I have been practicing 360 degree turns a lot lately, trying to make them smooth
and graceful. Last night I stumbled on a technique which fills the bill nicely.
For ages I have been trying to muscle the wheel around in a tight circle by
forceful twisting of my hips, but this is much better.
I start a 360 turn with the outside pedal at 12 o’clock. My outside arm is down
and back. I initiate the turn by leaning the uni in the direction of the turn
and sort of “throwing” the arm in an arc–my hand starts near my hip pocket and
ends up over and slightly forward of my opposite shoulder. During this arc I
bend the elbow slowly, effectively shortening the distance from my shoulder to
my hand. The timing of how fast I throw and when & how fast I bend my elbow is
important: slow and controlled works best. My hand seems to follow a
hook-shaped path.
If I swing too fast I either lose it or end up turning so fast I do a
backspin and come out of the turn riding backwards. That needs
exploring too...
I also swing the arm on the inside of the turn from front to back (in more
of a level arc) at the same time.
It feels like an invisible helper is pulling me around in a circle by the
hand. All I have to do is keep pedaling steadily and I've done 360 degrees
in the wink of an eye--inside a circle about 1/2 meter in diameter with my
24" wheel.
Does anyone else do it this way?