I’m about to find out! The best I can figure it’s been 50 years since I last rode a unicycle. I think I was 10 or 11 when I learned to ride. I got it for my late November birthday or Christmas so it was months before I could even ride it outside. I learned by doing hundreds of laps holding onto the walls and pool table in my parents basement. I had a 16" Headstrom unicycle from the Sears Robuck catalog exactly like the one in the picture below. It had spokes as thick if not thicker than a wire hanger. As you can see, it didn’t even have cranks. It had a single metal rod bent into a pedal shape and welded to the hub! Yes, it was a piece of junk toy but I had a lot of fun with it while it lasted! (Maybe 2-3 summers?) I remember that I used to ride it 3/4ths of a mile to the beach and being frustrated because I had to pedal like mad to get anywhere with that small wheel.
As I’ve posted elsewhere I bought a 24" Torker to re-learn on. My ambitions are relatively low. I just want to re-learn to ride and when I get a handle on that maybe idling and riding backwards. I’ll be giving it a go this week and I’m curious to see if it comes back or if it’s like I’ve never ridden before.
You should be fine as its just like riding a bike…!
Your 16" sure had character
Give it a go , You might find a 24" tricky to “learn” on so if you struggle try and drop to a 20" .
Have you given thought to pads , helmet etc? My go to is wrist guards every time i ride , Touch wood ive not gone down in a fare while but i still wear them every time.
I look forward to hearing about your progress and triumphs as you get back in the saddle.
Protective gear: Helmet at a bare minimum. Gloves, knee, and elbow pads are also a good idea. After my own UPD and some road rash I always wear mine while riding.
I’ve been looking at those wrist, elbow and knee pad sets but it’s been kind of hard to find a set that will fit me. The measurement above the the elbow on me is 14" and the measurement above the knee is 18" so even the large sets I was finding were too small. I Googled extra large skate protective gear and found a couple options. For starters I’ll probably go full gear with helmet, wrist, elbow and knee guards and then decide what protection I’ll want to keep using going forward. It’s been 50 years but I don’t remember having any big wipeouts riding unicycle and that was with zero protective gear. With a 16 incher I was pretty low to the ground so I almost always landed on my feet. I’m a lot older now and will be sitting higher so at least some protective gear would be well advised.
Yes, based on my experience I’d bet you will be able to ride without re-learning. I went 50 years after riding as a kid and picked up a 36er a few years ago. Riding was not a problem and it just took a little work to learn to mount and get used to the larger uni. Once you learn, you never forget.
I picked it up again at age 50 after a 40+ year layoff and was riding again right away. I don’t even remember learning to ride as a kid, though I do remember a unicycle lying around with a shed full of other toys like stilts and pogo stick. Anyway I couldn’t have ridden it much, but my brain was still wired for it!
My safety gear finally arrived in the mail so clad with helmet, wrist, elbow and knee guards I took my first shot at riding a unicycle in 50 years. First of all I was surprised at how tiring it was which is just a sad reminder about how woefully out of shape I am. I practiced for about 40 minutes but I had to stop and rest several times. Another thing that surprised me was how much core muscles were being used. It’s not something that would occur to me at all as an 11 year old when I first rode but I was certainly aware of it as I practiced tonight! What wouldn’t surprise me is if I would be a bit sore after this.
My practice area was not very ideal. The place I wanted to practice (asphalt playground area next to a school) had people playing basketball and rollerblading and I didn’t really want an audience so I practiced a ways away using a baseball field backstop and a “corral” with a 3’ high wall. I have no idea what the elementary school uses it for. It’s about 12 feet round. The ground was hard and flat but uneven so it caused me to stall and fall several times. Thankfully the protective gear never came into play, I always managed to land on my feet. My confidence going in was a lot higher than my performance. If total inexperience was a “10”, I was at a “9.5”. I found myself looking down a lot so I need to look up and further ahead. I had some promising moments once I got moving forward which was encouraging. My being so out of shape and the uneven ground were working against me so next time I’m going to have to practice on the asphalt and just suck it up if there’s an audience there. The fitness part is also something I need to work on.
Another thing that surprised me was how much core muscles were being used…
I hadn’t rode in about 35 years, that was first reaction. Back muscles, stomach, entire chest, legs, the whole shooting match came into play. Even the arms were outstretched as keeping them at my sides and relaxed did not come back right away. Even now, I ride on dirt so my arms are not at rest often.
Typical advice when you start lifting weights is do it every other day. To give your muscles a chance to recover. Considering your age, I’m 63, fell forward while free mounting the uni and face planted on my dirt/stone driveway. I had no forward motion, the uni shot behind me. I peddled backward to swiftly with my right foot, I was on top of the seat and I failed to plant my left on the other peddle. The uni shot like a rocket behind me { I had just moved the the peddles to the outer most position } on my adjustable crank arms. It was my undoing, the face plant scratched up my $500 progressive lens glasses and when I caught myself with my hands I broke my Left Pinky finger. My advice is be cautious. I didn’t let the fall deter me, it took surgery to repair the finger and its not the same. It won’t close all the way. Here I am riding the Uni 2 days after surgery. I felt I had to do it, ride the horse that threw me, I leaned on something to mount it and it was probably not my brightest moment. https://youtu.be/wcKzRsvaLAI
Keep it up. Look for a parking lot where you can ride without an audience. You will progress faster without the added pressure.
The single thing I dislike about unicycling is being entertainment for others. For some riders, they thrive on attention, I myself just like to ride like I do on my bicycle.
That’s the dichotomy of learning to ride a unicycle for me. I’m an introvert by nature so I don’t feel comfortable drawing much attention to myself but an older guy (or anyone) riding a unicycle does just that.
I ride a lot in the parking lot of a school for special needs kids. There is usually no one there after 6 pm except cleaning staff and an occasional dog walker. There are several lots with some elevation changes. It’s my go-to for my uni work outs.
My property abuts that of an elementary school which has 2 baseball fields, playground equipment, swings, open field and a large asphalt play area with basketball hoops so in the evenings there’s always someone around. Even at 8:30 this morning there’s already some guys out there playing soccer. My best bets for fewest people are weekend early mornings and evenings just before sunset.
When I get to the point where I can actually ride it will be a great place to practice. The paved play area is flat and the parking lot has a slight grade so I can get the sense of of riding on a downgrade and upgrade at a very basic level.
I squeezed in an audience-free practice session on the asphalt today and that made a huge difference and it’s the only way to go moving forward. I did a lot better at looking up and focusing on something in the distance ahead of me and that seemed to help. It also seemed to help to hold onto the wall, mount the uni and then just sit there upright and getting the feel of putting my weight on the seat and lighter pressure on the pedals for several seconds rather than just taking off and pedaling like you would on a free mount. The seat seemed slightly low so I raised it about an inch and will try that for a while. It seemed to help. The safety pads came into play today when I fell forward and broke my fall with my palms and elbows. I would have had a nice road rash otherwise. I think the furthest I rode in a controlled, unassisted manor was about 15 feet. I’d call it a successful session.
I got a few more practice sessions in since my last visit. I haven’t been out a lot lately because it’s been so hot or there’s been a lot of people around the elementary school as they gear up for the new school year. I’m hoping to get out every day of this Labor Day weekend but it’s going to be really hot again so I’ll have to get out in the mornings.
I’ve been keeping my sessions kind of short, 20 min to a half hour but I’m seeing and feeling progress. I no longer have to touch the wall the whole time I’m riding. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m only touching the wall every 1 to 1-1/2 rotations of the pedals. I can do about 17 rotations before I run out of wall and I’ve been able to do that several times without falling or having to dismount. The falls/short dismounts are still plenty but getting fewer. A couple of times I started feeling “the groove” so that’s encouraging. I have to remember to think like a shark and keep moving in order to survive. I also have to continue to focus on smoothing out the choppy pedaling. I’ll have to try and make practice sessions a little longer this weekend and maybe I’ll have a breakthrough! I can feel it coming!
Watching this thread closely. I too am relearning after 50+ years. Unfortunately, all that talk about remembering how to ride isn’t the case here. I wasn’t very good then anyway.
I have been making slow progress, and can sometimes ride 300-400’, but have regressed badly the last 2 days.
I never rode until 2-1/2 years ago, beginning at 64-1/2. I’m riding either a 29” or 36” 6 miles almost daily. Just turned 67 last week. Keep at it and never give up. It’s so worth it physically and mentally!
@Jengstrom - If you are riding a football field or longer unassisted without dismounting it sounds like you are doing very well! I can relate to regressing. There are times I do a lot worse than I did in prior practices.
@MontanaRyder - Thanks for the encouraging words! Sometimes I ask myself what the heck I’m thinking trying to ride unicycle at 63.
I had more progress in my last practice session. I could ride more rotations without having to touch the fence/wall and towards the end I went about 30’ a few times without touching anything. I may have been able to go further but I chickened out when I reached the end of the fence knowing I wouldn’t have something to grab onto if I needed it. I need to work on getting past that mental block. It seems like when I start thinking too hard I end up having to bail/dismount.
Well I’m almost an old dog (60 next year) and I started Unicycling in 2004.
But stopped because of a bicycle accident that resulted in me having to live with a severe Traumatic Brain Injury in 2017.
So I’m back riding but for a new reason, and this reason is to overload my Brain Injury which only takes 5 to 10 minutes of riding, and then I have to go and have a nap.
I’m hoping that this will help my Brain exercised and stimulated.
I’m not gonna improve from my Brain Injury and I will not be able to go and do 20+ K mountain bike rides any more on my unicycle or any cycle?
But at least I can still ride despite me screwing up tyre pressures last week I thought the weird handling was the tire was too hard so I dropped the pressure did not have a pump close by couldn’t believe how hard it was to ride came home and found out I had 10 psi in my KH19!
