Easy tricks

[Damion Yates]

I have a few suggestions for easy tricks, and would like some help in finding
other tricks from the stage I'm at at the moment, I'm trying one footed
backwards but I think I should learn a few more easy mounts first?

Spinning: Once you can ride along, and possibly control the direction your in
you might attempt spinning off objects along your side, the good points about
this trick are that it can look really stunning, dispite being piss easy, you
don't need to be able to rock (hover, idle), just go along, with confedence, so
this isn't to be learnt JUST after you can cross a room. How to do it? Um ride
along aiming at something like a post, a lamp post will do, as you are just
passing it, (just after the middle of your wheel passes the plane of the post)
reach back and hold the post, then as soon as your feet are next parallel (or
immediatly if your lucky) lock the wheel (as best you can like when resting by a
wall) and use a little arm power but mostly forward momentum to rotate you by
360degrees... This trick is easy to do, and yet takes loads of attempts before
you find a speed of spin and of starting forward motion before you feel
comfortable with it. A common problem is over spinning.

Motorbike-emulation: Put an empty Coke Can (sounds crap with bloody pepsi) in
front of you (far enough for you to be riding fastish and smoothly) ride over it
and voila! Ride around showing off, good for a laugh, takes little skill (aiming
is one of the hard parts though if your JUST learning) and the when the joke
wares off you have to take the can off, and can't use it again. Rocking is "fun"
when doing this :-)

Doing-things-on-the-unicycle: This is hardly a trick, but the more things you
can do for a laugh the better it can look, and can be useful too, changing a top
or eating, for example.

Suiside-mount: I tend to spend nearly a minute balancing the unicycle, getting
both pedals level and making sure I can let go of the unicycle without it
toppaling over to quickly. To do it, balance the uni.. upright with pedals and
cracks at the horizontal level. Let go of the entire thing, then just jump on to
it, you don't need to be able to rock, or even mount, you could use it as your
first mount :-)

These are all easy tricks that don't need much ability, remember to try and
keep your weight on the saddle, as all learners forget this and get tired and
wobble loads.

OH and another easy trick, is riding a 5-6' one, this is REALLY easy and I would
seriously recomend using it to learn to rock, on, it's how I learnt, in fact
everything yuo do is easyer, even falling off hurts less (maybe more for >5')
and you easily know when your comming off and always have time to get your feet
ready. A big draw back is how increadably hard it is to get on :-((((((

As for me, I can ride one footed (both) and have ridden for 2 years, smoothly I
lack smooth surfices or even any areas of land in Sheffield where there isn't a
level surface let alone smooth concrete or polished floors *ahhh*

Any ideas for tricks? I really ought to learn loads more mounts. So that would
be a good start.

--
Damion Yates - Sheffield Uni, UK. http://www.bath.ac.uk/~exxdmy/unicycle

[Bill Gilbertson]

> Suiside-mount: I tend to spend nearly a minute balancing the unicycle, getting
> both pedals level and making sure I can let go of the unicycle without it
> toppaling over to quickly. To do it, balance the uni.. upright with pedals and
> cracks at the horizontal level. Let go of the entire thing, then just jump on
> to it, you don't need to be able to rock, or even mount, you could use it as
> your first mount :-)
>
This is one of my favorite mounts also. I often use it in a performance or a
parade immediately after botching a skill. (I put my forearm to my forehead and
feign embarrassment.) Then, I ask the audience, "You don't want to see me do a
suicide mount do you." To which one of my clubmates chimes in, "Don't do it,
remember last time." Of course the audience is cheering me on by this point. It
only takes me a few seconds to balance the unicycle. The trick here is to have
it fall backward in a predictable direction, and not try to have it balance
perfectly. After mounting I feign pain (you know where) and ride in a circle for
all to see. Then I ride seat in front in a circle with a big smile of relief.
It's a great effect and always gets a crowd reaction.

The only disadvantage of letting the uni fall backward slowly is occasionally I
hit my private part on the back of the seat while I am going up. Then I don't
have to feign pain.

I have see others miss both pedals on a landing which needless to say is not
comfortable.

Several hints for learning jump mounts:
- Stand close enough to the uni. Most people stand too far back.
- Jump high. You need to to get high enough so that the inverted V between your
legs easily allows you to clear the seat. I have a picture of me doing this
that show my feet at the same height as the top of the wheel. It's a great
picture as it looks like I am hopping on the wheel freehanded which I can't
quite do yet.

Bill Gilbertson Twin City Unicycle Club