I’ve just started riding and have managed to get about 40 feet for my longest ride.
How long did it take everyone to get to the point that you rode and didn’t lose your balance or over lean a turn just basic street riding, nothing fancy.
How long until you looked cool 
riding instead of looking like a chopped chicken on one wheel.
Thanks, Jim
Hey jcdoherty
Well done on reaching 40 feet. :)It took me months to get that far.
Actually, as my signature states, "It’s impossible to ride a unicycle, some of us have just figured out how to take a long time before we fall off.”
But it varies for different people how much practice it takes.
To answer the original question: “how long did it take you to stop falling?”
I usually stop falling when I hit the ground, so not long.
Seriously though, It took a couple of weeks of practice every day before I felt like I could ride any real distance without an unplanned dismount (UPD). After that I could ride a couple miles on our greenway bike path before I just got too tired (with plenty of UPD’s). As I relaxed I was able to go longer, and fall much less often.
As for looking cool, well that’s in the eye of the beholder. One of the early bits of advice I read that seemed to make a difference for me was that if you have your arms out and they are flailing around as if you are trying to fly you are probably doing it right. All of that changes as you relax and find your center on the uni.
To borrow jtrops’ signature im always falling but sometimes I just happen to hit the ground. It took me about five days that when I was able to mount go consistently at least 50ft. And to start looking cool… according to people it was when I could get on the thing and go whether that be 5ft or 500 ft. Some days I still look like a headless chicken on one wheel just depends on where and what im doing.
If you can already go 40ft, you’re not too far from your goal 
Once I could ride that far, I could basically ride, ride, ride, except for the whole ‘beginners massive leg effort tiredness’ that we all hit once we figure out how to ride down the street 
I’ve been skateboarding for over 30 years and fall more than ever. I’m thinking the unicycle is going to help me fall even more. It is just one of those things. I’ve been at it a little over a month and my shins look like raw meat(just the left one), and I’m pretty sure my right pinky is sprained. I’ll get better, right?
how long did it take you to stop falling
I’m relatively new at unicycling, so I still remember how difficult it was to get started. I practiced about an hour a day and made very little progress during the first six weeks. My front-to-back balance was okay, but my side-to-side balance made me fall after 20-30 feet.
I finally figured out what I was doing wrong. I didn’t turn hard enough. Then, I started twisting my hips really aggressively toward the direction I was falling.
That fixed the problem ! For a while, I was overcompensating and zig-zagging all over the road. Eventually, I was able to refine my movements to use less energy and go straight. By the next week, I was able to ride about 600 feet.
So, try twisting your hips real hard toward the fall.
Thanks Alucard, that was my best run, I usually average 0-10ft
“I usually stop falling when I hit the ground, so not long.” Lol I know that one.
“Leg tiredness”? I get whole body tired after half a dozen tries and have to stop and catch my breath
Thanks for the tip Aux, I’ll give the hip twist a try.
Thanks for the replies I was trying to get an idea of the transition from “how far can I go before I fall” to “ride until I decide to stop”
Another thing, I’ll tell you the truth, the boys are afraid of free mounting the uni
Thanks, Jim
Actually, I think you just stop minding 
UL
I have been learning since October of 2013, and can now ride about five miles at a clip. Still have UPD’s from time to time. I think for me the first two months was the hardest. Once I was able to ride about 40 feet, I went out on the street, and just kept practicing and practicing until it happened. It is really all about (in my opinion) allowing your body to learn to balance. Muscle memory takes time.
Just my two cents…
Keep going!
I think it took about two month (from total beginning) to ride mi first 5km without dismounting on my 26er. That was really exciting 
My main enemies were curbs. They are very high in some reason.
What I learned that hopping on one place is just changing all your riding style and making it much more interesting. You have to try.
Have been riding now for couple of months. At beginning set a goal to do about 500metres per practice session. In beginning this would take around 20 plus attempts because of either falling or UPDs . And each day it would take less and less attempts to hit the aggregated 500metre ish target. At present can do 500metres in sub 5 attempts becase of falling or UPDs Goal is to do Plus 1000 m in single attempt whilst walking the dog so have a long way to go… Have personally benefited from receiving sound guidance from Unicycle Community via this forum… You seem to be heading down the right path. And best of Luck. Jimmy.
These quad cramps are unreal!
I picked up the unicycle after a 30 year break. I’ve been back on it for about a year. Still falling! I don’t think you ever stop falling. My fall today came after mile 4 when I was cranking up a steep hill and I went over the front.
Just keep at it. I learned to ride at 35 yrs old. It took me around 3 weeks, practicing a few hours a day to feel somewhat confident on one wheel, however I taught my son to ride at 10 yrs old and he picked it up much faster. The important part is to simply keep at it. If you’re anything like I was you might find (after you can ride distances) that you tend to twist in the saddle. That too will pass as your confidence develops and you trust your weight on the saddle instead of keeping your weight on your legs. If you’re riding 40’ you’re practically there already. Ride on!
Ps.
As for the looking cool part, you’re on one wheel. What’s cooler than that?
I too learned how to ride last year in March or so-I just rode 4.5 miles on the road with 3-4, 30 second breaks on my 29er Drak. It felt good but at 232 lbs and 6’1 I still feel like I look in pictures, out of balance.
One day My core will be super strong and I Hope to look like a Cobra on top of my Uni…I can only dream sand stay persistent.
Keep with it, as you get stronger and ride more, it will come, just much slower then you think it should because you are trying so hard at it!!!
Reading everyones posts gives me encouragement and I look back and I have improved alot.
doug
simple answer, never.
I fall all the time, it is part of the pleasure of unicycling, you fall but rarely hurt yourself. As Uni Lateral says, it stops mattering.
I remember a comic moment while riding with Kris a few years ago. We were both riding up a hill together, chatting and both fall off together… for no reason at all! It just proves even good riders like Kris will UPD sometimes.
Roger
Kris talks about falling in this video, at 1mn55s:
And he demonstrates it a couple of times, at 5mn45s for instance, or the classic “there was an unexpected root” kind of fall at 6mn10s.