Mbalmer, your in SJ, right?
Why noty head for some cooler temps, north bay, coast, even the foothills could be nice.
I grew up out there, nice time to ride is early before the heat and smog start kicking. I don’t miss the crowds, but it sure is a state for access to mountains and ocean.
Don’t come out this way, the humidity is awful!
I do not like gyms. They are way too smelly. I don’t care how clean the place is, it smells like old sweat. I do spend some time on the water though. Nothing like getting a free ride on a paddle board:D. Ha ha. Check out the farmer tan. I always wear T-shirts or wetsuits. My shoulders are as white as the day I was born.
Yes, I do have a lot of options. Mountains and coast. So many fun things to do and so little time! One good thing about being older is that you greater appreciate being able to do activities since you know it won’t last forever.
I’m not sure that juggling alone would help your unicycling much, but it does increase finger dexterity (especially when you’re juggling 5+ balls) and general coordination. If you do it on a balance board, your balance will also improve, and that can never hurt.
I would think that being in a unicyclist forum would make juggling seem not so odd. 
Only joking. It is a lot of fun though. I think you might find that time really flies once you get into it. The neat thing about it is that you can do it anytime, anywhere.
In a way it is a form of exercise. If you are juggling objects that are, say, 2 pounds each, you’re going to gain muscle. When you’re learning new things you get sore from bending down to pick up your objects every 20 seconds :). Experts can have some pretty intense routines, as well. At some point it becomes possible to use nearly every part of your body.
Really, our typical rides are not full of gung-ho hotdogs:
My wife Nancy hikes along on a decent percentage of the Joaquin Miller rides, and Nathan’s wife Grace hikes along on most of the Santa Cruz MUni rides. (Excepting Rob’s Ride, where she takes her recumbent). I think you’re on our mailing list; unless I specifically say it’s a difficult or strenuous ride, it’s open for all skill levels.
I ride with my dogs, they never pressure me to go faster, they just run laps while I dink along 
My wife rides with me on the weekends, she is an intermediate mountain biker, so she is challenged by the terrain I like to ride and is often able to keep pace with me on climbs and on some smooth and fast downhills she sometimes spins by me.
I’d love to be able to keep pace with my mountain biker friends, but they’re just too fast and unis are just too slow. I built up the guni so I could go faster, but I’m not so sure that’ll be the end result. Yesterdays first attempts on the guni were a real eye opener 
Being one of a very small contingent of riders in this area, it would be awesome to have people to ride with, so for sure, take advantage and go ride with tholub, I find it really takes my mind off the discomfort and improves my riding when I have other riders around.
Time flies faster and faster…wasn’t it just 1990 the other day? Where did it all go?
Like I said it was slight, but definately noticable.
I started learning uni and juggling at about the same time, starting w/ scarves. After practicing uni for about 5 days I got sick of it so I took a break and practiced the scarves instead.
W/ the uni I would always start worse than I ended the previous session, but a bit better than I started in that last session. After juggling for 3 days and no uni I started definately a bit better than I finished the last uni session and finished significantly better. I was expecting to be worse after no uni practice.
If I don’t ride during the week (since I sometimes don’t leave the house in time to uni my commute) it’s not until the end of my Muni ride that my skills get back to where I was the previous week. But if I’ve juggled a lot, it just takes 5-15 min. I’ve noticed the same effect w/ juggling vs. piano practice, as well as piano vs. uni.
My thinking w/ the juggling is you need to keep centered as you both juggle and uni. If you do something that moves out of that center like a trick or mistake you have to get back to your center quickly or things get out of control real fast. Also your brain gets used to having to respond quickly to get your hands to do the right thing at the right time and this transfers to other areas. For example I can more quickly and easily manuever through difficult math problems if I’ve been juggling. I’ve also noticed how uni w/o juggling affects things like Math, I don’t really get the speed of working through problems, but it’s easier for me to concentrate more intensely.
I think for uni, Footbag (aka hackysack) would be better. The response time and accuracy of your feet movement would improve increasing your agility, making learning tricks easier and can more accurately and quickly place your feet in UPD’s reducing your chance of injury and able to attempt more difficult and/or more dangerous w/o getting hurt.
Yeah, footbag too. IMO they’re just as hard to learn as uni but it also has ZERO chance of injury allowing you to be really wreckless in trying new tricks.
Put on some of your favorite music and the time can fly right by. Once you get into a rythme it can be rather meditating. I’ve avoided MANY hours of bordom in airports Don’t try to bring clubs as a carry-on. I got a set confiscated by TSA, who said they could be used as a weapon.
I look for anything that is more likely to cause a UPD or cause some instability. Like rocks, roots, “skinnies” (like a root running lengthwise w/ the trail), ridges, trenches, or do zig-zags around marks on the trail. Also I sometimes practice a trick like riding backwards, idling, or riding w/ one foot (which I still can’t do more than one rev).
I broke my back doing something stupid while skiing. I went off a jump w/ a flat landing @ 35 mph, got 15 ft of air and landed on my but.
Now I always Muni w/ lot’s of pads including a but pad. I have almost no natural padding back there and falling on my but hurts more than before even w/ the armoured shorts.
Okay skilewis74!
You’ve convinced me.
I will be taking up juggling shortly.
Everything you said sounds great.
Sounds like I have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
Maybe one of these days I will actually be able to uni and juggle at the same time.
Thanks skilewis74!
I get questions about juggling once in a while, people assume I can juggle cuz I ride a uni.
I’ve tried to juggle, but I just don’t seem to have the coordination, or maybe the desire 
Rode last night, humidity was near 100%; yes it rained later that night.
Being on the guni helped because I could go fast enough to have some air cooling, but when I slowed down I just burned up, fortunately my dogs were not in a hurry, so we stopped a bunch of times to swim in the creek 
Magic potion?
mbalmer,
While Ben is right in saying there’s no supplement & no magic pill, there is a magic potion you could try … it’s called a frappacino!
Seriously, it sounds like you’re just running outta fuel at 2 hrs. So try this: At 1 hr. 50 min., stop and have a frappachino. You might just find that the sugar & caffine will allow you to go another hour. If nothing else, it will improve your mood because it’s tasty, and you’ve earned it.
You might also consider drinking some kind of sports drinks (Gatorade & Powerade are just fine) intermittently during your 1 hr. 50 min., to see if you can get beyond that 2 hr. threshold. In addition to running out of fuel, you could also be running low on electrolytes (i.e. sodium & potassium, but especially sodium), which will make you feel “flat” as well. And while I don’t know about you, I sweat profusely while riding – more so than while running – so I loose a lot of electrolytes (i.e., salt) while riding.
Incidentally, as a semi-retired ultrarunner, I know what it feels like to run out of fuel and electrolytes. If you don’t feed the machinery when it needs it (i.e., during a longer ride), it will fizzle, sputter, and stop. The way ultrarunners can keep going for 12, 24, or even 36 hrs. is to keep stoking the metabolic fires with fuel, and to keep replenishing lost electrolytes.
But try the frappacino trick … I’ll bet it will extend your rides by at least an hour.
Cheers,
Bert
57UniRider & Nurse Ben
Although scarves helped a bit I know think they are unnessesary if you break it down enough. Use your creativity and do whatever’s interesing and not too challenging.
Start w/ throwing one ball (I preffer bean bags one solid color and each bag a different, bright color) up to about eye level and catching in the same hand like jumping on a diving board. Get good 0) w/ both hands, then throw side to side and get good at that.
Cheap, easy bean bags: pour 1/3 a cup of dry beans (I like pinto) into a 12" baloon, tie off the end as close to the base as you can and chop off the extra. Repeat 2 more times for the other balls, get the weights as even as you can. Don’t let them get anywhere hot or they might only last a couple of days.
Many can do the basics of the 2 ball shower right away, but not w/ good speed or consistency. IMO it’s best to get good at this in both directions. Every online tutorial I’ve seen strongly suggest NOT to do this, I disagree and for little kids (7-10) it’s their only chance of getting anywhere close w/o waiting several years (IMO w/in a month most kids could progress to the 3 ball cascade well w/in a month if they started w/ the 2 ball shower). I admit it’s a totally different pattern than what you need for the basic cascade but it improves your timing, accuracy, speed and is kind of fun.
My goal was to do 5 left, 5 right, 5 L, 5 R, etc and master it (1 2 3 4 5; 6 7 8 9 10; 11 12…;…58 59 60) fast enough that it seems as though 1+ balls are always in the air and no pauses.
Arguably your progress would be faster if you went directly to the real pattern if you can keep from getting discuraged (I couldn’t). The vid and many other tutorials I see sugest pick a # and go for that # of throws. I preffer to master the more basic pattern and when I move on, go until I drop (I find so much starting & stoping boring and frustrating)
Learn the two balls one way ie right left, R L, R L, etc. well, then the other way ie left rigt, L R, L R, etc. Then switch directions after each one w/ a pause in between (R L, pause, L R, pause, R L, pause, L R, etc) and eventually w/o any pauses. When you can do that well w,o pauses, pick a ball and count how many times you throw it. Learn that well (I had to maser it) and then you can add the third ball, it’s the same thing just a bit faster.
My learning process for everything juggling:
For me no matter what I’m learning, I always like to break things into baby steps. I start by focusing on something more basic untill I can consistantly do it ~20+ times, starting w/ my dominant side (I don’t actually count). Then learn the other side. When I can easily do this in both directions, NOW I count and keep going until I drop w/ the goal of 20+. Then do 5 L, 5 R, 5 L, 5 R, etc. for ~20+.
Then for something like cascade where you go back and forth constantly, R L, L R, R L, L R, etc, again ~20+, eventually w/o pauses for 20+, w/ the goal of mastering it w/o pauses, lurches, etc. This is the point for me at which it’s always worhwile to put significant effort into something harder (like 30+ min) if I move on before there’s a good chance I’m going to get frustrated.
To avoid bordom I sometimes do other things, focusing on whatever seems similar or interesting and occationally pay special attention to mistakes. Most of the tricks I can do originated in a mistake.
well/good: ~20-30 in a row w/o pauses or any lurching (I don’t actually count)
pretty good: 20+ in a row both sides/directions w/o pauses or any lurching (counting)
Master: 60+ in a row w/o pauses or any lurching
Gee thanks for all the instructions and helpful tips skilewis74!
I’ve got three of those nice multi-colored juggling beanbags.
When I get it mastered, I’ll let you know.
Thanks!
Have fun:)
I preffer bags that are one or predominantly one color and each ball a different one. W/ mult-icolored balls, when a ball is in the air I find it distracting, esp when it spins. Not really an issue once I’ve mastered a pattern, but it makes it harder to learn.
Also if one is different from the others (when first learning I preffered all 3 to be different), it’s easier for you and your audience to fallow what you are doing. W/ 4 (which I can barely do) I preffer ie 2 red & 2 yellow.
I carry around everywhere w/ me 6 of the DIY balls I described above so I always have a chance to juggle since they are super portable. Also I can juggle w/ someone else if I run into them, and they are cheap & easy to make so no big deal if I loose one or they get stolen. The only bags I’ve ever tried that I like better cost $10 each :o and I’ve tried at least a doezen types of proffesionally made bags, although they last longer.
You can make your own “russian” balls from a tennis or racket ball (I can tell you how if you want) but they take ~5 times as long to make, ricochet off each other, and are less portable.
For Those of 50 Plus Years …
In many events in my area the 50 - 59 age bracket is usually tougher to score a podium place than several younger age groups.
I’ve watched a 50+er miss a $4000 purse by less than 10 seconds on a hillclimb, taking second in a 600+ rider field.
It takes a good managed plan, knowing your body, and working within it’s stress limitation. Eight years ago I could only ride 40 feet without stopping to rest.
This is a great topic. I had been complaining to my wife, doctor, and friends about my uni-stamina so often the last few years that I had to just stop, to stop boring them.
What adds insult injury is that when I’m riding, my mind goes to a 16 year old kid mindset and I’m just having a blast. Problem is the blast ends before the kid is ready to go home.
I find that a heart monitor has helped me a lot. I was amazed at how hard I was blasting my heart rate past the 180 mark. Now I slow down and or walk a bit. Apparently if your heart rate is to high you get exhausted and burn out. It also helps you to see how food affects you. It was explained to me that its a good tool to look into your health.If I eat pizza and beer my heart rate will clime faster than if I have a light pasta and salad.Another thing if you don’t push it too hard you build up stamina. So I try to maintain a 140-150 and I’m seeing results.
5 months ago I could only do half a block on a 24". Last night I did 5.5 miles on my 29er
Or even if the “kid” completes the ride it sometimes takes an extra day or two to recover!
I’ve had so many pictures and videos taken of me this week. It’s pretty cool to stand out to onlookers. They are even more amazed at my “advanced” age. So there is a little bitty upside to being older.
We have to keep in mind that on this web site, we are sharing experiences at a global level including many of leading unicycle sport enthusiast. There are really extremely few folks worldwide who can ride a uni, much less complain about the fatigue it brings.
You are awesome!
( excuse the Hallmark moment )
^ +1 Chrashing!
I’m going to keep that in mind for myself as well.
So… mbalmer…
Happy Birthday again!
Go out and have a happy birthday ride on your trusty uni, knowing full well that there aren’t many people in the whole world that can do what you are doing!
Love it!
This is a great thread! It really sucks when I check off survey and race boxes and I’m the last box or the “masters” or “veterans” box. What’s that all about?!
First – I think a few hours doing any sport, never mind a a unicycle is huge! For hydration, I use electrolytes like others have mentioned. Nuun tablets have zero calories, taste great and don’t make my camelbak slimy. Tons of ice in the camelbak helps and feel good against the back.
I’m not a big fan of Gatorade. For running, I swear by CytoMax. It is slimy, has a color not found in nature, was created by aliens, and made me gag when I first used it, but now I think it does miracles.
Another thing that hasn’t been mentioned is mixing it up. Marathon training incorporates intervals, tempo runs, and long runs. Each one serves a purpose. I would think that the same principals apply to breaking through your 2-hour limit. Recovery is really important too. For us “masters” advil and ice are my best friends.
I also take a supliment called After Glow that is made up of Protean and complex sugars that are suposed to help out with hard cartio work outs. I love it. It taste like watermelon 
.
Give it a shot at GNC.
w00t! another 10c in my account. LOL:p