frustrated!!!!!!

[1wheelwonder]

i am getting ssooooooo frustrated, I have been riding unicycles for 5 months and am getting no where! All I have achived is 62m riding, ideling for 5 secs and unseccessfully hopping. I think my major set down is I have no confidence! Mum says i'm my own worst enemy......

Any help would be much appreciated!

[Rowan]

Originally Posted by 1wheelwonder

i am getting ssooooooo frustrated, I have been riding unicycles for 5 months and am getting no where! All I have achived is 62m riding, ideling for 5 secs and unseccessfully hopping. I think my major set down is I have no confidence! Mum says i'm my own worst enemy......

Any help would be much appreciated!

Perhaps you are your own worst enemy... Are your legs tired on the short distances that you ride? If so then maybe you are fighting against yourself and putting too much weight on the pedals. That may not be the case but try riding with most of your weight on the seat.

62m is a significant distance for riding, did you not feel like you were getting the hang of it for a bit? Watching other riders might help...I dunno.

[catinabag1]

Take a break from riding for a little bit. That I usually do better after a small break when I've been riding a lot. (Holy crap I actually capitalized in the forums! Cookie please.)

[Mikefule]

If you can ride 62 metres, you can ride twice as far, or ten times as far. In 62 metres, you have maintained your balance and corrected so many times. You are riding.

I think the clue is that you know it is 62 metres. Not 61, and not 63. Not "about 50" or "nearly 100".

The problem is that you are building it up as something big and difficult in your own head.

Ride in a different place, or a different direction to break the thought habits.

Try riding in big circles, or over a small obstacle, or between cones or something like that: anything to take your mind off the distance.

Then when you go back to riding the distance, you will find that it just happens.

Keep your weight on the saddle, and look a long way ahead as you're riding.

[lunicycle]

Originally Posted by 1wheelwonder

i am getting ssooooooo frustrated, I have been riding unicycles for 5 months and am getting no where! All I have achived is 62m riding, ideling for 5 secs and unseccessfully hopping. I think my major set down is I have no confidence! Mum says i'm my own worst enemy......

Any help would be much appreciated!

What size unicycle have you been riding, with what length cranks? it could be there is a better combination suited for you, and your current one is making things harder than need be.

How often are you riding? if you're not riding every day, try riding everyday, 30mins-1hour. Or try doing a couple of shorter sessions each day.

Don't get too caught up in the numbers of riding X meters, etc. I go back to goofing around whenever I'm having trouble with something, helps relax!

Have you worked on your weaker side? I've often found I improve most/quickest when I spend time working on my weaker side, with whatever the skill is. That's one really cool and challenging thing about unicycling imo - you've got to make sure your weak side doesn't lag too far behind.

[StephenH]

For riding "long" distances (longer than 62 m), what works for me:
-Riding someplace where it's smooth, like a street, as opposed to a sidewalk or grass or something. While learning, the least little bump could throw me off.
-Starting out, I needed the seat higher- so that my leg was almost straight on the downstroke. Now it's not so critical, and you don't want it like that for doing tricks and stuff, but it helped me in just riding.
-Flail the arms about. This may be instinctive, but sometimes I'd catch myself riding with my arms more or less at my sides. I can do that okay now, but it does help to balance to keep arms up and out to sides or front.
-Weight on the pedals- as I got better, I got where I could gradually relax and apply less weight on the pedals. But, to go over bumps and stuff, I need to apply more pedal force (to both pedals) for better control. If your legs are getting tired, work on relaxing them as you go. If you're falling off at bumps, working on keeping pressure on both legs when you hit the bump.
-I don't see how the choice of unicyles could make much difference unless something is just obviously wrong with one. But some people have posted that they had old crappy unicycles and got new ones and all the sudden their problems were solved. If you have a modern decent unicyle, a different one probably won't help much. If you have an old crappy one, see if you can borrow a better one and see if that makes any difference.
-When I got to where I could put less pressure on the pedals, it also let me adjust my foot position while riding, which made it easier to freemount if my foot didn't land on the pedals right.
-I've got one unicyle with the spiky type pedals and it is irritating for me to ride (I'm just riding, no tricks or jumping or anything). If by chance you have that kind, consider trying the cheapo platform pedals that cost $5 at Walmart and see if that helps any. I think this would be more a matter of comfort rather than keeping you from riding, though.
-That same unicycle has an air seat that is reasonably comfortable, but it gives less control. It's more like a big old blob between your legs and the regular Torker seat, though less comfortable, gives me a little better control.
-I remember my wife telling about one of her friends that grew a whole bunch in one summer and it messed up his sense of balance. I'm not sure how common this is, but when you're 11, you're growing, and it wouldn't be surprising if you were a lot better a year from now than you are now, not from the practice, but just from your body changing up as you go along.

People learn at different speeds, and I've read of people who learned a whole lot faster than me. That's okay, I'll keep at it. I'm not even trying to hop or ride up curbs right now, just working on going down the roads and paved trails and make the ups and downs on the low water crossing and that kind of thing.

[cathwood]

Have you tried padding?

I'm a confirmed coward and found it easier to learn when i was wearing knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards and a helmet (if outside). I still always wear the wrist guards and helmet when I'm riding outside.

[feel the light]

I find idling and track standing kinda boring, and don't practice them when I am out riding.

It took a few months, but now I can idle, and I don't remember practicing it. I wasn't paying attention, I was following the movie. This is a great way to build up some basic skills without really working on it.

Idling is kinda weird, it takes a lot more time to learn then regular riding. But if you watch one movie a night for a month I bet you will quadruple your idle skills.
When you can idle a bit with each foot down, you can start riding backwards, as the skills are closely related.

Also, if you learn to use bit torrent, you can avoid the frustration of crappy movies ! An important part of this technique !

[cheesedonkey888]

what you need to do is have some mountain dew or lucozade to make you feel happier and more confident so you can concentrate more on unicycling, also you need to relax, because the more fustrated you become, the harder it is to learn and keep interest in the sport. anyway, good luck and i hope you improve with everybody's advice!

[colin340]

what petals(Pedals) r you using and make sure your getting good foot placement

[mill_mobile]

Originally Posted by colin340

petals

WTF? Why would flowers make a difference? Roses have petals, they are in my garden, does that make me a better rider?
I am confused

[Jerrick]

Originally Posted by mill_mobile

WTF? Why would flowers make a difference? Roses have petals, they are in my garden, does that make me a better rider?
I am confused

Pedals.

[kokomo]

Oh my gosh i feel like this too! I got my unicycle on december 18th 2007 and i stink at jumps i cant stall i cant crankflip i cant 180 and every time i try to jump stair my stupid wheel goes flat!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

[hobo_chuck]

Originally Posted by catinabag1

Take a break from riding for a little bit. That I usually do better after a small break when I've been riding a lot. (Holy crap I actually capitalized in the forums! Cookie please.)

He says that he has been riding for 5 months, trust me, there were a lot of breaks in there.

[1wheelwonder]

Thank-you sooooooooo much everyone, you're information was very informative and very helpful! Today I practice more on free mounting and ideling, In half an hour I can free mount about 1 out of 10 try's, which is a good ego booster. Now to answer some questions:

I'm riding with some cheep plasticy pedals, riding with the ball of my foot.
I have not tried padding but will give it a go!
I am riding a 20'' ebay unicycle, but mum says when i am more confident she will buy me a new one! Great motive!
I normally wear a helmet for riding.

Once again thanky-you, You don't know just how helpful you people are!

Here have a trophy:

0)-I am awesome!-O*