Learning Journal

[TopHatPlus]

Hey alucard, bum firmly plant in the seat, keep a perfectly smooth pedalling pace, and you will work yourself up in speed and find you can ride much more efficiently.

Uphill climbs are easy >_< i have found its not whether or not to lean your body but how you lean your body, same for down hill, i can lean forward riding downhill to keep a good aggressive pace but i am actually doing the opposite of what i think i should be, i lean my hips backwards to keep my upper body on a slope and from there just small additions to the lean and you can greatly improve your speed on any grade of hill. Leaning your whole body ends up with a skinned knee, palm, and body... happened last night... ouch... >_<

Spectro, i am also right handed but have found cursing with the left far easier, i haven't spent to much time on idling and what not, for me its all about ground covered, i can easily ride a few km's and hop over basic objects, drop off curbs, and ride all over town, so i am now starting into more intermediate skills like idling, hopping stairs, and the general art of bad assery =D

[Byc]

Hi, nice pics and videos, nice to see so many of you and your progress.

Now that i am riding around with my girl friend a lot, either on the 20" or the 24" unis, often hand in hand so i have to ride slower than i normally would. During this rides i first had that "spinning" feeling, weight on the seat, uni gliding along, feet gently spinning round effortless.

About you problem with the knees, maybe you could try placing your feet closer to the cranks. It looks like your feet are place more on the outer flank of the pedal.

Greetings

Byc

[Alucard]

Hey guys Thanks for the input.

THP I particulary liked the ''general art of bad assery''

Byc Cheers. I may swap my KH cranks out for my qu-ax 125’s which came as standard.
I am going out on my uni this afternoon come Hell or Highwater, I've not been on it for a week


Alucard

[Spectro]

WOHOOOOOOO!!!
Today I hit the 8 and 1/2 hours mark. And it was total success. Two 1 1/2 long training (around noon and in the evening). On the first one I was able to ride the whole path i had available(there was a huge bump before the road so i had to step off the uni). At first it was difficult and I got exhausted but I was getting better. I could've never imagined that riding an uni will be so much physicaly demanding. This is the image from the spot where i was stopping. According to google maps it's 'round 60m.


In the evening i got small problem in getting there but it was better than earlier and my legs didn't hurt that much. But I noticed that when I try to put more weight on seat I tend to go faster and it sometimes scare me off. But I managed to do something that i thought it won't be possible for at least next 5-6 hours of training. I got kinda annoyed of walking back to start so I decided I will try freemounting. At first I tried the one with grabing the tire but it was a huge fail. I tended to fall to the side. But when I tried it without the use of tire after several (a lot in fact) attempts I managed to freemount and ride for 'bout 5 meters! If you'll allow me I'd like to share my method of learning it, as an advice from beginner to beginners.

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I think that you should try to start learing when you're able to ride for at least 20-30 meters several times in a row. It is also good if you're able to idle for 'bout 2 seconds on your dominant leg. When you step or fall off the uni instead of walking back to start just turn around, put the uni the same way as when you're getting on it with the support. Put your dominant pedal between 7-8 o'clock (4-5 for left leg) lean a bit forward and for at least 20-50 times just step on the pedal gently (you should help yourself with the other leg pushing yourself from the ground) and just try to "hit" the other pedal with your free foot and immediately step back down. This doesn't take much time so don't worry that you're standing on the same spot for the time being. This was the easiest part imho. Now comes the difficult part. Try not only "hit" the pedal with your leg but stand on it. Many times you will either bounce back or you'll launch yourself over the uni. If you bounce back don't move closer to the start, ready your uni and try again. If you step over the uni, move it in front of you and try again. Repeat this until you're 'bout 2-3 meters away from the place where you started. Go take a drink. Start again. Ride as far as possible turn around and try freemounting the uni again. After a while you should be able to get on the uni and stay on it for a second (at least for me I wasn't able to move but it will get better, i promise). Now is the time I was thinking 'bout when i mentioned idling at the start of this text. At least for me this worked. As soon as you get your free foot onto the pedal push it backwards a bit so your dominant pedal will move up to 3o'clock (4-5 is optimal), this will help you regain balance as well as provide you some momentum to move forward. In some time you will be able to move forward and ride back to the start. This method is hard, you'll be exhausted, you'll be cursing yourself but it is possible. At least I learned it this way. Good luck. If there are any questions I'll try to answer them if I'll know the answer.
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I don't know somebody who's learning to ride will read it or if it will help them, or if it is understandable, but I'm so excited I did it.

(OT: Since I started to contribute to this thread on regular basis in few last days I hope you'd not mind if i ask this question here instead of making new thread. I'm gonna order KH percussion tommorow from german unicycle.com and I'd like to also buy a stand for my 24" uni but they only have one for 20". Will it fit or do i need to look somewhere else? Sry for little OT )

Spectro

[LoneReaction]

Wow, that is aweosome to hear, Spectro! I got another beginner tip to add, that is to load up on protection and just "go for it". lol. You're be suprised at how your freemounting success rate goes up.

Today I road the 36" round the neighbourhood again, which has lots of up and down slopes. Practised using the brake when going down.. it is still very tricky to use.

Near the end of the ride, I got tired, and fell backwards while trying to mount the uni. Lack of commitment is always a problem. Landed on my butt, but broke the fall with my left hand.. my wrist feels a little sprained right now.

[TopHatPlus]

Been having some pretty awesome nights =D here is the rear dismount video, nothing overly special. Let me know what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75utt...ature=youtu.be

[UniTographer]

Originally Posted by TopHatPlus

Been having some pretty awesome nights =D here is the rear dismount video, nothing overly special. Let me know what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75utt...ature=youtu.be

Thanks! That's just how I picture it in my mind. Just can't convince my legs to do it just yet.

I thought, while riding today, that I might do better on it while heading slightly downhill - with my weight already leaning back, it might be easier to take that step off.

Nope.

-- UniT

[UniTographer]

Today's training ride: 2.5 miles, down and then back up a pretty steep hill (between my house and the local train station), preparing for regular commuting. Which starts next week, when my current hiatus from work ends.

The hill still has the better of me, but I made some progress; I failed about a dozen attempts to static mount on the steep part of the hill (heading up), but managed to land about 50% on a slightly-less-steep part. I UPD'd about every half mile.

So obviously, the answer here is that I need a second (larger wheel) Uni. Right?? Then I'll go farther with each pedal, having fewer UPDs per mile

I also felt more of the "pedaling around" rather than the "stomping on the pedals" motion. With conscious effort, of course. Feels good! And everyone around here loves to see a guy on a unicycle, apparently.

-- UniT

[knoxuni]

glad you are figuring out spinning VS stomping on the pedals its a game changer!

[Alucard]

Hey UniTographer UCNHTMU's !!!!

THP Thanks for that video. There seem so be a slight delay when my brain tells my limbs to do anything So, I'm falling off a lot
Ar well, practice, practice.
You guys will be the first to know when I start 'spinning' instead of 'stomping'.

[UniTographer]

Originally Posted by Alucard

Hey UniTographer UCNHTMU's !!!!

And I've got a cheap 29" on the way, should be here Tuesday. My Gear Acquirement Syndrome is flaring up

[Alucard]

Erm, er, UniTographer Does that mean .........

....you have GAS




Bettcha cannie wait till Tuesday eh.

[UniTographer]

Originally Posted by Alucard

Erm, er, UniTographer Does that mean .........

....you have GAS

Like you wouldn't believe

[TopHatPlus]

Went on my first really muni ride, (not single track thought) it was on a really rocky section that turned into a 4x4 area, it was neat as there was never a nice calm area just climbs and decants on the humpes between the tire ruts, unto 18" deep at times >_< It was tons of fun, took about an hour, had 2 upd's and was rather shocked at how fluent and natural everything felt.

I survived to do it again even though there was some extreme heat!!!!

[UniTographer]

Originally Posted by TopHatPlus

Went on my first really muni ride ... It was tons of fun, took about an hour, had 2 upd's and was rather shocked at how fluent and natural everything felt.

Congrats THP! Sounds like a lot of fun.

And I'm getting closer to that point myself. Today, I put in about a mile in the morning on the way to work through West Philadelphia (well, University City). Much better than last time. The ride back from work to the train was also really good. The major difference (aside from the 2 weeks of practice between, which probably contributed greatly) is that I pulled off the metal pinned pedals, swapped back in the plastic ones. I notice my feet slipping a little now but I'm less concerned about smacking myself with them, so it's a net win. I'll reserve the pinned pedals for a more challenging ride; I'm able to slowly and deliberately correct my foot position now so the pins aren't quite as necessary.

And then, after a half mile seriously uphill ride on my 24" with one of the cranks working its way loose, I found my new 29" waiting on my front step! Assembled in record time, and I went out riding with my boy: him on his skateboard, me on the 29er. I'm surprised at how much more leaning is required to circle it around my cul-de-sac. It's almost too big. But static mounting only took 2 or 3 attempts and then became pretty normal, and I was doing rolling mounts after about 20 minutes. Sweet.

I'm sad to report I still don't get idling, although I fancy that I have a half notion of what it should feel like. I wound up practicing a lot of stalls while I was trying to work up to idles. Each time I tried to get around to an idle I wound up shooting the uni forward or back.

I also managed my first dismount with the uni in front! Just like you said - I just stepped off after my (left, dominant) foot came around the bottom, and the next thing I knew I was standing still and holding the uni in amazement. Two subsequent tries failed quite incredibly though.

-- UniT