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Oliver,
Hallo.
Thanks for your helpful response.
I'll take your advice and drop Google Translate. I suspected the translations would be awful, but I thought it would be arrogant to jump in there with English messages written to Germans.
As to kunstradfahren, I'm sad to hear that no one in the UK is doing it. Still, I will soldier on 'til I find some receptive clubs in Germany or Switzerland. Of course I'm not going over there to join them, but if I ask nicely, I can't imagine they would decline to at least tell me where to find a used kunstrad. I just want to find a used bike and experiment with some basic moves. You're right; I've missed my window of opportunity to be an expert, but even beginning to crack some of those tricks would be gnarly!
Thanks for the link to your club in Mainz/Finthen. Look at the kunstradfahren group! They're all of ten years old! My goodness! As you say, they start early and remain committed, not unlike gymnasts I guess. It's far more rare in the U.S. to meet children who are that disciplined. In Asia, sure.
Lastly, are you riding a kunstrad at all these days? Is that what you focused on in your club? If you're not riding a kunstrad any longer, what do you like to ride instead? Do you ride a fixed road bike and bring your kunstradfahren to the street?
Danke!
-Jason
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user61823
Did you find this thread?
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/139131/
As far as I know, there aren't any artistic cycling clubs in the UK.
If you want to get into it, you need to move to a place where there's a club that practises it. You won't be able to do it on your own, and least of all from a distance. Also, as I think you know, you won't be able to get up to the standard of those who've practised it from early childhood. Having said that, if you're a natural acrobat, you can still have huge fun.
I'm from Mainz, Germany, which has had quite a few world champions over the years (although I think some of them have been from villages just outside the city boundaries). While this is one of the main places where the sport is practised, it is still a very small scene run by dedicated amateurs, and they will be wary of engaging with you unless you show the sort of commitment that they can trust. They have built up an expertise and understanding over the course of probably about 100 years that can't simply be replicated elsewhere. However, if you spent a few years there, you might be able to return to Minneapolis and start to build up your own club there, who knows?
This is the web-site of the club where I grew up:
http://www.rv-finthen.de/
As you can see, the current women's doubles world champions, Julia and Nadja Thürmer, are from Finthen.
I'm afraid I don't have a clue about how to get a good Kunstrad.
Also, it's extremely unlikely that you'll get any response on a German forum with a Google Translated post--it is absolutely rubbish and will have produced completely nonsensical gobbledygook. Never, ever use it.
German has a reputation of being hard to learn, but it merely has a higher initial difficulty. Once you've mastered the basics, it becomes much easier to learn than English. Naturally, I'd say it's worth it.
Good luck with finding a way!