mounting my 6 ft. uni.

[Amy Weissman]

Hello fellow unicyclers. I am trying to mount and ride my 6 foot and I am
having trouble. Is it helpful to tilt the seat so it goes under the crotch
easier when freemounting? I found it helpful.


I am very afraid of hurting myself while mounting the unicycle so I am
going to a gymnastics studio where they tie a safety belt around me and
when I begin to fall he pulls on the belt so I land in a soft way. The belt
is tyed to ropes. So far I have had 4 half hour sessions and I got on it
only 3 times and road for a little while. All 3 times were in the last half
hour session.


It seems to me I have to be perfectly balanced going up. I can't adjust while
mounting or I fall off. If I am tilted slightly to any side I fall. Also it
seems that while climbing it I have to lean forward quite a bit to balance
enough to climb up it. Sometimes my toes gets caught between the top of the
wheel and the fr

as I climb up the unicycle and that hurts a lot. Other times I have gotten up
on the unicycle and once up the peddels wouldn't move. It was a very weird
feeling. Maybe it is because of the lack of air in the tires and the soft
gymnastics mat under the unicycle.

Also, I bought a used Jeff Napier home made unicycle and it is warped. If I
try to idle with my right foot down the chain is very loose and has about an
inch of play. If I move the pedle 180 degrees the chain has no play and is
tight. I may have to get a new unicycle.

Also I find that I must be very smooth while mounting. If I land on pedal hard
the whole unicycle tilts in that direction.

Please send me any comments or suggestions or words of encouragement.

Thanks in advance, AMY

[cwilson@snarf.engr.sgi.com]

> I am very afraid of hurting myself while mounting the unicycle so I am
> going to a gymnastics studio where they tie a safety belt around me and
> when I begin to fall he pulls on the belt so I land in a soft way. The

HmMMm. Wouldn't have thought of that. A couple things strike me, thou. If you
rely on props to catch your fall when you're learning, how are you going to know
how to fall correctly without the props? Also, as you mention later, the soft
gym mat underneath the tire is going to hinder your initial (and most important)
balance attempts once you do get up.

> It seems to me I have to be perfectly balanced going up. I can't adjust
> while mounting or I fall off. If I am tilted slightly to any side I fall.
> Also it seems that while climbing it I have to lean forward quite a bit

Yup, that's the way I've tried it. You have to lean the uni a fair bit forward,
say 15 degrees, because as you climb up, you're going to be pulling the uni
underneath you.

Something that took awhile to learn, and that seems to be a key factor -- the
freemount *must* be quick. From floor to seat should be within a second.
Anything slower and you're stuck inbetween, with one foot on the pedal, another
in the air, and trying to balance.

Also, make sure that the down pedal is a bit forward, so that when you step in
the pedal it will cause the uni to roll underneath you a bit as you are
climbing up.

As usual, practice, practice, practice. I've managed to mount my 6' only about 6
times out of the 50+ times I've tried. My biggest problem is getting the seat
cover wedged underneath me and hindering my 'sit' on the seat.

--Chan

[Amy Weissman]

Hi Chan and fellow unicyclers,

Chan told me that when freemounting the 6 foot unicycle you need to put the
pedal bit forward so the unicycle goes underneath you when you mount it.
What exactly does forward mean? Is the pedal rotated towards you or away
from you when mounting it? Does the tire move towards you or away from you
when you mount?

Thanks in advance, Amy

[Funicycle]

Get up it quick :D

[mattwood22]

Get up it quick :D

from my experiance i would agree with this. i would also say do it as smoothly as you can and its sometimes easier to start to idle and get your balance before you get the seat properly in.

if it was possible i would recomend trying to mount on a solid surface. if u cannot move the soft base you are currently using, why not trying to put something harder ontop? this way it will still hurt less if the person holding the rope drops you

hope thsi helps,
Matt

[johnfoss]

Do you guys realize you're sending advice to someone in 1993? :)

[Beener]

Wow, thanks John. I almost was going to respond to this with some advice, as I find it terribly funny that there are this many threads about mounting giraffes. It really isn't that difficult really and I can't understand why someone would have bought one with out first giving some thought to how they were going to mount it.
There has been a number of "Hey, I just got my brand new Giraffe and I can't mount it threads."

[mattwood22]

haha no i dint i jst asumed it was new! thanks tho John!!

[Chris.James]

Do you guys realize you're sending advice to someone in 1993? :)
I think their flux capacitor took them back to the wrong year.