Minor breakthrough unicycling up hills

[MaxfieldD@aol.com]

I live a couple of miles from about 4 miles of nice single track through the
"Grand Forest". It isn't extreme, but it is very "up and down." The "Up's" have
always given me trouble, but today I had a bit of a breakthrough.

I've holding onto the front of my seat as I ascent--using the seat to keep my
wheel straight and to give me force. But today I discovered that I wasn't using
the force correctly. I was pulling up on the seat in a way that weighted the
downward moving (forward) pedal, but I wasn't weighting the back pedal.

Of course on a unicycle it is just as important to have weight on the rising
pedal as it is on the descending pedal--even when going up hill. When I focused
on keeping the force balanced on each foot, I found going uphill much more
successful.

Give it a try. Use the force, but keep it balanced.

David Maxfield Bainbridge Island, WA

[Joe Mayers]

<It isn't extreme, but it is very "up and down." The "Up's"
>using the seat to keep my wheel straight and to give me force.

The Force Luke, use the Force.

[Foss, JohnX]

> using the force correctly. I was pulling up on the seat in a way that weighted
> the downward moving (forward) pedal, but I wasn't weighting the back pedal.
>
> Of course on a unicycle it is just as important to have weight on the rising
> pedal as it is on the descending pedal--even when going up hill. When I
> focused on keeping the force balanced on each foot, I found going uphill much
> more successful.

This was probably a matter of having a smooth pedal stroke. If a hill is really
steep and you give too much power when you push down, the tire can break loose
and you'll lose your traction (and dismount). It's relatively impossible to
apply the same amount of power through the entire rotation of the wheel, but
when you apply power it can't be too sudden, and you have to leave enough each
time to get you through that dead spot at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

Stay on top,

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone http://www.unicycling.com (http://www.unicycling.com/)