First mount learned helps\hinders development of other skills?

[roberts]

When I learned to unicycle, I learned a reverse free mount first, without using any support, and only ever tried riding forwards off a successful free-mount.

My friend learned a forward mount without the half turn backwards (i.e. mount and continue forwards), and concentrated a little more on riding forwards from a supported mount before he could free mount consistently.

Now that we have 7 months experience we are about an untested level 3.5, but I tend to find things like idling and going backwards easier than my mate. I put this down to the fact that right from the beginning I had to develop my stationary balance and changing direction far more than my mate, who's focus was on moving forwards.

So, I have two questions:

1) What was your first mount? Forwards and continue forwards, or reverse \ forwards with half turn backwards, and do you feel this helped or impeded your progress onto idling \ going backwards. I would be interested to hear comparisons made with friends who learned different mounts.

2) I can ride backwards in a figure of eight, which is a level 6 skill, but my general level is 3.5ish. The skill levels seem to place riding backwards at a far higher level than I would expect. At the moment I could only dream of being able to ride one footed in a figure eight (level 5). Anyone else agree, or do I just have ok backwards skill and poor everything else ?

[onewheeljoe]

My experience was pretty similar to yours...I learned with a half rev backward and consequently was able to idle and ride backwards much quicker than a friend who mounted riding forward only. I've subsequently had to learn forward-only mounting because the half revolution backwards is pretty useless for muni.

[ctunicyclestar]

i learned to mount like u did but i found and my coach told me that the way i was mounting wasnt correct and i was told to mount with the pedals even and when u get on they shouldnt move and that way u can go anyway u want with out extra work and your unicycle doesnt move when u mount so u cant fall off something if u are trying to mount on a box or something like that. good luck learnign 1 foot, it comes if u work at it, it took me 4 years to learn wheel walk but i just figured out how a few days ago, stick with it and u will learn.

What you call the "reverse free mount", or "half rev backward", is
more generally known as "rollback mount". The other mount where the
wheel does NOT roll back, is called "static mount". Note, BTW, that
these two mounts are both regarded as variations of the "basic"
freemount, and hence don't count as different mounts in terms of the
IUF levels.

Yes, the rollback mount is certainly related to idling. My experience
was the other way round as roberts's. Initially I learned the static
freemount - and found it quite difficult. Once I could idle somewhat
consistently, I found that the rollback mount was far easier (than
before, and than the static mount). Now I can do them both, but tend
to reserve the rollback mount for smaller wheels, and the static mount
for larger wheels. In concert, perhaps, with my observation that
idling is easier on a smaller wheel.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
I like the idea of not having to balance when out on a ride - joe

klaasbil_remove_the_spamkiller_@xs4all.nl (Klaas Bil) writes:

> What you call the "reverse free mount", or "half rev backward"

AHA! I was wondering about learning a reverse mount (uni behind
rider) first.

As to whether rolling back in a standard mount helps, I kind of doubt
it. The side mount feels closer to idling than a standard rollback
mount, and even though I had a decent side mount at the time, learning
to idle was a major challenge for me.

Even so, I would recommend learning the side mount first. Unless you
have an entry level uni with a steel rim that might buckle under the
stress.

Ken

[johnfoss]

Originally posted by roberts
The skill levels seem to place riding backwards at a far higher level than I would expect. At the moment I could only dream of being able to ride one footed in a figure eight (level 5). Anyone else agree, or do I just have ok backwards skill and poor everything else ?

Sounds like you have a lot of practice time in on backwards and not much on some of those other skills. Of course you're better at backwards. It's hard to be objective on those things though, because even the way you learned to ride can influence the way you learn tricks later on.

Some skills come easy and others are a pain to learn, but which ones vary by rider. The skill levels are based on what is believed to be a median of all this, based on experience with large numbers of riders. But the end product is not very scientific, just what has worked over the years, with adjustments made based on where riders typically got stuck.

For example, the rollback mount is probably the most "educational" version of the basic mount. Surely a mount that involves idling-type skills is going to be "better" for you than the static mount, which is generally harder to learn, or the "dead spot mount," which most people seem unable to avoid when trying to learn either of the others. Learning a solid rollback mount has made you better prepared for idling and backward skills.

[unicyclistjoe]

the same thing applies to my friend Pete and I. we both learnt to ride around the same time, but i learnt reverse and he learnt the straight-to-riding one. now i find that on the skinnies we do, he has easier starts, because i have to idle up first. im learning to do it his way but its hard. then again, i tend to do skinnies that he cant watch me do, so is it really such a bad thing?

[pete66]

I'm not even sure if I've ever tried a rollback mount! But yeah, it's a laugh to watch Joe mounting on skinnies with a rollback, it makes a fall to his peril look that much more likely.

I think that ultimately you want to be able to (static) mount directly into a good stillstand.

[johnfoss]

Once you've learned how to ride, the static mount is generally the most useful. Also the fastest. But if you started off with a rollback, it means you've already got a foundation of backward and balancing that other beginners don't get.

roberts Wrote:
> When I learned to unicycle, I learned a reverse free mount first,
> without using any support, and only ever tried riding forwards off a
> successful free-mount.
>
> My friend learned a forward mount without the half turn backwards (i.e.
> mount and continue forwards), and concentrated a little more on riding
> forwards from a supported mount before he could free mount
> consistently.
>
> Now that we have 7 months experience we are about an untested level
> 3.5,
> but I tend to find things like idling and going backwards easier than
> my
> mate. I put this down to the fact that right from the beginning I had
> to develop my stationary balance and changing direction far more than
> my
> mate, who's focus was on moving forwards.
>
> So, I have two questions:
>
> 1) What was your first mount? Forwards and continue forwards, or
> reverse \ forwards with half turn backwards, and do you feel this
> helped
> or impeded your progress onto idling \ going backwards. I would be
> interested to hear comparisons made with friends who learned different
> mounts.
>
> 2) I can ride backwards in a figure of eight, which is a level 6
> skill,
> but my general level is 3.5ish. The skill levels seem to place riding
> backwards at a far higher level than I would expect. At the moment I
> could only dream of being able to ride one footed in a figure eight
> (level 5). Anyone else agree, or do I just have ok backwards skill and
> poor everything else ?
>
>
> --
> roberts
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> roberts's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/7071
> View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/34555
If I stand behind the uni with peddles at 9+3 instead of my normal
dead spot 5+11freemount I would have to jump like a kangaroo to get
up.I was told in another thread to not weight the peddle so much and
let the momentum carry me up.How does a 48yr. old jump so high without
relying on the peddle to get me up?


--
cheechee

[johnfoss]

Originally posted by cheechee
How does a 48yr. old jump so high without
relying on the peddle to get me up?

Sounds like you are pretty short, or your wheel is pretty big. It does not take much effort to static-mount a 24" wheel, *once you figure out the technique*.

What hasn't been mentioned above is that the static mount is hard to learn because it's really hard for new riders to keep the wheel out of the dead spot when they mount. I think this mount is easier to learn after you've got the basic riding down. I encourage you to work on the rollback mount. Start at the 9 - 3 position, push the pedal down, but keep the wheel rolling back until you've got your foot on the top pedal and pulled it back to around 3 - 9. If you master this, you'll find it almost impossible not to ride away.

cheechee <cheechee.1b55jy@no-mx.forums.cyclingforums.com> writes:

> If I stand behind the uni with peddles at 9+3 instead of my normal
> dead spot 5+11freemount I would have to jump like a kangaroo to get
> up.I was told in another thread to not weight the peddle so much and
> let the momentum carry me up.How does a 48yr. old jump so high without
> relying on the peddle to get me up?

A little forward push of the unicycle before you weight the pedals can
help keep you from bottoming out. You still have to jump a little,
but the motion provides some momentum to work against as you step up.
I've also been putting weight on the handle of the saddle recently. I
find it help a sore knee, but I suyspect it may be harder to
coordinate while learning.

Ken

[Major Clanger]

Originally posted by roberts
My friend learned a forward mount without the half turn backwards (i.e. mount and continue forwards), and concentrated a little more on riding forwards from a supported mount before he could free mount consistently.

I went backwards as well, in fact I found the static mount ideal for setting off backwards, if you remember I used it for most of the winter as I treid to do a length of the underground car park. I also found it ideal for setting of on steep slopes, however, you finally convinced me that the rollback mount was superior and I now use it most of the time.

Originally posted by roberts
Now that we have 7 months experience we are about an untested level 3.5, but I tend to find things like idling and going backwards easier than my mate. I put this down to the fact that right from the beginning I had to develop my stationary balance and changing direction far more than my mate, who's focus was on moving forwards.

I am not sure this has anything to do with the respective ways we learnt to mount, I think it has more to do with you being a flash git

Where does B***** T*********** fit on the unicycle skill levels, or would you rather I didn't mention that.

[roberts]

Originally posted by johnfoss
Sounds like you have a lot of practice time in on backwards and not much on some of those other skills. Of course you're better at backwards.

Originally posted by Major Clanger

I went backwards as well, in fact I found the static mount ideal for setting off backwards, if you remember I used it for most of the winter as I treid to do a length of the underground car park.

This is my point, I DIDN'T spend a lot of time practicing going backwards, once I had the rolling mount down, going backwards was more a case of bottle than balance.

Originally posted by Major Clanger

I also found it ideal for setting of on steep slopes, however, you finally convinced me that the rollback mount was superior and I now use it most of the time.

I now don't think it is superior altogether, but DO think it is a superior mount to start with. Judging by the comments on this thread, I would encourage anyone just starting to unicycle to spend the time learning a rollback mount before they worry about actually achieving distance. This will enable them to pick up the earlier skills like idling and going backwards more easily. Once someone is at the stage of muni on steeper slopes, or attempting trials, then the static mount becomes necessary.

Originally posted by Major Clanger

Where does B***** T*********** fit on the unicycle skill levels, or would you rather I didn't mention that.

I'll save that till I get some footage

[rob.northcott]

I spent quite a time trying to master the "rollback" mount, as that is the one suggested in the book I had (Charlie Dancey's "how to ride your unicycle", or whatever it's called). I found it extremely hard, and decided to give the static mount a go, which I can pull off reliably after only an hour or so of practice (right-footed only at the moment - if I try with the left I go straight on my face).

I can't idle yet, so perhaps the rollback mount will be easier once I've got idling mastered.

BTW, I'm surprised they don't count as different mounts - certainly FEEL very different to me.

Rob