Curbs have become the bane of my existence. I am slowly, relentlessly attacking
the various novice skill levels of a unicyclist, yet one obstacle stands in my
way. Curbs. On the standard unicycle, going down them is fine but I cannot make
it up and over. I try riding fast but the unicycle hits, stops, but I do not!
Hopping seem like a good option but maybe it is my 210 but I am not getting the
height I need to go up and over. Curbs are driving me crazy.
When I try even a small bump on the Giraffe, BAM I am catapulted off.
I'll tell you six foot in the air that really gets my attention.
I know. I know. More practice. More practice.
After a while you just have to moan somewhere. And I suspect there must be one
or two of you out there that can relate.
Beirne wrote: >I can’t jump up curbs at all. I can jump high in place, but not when I have to >move sideways.
I think this may be a problem for many beginning curb jumpers. At the risk of
being too brief, here’s something to try:
Before jumping, start falling in the direction of your jump. Don’t jump until
your head is above the edge of the curb. If you don’t start leaning before the
jump, you have noplace to land except back where you started. For the successful
sideways jump, your center of mass should be halfway to the destination point
before you leave the ground.
Sorry, but I can’t remember how I learned it. But sideways jumps should get easy
with some practice. Ride up to the curb so you’re parallel with it, and then you
can jump when your pedals get where you want them. Or hop a few times before
going to the side.
With more practice, you can ride straight at the curb and jump up. Usually it’s
not quite straight; the experienced rider can get the pedals lined up as he
approaches the jumping point.
I learned by hopping sideways over thin lines/cracks in the road. I picked ones
that were long, so I didn’t have to worry about getting my pedals positioned
right in a certain place; I just rode one one side of the line and hopped when I
was ready.
Then I moved up to hopping from the street into driveways, usually with an
altitude gain of less than an inch.
Finding obstacles to hop onto that were higher than 0.5" but less than 4"
was difficult, but I found a couple and very quickly got up to doing curbs
and steps.
Hopping down off a curb is much easier and requires the same kind of sideways
motions. If you can hop, but not sideways, you might want to practice hopping
down sideways before hopping up sideways.
> Curbs have become the bane of my existence. I am slowly, relentlessly > attacking the various novice skill levels of a unicyclist, yet one obstacle > stands in my way. Curbs. On the standard unicycle, going down them is fine but > I cannot make it up and over. I try riding fast but the unicycle hits, stops, > but I do not! Hopping seem like a good option but maybe it is my 210 but I am > not getting the height I need to go up and over. Curbs are driving me crazy.
Before getting on the unicycle, put the wheel against the curb with the front
pedal of your choice at about 2 o’clock. Roll the wheel back a few revolutions,
then get on the unicycle. As you ride toward the curb, give a little extra push
on the downstroke. You want to feel like you are riding with a bounce in your
step. Go at a regular or slow riding speed. As you hit the curb hold the seat,
push on the pedal, and pull yourself up. For more information check out http://unicycling.org/unicycling/skills/obstacle_hopping. html.
I can’t jump up curbs at all. I can jump high in place, but not when I have to
move sideways.