It’s been a month since my start, and I’m doing pretty well, thanks in no small
part to those of you who have given me pointers. I’m proud to say that–after a
few days of practicing–I can consistently do a 180-degree turn with a turning
radius of one parked car. I can turn around in less space, but not every time.
I have a new challenge now: I need to learn how to idle. Thus far, I have been
trying to idle by mounting, riding for a few meters to get my balance, then
slowing down and trying to idle. I have fallen forward every time but one (when
I fell backward), after only one or two idles.
How did y’all learn how? Should I be trying to focus my weight in a particular
way? Any input is appreciated.
Dan Fingerman !daniel.fingerman@yale.edu Spam protection: remove the !
>have been trying to idle by mounting, riding for a few meters to get my >balance, then slowing down and trying to idle. I have fallen forward every time >but one (when I fell backward), after only one or two idles.
Here’s a brief sequence of events:
Hold onto a wall for a while and get used to the rocking motion.
Stick with this until you can do it with a fingertip on the wall.
Practice riding, coming to a complete stop, and riding away. (Don’t pedal
back yet. Remember when stopping to do it with the pedals somewhere near
horizontal. That is the control position for stops & starts.)
Practice riding, doing half a revolution backward, then riding away. (rocking
isn’t so hard, but the transitions, where your position has to switch from
falling to the front [fwd riding] to falling to the rear [bwd riding] take
more practice. That’s why mounting was [is?] hard.)
Two choices for variety:
a. Ride forward, do a full revolution backward, ride away forward.
b. Ride forward, do two “rocks” or “idles”, ride away forward. (you will find
that you learn the skills for backward riding at the same time as rocking.
Might as well practice both…)
Don’t add juggling until later!
>How did y’all learn how? Should I be trying to focus my weight in a particular >way? Any input is appreciated.
I can’t remember how I’all learned, I had neither teachers nor the internet at
that time. I did have the booklet that used to come with the Schwinn unicycles,
with some brief instructions. It’s not the same book they have now, which is
mainly concerned with liability.
Don’t worry about focusing your weight. It always pretty much stays focused
in the same place; your middle! Instead, focus your wheel in front of, in
back of, and a little to either side as needed to keep your middle where you
want it to be.
Don’t read too much, just get out there and do it.
Pedal position should be centered around the vertical. Horizontal idling is much
more difficult. For a beginner 45 degrees or a little more is a good start. As
you get better you won’t need to go so far.
----------
From: !daniel.fingerman@yale.edu[SMTP:!daniel.fingerman@yale.edu] Sent:
Friday, July 03, 1998 3:10 PM To: UNICYCLING@winternet.com Subject: Re:
beginner's progress
>You might want to make your tire harder to try idling- My
dad has been >trying to idle for a while now, and he’s been making some
progress, but when i >hopped on his unicycle for a second tonight i noticed his tire
felt very under >inflated. After he inflated it to a much harder pressure (i
think he said it >was at 50lbs/sq.in. and he pumped it up to what i keep mine at-
80 lbs/sq.in.) >he began to improve pretty much- i think 3 rocks was the most
he had had before >and tonight he did at least 6 several times after making the
tire harder. It >must do something to help… less friction i guess
My tire pressure was a little low, after riding through the park for two
hours a day for the last two weeks, but it's full now.
I realize that the pedal position is supposed to be centered at the
horizontal and vary from there, but I have no idea how far around I
should let them go before pulling back in the other direction. To 45
degress? 90 degrees? To where I'm comfortable? Is there a standard?
Dan Fingerman !daniel.fingerman@yale.edu Spam protection: remove the !
>1. Hold onto a wall for a while and get used to the rocking motion. > >2. Stick with this until you can do it with a fingertip on the wall. > >3. Practice riding, coming to a complete stop, and riding away. (Don’t pedal > back yet. Remember when stopping to do it with the pedals somewhere near > horizontal. That is the control position for stops & starts.)
I never did this but i guess it works for some people
>5. Two choices for variety: > a. Ride forward, do a full revolution backward, ride away forward. > b. Ride forward, do two “rocks” or “idles”, ride away forward. (you will > find that you learn the skills for backward riding at the same time as > rocking. Might as well practice both…)
that’s a little more like what i did, but i mostly would just try to rock for as
long as i could, then when i fell off i’d do it again. It resulted in lots of
“falling off after one or two rocks” but i did learn eventually.
>I did have the booklet that used to come with the Schwinn unicycles, with some >brief instructions. It’s not the same book they have now, which is mainly >concerned with liability.
yes- it seems like schwinn thinks that anything you do with or near their
unicycle “Could result in serious personal injury or death”
du monocycle, du monocycle… en frangais SVP Merci.
` daniel Fingerman persivirance. le surplace vient tout seul avec beaucoup de
travail. J’en suis a travailler la marche arrihre sur la girafe.
Dan Fingerman <!daniel.fingerman@yale.edu> a icrit dans l’article
<6n9uqq$144_002@net.yale.edu>… > It’s been a month since my start, and I’m doing pretty well, thanks in no > small part to those of you who have given me pointers. I’m proud to say > that–after a few days of practicing–I can consistently do a 180-degree turn > with a turning radius of one parked car. I can turn around in less space, but > not every time. > > I have a new challenge now: I need to learn how to idle. Thus far, I have been > trying to idle by mounting, riding for a few meters to get my balance, then > slowing down and trying to idle. I have fallen forward every time but one > (when I fell backward), after only one or two idles. > > How did y’all learn how? Should I be trying to focus my weight in a particular > way? Any input is appreciated. > > > Dan Fingerman !daniel.fingerman@yale.edu Spam protection: remove the !
> > I have a new challenge now: I need to learn how to idle. >
<snip> > > How did y’all learn how? Should I be trying to focus my weight in a particular > way? Any input is appreciated.
I don’t know if this will work for everyone, but it’s worth a try. I just learnt
how to idle recently, and this is what worked for me. Find a doorway somewhere,
and just idle underneath it. I guess one where there’s no carpet would make
sense…or you’ll wear it out real fast! It gives you a lot more real
practise, cause you can steady yourself on the door frame when you lose balance,
so you don’t have to spend all your time remounting. If you do this often
enough, eventually your body will learn the movement, and you’ll be able to
adapt to doing it on your own quite easily.
Hope this helps
Jacinta
o o Just to set the record straight.... o o I *don't* suffer from insanity.
o I enjoy every minute of it \_(*!*)_/
************************************************
# Jacinta
/|\ <a href="mailto:unicyclist@bigfoot.com">mailto:unicyclist@bigfoot.com</a> \|/
<a href="http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Shores/7523/">http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Shores/7523/</a> ____-O-____ Sign the
guestbook?! :)
In my opinion, idling comes the same way as learning to ride. It took me just
a lot of falling, and getting back up again. I remember vividly how much I
wanted to learn to idle, but now that I think of it, I don’t really remember
when I actually DID! I think it just came gradually, as I worked on other
things. One thing I can say is to pay attention to which way you’re falling
off. I usually fell off to the side with the foot down. I was putting too
much weight on my ‘idling foot’, and not compensating to the other side. Try
to fall off on both sides! Good luck!
In article <1998070100202000.UAA25065@ladder01.news.aol.com>, AlDoug38
<aldoug38@aol.com> wrote: > One thing I can say is to pay attention to which way you’re falling off.
I >usually fell off to the side with the foot down. I was putting too much
weight >on my ‘idling foot’, and not compensating to the other side. Try to fall off on >both sides! Good luck!
In my opinion, one important point is that idling is a VERY asymetric skill. It
is definitely a good idea to try to learn it with the wrong foot as soon as you
can, as you will soon unconsciously drop to idling on the right foot…
… and as this is a basic skill that is used for loads of other things,
(finding a correct footing for manoeuvering), you want to get it
symetrical SOON.
This is advice I should have followed sooner. Now I’m trying to learn to juggle
while idling, and the limiting factor is stamina of my dominant foot, and my
idling skill with the wrong foot is nowhere near my good foot
You might want to make your tire harder to try idling- My dad has been trying to
idle for a while now, and he’s been making some progress, but when i hopped on
his unicycle for a second tonight i noticed his tire felt very under inflated.
After he inflated it to a much harder pressure (i think he said it was at
50lbs/sq.in. and he pumped it up to what i keep mine at- 80 lbs/sq.in.) he began
to improve pretty much- i think 3 rocks was the most he had had before and
tonight he did at least 6 several times after making the tire harder. It must do
something to help… less friction i guess
>You might want to make your tire harder to try idling- My dad has been trying >to idle for a while now, and he’s been making some progress, but when i hopped >on his unicycle for a second tonight i noticed his tire felt very under >inflated. After he inflated it to a much harder pressure (i think he said it >was at 50lbs/sq.in. and he pumped it up to what i keep mine at- 80 lbs/sq.in.) >he began to improve pretty much- i think 3 rocks was the most he had had
before >and tonight he did at least 6 several times after making the tire harder. It >must do something to help… less friction i guess
My tire pressure was a little low, after riding through the park for two hours a
day for the last two weeks, but it’s full now.
I realize that the pedal position is supposed to be centered at the horizontal
and vary from there, but I have no idea how far around I should let them go
before pulling back in the other direction. To 45 degress? 90 degrees? To where
I’m comfortable? Is there a standard?
Dan Fingerman !daniel.fingerman@yale.edu Spam protection: remove the !
