After learning how to 2 foot wheel walk, I decided to take a stab a 1 foot. I took that stab about 3 weeks ago, and I have very little progress. This is the longest it has taken me to learn any skill. I even learned how to unicycle faster.
I cant seem to find the right way to sit. When I lean forward, I start going way to fast, and fall forward, and when I try to lean back, I fall right on my bum. Being upright, I just fall sideways.
Also, I dont know if Im putting my other leg in the right spot. Do I put it back, like riding one-footed, or on the frame, like 1 foot idling? Also, Im using a 24" knobby tire. Should I be using that, or a freestyle tire?
If anyone has any advice on 1 foot wheel walking, I would greatly appretiate. I really want to master this skill.
While I’m at it, some backwards wheel walking advice would be nice too!
I think one foot wheel walking is next on my list of tricks. I’m up to 50 paces with both feet. I’d say just try to lean forward a little bit but not as much as you have. Are you meant to take little steps or big ones with 1 foot ww’ing? I’ve been having a lot of trouble with any skills that require putting one foot on the frame when I’m riding my muni. It’s got a Gazz so I can’t help rubbing the foot on the top of the wheel and it’s really awkward. It’s fine when I’m on a little 20" freestyle uni (which I don’t have yet). So, yes I’d say it’s best on a 20" freestyle uni.
What do you mean by putting the foot ‘back’ when 1 foot riding? I’ve been putting it with my toes on the crown.
Well, I learned to one-foot wheelwalk before two-foot. Infact, I still cant do a two-foot. I somehow only manage to get only one foot on the tyre. Well, if you are one-footing leave your one foot free rather then putting it on the frame like gliding. I also find a wider tyre helps. It increased my gliding and one-foot wheelwalking lenghts.
I prefer my 24"/3" knobby Muni tire over my less-than-two-inches-wide freestyle for one foot wheel walking and/or gliding be far. I learned one foot wheel walking fairly fast once I started practicing at it very hard, and right from square one I have kept my foot on the crown of the frame for both, always will.
My advice to you would be to get your balance just sitting on the seat with your other foot on the tire, then once you have adjusted, practice just pushing with that one foot exactly as you would if there were two feet there. Start with small pushes and go in a straight line if you can; it takes a while to adjust to getting one foot WW until you can adapt to variables such as balance changes and speed fluctuations. I’m thinking (i couldn’t say for sure) that you probably need to learn to just stay up straight and not tip sideways: Just keep going. Much as when you first learned to ride regularly, you need to let the turning of the wheel help you balance (centripital force keeping the wheel straight).
To sum it up, Just keep going, and keep practicing.
Hopefully this helped!
Get used to sliding your foot back to the crown, rather than lifting it up and moving it back. As in, foot almost never leaves contact of the tire. If your already doing this, good.
Also, try wheelwalking normally, try doing a double “pump” with one foot, then try three, and work up. All I can think of now, hope it helps.
Another thing that helped me a lot with this skill (and others) is trying to ride normally as slow as possible in a straight line without twisting around too much. Get your arms out in front of you (like a zombie trying to give someone a hug) and really move your upper body around to keep balance when going slow. This is basically the same technique you use when coasting, except your feet are not on the pedals when coasting.
I feel I have more control with a 20" freestyle tire, though speed changes are not as quick on my 26" half-muni. Which means you need quicker reflexes on the 20", but it’s easier to correct mistakes.
I think it took me a good 3 weeks of hard practice to break the 10m barrier, and a few more weeks after that to get the 10m gliding barrier. And that’s where the fun begins
