Most Embarrassing Moment Riding Your EUC

[Rehab1]

What is your most embarrassing moment while riding your EUC? Now we all have had times where we stumbled and fell while going through the learning curve. Those watching (family and friends)  understood the weird expressions on your face and flailing arms as you learned to ride and landed on your butt.  They would never say a word as they could not perform any better. Now after weeks and months of training you have gained so much confidence you enter the 'Show Off' phase. Lets face it, we all have been there.

You have perfected a skill that most people only dream of, riding on a wave of freedom with wind in your hair and everyone staring and admiring your skills. Then all of the sudden your brain involuntarily switches gears as people are watching. A little voice in your head speaks  "just do it"!  The only difference is these people are not your  friends or family, they are strangers, have no idea who you are and could care less about your new sport. Many are jealous and want to see you go down. Of course that is the last thing you are envisioning but your cortex takes over and now you are on your butt looking up at these people. 

This happened to me over the weekend as I finished my ride through a beautiful park. In the beginning of my ride I carried my NB1 down a grassy, bumpy hill to where the trail began. My entire hour ride was effortless and so relaxing. I passed people along the way that were either jogging or riding bicycles. One person waved but most just glared at me like I had just invaded their precious space. Fast forward to the end of my ride. I am not sure how all of these annoyed individuals managed to arrive at the same moment I was departing the trail. Did they purposely run or ride faster knowing I was going to do something stupid and wanted to witness the moment. I have no idea but I sensed their presence and wanted to prove something. How stupid!! The grassy 20 degree bumpy hill called my name. "Just Do It"!  Oh how I hate that little voice! So up the hill I went and down the hill I rolled,  end over end. I know these smirking people standing by are strangers and I will never see them again, I hope, but the embarrassment was intense, kind of like busting gas in a crowded elevator. Yes that has happened to me as well?

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

Ah no worries... Although I'm sure you're trending somewhere out there in cyberspace with various humorous captions and meme phrases along with photoshop variations and maybe appear on AFV, I think most of us have had or will have a similar moment.     Except for Elvis.  He's too cool to ever do that.  

 

[steve454]

15 minutes ago, HunkaHunkaBurningLove said:

Ah no worries... Although I'm sure you're trending somewhere out there in cyberspace with various humorous captions and meme phrases along with photoshop variations and maybe appear on AFV, I think most of us have had or will have a similar moment.     Except for Elvis.  He's too cool to ever do that.  

 

A trolley handle would have made the trip down the hill a lot easier

[MaxLinux]

51 minutes ago, Rehab1 said:

What is your most embarrassing moment while riding your EUC?

I am riding along the sidewalk, nothing difficult whatsoever, and I notice ahead some bushes protruding out into the sidewalk. Should I stop and carry my EUC around the obstacle? No, I hate stopping and getting off my EUC. I think there is enough room on the outer edge of the sidewalk to ride past the bushes. I know I will hit some branches sticking out into my path, but I think I can power through. So when I reach the bushes, WHOP! I hit the branches hard, they knock me off the EUC, and the EUC goes bouncing out into the street. I, trying to not hit the ground, find myself running out into the street. I manage to not hit the ground, but I'm about 20 feet away from where my EUC landed, and both my EUC and I are in the middle of a busy street! Miraculously no cars come at that moment; I quickly run to my EUC and bring it back to the sidewalk. Only then do I realize a pedestrian on the other side saw the whole incident! He calls out, "Are you OK?" I reply, "Yes, I'm fine, I just thought I could ride through those bushes, but as you can see, I was wrong!"

I am so thankful no cars were driving by at that moment, which could have been disastrous. Since that time my policy is to be very conservative about challenging obstacles while riding adjacent to traffic.

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

Ooh I just remembered!  While I was learning a lady with some small kids were watching, and they thought it was pretty cool.  After stopping and answering some questions I was going to show them some more when I totally forgot to turn the EUC on before riding!  Of course I went scramblng off with the wheel falling over.. 

[steve454]

4 minutes ago, MaxLinux said:

I am riding along the sidewalk, nothing difficult whatsoever, and I notice ahead some bushes protruding out into the sidewalk. Should I stop and carry my EUC around the obstacle? No, I hate stopping and getting off my EUC. I think there is enough room on the outer edge of the sidewalk to ride past the bushes. I know I will hit some branches sticking out into my path, but I think I can power through. So when I reach the bushes, WHOP! I hit the branches hard, they knock me off the EUC, and the EUC goes bouncing out into the street. I, trying to not hit the ground, find myself running out into the street. I manage to not hit the ground, but I'm about 20 feet away from where my EUC landed, and both my EUC and I are in the middle of a busy street! Miraculously no cars come at that moment; I quickly run to my EUC and bring it back to the sidewalk. Only then do I realize a pedestrian on the other side saw the whole incident! He calls out, "Are you OK?" I reply, "Yes, I'm fine, I just thought I could ride through those bushes, but as you can see, I was wrong!"

I am so thankful no cars were driving by at that moment, which could have been disastrous. Since that time my policy is to be very conservative about challenging obstacles while riding adjacent to traffic.

That was lucky for you, too bad someone saw it.  One time, while driving a tractor with a brush hog mower, I ran over a gas meter and gas started shooting out of the ground.  I was running about 2000 rpms when it happened.  I quickly turned off the key, hoping the engine would not spark and cause an explosion.  (I know, how high were the weeds?  very high.)  But I had to call for help and soon the fire department was there and that usually brings a few people.

[The Fat Unicyclist]

I was riding along an embankment that ran through a golf course one weekend. It had rained a lot earlier in the week making it quite "sloppy," but my Lhotz was loving it (and I had an EUCExtreme sound track playing in my mind). 

Then I had to slow down to pass a couple of ladies walking the same route though... And then as I tried to pick up speed again I lost all traction and ended up shoulder-rolling in the mud. 

But the landing was soft, we all had a good laugh and they carried on. The problem was that it was too slippery to remount, so after a dozen attempts I had to give up and carry my wheel out - 1.5km through the very busy golf course! 

This is how we both (my wheel and I) looked when I got home:

[Rehab1]

LMAO...these are some funny stories! I needed a good laugh! Thanks!

[Rehab1]

@HunkaHunkaBurningLove 1st face plant.? That will never happen again?

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

I actually haven't kissed the ground yet while riding.  I have had a few run offs.  While I was learning, I did do one butt plant while going down a road with the training wheels on resulting in a little bruise on my hip and small scratch on my hands but nothing major.  I think I must have tried to lean back to stop, but I didn't angle my heels down so the wheel kept on going. 

A biker almost crashed into me today.  I was on the correct side of the pathway, and a bike went zooming down this hill from the grass trying to get onto the path as I was rolling by.  We both braked and missed a collision.  I also took an S curve a little too fast, but I made it.  I didn't judge the speed and turn as well as I thought I did.  That could have ended badly.  20 KPH does seem slow now that I've gotten used to it.  After riding my generic wheel again, boy that is super slow!  It's beeping all the time!

[Jurgen]

first few weeks, making enormous progress, but still totally unware of limitation of BMS-motor-battery combo, at the end of a good training session I felt extremely confident.

Arriving in the street where we live, I decided I wanted to see what I had learned so far and perform a burning fast acceleration ...

which ended in a forward triple barrel roll with the EUC bouncing past me, just in front of the house of the neighbours.

[Cloud]

When on Helloween, dressed as Batman, i , the almighty superhero, faceplanted in front of a group of 7-10 year old kids....

[MarkoMarjamaa]

Starting your ride in the busiest tourist streets in Amsterdam, people are smiling, you are smiling, sun is shining, you feel the wind against you...and the wind feels in wrong places and after riding a couple hundred meters of riding you notice your fly is open  

If you feel embarrassed of one crash, you just have to crash more often

 

[The Fat Unicyclist]

16 minutes ago, MarkoMarjamaa said:

16 minutes ago, MarkoMarjamaa said:

If you feel embarrassed of one crash, you just have to crash more often

I agree - it's a unicycle! Falling off should be expected. 

17 minutes ago, MarkoMarjamaa said:

Starting your ride in the busiest tourist streets in Amsterdam, people are smiling, you are smiling, sun is shining, you feel the wind against you...and the wind feels in wrong places and after riding a couple hundred meters of riding you notice your fly is open

But surely that is expected in Amsterdam - Well some parts at least? 

[TremF]

My most embarrassing ride was just over a week ago. My first proper ride out on my new Gotway ACM and I was stopped by a couple who asked what it was etc. For some reason I picked the ACM up and the wheel span fast so I turned it off. When we had finished talking I turned it back on and went to ride off and it dropped on me as it has done two other times since but not while people were watching. Luckily I remained on my feet or it could have been more embarrassing. 

I originally though it was my fault but as it has happened since I realise it wasn't. 

[Cloud]

I remember another embarassing moment, when i was riding my KS14 and the wheel kept overheating. At some point it overheated and started tiltbacking on me, so i had to stop. There was a group of teenagers standing right there very curious about what i was riding and started talking to me and asking me questikns as i was passing them by,. I made it look like i stopped to answer them and not because i had to due to the wheel overheating. They looked up at me as someone riding something cool so i had to maintain the cool demeanor. Anyway, as it often happens, after a couple of questions they were satisfied and basically lost interest. The cool thing to do would have been to hop on the wheel and be gone with the wind. But i cant because the wheel is still hot and needs more time to cool down. So i am standing there being totally pathetic as if i am so desperate for attention that i am waiting for them to keep asking me questions. This looked super embarassing and there was nothing i could do . I totally lost my cool right then and there lol

[Tech Nossomy]

Learning to ride the EUC, while not noticing that I was doing it on a virtually flat tire.

[Jag_Rip]

This one moment still applies. Still most embarassing moment for me on a EUC... closely followed by my first public ride ever where I faceplanted in front of rush-hour traffic that stopped to let me cross the road...

 

[John Eucist]

11 hours ago, Cloud said:

I remember another embarassing moment, when i was riding my KS14 and the wheel kept overheating. At some point it overheated and started tiltbacking on me, so i had to stop. There was a group of teenagers standing right there very curious about what i was riding and started talking to me and asking me questikns as i was passing them by,. I made it look like i stopped to answer them and not because i had to due to the wheel overheating. They looked up at me as someone riding something cool so i had to maintain the cool demeanor. Anyway, as it often happens, after a couple of questions they were satisfied and basically lost interest. The cool thing to do would have been to hop on the wheel and be gone with the wind. But i cant because the wheel is still hot and needs more time to cool down. So i am standing there being totally pathetic as if i am so desperate for attention that i am waiting for them to keep asking me questions. This looked super embarassing and there was nothing i could do . I totally lost my cool right then and there lol

Or you could have just told the truth about what was happening. 

[Pingouin]

Hi,

For me, the most embarassing moment was when I overspeed with my Firewheel F528, I went way too fast (odometer said 36km/h) and I didn't see that there was a bumb just in front of me. I was at a tramway station, there was a crowd of people around me, and I fell back off my wheel, the wheel kept forward and flew about 1.5m in the air and crashed against the tramway shelter, which made every one around stare at me, even some people came to see if I was ok. I'm glad nobody got injured.

I've learned my lessons, no more overspeeding especially on in streets.

[Tech Nossomy]

Not embarrassing, but it amused me nonetheless: The blond girl walking in my direction who did not realise that the cheers from the construction workers were meant for me and my wheel, not for her. Poor thing.
 

[The Fat Unicyclist]

46 minutes ago, Tech Nossomy said:

Not embarrassing, but it amused me nonetheless: The blond girl walking in my direction who did not realise that the cheers from the construction workers were meant for me and my wheel, not for her. Poor thing.
 

Are you sure it wasn't the other way around?

[MaxLinux]

In one place on a ride I do frequently, there is a gap of about 20 feet in the sidewalk. One sidewalk ends, then approximately 20 feet of grass, dirt, and weeds, then the other sidewalk begins. When I reach this gap, I carry my wheel as I walk through this brief grassy interval. This is at an intersection with several lanes of traffic and traffic light. So one day, with a large audience of cars stopped at the traffic light, I step off my wheel, begin walking through the grass, and FALL DOWN hard enough to tear a hole in my jeans! I fell down in front of all these people while walking, not riding!! My foot was caught in a vine. Now whenever I walk there I look down!

[The Fat Unicyclist]

5 minutes ago, MaxLinux said:

In one place on a ride I do frequently, there is a gap of about 20 feet in the sidewalk. One sidewalk ends, then approximately 20 feet of grass, dirt, and weeds, then the other sidewalk begins. When I reach this gap, I carry my wheel as I walk through this brief grassy interval. This is at an intersection with several lanes of traffic and traffic light. So one day, with a large audience of cars stopped at the traffic light, I step off my wheel, begin walking through the grass, and FALL DOWN hard enough to tear a hole in my jeans! I fell down in front of all these people while walking, not riding!! My foot was caught in a vine. Now whenever I walk there I look down!

But you ride an Lhotz... Isn't that what it was made for?

[Rehab1]

2 hours ago, Tech Nossomy said:

Not embarrassing, but it amused me nonetheless: The blond girl walking in my direction who did not realise that the cheers from the construction workers were meant for me and my wheel, not for her. Poor thing.
 

 

1 hour ago, The Fat Unicyclist said:

Are you sure it wasn't the other way around?

I was thinking the same thing? Were the cheers coming from women construction workers or a bunch of happy guys watching the EUC between your legs?