Forum comparison

Mikefule said:

If you lot had been more frank with me, I could have saved all that
effort writing those long winded ride reports. I now understand that
no one would want to read what a great ride someone has had, and where
they've been.

Well my name has never been Frank...

Where I post a writeup every now and then, I also sometimes wonder if
it's worth the effort to spend nearly an hour on the keys and post it
here, only to have it slide off the front page within 24 hours.

But then again once I post, I keep a hawks' eye on 'who's online'
(http://tinyurl.com/y9v2rz) for a few hours and notice that quite a few
people seem to drift in and out of the thread/writeup that I've
created. A couple of handfuls of users maybe stay on that thread for
many minutes as they presumably read through it, of which only a
fraction of those will reply to comment.

Mikefule said:

One person responded, "But who wants to read posts about what a great
ride someone has had, and where they've been?"

Writeups are enjoyable for those who can spend the time to read them.
One user thanked me for a couple of my writeups with phrases like
"Thanks for taking us with you" or "I think I rode with you through
that forest". For that user and some others with visual imaginations, a
few minutes of reading a writeup translates into an hour or two of an
imaginary ride.

They can then make comparisons to a similar ride that they may have had
themselves, or it may have taken place in an environment that the
reader has yet to try riding in, and maybe motivate them into doing so
for real.

The trouble with writeups is that they seem to be out of place in a
chatty forum. Whereas people will be asking questions or making an
observation about something and asking if anyone agrees etc, there is
this writeup manifesting in a great big long post, of which some users
will take one look without even scrolling down and then back out,
thinking they haven't got the time.

I still think writeups are worth it, even if only a handful of readers
get to enjoy the full purpose of them.

--
gkmac

"It's a marvellous thing to see, someone in full flight on the
unicycle." - Stuart Maconie, Radio 2
"Oh no! Both my toes have gone numb!" - Joe Hodges
"You also met me gk! I was the one eating the sandwich!" - Adam Gayne
"Act your tyre pressure, not your age." - rob.northcott
------------------------------------------------------------------------
gkmac's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/4577
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

Haha. Your post gave me some serious giggles.
Seriously tho, authough I sometimes struggle to read your ride reports
due to my limited literacy, when I do manage to get through them I have
a thoroughly enjoyable time.
Trust me, there is plenty of posts regarding the servicing and warranty
issues of our unicycles. Well at least there would be if we had any.
The problem is, that we can so easily contact the people who
designed/sold us our unicycles and work through any problems with them
personally as apposed to airing out our grievences in a public forum.
Kris Holm Unicycles and UDC are great examples of how a company can
service its customer base in an efficient and friendly manner.

We can all thank the fact that we are (mostly) very friendly people and
are unlikely to complain at things not worth complaining about
(unicycle related things anyways).

In light of your comments, lets keep our community is such a wonderful
way.
And whatever you do, dont stop posting your ride reports.

--
muzzle

my videos: 'muzzle!videos' (http://youtube.com/profile?user=muzzl3)
http://youtube.com/profile?user=muzzl3
my website: '!muzzle!' (http://www.muzzle.co.nr)
http://www.muzzle.co.nr
------------------------------------------------------------------------
muzzle's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/11458
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

And next to go would be the Roland Hope School of Unicycling, I suppose.
Without the financial support you get from ride write-up royalties it's
bound to fail.

--
harper

-Greg Harper

B L U E S H I F T

*jc is the only main man. there can be no other.*
Finally made it to my (n+1)th post....* TOTALLY AWESOME!!!*

Quoted message said:

<> Unicycle For the Chafing <><

------------------------------------------------------------------------
harper's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/426
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

Mikefule said:

If you lot had been more frank with me, I could have saved all that
effort writing those long winded ride reports. I now understand that
no one would want to read what a great ride someone has had, and where
they've been. I feel so ashamed, and humbly beseech your forgiveness.

You're not going to find any forgiveness from me because I don't
believe there was any wrong done.

Your ride reports are always an enjoyable read. Frankly, they offer a
nice diversion from the usual one or two line posts with multiple
grammatical and spelling errors per line.

Unfortunately, I don't usually have the time to try to figure out what
your intentional mistakes are. I probably wouldn't be able to figure
them out anyway. There are probably few people on this forum who have
the smarts and the time to figure it out.

I think the reason you ride reports don't stay up long is because most
people, (like me) read them and then move on. Even if someone wants to
try to figure out the mistakes they must pm you, which doesn't help
keep your thread at the top of the pile.

Maybe, the next time you do a writeup you could change the way you have
the contest and make it so that people can discuss what they think is
wrong in the thread rather than sending you a pm. This would keep it
up much longer and it may create more interest.

What ever you do please don’t stop your writeups! I am sure there are
many others on this forum that enjoy reading them as much as I do.

Hurry up and get better so we can hear about another ride!

--
csuko
------------------------------------------------------------------------
csuko's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12939
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

You better be kidding.

And by the way, this proves that one wheel is better than two.

--
monkeyman

~Alex Brown
------------------------------------------------------------------------
monkeyman's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/11455
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

I like your writeups, but most of the time I think they are too long for
me so I just give up about half way through.

--
habbywall

kapoute said:

I think I'm in love with habbywall

------------------------------------------------------------------------
habbywall's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/10260
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

Wow, that BMW group must be unique. I belong to another motorcycle
group, (for older Jap bikes), and most of the posts are either folks
asking for and getting mechanical advice, or people posting beautifully
written ride reports. Kind of like this forum here, actually. 😄

--
idiorythmic
------------------------------------------------------------------------
idiorythmic's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12653
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

I must admit that I don't have time to read all your ride writeups (as
I'm browsing these fora during job time) but I wish I had!
Please keep on taking us into your rides. I love the "errors contest"
though I'm not good at it (especially because of a lack of vocabulary,
but your writeups are a good way to solve this issue😉 )

--
Zzagg

Zzagg - Air Circus Team (Nantes)

Living easy, living free...
...Season ticket on a one wheel ride.

JJuggle said:

Zzagg, I'm struggling with your English.

:o 😉
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zzagg's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/6847
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

Mikefule said:

If you lot had been more frank with me, I could have saved all that
effort writing those long winded ride reports.

Ok, I'll be Frank. But you'll have to be Spencer 🙂

I've used Newsgroups on the internet for about 7 years now, and, to be
honest, this is probably the most friendly one I've found. No
[censored], or backstabbing. Hardly any flaming. And only a couple of
tossers. I think it must be something to do with unicycling itself
that keeps people enthusiastic for all the ancillary sides of the sport
(such as this).

STM

--
semach.the.monkey
------------------------------------------------------------------------
semach.the.monkey's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12078
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

Mikefule said:

One person responded, "But who wants to read posts about what a great
ride someone has had, and where they've been?"

It's a really funny difference between both communities...

And as we talk about it... Mike, even though english is not my mother
tongue
(but I'm doing well I think 😉 )and despite I'm mostly unable to solve
your quizzes, I always enjoy your write-ups. Thanks! 🙂

-Jedrzej

--
j-n
------------------------------------------------------------------------
j-n's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12470
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

Quoted message said:

But who wants to read posts about what a great ride someone has had, and
where they've been?

I DO!

I can't travel as much as I want to, so I read travel descriptions.
I can't unicycle as much as I want to, so I read writeups.

--
Borges
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Borges's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/925
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

Mikefule said:

One person responded, "But who wants to read posts about what a great
ride someone has had, and where they've been?"

Sometimes I'm not exactly thrilled with being part of the 'BMW crowd.'
I've owned several and still have two, one undergoing full restoration
and I think they're wonderful bikes but, the owners are often snobbish
and dull. When I go to a BMW rally, it's usually a bunch of old, fat
men who stand around, talk about their bikes and go off to bed by 9:00
p.m. When I've gone to Harley Davidson rallys it's a bunch of fat, old
men with all of their spouses/significant others who drink and whoop it
up around the campfire 'til all hours of the morning and things can get
pretty wild. Definitely a more fun crowd. I just wish I didn't hate
their loud, obnoxious, poorly designed, ill handling motorcycles.

Mikefule said:

In the new year, I plan a series of posts carping on about some design
problems I have identified with the concept of a one wheeled pedal
powered vehicle, and suggestng ways of attaching a second wheel,
brakes, and up to 21 selectable gears, to improve the riding
experience. Frankly, I am surprised and disappointed that Kris Holm
never spotted the gap in the market for these obvious improvements to
his products.

Sheer GENIUS !!! Why hasn't somebody thought of this before? These
could be the advances in unicycles that really get them globally
accepted.

j-n said:

even though english is not my mother tongue
(but I'm doing well I think 😉 )

I'd say you're doing VERY well.

--
underdog

'I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody
tell you different' - Kurt Vonnegut
------------------------------------------------------------------------
underdog's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/6197
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

semach.the.monkey said:

And only a couple of tossers.

Ooh, name names. Let's have a heated debate.😄

Not everyone appears to have spotted that I was being drily ironic in a
self-mocking post modern sort of way.

My point was that those in the BMW forum who think there is no place
for such write ups don't know what they're missing. One does because I
posted a reference to this forum in that one and he did a Google and
found my post in this one criticising that one. Mikefule fails his
social skills test again.:o

Thanks for all the sympathy for having my brand new motorcycle stolen,
by the way.

Oh, there wasn't any sympathy. Fair enough.🙁

Bike now recovered with extensive damage and may be a write off. Early
forensic reports suggest that it has been in close contact with thick
gormless stupid mindless retarded chavvy low-life thieving cretins for
whom hanging is too good and flogging is the only language they
understand. (Note to Naomi - that may be tautological, but on this
occasion justified for emphasis.😉 )

--
Mikefule

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that most people don't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mikefule's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/879
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

Mikefule said:

Not everyone appears to have spotted that I was being drily ironic in a
self-mocking post modern sort of way.

Thanks for all the sympathy for having my brand new motorcycle stolen,
by the way.

Oh, there wasn't any sympathy. Fair enough.🙁

Bike now recovered with extensive damage and may be a write off. Early
forensic reports suggest that it has been in close contact with thick
gormless stupid mindless retarded chavvy low-life thieving cretins for
whom hanging is too good and flogging is the only language they
understand. (Note to Naomi - that may be tautological, but on this
occasion justified for emphasis.😉 )

I think self mockery and subtle irony just does not come across well on
the internet. You must have noticed that by now, so I will assume
you're being subtly ironic again.

I wasn't sympathetic about your motorbike, I was horrified! Your lovely
new motorbike stolen???? Is there no God? (You see GK, that's the only
way to have your thread stay on the front page for a while - to include
a debate about God - or rules on the forum). Sorry. Seriously though, I
am totally gutted for you.

If you ever find the (er chappy) that did it, hold him down until I can
get there to give him a good kicking.

--
cathwood

Cathy
------------------------------------------------------------------------
cathwood's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/9425
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

🙂

--
Mikefule

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that most people don't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mikefule's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/879
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

I like your writeups, though I basically read -anything,- but they're
cool. It's not exactly MUni-ing with you, but it's -watching- you
MUni(I do the same thing with Nancy Drew!) so it's close enough.
Everyone loves your writeups...so do I, if I ever wrote one, or a lot,
they would all be called "My trip to the Beach on the Unicycle" or "My
trip to the park on the beach on my unicycle" but it's good enough.
Though I forget the details, so I can't write them down anyways.

Edit: the motorcycle--is that the device you were talking about? Isn't
it -before- New Year's?

--
Andy912912

What's up with really long signatures? 🙂
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andy912912's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12601
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

As long as we're comparing fora here, I'm a frequent visitor to a
Volkswagen forum (I've always been a VW fanatic too) and as long as you
contribute to a technical forum with technical questions and answers,
things are just fine. But, as soon as somebody posts virtually
anything in a general discussion forum the first dozen or so replies
typically request that the original poster have intercourse with
him/herself and then die. I'm sometimes amazed at the out and out
rudeness that people exhibit under the cloak of anonymity that the
internet provides. It makes me appreciate this forum each and every
day. We should get an award for having the nicest forum on the
internet.

--
underdog

'I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody
tell you different' - Kurt Vonnegut
------------------------------------------------------------------------
underdog's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/6197
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

gkmac said:

Where I post a writeup every now and then, I also sometimes wonder if
it's worth the effort to spend nearly an hour on the keys and post it
here, only to have it slide off the front page within 24 hours.

But I bet you're glad of them when you reread them years later and get
to relive the memories. For example, I'm glad I posted an RR of my
first 30 mile unicycle ride (back in 1994) to the unicycle mailing
list, because it means I can still go back and remind myself what it
was like.

I write RR's primarily for my own benefit, but once I've written them I
figure I might as well share them.

Quoted message said:

But then again once I post, I keep a hawks' eye on 'who's online'
(http://tinyurl.com/y9v2rz) for a few hours and notice that quite a few
people seem to drift in and out of the thread/writeup that I've
created. A couple of handfuls of users maybe stay on that thread for
many minutes as they presumably read through it, of which only a
fraction of those will reply to comment.

And of course, you won't notice those of us who read on usenet or on
the mailing list.

Quoted message said:

I still think writeups are worth it, even if only a handful of readers
get to enjoy the full purpose of them.

I couldn't agree more.

--
Danny Colyer

http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/
Subscribe to PlusNet http://www.colyer.plus.com/referral/
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Danny Colyer's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/11637
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672

cathwood said:

If you ever find the (er chappy) that did it, hold him down until I can
get there to give him a good kicking.

Over on uk.rec.cycling, the standard suggested punishment for bike
thieves is to shoot them and burn the body. Castration with a rusty
implement is also a popular one. I feel that a combination of these
punishments, perhaps not in the order mentioned, might be warranted in
this case.

--
Danny Colyer

http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/
Subscribe to PlusNet http://www.colyer.plus.com/referral/
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Danny Colyer's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/11637
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55672