Whoopee! I FINALLY managed to 1-foot idle today, assuming 25 idles (one back and one forth = one idle) counts.
I’d been working on this for 2-3 weeks, basically just trying to gradually lighten pressure on my top foot, hoping to eventually be able to lift it completely off. I was getting oh-so-close, but no cigar. Once I’d get it totally off, my balance would go wacko and off I’d go. All this work DID get my 2-foot idle really steadied out though. But I got frustrated being stuck at the “almost” point.
So I searched the newsgroup for previous 1-foot discussions which generally agreed to just go for it and get the top foot off, but that seemed scary to me. Then I took David Kaplan’s advice on initially learning to idle – hold on in a doorway while practising – to get a feel for the balance with my top foot on the frame. That scared me even more, since my foot often hit the tire (which I figured would surely throw me off), and I felt like I might get my top foot “caught” on the frame when I started to tilt, resulting in a nasty fall. I started telling myself “Maybe I don’t need to learn this skill after all…”
Fortunately, I didn’t listen to myself because today while riding around the driveway, I went ahead and took off my top foot just to see what would happen. Whoa! Did better than I expected and it didn’t feel scary. So, then I applied myself to this and lo and behold, after about 20-30 minutes, I’m 1-foot idling 5-10 times. With another 20 minutes, I got up to 25 idles with a lot more consistency. Hooray!
So, I feel like breaking out the champagne tonight, but I can’t since I have a summer cold and that would probably start me coughing. But I’m smilin’ here. Thanks to all who have posted on learning this skill! You’ve been helpful to me.
One foot idling came to me on the first attempt suprisingly.
I was riding with my friend John and said “I’m going to one foot idle today.” I popped my weaker foot off and placed it on top of the crown, did 7 or 8 idles one footed and was stuck on doing it for the rest of the day. One foot riding came shortly after.
Re: 1-foot idle breakthru – thanks to many of you!
In article <AccordNSX.6mmza@timelimit.unicyclist.com>, AccordNSX <AccordNSX.6mmza@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>
> One foot idling came to me on the first attempt suprisingly.
> I was riding with my friend John and said “I’m going to one foot idle
> today.” I popped my weaker foot off and placed it on top of the crown,
> did 7 or 8 idles one footed and was stuck on doing it for the rest of
> the day. One foot riding came shortly after.
i learned to one foot idle in one day too, i asked someone how to do it and he said “you just put your weak foot on the crown” so i did, and it worked.
from that day i knew that i wasn’t going to learn anything by waiting untill i met someone who could do it and quizzing them,
just trying stuff is by far the best way to learn, that is once you actualy know what youre trying to do.
Hmmm. . . I can idle about 25-30 times with my left foot down, but i haven’t learned right foot down or one footed yet. Wierd thing is, i learned (with much practice) to ride with one foot first and the most revolutions i’ve gotten is about 120. i guess i just haven’t worked on idling enough!
Whilst waiting for my mate to learn to freemount, I was practising idling with my right foot down (my difficult side) today, and when I’d got that up to a similar standard to my left foot down (i.e. more or less indefinitely) I tried the one foot idle.
I approached it by freemounting with the upper foot going straight onto the shoulder of the forks. After a dozen attempts, I managed a brief idle, and within 30 mins I was consistently (4/5) mounting and idling for as long as I wanted. I managed to drop from idling one footed to riding two footed a couple of times, and I managed to go from idling 2 footed to idling 1 footed a couple of times too.
I have tried the one footed idle before with no success, but I found that freemounting straight into the idle (with a roll back mount) did the job for me. So, anyone out there trying to learn, see if that works for you,and good luck.