! (You can have yours back in a week, Daniel). I am confident enough in my abilities (or at least the potential of my abilities) that I'm sinking over 300 bucks into the coolest, manliest form of transportation I have ever tried. Soon you should see me zipping around town in what amounts to a perpetual wheelie. Now I just need to find someone I can con into learning to unicycle so we can go riding together. Who knows, maybe some day I'll even try muni!

Unicyclical Pensations

Since we moved (you know, the reason I haven't been blogging a whole lot?) I now have a half hour walk-commute to work each way, instead of a 15-20 minute walk-commute to work each day. In an attempt to cut that time down, I have decided to take up cycling as my preferred means of (short range) transportation: Unicycling. So I borrowed a unicycle (or 'unik' as I shall henceforth be calling it) from a friend (thanks Dan!) to learn on and see if it is indeed a feasible plan. I have come to the conclusion that it is indeed feasible, but I have also come to some undeniable conclusions:

1) Uniking may not be harder than it looks, but it is indeed every bit as hard as it looks.
2) Unikers have not only a very well developed sense of balance, but also very well developed leg muscles. Just try uniking over 100 feet in a controlled manner, and see if you feel like going any further after you get off.
3) Balance is very important in learning to unicycle. However, learning to keep your balance is only secondary to learning to sense your balance. Once you can sense you balance pretty well, the unicycle almost balances itself. (okay, not really, but still...)
4) Bikers are sissies. (Sorry Dad B.)
5) I tried my first ride home from work Friday. It only took me about 45 minutes to unik what I usually take half an hour to walk. While there is definitely a mechanical advantage over walking, the time gained uniking is rather made up for by the time spent climbing back on the unik after jumping/falling/sliding/what-have-you-ing off.
6) I definitely want a unik with at least a 26" wheel. Nothing as exorbitant as this, but the larger the better.

So all that said, I am definitely making progress, but I still have a way to go. Soon, hopefully, I'll be zipping around town on my unicycle.

Martial Tuesday : Makoto Nagano is my hero

So, I didn't post anything last week because I was on vacation in the mountains with the family. And of course, no vacation would be complete without cable in your hotel room (or cabin in this case). So the wife got to watch her childbirthing videos on TLC in the mornings, and I rediscovered a wonderful show on G4 called Ninja Master. For those of you who have seen Takeshi's Castle, also known as MXC - The Most Xtreme ellimination Challenge - Ninja Master is like a serious version for real contestants.

Now, don't get me wrong, they still have their share of goofballs who show up. It seems like it's a requirement that any minor celebrity in Japan give this a shot at least once. Every challenge starts with 100 contestants, and usually less than 10 make it past the first section.

There are 4 sections. The first is a 40-to-60-second timed trial which involves a lot of jumping and some balance and climbing (and a lot of people falling into rather muddy-looking water). The second is a 50-to-80-second timed trial which involves swinging from chains, climbing walls, lifting barricades, and a few more people falling into water. The third challenge is untimed, and involves things like swing across a 20-foot section of silk sheet, swinging across a gap by holding onto 3-inch balls in the ceiling, and 'climbing' across a wall using nothing but a 1-inch lip to grip with your finger tips. The final section is a 300-foot (ish) tower and thirty seconds to get to the top of it. The first half is chimneying, and after 15 seconds the walls slide apart, so if you haven't made it far enough, you fall. The second half is a rope that you have to climb up.

In the 10 years that they have been holding the contests, only two men have made it all the way through, one of whom is Makoto Nagano.

Behold: