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JJuggle
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JOHN'S A BIG WHEEL IN THE WORLD OF BIKES
By Stephanie March
400 words
22 November 2005
Canberra Times
6
English
(c) 2005 The Canberra Times
He can't juggle, but John Cooper can ride a unicycle, and he'll be
showing off his talent this weekend as a competitor in the Great
Victorian Bike Ride. The 60-year-old Ainslie resident took up the sport
3years ago after being inspired by a photo of a unicycle in the local
paper. ''I saw that there was a group in Canberra that taught you how
to ride unicycles, and it just appealed to me,'' he said yesterday.
Never before has a unicyclist participated in the 580km, nine- day
event which Mr Cooper intends to complete in the same amount of time as
an average cyclist. The Swiss-built custom unicycle
he will be using has the same size wheel as a normal bicycle and uses a
high and a low gear. ''It will cruise at about 18km/h,'' he said. It
costs $3000, as much as many two-wheeled bikes. Mr Cooper rides his
unicycle to his job as an IT manager at the Australian Taxation Office
and has been covering several hundred kilometres a week in preparation.
He and his partner, Cathy Chin, have been training together and she
will ride with him next week on a recumbent bicycle, on which a cyclist
lies back to pedal. ''We go at about the same pace, I go faster up
hills and she goes faster down hills, but we are pretty good at keeping
together.'' Mr Cooper admitted it could get get a bit uncomfortable in
the
saddle after a while, but he hopes to complete the longest leg of the
event in under 10 hours. The Great Victorian Bike Ride is just the
beginning for Mr Cooper, who is heading off on a unicycle tour of Laos
in January. ''A bunch of unicyclists from around the world, about 20,
are getting together to do the ride. It's being organised by a guy in
New Zealand, and it looks like fun.'' Mr Cooper says unicycling was not
really an ''old-person's sport'', but said anyone could learn with
practice. ''When you first start learning you'd swear that it wasn't
possible to ride. Learning to walk is quite a complex activity, but
once the brain works it out it does it instinctively. With the unicycle
it is a bit the same.''
5180144
--
JJuggle
Raphael Lasar - Matawan, NJ
Monday morning feel so bad. Everybody seems to nag me.
Coming Tuesday, I feel better. Even now your man looks good.
(ah-woo) Wednesday goes to show, (ah-woo) Thursday just wont go.
(ah-woo) Cause I got Friday on my mind.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
JJuggle's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/24
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148
By Stephanie March
400 words
22 November 2005
Canberra Times
6
English
(c) 2005 The Canberra Times
He can't juggle, but John Cooper can ride a unicycle, and he'll be
showing off his talent this weekend as a competitor in the Great
Victorian Bike Ride. The 60-year-old Ainslie resident took up the sport
3years ago after being inspired by a photo of a unicycle in the local
paper. ''I saw that there was a group in Canberra that taught you how
to ride unicycles, and it just appealed to me,'' he said yesterday.
Never before has a unicyclist participated in the 580km, nine- day
event which Mr Cooper intends to complete in the same amount of time as
an average cyclist. The Swiss-built custom unicycle
he will be using has the same size wheel as a normal bicycle and uses a
high and a low gear. ''It will cruise at about 18km/h,'' he said. It
costs $3000, as much as many two-wheeled bikes. Mr Cooper rides his
unicycle to his job as an IT manager at the Australian Taxation Office
and has been covering several hundred kilometres a week in preparation.
He and his partner, Cathy Chin, have been training together and she
will ride with him next week on a recumbent bicycle, on which a cyclist
lies back to pedal. ''We go at about the same pace, I go faster up
hills and she goes faster down hills, but we are pretty good at keeping
together.'' Mr Cooper admitted it could get get a bit uncomfortable in
the
saddle after a while, but he hopes to complete the longest leg of the
event in under 10 hours. The Great Victorian Bike Ride is just the
beginning for Mr Cooper, who is heading off on a unicycle tour of Laos
in January. ''A bunch of unicyclists from around the world, about 20,
are getting together to do the ride. It's being organised by a guy in
New Zealand, and it looks like fun.'' Mr Cooper says unicycling was not
really an ''old-person's sport'', but said anyone could learn with
practice. ''When you first start learning you'd swear that it wasn't
possible to ride. Learning to walk is quite a complex activity, but
once the brain works it out it does it instinctively. With the unicycle
it is a bit the same.''
5180144
--
JJuggle
Raphael Lasar - Matawan, NJ
Monday morning feel so bad. Everybody seems to nag me.
Coming Tuesday, I feel better. Even now your man looks good.
(ah-woo) Wednesday goes to show, (ah-woo) Thursday just wont go.
(ah-woo) Cause I got Friday on my mind.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
JJuggle's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/24
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148