Just thought I’d introduce myself. I have been waiting to start this thread until I could have something to say about my unicycle experiences.
About forty years ago I finally hung up my brothers uni that I had been riding for several years. I have been wanting to get back into riding ever since.
Having ridden street all those years, I wanted to take up Muni riding. Not wanting to buy a beginner uni, I went for the Muni I knew would serve my needs. I purchased a Nimbus Oregon. It arrived on June 28.
Large machine. Far larger than the uni I road back in high school. Here’s a break down of my recent progress. Day 1: unable to freemount…road up to 30 feet by end of first practice. Day 2: road down the street about four houses (no gloves yet scraped my hands on my first bad UPD). Later road around t
he corner and made it to the next corner before UPD. Day 3: Road down the Street two blocks with no UPD. Road back about 1 1/2 blocks to home. Day 4: Road 3 blocks with no UPD’s. Later that day road I road around the block (2 1/2 blocks total). Day 5: Road around 2 blocks (4 1/2 blocks total…about 1/2 a mile). That was my longest ride and have been doing other shorter rides as well as equal distance rides.
Still practicing my freemounts and feel I’m getting pretty close. Freemounted and road a few feet but that’s the best of that so far. When I don’t over think the freemount, it feels much more natural.
Trying to keep my weight in the seat to take the stress off of my LEDs and that seems to be getting better. When I find myself going a little too fast, I relax and sit more in the seat. This seems to allow me to contol my speed. Also, I have been able to ride with my arms to my side which adds a lot more to the enjoyment to the ride. I’m having a blast.
I’m looking forward to getting my legs in shape so it is not too fatiguing and I’ll be able to ridie longer. Plan on taking the Oregon to Yosemite at the end of August.
Sorry for the long initial post, but I just wanted to get my progress out there. Running the Larry at about 15# and wonder if that’s too low for riding streets. Seems a bit bouncy at times. I realize that this uni probably isn’t the best for city, but this is practice. The beach is nearby so I’d like to ride there as well.
Also wondering if I should install my 150 cranks to slow down my pedal speed. I appreciate all your help and look forward to your input (I think…lol). Thanks.
Sounds like you’re doing great!
I’m pretty sure I read about the size of your uni in another post, but I can’t remember.
What size is the wheel? Anything bigger than 20" is BIG to me! Including my 24".
Is a Nimbus Oregon automatically a certain size, or does it come in different varieties?
Sounds like you are getting that freemounting down pretty quickly!!
Careful about long rides. I got my first uni in 20+years also in June. Only street riding now. Thought I could just jump back in the saddle and rode 3 miles out and 3 back to find many areas got tender over the years of not riding. Good to see others come back. This forum is good support. Enjoying seeing what others are capable of and what tricks to learn. I Look forward to hearing your progress as well.
Thanks for the encouragement. Sure wish I could figure out how to edit my posts. Typo’s bug me (mine not others).
57Uni,
The Oregon is a 26" wheel with a Large Marge Larry tire. The tire is 3.8 inches. Like others have stated, it’s a tank of a uni, but it rides like silk. Cant wait to get better to hit the trails. Also can’t wait toget the freemount wired. I’ve been watching videos on enthusiasts that just walk along and step up and ride. That’s what I look forward to achieving.
Thanks and look forward to all suggestions as to air pressure and crank size.
Press the “edit” button below your post… after after the post shows up.
Careful though.
You only have 10 minutes to edit. After 10 minutes, you have to submit a request to Gilby for any changes.
My own typos drive me crazy too!
Freemounting a 26" without learning it on a smaller uni must be crazy difficult!
One of these days when I FIANLLY get this thing going good, I would love to try a 26". Right now, I can’t imagine controlling anything bigger than a 24".
Funny how us teachers worry about looking bad with typos. We should know better!
Air pressure and crank size. I also have the Oregon. I have messed around with air pressure. I find that if I’m below 18 psi I have terrible camber problems. I keep it at about 20 psi. sometimes I let a little extra air out when headed downhill. For cranks I switched to 150. 165s make me too tired. I don’t have very long legs though. If you have long legs maybe 165s are no big deal. I do a lot of off road. Other than steepness I don’t do anything too technical. Mostly smooth single track or fire road-like stuff.
Wow…six miles your first time back out. That’s fantastic. Good going. Yeah, I’m generally weak in the knees after about a half mile. I want to increase my distance as I go. Shooting for two blocks extra at a time (that works out to about .2 miles added distance) if I don’t get too weak in the knees, although the fatigue level has lessened with my added distance. Thanks for the pointer.
57Uni,
Thanks for the input. I think my editing difficulty was due to posting on my iPhone. I was not able to get lower into the edit text and ended up messing up the text in the earlier portion. I had to laugh when I read my post and saw LEDS instead of legs. Oh well, waddaya gonna do, right?
mbalmer,
Thanks for your input on the Oregon. Pretty fantastic machine. I’ve shown pics of mine to friends at work and have some coworkers pretty enthused about the ride.
I’ll add some air to the Larry and see if that helps take the bounce out of the ride. I have a longer inseam but not so long as to have left the seat post as long as it was when it arrived. Shortened it by about 4 1/4 ". Feels better while in the saddle and makes it easier to mount and dismount. I think I’ll try the 150’s once I get a handle on freemounting. Hope it doesn’t take too long. Seems like it’s coming along. The problem I seem to be having is that as I ride my speed seems to get my legs moving rather fast and I’m concerned that I may lose control and UPD (I have all kinds of protective gear, but don’t relish the idea of a high speed UPD). Thanks for your input.
Far south of you, I’m afraid. Long Beach. They have some nice concrete trails on the sand, but I’m wondering if I will be able to ride on the sand along the waters edge. Probably not a happening thing during the summer where the sand is concerned due to the heavy population of beach goers.
Welcome back to unicycling! Sounds like you’re doing great, even though your choice of a “return” uni is pretty extreme. That’s a lot of wheel and tire, so it’s a bit of work to move it around. Also you will find the tire rides better on dirt than it does on pavement, but one thing at a time.
Yes, your tire will be supremely rideable on the beach, even on the dry sand once you’ve had a little more practice. The wet sand may ride even better than grippy pavement on that tire (barring slow-moving pedestrians).
My wife and I just went to Yosemite two weekends ago. Be aware that cycling is only allowed on paved trails in the valley, though there are 12 miles of those. It’s a great way to get around the valley in the summer, since the place gets “parked out”. Arrive early to get a parking spot, and don’t move your car if you don’t have to; you won’t be able to find another spot! I have to get my pictures posted…
Thanks for the welcome. Can’t wait toget good enough to take the uni on the beach. I’m getting better on manuvering through road obsticals and making turns around corners. Read posts about using the hips to assist in making turns more crisp and less round about. Haven’t tried to turn about inside the street since my first day or two of riding, but corners are feeling pretty good. Your right, it is a pretty extreme machine. Kinda intimidating when I first opened the box, but now I am in love with the beast and feel very comfortable in the saddle.
Yosemite…been going there for years. Used to camp in Lower River camp ground, but the RV is gone as is most of the campground sincethe big flood they had a few years back. Parking…I never move my car once we get there. For the past five years, I’ve been staying in a wooden cabin in Curry Village. I’m looking forward to the pool after a ride. Bike trails…it was my understanding that only the rental bikes were limited to the paved trails. I was looking forward to riding the Oregon on the back side of Mirror Lake (if I can muster the stamina and skill). Either way, riding in the valley should be a blissful experience even on the paved trails. Thanks for your input.
We have some nice paths along some beaches, though none in the sand. I haven’t tried riding the unicycle on the sand yet. I guess I could try that since I’m often at the coast. I just never really thought about riding in the softer sand and worry about salt water in the wet/damp stuff.
You can’t ride any unpaved trail in Yosemite. Plenty of paved trails and roads to ride. I wish they would open up some of the less populated trails to bikes. I did a hike from the valley to Wawona and only saw one person all three days. That would have been a nice ride.
Welcome Tincher Teach, glad to hear you decided to reenter the world of unicycling. I was one who rode as a kid and chose to pick it up again too. Looking at a pic of the Nimbus Oregon it looks like a seriously fun ride. It sounds like riding is coming back to you quickly, I’m sure you will be going strong very soon, enjoy and welcome
Well done! It sounds like you’re adjusting very well to the monster truck wheel. I think once you can mount consistently, you should go ahead and take it off road. Muni is the best training for muni.
Thanks for your welcoming encouragement. I am truly enjoying my reentry into the world of unicycling. It has been a long time in coming, far too long.
Hmmm, I’ve seen and indeed have ridden along dirt trails in Yosemite when we used to camp in Lower Pines, but I suppose things change. All good since restoring the valley floor comes first. I’ll still enjoy the rides. Going to be there for eight days and in all my trips there I have never seen anyone on a Uni. Should be a load of fun. I’ll take plenty of pics and if I can figure out how to post pics on the forum, I will be sure to share them with all of you.
Thanks again for the warm welcome and encouragement.
I too took a long time off having ridden in college in the mid sixties and then resuming about a dozen years ago. Because of a knee surgery last summer I took a year off but just got back in the saddle this past Monday. I only rode four miles but my quads are still sore two days later. During the ride my lower back was a little painful. I do plan to ride again next Monday and will increase the distance gradually.
In the winters I race on snowboards and skis and have found that off season uni riding is the best way to prepare the quads for the competition season.
One reason that I decided to regain my skills as a Unicyclist, is my desire to strengthen my core muscles (is that the correct term?). For the past few years when visiting Yosemite, I really enjoy hiking to the top of Vernal Falls. The hike to the top is a bit of a workout. I’m hoping that as I ride uni, my legs etc. will strengthen and the hike will be less of a workout.
This year my daughter and I plan to hike past Vernal Falls and on to Nevada Falls then continue the loop around the horse trails (I believe that’s the route) and then back down to the valley floor. It should be a wonderful hike plus you are able to avoid the hike back down the granite steps leading to Vernal Falls, yeah. That hike down is such a pain. Wish us luck.
It’s been a busy week and I haven’t been on the uni since last Thursday. Jonesin’ badly.
Geared up and headed out front. Freemounted, kinda (freemounted and took ahold of my trusty tree right away to get my feet settled…) Peddled forward and off I went. My goal…my brothers house about five blocks away.
Prior to today’s ride, I put air in the Larry. Thought I’d try something a little different by going up to 20# to see if that would take the bounciness out of the ride. It certainly did that. Felt like I was riding way tall off the ground. On top of that, it felt like a fast ride. Settling in the seat to take control of the speed seemed to help but it still felt really fast. Decided on the ride that I would lower back to about 15# for the next ride.
Made it 4 1/2 blocks and hung a left toward my brothers house before dismounting. My legs were getting fatigued so I walked the 1/2 block to his house. I can’t wait to get off road to avoid the traffic. Hung out for a while and accepted a ride back home after the visit. It felt like a good day back on the uni and next time I’ll shoot for the entire 9 blocks.
Funny thing about the ride over it felt like I was constantly working to keep the uni headed to the left as it wanted to take me toward the right. Not sure if that was due to the higher air pressure and the angle of the road I was on. Riding in the left lane headed against traffic in my neighborhood the road pitches toward the left. I’ll lower the pressure and try it again next time to see if this corrects the issue.
Longest UPD free ride so far. It felt great. Trying to increase distance with each run. I’m going to hit a local park next week that has rolling hills of grass to see how it feels. I can’t wait.
My Oregon is not too good with camber. The more pressure the better for me. Even on trails, it tends to pull one way or the other, depending on the direction of the slant. It improved with added pressure (20psi). I have not ridden it on the road but I think it would be difficult with camber. You may try to put more pressure in the tire and see if it’s better or worse. I will try this on the road too and let you know how it works for me.
