Turning old habits

Greetings all

After NUC I realized that the smooth and sharp radius of the turns
demonstrated, were much better than my jerky, twisting motion. The problem
is that those Chuby Checker renditions have become a habit after two years
at the wheel.

Any help on breaking the twist?

Joe

Get a "tid-bits" book from the USA It has great tips on how to do a lot of
skills - including turns.

Dirk

-----Original Message----- From: Joe West [mailto:west.12@osu.edu] Sent:
Saturday, August 11, 2001 7:49 PM To: Subject: Turning old habits

Greetings all

After NUC I realized that the smooth and sharp radius of the turns
demonstrated, were much better than my jerky, twisting motion. The problem
is that those Chuby Checker renditions have become a habit after two years
at the wheel.

Any help on breaking the twist?

Joe

[color=blue]> twisting motion. The problem is that those Chuby Checker renditions have[/color]
[color=blue]> become a habit after two years at the wheel.[/color]
[color=blue]>[/color]
[color=blue]> Any help on breaking the twist?[/color]

Don't do it. Practice turns with smooth pedaling only, and don't use your
upper body. Cross your arms tightly to your body, or stick your hands in
your back pockets to isolate them. You can twist your shoulders to the
left or right, but no sudden moves.

Then practice leaning into the turns. Avoid any jerky motions, letting
yourself dismount instead. This will help motivate you toward riding
through a smooth turn. Lots of repitition. The key is in finding a smooth
pedal stroke, without extraneous upper body movement.

You can also practice turning with no upper body movement at all. Do it
all from the waist down. This will force you to lean, but is probably
harder than the above.

Also practice spins. This means riding around and around in small
circles. Start at about 6-10' in diameter. Just keep going around and
around, trying to make it smooth. Stop before passing out. Don't
forget to practice in both directions. Again you're looking to smooth
out the pedaling so there are no stops or sudden turns. The tire
should make a steady grinding sound against the pavement (time to save
up for a new one).

Then if you can figure out how to do all that without getting dizzy,
please let me know... :-)

Stay on top, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone (who still gets dizzy)
jfoss@unicycling.com www.unicycling.com

"We're fat...and old...and bald!" -- Ken Krakat, on seeing me for the
first time in over 10 years, along with other former Redford unicyclist
Hans Mills