Forty years later...Back in the saddle again

Riding Santa Cruz

Hey mbalmer. You ever ride Henry Cowell? Used to live in Felton 15+ years ago and was an avid mtn biker. Love some of the redwood forest rides around Santa Cruz. Live in Portland Oregon now with my daughter and wife. Riding a KH29er since purchasing last December. I did ride when I was 12 but I hung it up cause I learned it was not practical transportation. I ride now cause it is great exercise but fun and challenging like skiing. Love to snow ski too. Haven’t tried any kind of brake yet and wondering what that is like.

I have not ridden in Henry Cowell. I will check it out. I also rode when I was 12 but didn’t ride again until two years ago. I do snowboarding and snowblading. I have never used long skis.

I have a brake on all my unicycles except for the 36". I’ve recently started riding the 36 up steeper hills and should put the brake back on for steep descents. So far I’ve managed without the brake. It’s difficult to ride down the steep stuff, but it is helping me to strengthen my leg muscles. I get stiff after riding and I haven’t had that happen for awhile. i’m amazed that I can improve and get stronger as I ride. I thought I was flatlined at ability since I’m pretty old.

Hello mbalmer,

I looked at your profile again:
I learned to ride forward when I was 12. Stopped until 2009. Now that I’m old, I’m trying to learn at least the basics.

It sounds to me like you have far exceeded the basics!
Going downhill on a 36er?! … 2 years after you started riding again!

How much riding did you do when you were 12?

I’m guessing you must have been in pretty good shape 2 years ago when you started riding again.

I’ve done lots of road/mountain biking since I was 22. I could already climb hills without too much trouble. I did have to learn how to climb on the unicycle but at least I was already conditioned for it. I lost some weight this year. That has helped climbing a lot. There is still a lot to learn. That’s the great thing. You never get to the point where you can say you’ve accomplished it all. I would like to be a bit more daring and try some technical stuff. I hope I’m a “young” old person as the years tick on. I would like to be able to ride for a long time to come. I envy youth.

Hello folks,

Glad you have been chatting while I’ve been busy.

I took my MUni to my mom’s out in Apple Valley, Ca on Sunday. Had a little get together with family.

Found out that there were a lot of bull thorns in the desert area where she lives so I decided to stay in her yard to practice. Had quite an audience while I showed everyone how the Oregon and I commune.

I was having trouble on the lawn earlier that morning due to the unevenness of the turf. Lowered the Larry from 20# back to about 15# to see if it made a difference. It helped quite a bit.

As everyone gathered, I attempted to freemount. After several attempts I was up and riding. Success…I was thrilled. I was riding and lowering my head as I went under low hanging branches. Wow…who knew? After dismounting, I tried to freemount again. It took a few attempts, but I was up again and riding away. I was even able to transition between the grass area and the cement drive way.

 Amazing...As the session progressed, I had a total of four successful freemounts with rides across the lawn and onto the cement and back again in the direction I had started. What?...I had even been able to turn the uni around on the narrow drive way and stay on the cement. 

 Success...it felt great. I noticed that if I was able to relax and not over think the freemount process and stick to my routine, I was more likely to have a successful freemount. My daughter shot about ten minutes of video and when I figure out how to load the video and pics, I'll put 'em up on the thread. 

Success to you 57Uni on your developing freemount skills. I plan on more in the next few days. Sure feels good to know that I wont have to hang on to a tree in Yosemite when I UPD or dismount. I’m so happy.

Sounds great mbalmer!
I have a ton of catching up to do, because between about age 22 and 57 I have NOT been very active.
NOW I think it would be great to be an athlete, but I have a long, long way to go.

Yes, I envy youth myself.
I’m wondering why I didn’t get this brilliant “I want to be a unicyclist” idea 10 years ago… or 20… or 30!

Hi Tincher Teach!

Super!
Way to go Teach!

My freemounting continues to improve also.
It IS a super feeling!

Yosemite sounds wonderful!
Yes, Post those videos!

Well now, it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve ridden my MUni.

Today I took it out to a local park. I wanted to practice on turf instead of the blacktop. The park is nice because it has a thick lawn and has quite a bit of incline. My daughter came along and shot some video of today’s practice. Picked up a video editing program and hope to be able to piece together a short video of my progress over the past month.

Today at the park, I stepped up to mount the MUni and away I went. Freemounted on my first attempt. Road across the lawn staying on the level portion and turned downhill. Wow…downhill felt really nice. Having only been on the streets around my house, it was a nice sensation to actually be on something a bit more in tune with the MUni. I banked around and started uphill. Oh my, what a difference.

I tried to maintain my weight in the saddle remembering what I had been practicing on the street. I didn’t get very far before I was dismounting. Uphill is a different ride all together. I remounted (after a few unsuccessful attempts) and tried several different directions on my take off. Uphill was difficult. Across the level ground was easy enough, but freemounting while heading downhill was sweet. I just kinda took off and swung around trees and and banked back to my starting point. I practiced my turns quite a bit and found that I am getting better at turning in less space.

Most of my trouble with freemounting comes in the way of foot placement on the pedal. Like I’ve said before, the less I over think the mount the easier it becomes.

One thing that I noticed while riding uphill was this. It is a lot easier to maintain my uphill ride if I put more of my weight on the pedals and use more of my legs to make the ascent. Is this normal? Should I be putting more of my weight on my legs and such in order to climb uphill? Also, I wonder if I need to hold onto the handle of the seat to maintain my ascent. I find it difficult to hold the handle, but I realize that it serves an important function on the trail and I had better get use to it.

Riding on the grass may not be the same as riding on single track, but I think riding on something other than the street should do well for my next step, real trail riding. Is it more difficult to ride on grass and should I be looking for a real trail in the area and skip the practice on the grass? I still need to work on my endurance, but things are feeling better every time.

Once again, any advice would be appreciated.

Riding on grass is a lot harder than riding on a trail. I’m talking about a fairly smooth trail. Riding on grass is great for strength training. Some grassy areas are fun because you can’t see holes and irregularities that can easily throw you off. If you can get to a dirt road with some incline, that would be a good try for some off-road uphill.

I hold on to my seat handle for uphills. I am right handed but hold my handle and use the brake with my left hand. I don’t know why. My right arm is used for balance. I rarely hold the seat with two hands, especially when off-road. I also stand up and pedal when it is quite steep. If I’m on a longer ride I will stand up even if it’s not that steep just to relieve my crotch discomfort.

I know what you mean about foot placement. Even after a couple of years I still have trouble with that more often than I’d like to admit. I have not tried to learn a rolling mount yet because I have enough trouble with foot placement when using the static mount. I wish I could practice in slow motion.

Hi mbalmer,

Took a ride around the neighborhood yesterday. My goal was six blocks…three down and three back home. That would increase my personal best by one block.

After a couple of free mount attempts, I was up and riding away. Hit the street and it felt great. A lot different than the last time in the street. I was relaxed and I was in a good place. Coming up to intersections, I was able to slow down (haven’t relearned my idle skills) and look casually left and right for side traffic.

At the three block mark, I casually turned left and at the next corner made another smooth left turn. Turning has gotten a lot easier over the past few practice sessions. By the end of block four, I was feeling the ride and wondered if I could make my six block goal.

Midway through block five, I was feeling the fatigue setting in. At the end of block five I dismounted and took a short breather. Neighbors approached and a young woman asked if she could give the uni a try. I said sure thing (this gave me the opportunity to talk to the kids and rest a bit more).

I enjoy sharing my story with the neighbors and encouraging them to get a uni for themselves. After her go at riding, I regained my uni. A couple of freemount attempts and I was up and riding. I waved goodby and hung a right turn and made the final block home.

When I got home, I was spent and even though I had rested for about fifteen minutes prior to the final block home, the last block kicked the fatigue into high gear. Wow!

mbalmer, I read your thread on fatigue and I empathize with you completely. I also think that, like others have said, the heat has a lot to do with it. I was feeling like I did back in high school after a running laps in P.E. This was not my experience with similar uni rides in the past few weeks when the weather was cooler.

All things considered, it was a good day. Maybe next time I’ll have a protein drink prior to the ride and complete my six block goal. Maybe even eight. Who knows?

Riding on very hot days takes its toll. I fill a Camelbak with water and ice cubes but have still managed to run out on long rides.

You’re making great progress!

Picked up a camelbac the other day. Neighborhood rides seems a bit impractcle for the time as I’m only a few blocks from home.

I will use it on my vacation to the Valley, however. Both for riding the MUni and hiking on the trails. Looking forward to breaking it in. Got the HAWG NV and wonder if it’s too much pack for riding. Looks like it should be compressable enough to keep the bulk down on a ride. Any thoughts about other paks that may be a better fit for uni rides?

Hey, the pack that is “right for you” is based strictly on your needs an preferences. I try my absolute best to carry only what i need on a ride

water (2L)
lock
keys
wallet
spare tube
a coupe tools (to change tire mostly)
small hand pump

So i run a Fox low pro hydration pack, and i know camel back has low pro ones as well, but people like to take more with them so they get a “suit case” size and take the kitchen sink. Its all on how you ride. I am 1/2 a block from home when i am practicing and i ALWAYS take my camelback, its easier to have it on me then to need it when I’m out.

I know what you mean about overloading a pak. I’ve been checking out the Lobo and similarly size smaller camelbaks, just not so sure what size bladder is needed for moderate length rides. For me, for now, somewhere between an hour or two tooling around would be tops. It’ll be a while before I can do much more.

Went to a family reunion in Vegas the other day. 105 degrees. Kinda warm for uni riding, but family wanted to see me ride so I obliged.

My cousin had rented a house with a pool and spa and while everyone cooled off, I road around a bit on a 15 x 24 ft concrete slab. Getting better at freemounts and left turns in tight spaces, so I concentrated on my right hand turns. After a couple of practice freemounts with poor results, consequent mounts were successful each time.

I would mount and ride in an oval with right turns only and then step off. Freemounting again without trouble and repeat the oval pattern. I have, up to this point, focused my mount by placing my feet squarely in the center of my foot. In the past, if my foot placement was off the mark, I would abandon my freemount, however, after reading about other uni riders preferring the ball of the foot, I gave that a try several times. It felt a bit strange at first but doable and made more freemounts successful. Road for maybe 20 minutes and then jumped in the pool.

Everyone enjoyed the show, but declined the offer to take a ride.
The 5 year old grandson of one cousin said, “I really liked your motorcycle”. Gotta love kids.

I have a Hawg. I got it ~5 yrs ago and mostly used it for school.

On Muni rides I don’t actually use the bladder, I use 2 32 oz Gatorade bottles filled w/ my own mix. My endurance isn’t the greatest & I UPD kind of a lot so every 20 min I stop to take a couple of sips. I’ve yet to drain the total 64 oz before the end of a ride (my longest is a bit over 5 hrs).

I could use a normal or more minimal pack, but I like the extra padding on the back pannel. Since it covers so much of my back it has served a bit like a back protector in bad UPD’s. A more minimal pack like a Mule has enough storage for anything I’d ever need but would leave bits of my back exposed.

To eat up the bulk just synching all the straps isn’t quite enough but I put in my ultralight cycling jacket in there and it’s perfect. Also I have something to keep me warm if it gets cold & I stop or keep me dry in the unlikelyhood it starts to rain.

Back protection is one of the reasons I purchased my camelbak, although hydration and tools also play a big roll.

Picked up a new 2011 Lobo to see how it works for all aspects. Looks like it should have enough storage for the essentials. It fits my back fine and should be enough to protect the spin in case of a bad UPD.

One question I had when I first got the Oregon was on what type of tire pump to get. Using a hand pump on by b*ke was always a pain, so I considered a C02 pump for the Larry. The guy at the LBS said it wouldn’t have the capacity in one charge to fill that huge tire. As I have been keeping it to about 12-20lbs and not rock hard, would a C02 pump work at that pressure. I know it’s always wise to keep weight to a minimum, but I have considered carrying both styles in case I want to increase air pressure with the least amount of effort.

I’m in Yosemite Valley. I’ll be here for 8 days and plan to ride every day except one when my daughter and I will hike above Vernal and Nevada Falls.

All the falls are flowing and there is enough water in the river that Curry Village is still renting rafts.

Road the Oregon on the b*ke trails yesterday. Freemounted on the third attempt and road over Stoneman Bridge and had Half Dome over my right shoulder. That was quite the thrill.

Had the Larry at about 12# and it felt good. Took the uneven blacktop well. It was in the upper 80’s and felt even warmer in the direct sunlight. Dismounted several times to rest and catch my breath.

Made it too Yosemite Village before heading back to Curry Village. I figure I did fairly well considering I haven’t been riding much since my return to the uni world. Only one UPD on the return ride to camp and was able to run it out.

Anyway, it’s nice to be out of the city riding. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Hear Hear!! I UPD’d on my 10-miler, rolled onto my back, and my camelbak to the brunt of it. Glad I had it on!

My dream vacation has always been to tour the northwest National Parks. Now, I think of doing it on a uni! SO JEALOUS!!

Wednesday I took the Oregon on a ride to Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley. From my cabin in Curry Village that’s about 1 1/4 miles. One mile of the journey is on a constant incline which was interesting to ride. All of my previous rides have been on level pavement.

During the ride, I stopped periodically to rest my legs and catch my breath. I practiced drinking from my Lobo Camelbac and holding the seat handle to adjust my seating, foot position and personal comfort. It was going well, when 1/2 mile into the ride, I experienced a zero mph UPD during a static freemount.

Took the brunt of the force with my Hillbillie’s, but scraped my left elbow a bit. I left my uni and gear with my daughter and hoofed it back to the cabin for my elbow/arm protection. Once geared up and riding, I was very glad I had the extra protection. I will wear it all on future rides.

Making it to my Happy Isle destination, I headed back to the cabin. The road was all downhill and except for one dismount about 50 yards from my final turn, I road the entire 1 1/4 mile UPD and stop free.

It was a great ride with many encouraging comments from b*ke riders and pedestrians.

Thursday my daughter and I are hiked to Nevada Falls. That was about a nine hour hike. Beautiful scenery with the falls running heavily for this time of year. Quite a workout for the legs. Going riding to Yosemite Falls tomorrow. Shooting for a stop and UPD free ride.

Made my longest ride to date…3 1/2 miles. Started out from my cabin at Curry Village. After couple of freemount attempts I was up and riding.

Thought I’d try something a bit different and headed toward the park entrance. The b*ke trail parallels the road and rises and falls with the hillside. Road UPD free (though I did take breathers) past the Le Conte Memorial, Sentinal Bridge, the Chaple, Yosemite Falls, Yosemite Village and back to Curry Village.

I received many encouraging comments and noticed some snapshots taken. I was able to ride for quite a while between breaks and it felt great. I was able to make many of my freemounts on the first attempt. One guy said, “You’re doing great”. That felt nice. The kids and teenagers seemed to enjoy the show.

With the exception of Stoneman Bridge, which I walked over (partly due to fatigue and partly due to the large numberof b*ke riders), I road the entire 3 1/2 miles. I was very happy with the ride. After a quick shower I hit the pool for an hour. Pizza and a cold brew are on tonight’s dinner menu.

What a great day and a place to ride.