I’m working on tightening up my figure 8s.
I am using a 24" wheel.
The tighter they get the more of my turn is reaction twisting to make the wheel make the turn. I feel as if am leaning pretty far to the inside of the circle, riding on the edge of the wheel to turn. Maybe it feels like as if I am leaning more than I’m actually doing it. hmmm.
How much of the smaller figure 8’s is twisting, how much leaning?
If it is lots of leaning, how fast are these figures usually done?
I am working to get inside 1m circles and my back gets pretty sore after an hour of practice, so I suspect that I am doing something wrong!
Practice spins; riding in small circles. At first, you will notice your tire makes an inconsistent scuffing noise, as your circle has “corners” on it. The more you can smooth out your riding, the more constant the tire noise will be.
Practice riding into and out of sharp turns (not necessarily fast). You only need to be leaning when you’re making the turn. Try to keep your body more or less in line with the frame, from side to side, rather than tilting toward the inside. Instead, turn your upper body in the direction you want to go. In other words, if you’re circling to the right, put your left shoulder forward so your upper body faces into the circle.
Thanks for the specific and clear pointers! I have some uni-time tomorrow morning to try out the tips. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I can see already from your suggestions that I was tilting my uni towards the inside, but my body was leaning the opposite way to counterbalance, so I think I was actually fighting against the turn with my body.
I did successfull ride off the seat with the seat out in front for the first time today. So progress is in the making!