skilewis74
Hey, thanks for the tips!
Dan hi, you’re not Dan o’Day, are you?
Back to the question, it does work.
You have to be-cruel-to-be-kind to yourself for a while.
No riding unless you freemounted.
At first, you just want to ride cause it is such a brilliant fun thing to do but there comes a time, and it would seem you’re round about there, that you need to knuckle-down and get freemounting under control.
The harder you are on yourself, the quicker you’ll have it as close to 100% as makes no odds.
Let us know how you go.
Freemounting tip
Nice article Dan! I started learning back in Sept. last year and am now riding Muni and a 36er, so beware of the temptations that will come your way 
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When I created an account and made up my name I had no idea there were so many new learners that are more not-so-young than me 
Some of the best fun I have had is logging my learning and progress in a thread called Learning Journal over on the Just Conversation forum. Many others have joined the thread and it is a lot of fun to bounce ideas and encouragement around. It looks like this thread may serve the same purpose for you…
Here’s some more unsolicited advice (dog-gone pushy people!)
There were three things that helped me most with free mounting using the static mount;
- Almost no weight at all on the back foot/pedal (I learned this from a Terry Peterson ‘Unigeezer’ tutorial on YouTube) This is hard at first, but it is a huge key.
- Look at the front pedal until your foot lands squarely on it. If your foot is in a bad position, start over instead of trying to salvage the mount with your foot in a funky way.
- Once your front foot hits the pedal, look ahead and lean forward a whole bunch more than you are comfortable with.
You’ll probably get others chiming in with their suggestions, but these are the keys that worked for me. And remember to celebrate every success 
Isn’t it cool to think that a bunch of people are out here interested in your progress and success? Have fun.
NSYO
that sounds like a great idea. the best part about learning is you always have time for a 5-10 min session!
Hey Dan, great to have you here! I’ll leave the technical advice to those more experienced than me. When I learned to ride 25 years ago, it was in a door frame, and riding out onto a sidewalk. Once I could go 10 feet or so, I quit using the door, and just tried freemounting until I did it. Fast forward 25 years, and relearning earlier this year. I was still able to ride a bit, but had to relearn the freemounting. Again, no holding on to anything. Wouldn’t ride unless I freemounted.
Not everyone will learn this way, but it worked for me. I just preferred to mount where I was, and not have to walk all the way over to something I could hold on to. Funny thing is, now I can ride 3 miles, and I can’t do an assisted mount. Has to be a freemount.
Best wishes! There’s a long road somewhere with your name on it!
Freemounting fool
I am oh so close to freemounting. Thanks to all for the good advice. I do the no-freemount, no-ride strategy will get me there quickest.
awesome, keep it up! 
+1
Nice enjoyabe article, thanks for sharing and welcome 
Nice article, and way to let the world know that falling is okay. Plus, I just moved to Modesto and was encouraged to find someone else up here. Three of us on the map now; time to get the unicycle gang started.
Plus freemounting took me months to learn. You rock.
Also, JBAB, way to ride in the south Valley (I’m a Hanford native).
I thought it was a nice article, it’s always interesting to hear everyone’s stories about learning to do this crazy stuff.