Progress diary

[tpv]

Hi all, newbie here

I'm from Hungary, 21 years old, female.

On the other day I was getting home from the university and saw a guy unicycling, and I thougt "wow, WANT", so on this whim I purchased a used uni from the local ebay like site.
It's a QU-AX Luxus with the red ISIS hub, I payed ~60$, including shinguards, hoping that it was a good deal.


The uni arrived in the 23rd (december), and I'm practicing since.

So far I can ride with the help of a fence, and I'm getting the hang of freemounting, with 7 revolutions being the current best.

A few questions:
I feel like that I'd be better off with longer cranks (and since the left crank is too loose, I'll need new ones no matter what), they're currently 114mm.
On what basis should I choose?

Another one: when riding, is it good or bad practice to hold onto the seat with one hand? When mounting, most of the times I kinda automatically grab the seat, and usually it makes me inbalanced.

And the last one for now: I feel like that my dominant foot (right) is soo much more dominant, that I can't really do anything with the other (not even like standing with my left foot in one pedal and the right on the ground).
Is there a good way to overcome this? How should I start?

[johnfoss]

Originally Posted by tpv

I feel like that I'd be better off with longer cranks (and since the left crank is too loose, I'll need new ones no matter what), they're currently 114mm. On what basis should I choose?

114 is a tad shorter than a typical learning size (125mm), but it's not going to make the difference you think it is. I think that's an excellent size, and it's what I use for Freestyle (most Freestylers use shorter). Try not to ride with the crank loose; it wears down the hub. Tighten the nut/bolt really tight and see how it does.

when riding, is it good or bad practice to hold onto the seat with one hand?

Contrary to what you may be seeing in photos and videos of experienced riders, for learning and "regular" riding around, you don't need to hold on. Especially during the beginner stages, as it frees up both arms to help with balancing.

I feel like that my dominant foot (right) is soo much more dominant, that I can't really do anything with the other (not even like standing with my left foot in one pedal and the right on the ground).
Is there a good way to overcome this? How should I start?

Dominance is normal. To make your left leg less "shy", I recommend doing just what you said; practicing mounts with your left foot. Don't worry, unless you have physical or neurological impairments, your left leg will learn faster than your right leg did (this is because it has something to copy from). The more you work that left leg, the more skillful it will become. Don't worry, you can do it!

[MissScooties]

Hey there! Just thought this thread was interesting to me because I'm also a 21 year old female who just got a unicycle (got it for Christmas, started the day after).

Sounds like your progress is going much faster than mine, although I'm very bad at things that involve skill.

How useful is free mounting this early on? Should I just be working on getting further without holding on? I think my best is only about two revolutions at this point. :S

[aarons]

Hello to both of you

tpv... what John said. He has a habit of giving good advice.

MissScooties, you have to be able to ride off otherwise there's no point in learning to free mount. I think you should concentrate on riding first. You'll know it's time to work on free mounting when you can ride far enough that it's annoying to walk back.

Keep practicing. It's amazing how far you can get by being persistent.

[tpv]

@johnfoss: Thanks for the tips

I went out to practice a bit, and it feels like I'm on the right track. I'm "better" at the freemount, feeling much more stable than before. Also improved the sucess rate of being able to move forward a bit, so I'm happy

So I'm just going to write down the things I did up till now, maybe itt will be useful to others.

In the first and the second day I practiced indoors, holding firmly into a pole, just sitting on the uni, getting comfortable first (trying to put all the weight in to the saddle). First only did this with my dominant foot on the lower pedal. Then on the second day I went out to the garden, and tried riding along the fence, which I could do nothing at all , the uni always slipped out below me.

Then I practiced just sitting with my non-dominant foot in the lower pedal, which was hard at first, but helped a lot in feeling the balance. Also did a few idles with both feet (grabbing onto the pole of course).

After this, riding along the fence became so much easier. However I noticed that because of the comfort of the fence I didn't really try to let go, so I decieded to try to learn mounting, and with that practice the riding without the fence.

Well, it is a tough one. First I tried with grabbing onto a pole, and push the closer pedal down with my dominant foot, bringing the uni below me. This wasn't so hard, but without a pole I could do nothing. Even if I could stay on the uni for a little time, I could not start riding with the 6-12 pedal positions.
So this didn't really helped mounting, but I think it was useful to get used to the uni, feel the balance, and to learn what happens if I put my weight on one pedal.

I did this for days, and at some moment, I just realized, what should I do, how to make it work. The key factor was, for one thing, to position the closest pedal a bit higher than horizontal, almost even with the forkleg (with the saddle between my legs), and the other is trying NOT to put weight on the pedal, just push the uni a bit forward while jumping, and like this place my other foot to the other pedal. With this my weight is much more on the saddle, and I also start out with a 9-3 pedal position from I can start riding.
I'm kinda doing it like in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5ZEsAokx3k

First it was really hard to try to maintain the balance after the mount, but I found out, that if I look ahead, and concentrate my vision in one fixed point (index lamp of the car in the garage in my case) really helps a lot.

And this is where I stand now, half of the times I can stay a bit on the uni, quarter of the times do at least a half rev, few times a little bit more.


@MissScooties: I feel like learning to mount like this helps me more, than doing rides along the fence, but that's just me
I read everywhere to learn to ride first, because freemount is kinda useless if you can't ride from it, but well, I think I'm trying to learn both at once.
Try it out, maybe it helps you too.
What I think really important at first is to really be comfortable in the seat, and also don't be afraid of falling (because you can't really fall that big).
And also they say it's not really about skill or balance, it's much more about patience and persistance, so just don't give up

[Galthrojh]

Agreeing with the other guys here. I just recently learned to ride decent, and learning to freemount should probably come after you're comfy and consistently riding 50-100 feet.

I myself got the freemount a bit earlier than I could do that and found that I couldn't go very far though I could mount and get going alright.

Excited for you two that you got unicycles! I'm sure you'll have tons of fun!

Edit: Gonna add a few links to journals (mine shamelessly included) that I've found immensely helpful in learning, and also very encouraging.

http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44950
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86016
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88172
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91142

The most important thing is to just keep at it. You'll get it, it's just a matter of time =)

[57UniRider]

Hello tpv and MissScooties!

Welcome to the best place on the internet!
There are lots of friendly, helpful people here.

Have fun... and keep at it.
Persistence is the key.

Keep us posted.

[MissScooties]

Definitely thinking about keeping a progress journal. Will probably help keep me motivated, although the slow progress I am making is pretty motivating.

[Galthrojh]

Originally Posted by MissScooties

Definitely thinking about keeping a progress journal. Will probably help keep me motivated, although the slow progress I am making is pretty motivating.

Both of you keep it here since you're starting the same time!

And in reply to the other thread, no Scooties, not really. I think the times I've not landed on my feet were about twice (the last one in that video you saw, and the first one somehow the unicycle stayed under me as I fell and it looked like I was sitting down on it with my hands behind and feet in front) and haven't really hurt myself. ....and that wasn't the question. No, I've hit my shins a couple times, but mostly because the foot got stuck on the pedal or my shoe slipped.

[tpv]

Originally Posted by Galthrojh

Both of you keep it here since you're starting the same time!

And in reply to the other thread, no Scooties, not really. I think the times I've not landed on my feet were about twice (the last one in that video you saw, and the first one somehow the unicycle stayed under me as I fell and it looked like I was sitting down on it with my hands behind and feet in front) and haven't really hurt myself. ....and that wasn't the question. No, I've hit my shins a couple times, but mostly because the foot got stuck on the pedal or my shoe slipped.

@MissScooties: You're very welcome to keep your journal here if you'd like
My opinion on shinguards: since they came with the package and I have metal pedals, I'm happy I have them, but it was only a few times I actually hit my shins, just like Galthrojh. Also PC pedals are not that dangerous, but it depends on you, how cautios you want to be, one thing for sure, it won't hurt to have them

[MissScooties]

I feel like I would really at least like the shin guards, I already have whacked my shins a couple times, and that's even holding on to something, haha. Right now I'm really going with only a helmet. What is everyone here going with? I feel like I might be more willing to let go and really go for it if I had reassurance that something would prevent me from wiping out so painfully.

Luckily, no major falls yet, just a few kind of skips off the uni but I know that won't last forever for sure, escpecially when you're on your own. Just dunno where really to look around stores near me, since I'd like to try them on to make sure they fit, and I live in kind of a small town.

[57UniRider]

Hi tpv and MissScooties!

Definitely keep your comments on the same thread, especially since it is a generic name. You will have others join in too, off and on, and it will probably develop into an often visited thread. You two will likely be great uni/forum buddies. How cool is THAT!

About the safety gear:
I have been happy to have every piece of safety gear that I now wear.

Elbow Pads: One of my worst UPDs was when the uni threw me forward unexpectedly. I couldn't outrun the momentum and finally ended up flat on the concrete, front down. I was wearing elbow pads, but somehow or another I scraped my elbow much deeper than I would have imagined. I wondered how bad the scrape would have been without the elbow pads.

Knee Pads: The first time I hit my knee was when I was practicing holding on to a wall. I slipped and went down on my knee pretty hard, but nothing was hurt due to the knee pads.

Helmet: To be honest, I thought I was never going to need any of that safety stuff...
because I was going to be careful. That didn't seem to work very well.
The first time I left my safety zone and tried the open driveway, I fell backwards and hit my behind, followed by my head, on the cement. That very afternoon I was in the store buying all the safety gear I could find.

Gloves: Love 'em. I practiced along a wooden railing for a long time, and the gloves kept me from getting splinters, but they also save your hands if you hit the cement.

KH Shin Guards: Alucard inspired me to get some of those spiffy KH Shin Guards. At first I didn't like them, because they felt so different. Now I like them very much and would not ride without them. They add another level of safety and confidence.

Confidence: YES! Wearing the gear DOES help your confidence level.
...and I still need as much of that as I can muster!

As for where to look... I needed/wanted my gear in a hurry and didn't want to pay a fortune for it (at first). I found the knee pads, elbow guards, and gloves at Walmart (OK, no laughing or rolling eyes ). I'm still using the elbow pads, and I still love the gloves, but I have given up the knee guards for the $66 KH variety.
You have to look in different departments. I didn't find everything right there in the "bicycle" department.
(Try where the skateboards are... and general gloves).

The one thing I tried that did NOT work for me was wrist guards. I found those at Academy near the skateboard gear. The plastic piece was too much for me. It almost hurt my hand just wearing it, and I really think if I had fallen on it, my hand would have been injured much worse with it than without it... so I just stick with the slightly padded gloves. They are comfortable.

Happy Riding!

[MissScooties]

I feel like I need to go and ride! But my cousin is visiting and I definitely want to spend the time with her while I can. Working Saturday and Sunday 7 to 4, but that gives me lots of time in the afternoon to work on it. I have set up extra chairs now because every now and then I'll have a decent run and go further than I used to. =) Gonna eventually have to leave the barn though, it's only so long. Luckily I have a really long driveway (probably like 100 meters or so), cause I live on a busy road.

[Galthrojh]

Is there a paved fenced off area you can go to? Like basketball/tennis court, even the parking lot by the side/back wall of a big store

[MissScooties]

Definitely pumped to learn free mounting. I have a friend who rides in college (actually let me ride her unicycle, the whole reason I am trying to learn now =) ) and she can ride very well (no tricks), but she does not free mount. Would be pumped to come back and be able to actually show her something!