I’ve been practicing on the back deck and today I realized, “Oh sh–, I’m
going to crash into that picnic table,” so I took it out front to the
cul-de-sac. (I didn’t want to put on a display for the neighbors until I
could actually ride, but heck … it’s good for the ego.)
I’m using a garbage can to mount, and I find that if I just do it, I can
actually pull a good stretch. I totally surprised myself (imagine a kid at
Christmas) by going 30 to 40 feet a couple times. On the other hand, if I
psyche myself up, steady my behind, snug up the seat, then go … I wipe
out. So for me, maybe zen’s the trick.
But.
On these occasional long stretches, I find that I slowly dissolve into a
huge arc from which I cannot escape. Left or right, it doesn’t matter. It
seems that I start going straight, but quickly begin to oscillate, and these
oscillations turn into the arcs.
Maybe that’s what’s wrong. I could be over thinking:(
I’m only getting about 15 feet at a time still. I, too, have noticed that I tend to go in one direction or the other, which is a problem as I am starting next to a wall and riding down a lane (about 10 feet wide).
It’s verry common to drift to one side in the beginning. The problem will soon go away by itself.
One way to deal with it thoug is turning your head slightly in the opposite direction of the drift, eg. by keeping your eyes fixed on something in the direction you want to go. The theory is that it will change your posture which ultimately carries over into the direction of the uni.
I only speak out of my own experience, so I can’t promise it will work for you.
Loosen up your upper body while you ride - shake your arms, wiggle your fingers, shrug your shoulders, roll your neck. It’s all in the hips and yours are locked up tight.
Stand still with your hands together on your stomach, close your eyes if you feel you need to, and just feel your feet being planted firmly on the ground and mentally centre your body. We were taught this at a little thing at school and I think it works. Give it a try.
I was having the same problem until my teacher had me do the following:
a) hold your arms out straight - increases stability instantly.
b) sit in the saddle and take the weight off your feet. On flat ground,
your feet are there to keep the wheel under you and don’t really work that
hard.
c) ride a lot. ride some more. Some things just go away with practice.
The more you ride the more relaxed you get and the more subtle all your
motions become.
Good luck.
-Joel
“David Stiller” <stiller@quip.net> wrote in message news:16Gpa.349851$0g4.9515518@news2.east.cox.net…
> Day Two
>
> I’ve been practicing on the back deck and today I realized, “Oh sh–, I’m
> going to crash into that picnic table,” so I took it out front to the
> cul-de-sac. (I didn’t want to put on a display for the neighbors until I
> could actually ride, but heck … it’s good for the ego.)
>
> I’m using a garbage can to mount, and I find that if I just do it, I can
> actually pull a good stretch. I totally surprised myself (imagine a kid
at
> Christmas) by going 30 to 40 feet a couple times. On the other hand, if I
> psyche myself up, steady my behind, snug up the seat, then go … I wipe
> out. So for me, maybe zen’s the trick.
>
> But.
>
> On these occasional long stretches, I find that I slowly dissolve into a
> huge arc from which I cannot escape. Left or right, it doesn’t matter.
It
> seems that I start going straight, but quickly begin to oscillate, and
these
> oscillations turn into the arcs.
>
> Any tips?
>
>
> –
> David
> stiller ( at ) quip ( dot ) net
>
>
If you find yourself turning towards the left, lean your upper body more to the left. This will force the unicycle to lean to the right (preserving center-of-gravity, ala Newton), and the wheel will subsequently precess in that direction to the right. Likewise if you’re going to the right (and you don’t want to), lean more right and you will find you start heading left. Don’t lean over completely in that direction, but you will find that as you get better, if you want to make more gradual turns (rather than tire-scrubbing ones), you simply lean in the direction opposite of that which you want to go. Physics… sigh
Thanks for the tips. I was able to go vaguely in a straight line tonight. I did fall off when I tried to make the corner, but I am sure that will come.
By the way: How hard is it safe to torque my cranks on? The left crank fell off yesterday and I didn’t put it on hard enough the first two times and it loosened up each time after only a few minutes of riding. It is soo much easier to ride when the left crank isn’t rocking back and forth.
>By the way: How hard is it safe to torque my cranks on? The left crank
>fell off yesterday and I didn’t put it on hard enough the first two
>times and it loosened up each time after only a few minutes of riding.
>It is soo much easier to ride when the left crank isn’t rocking back and
>forth.
If you notice a crank is loose, stop riding IMMEDIATELY and tighten it
first or WALK your uni home. Riding with a loose crank will ruin the
taper in no time.
Crank nuts (assuming you have cotterless cranks which is the type with
the square taper) should be tightened quite hard. I don’t know a
torque value but it has been posted here before. Maybe search for
torque wrench and crank. It’s best to pound the cranks on with a
mallet (wood in between) before tightening the nut. Also, after some
riding re-tighten them. A more comprehensive description of the best
procedure has been posted before also. (What not?) I remember an
excellent write-up by harper, with lots of CAPITALS.
