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RichieV

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Hi all!

New ewheeler here living in Alexandria, Virginia just outside of DC.  With all the bike paths, memorials, and parks in the area, DC demands a cadre of ewheelers to descend upon them like a plague of locusts.  That such a group does not yet exist causes me a bit of sadness, and I feel something must be done to correct this.  So what say you, my capital area brethren of the electrified one-wheel; shall we gather together and conquer all this city has to offer us?  I say YES!!

So now that you're all riled up and raring to go, who in the area can teach me how to ride this thing??!! I have mastered six feet of unaided travel on my new EUC (Huanxi H1) and dreams of seven feet and beyond tantalize me while my shins and ankles heal from their bruises.  Meanwhile, the H1 is charging in the corner, taunting me...  EDIT: I am happy to say that my skills have progressed to the point that I can now comfortably ride without anxiety; no need for basic tutoring anymore!

--Richard

Edited by RichieV
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey @RichieV, and @Yung Luke, I live in Columbia Maryland, just took the Metro down to DC and rode around last week. You can see my route here:

 http://forum.electricunicycle.org/topic/834-what-apps-do-you-use/?do=findComment&comment=8313

That included riding in the bike lanes on both 16th Street and Constitution Avenue, managed to keep up with the bikes (at least the slow ones) pretty well. I didn't get any hassle at all when riding around, in fact a Secret Service guy in front of the White House wanted to know more about the EU and said he'd never seen one. 

I've been to the National Zoo and driven down Beach Drive but haven't ever hung out in that area. Is there a good place for us to meet? Several stretches of Beach Drive are closed to traffic on weekends, that might make a really nice area to ride. I'd probably just catch the Metro to a nearby stop.

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Rock Creek Park sounds great; I've only driven through and never explored up close.  I just Googled and it looks like there are three metro stops which are convenient to Rock Creek Park: Woodley Park, Cleveland Park, and Van Ness/UDC.  Not being a metro rider I don't know which is best suited for meeting up.  I'm available during weekends, so this upcoming Saturday or Sunday or even the weekend following works for me. Anybody else want to join in the meetup?

Edited by RichieV
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How about we meet at the Woodley Park Metro around 1pm on Saturday? Here's the street view, there's a McDonald's next door to the escalators and we could meet outside there. A little bit south on 24th Street there is access to the Rock Creek Park trails so we should be able to jump on to the trails from there. 

@RichieV, I'm looking forward to seeing the IPS 122 and comparing it to the Firewheel, they have the same battery and wheel size. @Yung Luke do you think you can make it too? Anyone else interested? 

I have a SJ4000 sports camera (basic a GoPro clone) so I'll take some videos.

Edited by dmethvin
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How about we meet at the Woodley Park Metro around 1pm on Saturday? Here's the street view, there's a McDonald's next door to the escalators and we could meet outside there. A little bit south on 24th Street there is access to the Rock Creek Park trails so we should be able to jump on to the trails from there. 

Sounds like a plan; I shall be there!  PMing my contact info.

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Hi guys.

I'm pretty new to this forum although I've had my EU since June. I noticed that you guys recently had a DC meetup. Its unfortunate that I didn't see it earlier, although I had to work that Saturday so it wouldn't have made a difference anyhow. 

However, if you guys want to meet up and ride around DC again. I would be interested in meeting up and making it a Trio of Unicycles.

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Well @RichieV and I had a great time wheeling around Rock Creek Park. The camera freaked out on me a bit, somehow the time reset and it turned off later in the trip. I got a few good segments though. I used the anti-shake setting in Youtube and it seems to introduce a bit of distortion at times, I think it might be aggravated by the shadows we were going through.

Instead of viewing the video embedded, you may want to view it at Youtube. There is some commentary in the description and this is actually a playlist with 4 videos.

 

@dmethvin : That was fun!  Thanks for posting it!   Remember "No Motors! No Motors!" and also "Hey, You kids get off my lawn!"  Seems like everyone is a busy-body these days. 

Also, the 4th video is marked private meaning we can't watch it.  

Also, keeping up with @RichieV looks like a bit of a challenge.  B)

Edited by dpong
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Hi guys.

I'm pretty new to this forum although I've had my EU since June. I noticed that you guys recently had a DC meetup. Its unfortunate that I didn't see it earlier, although I had to work that Saturday so it wouldn't have made a difference anyhow. 

However, if you guys want to meet up and ride around DC again. I would be interested in meeting up and making it a Trio of Unicycles.

My sister has displayed an interest in group riding as well.  She's almost to the point where she's comfortable at riding amongst a lot of traffic (pedestrian or otherwise).  And I have a friend who also wants to learn how to ride, so once she's up to speed I'll convince her to join in the fun.  The group is growing!

@dmethvin : That was fun!  Thanks for posting it!   Remember "No Motors! No Motors!" and also "Hey, You kids get off my lawn!"  Seems like everyone is a busy-body these days. 

Also, the 4th video is marked private meaning we can't watch it.  

Also, keeping up with @RichieV looks like a bit of a challenge.  B)

It was a lot of fun!  It was pretty hot that day and there was a lot of bicycle and jogger traffic and the occasional literal pile of horse-shit to navigate around, but that didn't take away from anything.  The "No motors!" guy was in full finger-wagging mode for sure.  And I'm certain @dmethvin had no problems keeping up; in fact I'd wager he was holding back!

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If you've seen my crash video, you know that my way of telling I'm going too fast is to faceplant. I just hope I don't do it in a pile of horse-shit. :P There was one point where @RichieV was leading and the heavy bike traffic held me back, but i actually liked being able to go fast to catch up.

We should definitely find a place that is a little less busy than those trails near the zoo. There is an upper area of Rock Creek Park in Maryland, I wonder if that is less crowded?

http://bikewashington.org/trails/rockcreek/md.htm

http://www.montgomeryparks.org/PPSD/ParkTrails/trails_MAPS/trailmap_pdfs/RCreek_trail.pdf

This site has a pretty good list of local trails: http://bikewashington.org/trails/index.htm

I did the BWI Trail a few weeks ago, it was good in that the trail was really well maintained, relatively empty, and I could really keep up a decent speed -- I did 11.4 mph average around the 12 mile circuit! However, a lot of it is alongside noisy roads and not very scenic. 

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The crash video: Oh my!  I am not on the same planet as you guys.  

My x-rays indicated that my ribs were not fractured.  That is the last set of x-rays I want to get.  So I guess I would be shy to go to a group meet-up.  But look forward to more vids of your meet-ups. 

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  • 1 month later...

Add me to the list for the next event in DC! I own/ride a Solowheel Xtreme 18" and am proficient both on and off road. May also buy a King Song (with smaller wheel diameter).

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I've been scouting out areas where a group of us could ride. The area where RichieV and I near the National Zoo was pretty busy and the condition of the paths were not that good in several areas. It's tough to relax on a ride when there are so many joggers and bikes sharing the path.

A few weeks ago I went down and tried out the Lake Needwood area near Rockville. It's pretty nice, the trails are mostly paved with just a few challenging gravel/mulch trail surfaces on the west side of the lake, shown in dotted lines on the map. Here's a Google Tracks map of the trip, I parked in the Safeway lot and rode 9.5 miles total:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz5JJFjq9rZDaFY1UzB0ZE8tWWM/view

I am wondering whether the upper Rock Creek areas (north of Military Road) might be less crowded and more fun to ride. There are also a few interesting other trails in the area like the Capital Crescent, Mount Vernon, and C&O Canal.

http://bikewashington.org/trails/index.htm

http://bikewashington.org/routes/all.htm

If any of you try some good ones let us know!

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Well, I'm thinking of going to Washington D.C. on October 11 (a Sunday) specifically to ride my electric unicycle. Who else is up for it? 

I live in Maryland by the way.

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@edwin_rm I'll join you. I stay in woodbridge Va. I'm always riding around my area but would love to ride in DC. Just name a place n time. I have a ninebot one e+

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@edwin_rm I'll join you. I stay in woodbridge Va. I'm always riding around my area but would love to ride in DC. Just name a place n time. I have a ninebot one e+

I plan to start from Union Station, ride past the Capitol, the mall, the memorial, got to tidal basin, maybe snack oysters at the fishermans warf, then possibly ride to city find a Starbucks to plug the EUC for 30 mins while sipping a coffee and deciding where to head to next. Departure time  still to be determined...

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So what do we have for tomorrow?

am I reading this thread wrong, 1 person?

It's sunday, not tomorrow. I was thinking we can meet at union station at 2pm at the main entrance were the taxis pick up passengers. I'm flexible on the hour, but not too early! 

Those joining me send me a private message for cell number.

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@richie 3 of us are riding this Sunday @2pm. We're meeting up at the union station if u wanna join. We have each others number and joined n a group chat. Up to u if u wanna join

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