Hi everyone,
My name is Ralph, 31 y/o and I'm from a quaint little (ok, maybe not so little) town up in the north of the Netherlands called Heerenveen.
Whie I'm not new to bocking, I still have a long way to go. I purchased a pair of Skyrunners in April last year, but I have to say the site I bought them from was a bit lacking in extra information about how to properly set them up etc. And then there is the kneebar and the bindings are rubbish. But I learned a lot of the basics and, what I've come to see as the best lesson: sometimes it's better to fall than to struggle to remain on your feet (well: hooves, I guess in this case.)
That lesson I learned the hard way: I injured my left knee in the first few weeks on the skyrunners, but kept trying. My left knee wasn't happy about that. So I decided to give my knee a rest, went on a short holiday in May and then life got in the way, and up until earlier this year, never bocked again.
I had some mods done to the bindings on the Skyrunners and while they proved semi succesful, the kneebar still annoyed me. No matter what I tried, the bugger still left my calves/knees wabbling all over the place.
I did notice, however, even when just trying to walk normally on my skyrunners, I started bouncing. No wonder really: when I bought them, I was arround 77 kg and the stilts are rated 70kg-90kg (on the stilts is a very nice 80 scribbled). so fast forward to now, and I'm arround 87 kg (+/- 10 kg in a year? I blame my age
).
While looking for possible mods I could make, I came across this forum and pro-jump.co.uk . The Pro-jump EXO CZ90's looked great, and while out of stock, they informed they could swap a spring and cobble a pair together. So I ordered that, and in after thought, ordered a pair of knee cuffs with the EXO's.
So since Tuesday I'm the proud owner of a pair of Pro-jump EXO CZ90 stilts. The calf cuff is great! Though I already have thought of one or two mods to make it even better.
But I have a problem: my left bock has a tendancy to land too much on the outer side of it's hoof. Is there any good way to set up the calf cuffs and or any other modification to counter this?
I had this tendancy on the skyrunners, too, and this may or may not have to do with why some might call me an insane bocker: I survived a close encounter between a van at +/- 80 km/h and me crossing the road on a bike in 1998. Resulting in a few weeks coma, maybe some light fractures and some permanent brain damage.
I got of lucky: walking down a street, you wouldn't notice it. It's just that some things take a bit more effort to do and to learn and master.
Regards from the NL,
Ralph / Raephen / possibly insane bocker?
---
Quoth the Raephen: Nevermore.