What’s your name? Brian
Where do you come from? San Diego, California
What is your experience of unicycling? My first day on a unicycle dates back to (checks calendar) yesterday. This is the hardest physical activity/sport I’ve tried to pick up as an adult. Maybe the hardest since I learned to walk. I now have a deep appreciation for those who can ride with something like ease. My plan is to:
- Complete a minimum of 100 practice sessions
- in 100 days
- and to do two or more sessions on the days I can
- and to complete 100 days in a row
A session means a minimum of 21 minutes of practice (I would say “riding,” but that’s clearly a long ways off).
I’m both excited and scared. But mostly excited.
I’ve read some great instructional posts and seen some very useful videos here. I feel fortunate that I found this place.
Thanks for reading this far.
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I have a deep appreciation for those who are brave enough to learn unicycling at „a certain age“. At 68 years old you are well above my threshold of „a certain age“. Kudos for making this decision, and wish you a successful and accident-free learning of this very particular way to move around.
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Welcome to the group and the world of unicycling, Brian! That sounds like a fantastic plan! With perseverance like that, I am 100% confident that you will indeed learn how to ride a unicycle. The time it takes, short or long, matters not. The only thing that is important is keeping at it until you’ve achieved your goal, and you strike me as the type of person who doesn’t give up easily. So in a sense, you are already halfway there because you made the decision to become a unicyclist, you have a plan, and now you WILL become a unicyclist. Please keep us posted on your progress.
Welcome @iwoolman (Brian)!
Hope you get the hang of it soon!
it took me 3 weeks of practising every evening for 2 hours, before I could ride around on a parking lot. I was 39 at the time (10 years ago). Im sure you will learn well within 100 days. Just don’t give up and keep at it. your body will just have to adjust to the balance, but Im sure muscle memory works at every age. And don’t forgot to have fun while doing it.
Learning to ride a unicycle can be as much of a mental struggle as it is a physical one, especially when first starting out! When I was learning 3 years ago, there were days where it felt like I put in so much effort and got nowhere, and it felt discouraging. More often than not, however, the fruits of my labor would show up the day after 
Any time in the saddle, whether it be a little or a lot, is progress in my book. I wish you the best of luck!
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I’m 681/2. Learned @ 64, never having been on one before.
I spent an hour a day for about 3 weeks. Wasn’t long before I could ride 1/2 mile with a few unplanned dismounts thrown in.
I now ride 6-10 miles/day on 29” or 36”.
People always tell me I’m skilled. I tell them ‘no I’m just really stubborn about giving up’.
Good for you.
Montana,
I’d like to know a few things:
- What kind of sports have you done?
- Are you strong and have you ever broken any bones?
- Do you have a “practice area” and “who” will be watching you?
- What size unicycle and brand have you bought.
I started when I was 50 and I quit 2x before I got a better/smaller unicycle. Then another 2 months or about 70 hrs, I got it. Supposedly 15 hrs is the average. I guess I was way below that curve, and should have properly quit forever.
a.) 1st time quitting: it was cheapie 24" unicycle, and I sat on it in my garage held onto the side of the washing machine. WTF, forget it. Then it just collected dust for about a year.
b.) After using walls and rails to hold myself. I still could not release and “reliably” get 1 or 2 pedals. I quit. Actually, I researched youtube and internet. Tried different stupid gadgets; sticks, shopping cart.
c.) Started paying attention to the “mechanics” of the unicycle movement, leg motion and upper body. Which way did I fall, what did I do? Try the opposite,…,. Once you are aware of certain things then the possibility of different combinations becomes wide open.
However, I would say 90% of unicycle beginners do not “think” about what they are doing. They are just fighting to stay on. Now, the question is how long will you stick with it. Injure yourself? before you quit. In my case, I quit but never stopped “thinking” about it. It takes a kind of madness. So, don’t worry if you “never get it” it means you are mentally healthy.
…slam