How to learn unicycling ?

[schroed@sbcglobal.net]

Help! I bought a unicycle on a whim a couple of years ago, tried to ride it on my own and didn't get anywhere. Now the thing sits in my garage and mocks me.
I'm 56, in pretty good shape, and live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Any Ideas?

Thanks, Bill

[john_childs]

Here are some links to several tips & tutorials & guides that cover more than can be accomplished in a single post. The methods and techniques there will get you started in the right direction.

[Hazmat]

Refer to the links john_childs just sent as they're very useful in helping you with your problems.

[nubcake]

y'know, i'm mildly annoyed at you all in general. all of what i have read on how to unicycle is all fine and good, and telling people to just 'practice practice practice' and read the articles that all say virtually the same thing is all fine and good too, however, no one seems to get into the finer points of how to unicycle. perhaps you have all long-forgotten what it was like and the things you did wrong and right that got you to the point you are at now?

i'm a learner, and the problem with everything i have read is that nothing seems to touch on the WRONG things people do that upset the whole effort, despite doing everything else seemingly correct and doing all that are in the articles. it's often not obvious to someone what they ARE doing wrong as opposed to what they AREN'T doing correctly. practicing practicing practicing something unknowingly wrong until realising silly mistakes is such a painfully large amount of effort only to suddenly become enlightened when it needn't have come as such a surprise in the first place... if only someone had mentioned it beforehand.

i want to see more posts on the things people have done WRONG as opposed to what they aren't doing RIGHT. anyone can try to do all the things in the how-to articles but it's going to be a hard day on one wheel if the person is also trying to brush their teeth at the same time or put on a shirt... yes, silly examples.

i for one have only just noticed that while i'm trying to learn to idle i have been letting go of my support and moving that hand WAY TOO FAR away from it to try to be independent of it, and this has been drastically throwing my balance off and ruining my happy place. i hadn't even noticed i was doing this until just before. all i've had in my head the whole time were all the pointers on what to DO to be able to idle and ride etc and i was oblivious to my support arms actions.

something else that i've only seen mentioned once was that a person doesn't need to idle going only forward and backwards in a straight line. it's just too easy to see all the people who have mastered idling and riding having complete control and keeping things 'tight' and to then get it in your head that the correct way to do any of this is exactly as they do it which is without any side-ways deviations. trying to be so 'perfect' because you are trying to emulate someone who has mastered it can really ruin the whole learning curve and stunt your balance growth i would think.

so... we all have the links for what to do to successfully unicycle, but i think we need more pointers on the silly finer points of what NOT to do so as not to sabotage our efforts (more than just "sit on the seat"). maybe it's all just me and i'm just ranting.

anyways, apart from that little rant you guys all seem pretty cool, but i'm fairly sure that's a prerequisite to being able to ride on a unicycle anyways... so moot point. i've only had a dodgy 24" ebay uni for a couple of months. haven't progressed much. i'm focusing on idling atm for my own reasons, hence, the repeated mention of idling in this rant.

bye now.

[StaggerLee]

Originally Posted by nubcake

y'know, i'm mildly annoyed at you all in general. all of what i have read on how to unicycle is all fine and good, and telling people to just 'practice practice practice' and read the articles that all say virtually the same thing is all fine and good too, however, no one seems to get into the finer points of how to unicycle. perhaps you have all long-forgotten what it was like and the things you did wrong and right that got you to the point you are at now?

i'm a learner, and the problem with everything i have read is that nothing seems to touch on the WRONG things people do that upset the whole effort, despite doing everything else seemingly correct and doing all that are in the articles. it's often not obvious to someone what they ARE doing wrong as opposed to what they AREN'T doing correctly. practicing practicing practicing something unknowingly wrong until realising silly mistakes is such a painfully large amount of effort only to suddenly become enlightened when it needn't have come as such a surprise in the first place... if only someone had mentioned it beforehand.

i want to see more posts on the things people have done WRONG as opposed to what they aren't doing RIGHT. anyone can try to do all the things in the how-to articles but it's going to be a hard day on one wheel if the person is also trying to brush their teeth at the same time or put on a shirt... yes, silly examples.

i for one have only just noticed that while i'm trying to learn to idle i have been letting go of my support and moving that hand WAY TOO FAR away from it to try to be independent of it, and this has been drastically throwing my balance off and ruining my happy place. i hadn't even noticed i was doing this until just before. all i've had in my head the whole time were all the pointers on what to DO to be able to idle and ride etc and i was oblivious to my support arms actions.

something else that i've only seen mentioned once was that a person doesn't need to idle going only forward and backwards in a straight line. it's just too easy to see all the people who have mastered idling and riding having complete control and keeping things 'tight' and to then get it in your head that the correct way to do any of this is exactly as they do it which is without any side-ways deviations. trying to be so 'perfect' because you are trying to emulate someone who has mastered it can really ruin the whole learning curve and stunt your balance growth i would think.

so... we all have the links for what to do to successfully unicycle, but i think we need more pointers on the silly finer points of what NOT to do so as not to sabotage our efforts (more than just "sit on the seat"). maybe it's all just me and i'm just ranting.

anyways, apart from that little rant you guys all seem pretty cool, but i'm fairly sure that's a prerequisite to being able to ride on a unicycle anyways... so moot point. i've only had a dodgy 24" ebay uni for a couple of months. haven't progressed much. i'm focusing on idling atm for my own reasons, hence, the repeated mention of idling in this rant.

bye now.

what else is to be said that hasn't already been said....... your muscles need to learn what to do (muscle memory) and they only learn that from doing and doing and doing. so sit on the seat, lean forwards, pedal and practice

[nubcake]

like i mentioned... what about those key little things that just mess it all up without you realising. and like i mentioned it'd be good to hear about those things that others have done wrong so that us less experienced can learn from your mistakes, instead of the current methodology of learning from your success.

eventually most of us will get there in the end, but how about giving a heads-up on the paths that weren't so productive that we may not realise we are doing.

i guess it's like trying to explain to someone how to write with a pen... stick pen in between thumb and finger, place pen-tip on paper, write. well, how about those of you who were using your whole arm to write and finally realised to base your hand and just use your wrist to precisely move the pen? things like this that some people might not think of and which fall outside of the given formula!

surely i'm not the only nubcake who has discovered something stupid they were doing that they hadn't initially realised??? surely? anyone?..... anyone????? ok, maybe it IS just me then :S

[Jerrick]

Originally Posted by nubcake

y'know, i'm mildly annoyed at you all in general. all of what i have read on how to unicycle is all fine and good, and telling people to just 'practice practice practice' and read the articles that all say virtually the same thing is all fine and good too, however, no one seems to get into the finer points of how to unicycle. perhaps you have all long-forgotten what it was like and the things you did wrong and right that got you to the point you are at now?

We didn't forget. We never forget the first moments of learning, when we could pedal once, twice, and forever.

Thing is, all the simple things posted over and over are all it takes.

Most weight on the seat, some on the pedals. Sit straight, look forward, pedal, swing arms for balance.

That's really all there is to it. There isn't a secret like, stick you left hand forward, flex your abs, and tilt head to the right and you learn faster. Its all trials and error. And even that depends on who you are.

[nubcake]

fine then. it still feels like y'all just want us noobs to suffer this rite of passage while holding the inner-secrets to yourselves and idly grinning :P

oh, and it's the 'trial and error' that you speak of that i was thinking would help us poor fools (learn from your mistakes, not your success). anyways, how bout that weather, huh!

[Tomahawk]

Originally Posted by nubcake

y'know, i'm mildly annoyed at you all in general. all of what i have read on how to unicycle is all fine and good, and telling people to just 'practice practice practice' and read the articles that all say virtually the same thing is all fine and good too, however, no one seems to get into the finer points of how to unicycle. perhaps you have all long-forgotten what it was like and the things you did wrong and right that got you to the point you are at now?

i'm a learner, and the problem with everything i have read is that nothing seems to touch on the WRONG things people do that upset the whole effort, despite doing everything else seemingly correct and doing all that are in the articles. it's often not obvious to someone what they ARE doing wrong as opposed to what they AREN'T doing correctly. practicing practicing practicing something unknowingly wrong until realising silly mistakes is such a painfully large amount of effort only to suddenly become enlightened when it needn't have come as such a surprise in the first place... if only someone had mentioned it beforehand.

i want to see more posts on the things people have done WRONG as opposed to what they aren't doing RIGHT. anyone can try to do all the things in the how-to articles but it's going to be a hard day on one wheel if the person is also trying to brush their teeth at the same time or put on a shirt... yes, silly examples.

i for one have only just noticed that while i'm trying to learn to idle i have been letting go of my support and moving that hand WAY TOO FAR away from it to try to be independent of it, and this has been drastically throwing my balance off and ruining my happy place. i hadn't even noticed i was doing this until just before. all i've had in my head the whole time were all the pointers on what to DO to be able to idle and ride etc and i was oblivious to my support arms actions.

something else that i've only seen mentioned once was that a person doesn't need to idle going only forward and backwards in a straight line. it's just too easy to see all the people who have mastered idling and riding having complete control and keeping things 'tight' and to then get it in your head that the correct way to do any of this is exactly as they do it which is without any side-ways deviations. trying to be so 'perfect' because you are trying to emulate someone who has mastered it can really ruin the whole learning curve and stunt your balance growth i would think.

so... we all have the links for what to do to successfully unicycle, but i think we need more pointers on the silly finer points of what NOT to do so as not to sabotage our efforts (more than just "sit on the seat"). maybe it's all just me and i'm just ranting.

anyways, apart from that little rant you guys all seem pretty cool, but i'm fairly sure that's a prerequisite to being able to ride on a unicycle anyways... so moot point. i've only had a dodgy 24" ebay uni for a couple of months. haven't progressed much. i'm focusing on idling atm for my own reasons, hence, the repeated mention of idling in this rant.

bye now.

Stop being a panzee and just sit on the damn thing and pedal. You're supposed to put forth a lot of effort.

[nubcake]

wow suddenly i feel energized and confident as hell after that.

I DO (/ did. distracted with other forms of entertainment atm)! but there's no point doing all the right things, but also doing something extra that thwarts all your efforts and you don't realise it; hence my question.

so in not being a pansy (notice the spelling. you're welcome) does that mean i shouldn't wear my dress when i ride?

[john_childs]

I learned to ride back before the Internet. I didn't know of any local unicycling clubs or local riders. I just got a unicycle and said I'm going to learn to ride it. I had no instruction and no knowledge of any proper way to learn to ride. I just experimented with trial and error. I tried some things that didn't work well at all (like stretching a rope across the garage to use as a support). Through all the mistakes and lack of knowledge I did learn to ride. There is nothing magic. You just gotta put in the time and the practice.

With the Internet it is now trivial to find instructions and tips for learning.

If you're stuck somewhere with no access to other local riders then you can improvise by doing things like video taping a practice session and your riding. Experienced riders can look at the video and tell you what you may be doing wrong or give you suggestions on what to work on.

[hungry4uni@unicyclist.com]

hey bill, i started learning at 11.
heres what to do.


1. take hold of a mailbox or stop sign.
2. mount
3. ride as far as you can
4. repeat 1-3 one million times.

that's what i did and it took me two days

[Hazmat]

Originally Posted by hungry4uni@unicyclist.com

hey bill, i started learning at 11.
heres what to do.


1. take hold of a mailbox or stop sign.
2. mount
3. ride as far as you can
4. repeat 1-3 one million times.

that's what i did and it took me two days

I held onto the side of a tennis court fence and when i was confident enough, i would do No2 - 4 alot as well.

[hungry4uni]

most of all unicycling is just building up the courage

[hungry4uni]

If the other 101 posts don't help, just remember,

lean forward, pedal to the speed where your not having the fall-forward sensation and soon, it will become second nature.